What is CST (China) in MST?
Mountain Time is 14 hours behind
China Standard Time is on UTC+8:00 and Mountain Time is on UTC−6:00 right now. Mountain Time is on daylight saving, so its clocks read MDT. The gap changes during the year — see below.
- Time in Beijing
- 10:15 am
- Time in Denver
- 8:15 pm
- Difference
- −14 h
- Next clock change
- November 1, 2026
Convert a time
MDT — Mountain Time
8:00 pm
Tue, the previous day
When the difference changes
China Standard Time and Mountain Time do not change their clocks on the same dates, so the gap between them is not the same all year. Most converters show only today’s figure. These are the periods ahead:
- Now – November 1, 2026Mountain Time is 14 hours behind
- November 1, 2026 – March 14, 2027Mountain Time is 15 hours behind
- March 14, 2027 – onwardsMountain Time is 14 hours behind
Periods shorter than a day are not listed: both zones change at 2am in their own local time, so there are a few hours on each transition date when the gap is briefly something else.
Daylight saving
China Standard Time
China Standard Time stays on CST all year, so its offset from UTC never moves.
Mountain Time
Clocks go back one hour at 2am local time, becoming MST.
CST (China) to MST conversion table
Every hour of Wednesday, September 23, 2026, converted from China Standard Time to Mountain Time. 14 of the 24 hours fall on a different calendar day in Denver, which is marked.
- 12:00 am CST
- 10:00 am MDT−1 day
- 1:00 am CST
- 11:00 am MDT−1 day
- 2:00 am CST
- 12:00 pm MDT−1 day
- 3:00 am CST
- 1:00 pm MDT−1 day
- 4:00 am CST
- 2:00 pm MDT−1 day
- 5:00 am CST
- 3:00 pm MDT−1 day
- 6:00 am CST
- 4:00 pm MDT−1 day
- 7:00 am CST
- 5:00 pm MDT−1 day
- 8:00 am CST
- 6:00 pm MDT−1 day
- 9:00 am CST
- 7:00 pm MDT−1 day
- 10:00 am CST
- 8:00 pm MDT−1 day
- 11:00 am CST
- 9:00 pm MDT−1 day
- 12:00 pm CST
- 10:00 pm MDT−1 day
- 1:00 pm CST
- 11:00 pm MDT−1 day
- 2:00 pm CST
- 12:00 am MDT
- 3:00 pm CST
- 1:00 am MDT
- 4:00 pm CST
- 2:00 am MDT
- 5:00 pm CST
- 3:00 am MDT
- 6:00 pm CST
- 4:00 am MDT
- 7:00 pm CST
- 5:00 am MDT
- 8:00 pm CST
- 6:00 am MDT
- 9:00 pm CST
- 7:00 am MDT
- 10:00 pm CST
- 8:00 am MDT
- 11:00 pm CST
- 9:00 am MDT
Scheduling between the two
There is no overlap between a nine-to-six working day in Beijing and one in Denver — the gap is too wide. A call has to sit early or late for one side. Early morning in Beijing is the usual compromise, since that is late afternoon or evening in Denver.
A note on CST (China): it can also mean the abbreviation CST is shared with US Central Time and Cuba Standard Time.
China Standard Time (CST) is used in the whole of China, which runs on one offset from Kashgar to Shanghai
Mountain Time (MDT) is used in Salt Lake City, Albuquerque and Calgary. Arizona keeps MST all year and does not follow MDT.