What is the time difference between Shanghai and New York?

New York is 12 hours behind Shanghai. That figure is current — it changes by an hour when either city starts or ends daylight saving, and the exact dates are listed above.

When is the best time to call New York from Shanghai?

There is no time inside normal working hours in both cities, so someone has to take the call outside them. The nearest workable windows are listed above — pick one and alternate who gets the awkward slot.

Does Shanghai observe daylight saving time?

No. Shanghai stays on UTC+8 all year, so its clocks never move.

Does New York observe daylight saving time?

Yes. New York runs on UTC-5 in winter and UTC-4 in summer. The next change is on 2026-11-01, when clocks go back by 60 minutes.

If it is midday in Shanghai, what time is it in New York?

It is 00:00 in New York, on the same calendar date. That holds for the current offsets; it shifts by an hour around the daylight saving dates listed above.

Which time zones do Shanghai and New York use?

Shanghai uses Asia/Shanghai, currently UTC+8, and New York uses America/New_York, currently UTC-4 (EDT). Those identifiers are the ones to use in code — abbreviations are ambiguous and offsets change.

Convert Shanghai time to New York time

Right now New York runs 12 hours behind Shanghai. That gap is not fixed: it moves when either city changes its clocks.

Convert a time

From

Date

Time

Converted time

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The converter needs JavaScript to run. Everything below — offsets, daylight saving dates and the hour-by-hour table — is part of the page and works without it.

Hour by hour

Every hour of a day in Shanghai, and what the clock reads in New York at that same moment.

Shanghai	New York
00:00	12:00previous day
01:00	13:00previous day
02:00	14:00previous day
03:00	15:00previous day
04:00	16:00previous day
05:00	17:00previous day
06:00	18:00previous day
07:00	19:00previous day
08:00	20:00previous day
09:00	21:00previous day
10:00	22:00previous day
11:00	23:00previous day
12:00	00:00
13:00	01:00
14:00	02:00
15:00	03:00
16:00	04:00
17:00	05:00
18:00	06:00
19:00	07:00
20:00	08:00
21:00	09:00
22:00	10:00
23:00	11:00

Daylight saving time

Shanghai keeps one offset all year while New York moves twice. That is the whole reason this difference is seasonal.

Shanghai

Does not observe daylight saving time

Standard: UTC+8

New York

Observes daylight saving time

Standard: UTC-5
Daylight: UTC-4
Next change: 2026-11-01 −60m

When you can actually talk

A standard working day in Shanghai and one in New York do not overlap at all. Any call between them is early for one side or late for the other.

Shanghai 09:00–18:00New York 21:00–06:00
Shanghai 21:00–06:00New York 09:00–18:00

Reference

The underlying data, in case you need to put it in a calendar invitation or a configuration file.

	Shanghai	New York
IANA zone	Asia/Shanghai	America/New_York
Abbreviation	UTC+8	EDT
Standard offset	UTC+8	UTC-5
Daylight offset	—	UTC-4
Clock changes this year	0	2
Country	China	United States

Example, not the current time. Live times appear once the page loads.

Common questions

What is the time difference between Shanghai and New York?: New York is 12 hours behind Shanghai. That figure is current — it changes by an hour when either city starts or ends daylight saving, and the exact dates are listed above.
When is the best time to call New York from Shanghai?: There is no time inside normal working hours in both cities, so someone has to take the call outside them. The nearest workable windows are listed above — pick one and alternate who gets the awkward slot.
Does Shanghai observe daylight saving time?: No. Shanghai stays on UTC+8 all year, so its clocks never move.
Does New York observe daylight saving time?: Yes. New York runs on UTC-5 in winter and UTC-4 in summer. The next change is on 2026-11-01, when clocks go back by 60 minutes.
If it is midday in Shanghai, what time is it in New York?: It is 00:00 in New York, on the same calendar date. That holds for the current offsets; it shifts by an hour around the daylight saving dates listed above.
Which time zones do Shanghai and New York use?: Shanghai uses Asia/Shanghai, currently UTC+8, and New York uses America/New_York, currently UTC-4 (EDT). Those identifiers are the ones to use in code — abbreviations are ambiguous and offsets change.