Best Meeting Time: London to Beijing
🕐 Live Timezone Overlap: London & Beijing
London and Beijing sit 7 hours apart, which makes regular meetings a tight exercise in calendar arithmetic. Beijing leads. That means when London opens at 9am, Beijing is already at 4pm and heading toward close of business. The usable overlap is just 2 hours each working day. For teams spanning the United Kingdom and China, that narrow window demands planning well in advance, particularly around Chinese national holidays and UK bank holidays, which rarely coincide.
Time Difference: London and Beijing
Beijing is currently 7 hours ahead of London. The live offsets are London UTC+1 and Beijing UTC+8. London observes daylight saving and Beijing does not, so the offset shifts twice a year if both sides aren't already aligned.
London currently runs at UTC+1 (British Summer Time), while Beijing holds UTC+8 year-round on China Standard Time. Beijing does not observe DST. London does. When the UK reverts to UTC+0 each autumn, the gap between London and Beijing widens from 7 hours to 8 hours. That shift happens twice a year for London, and each time it does, any standing meeting invitations with Beijing need updating. Check your calendar recurrence rules before and after each UK clock change.
Best Times to Meet
The 2-hour overlap runs 9am to 11am in London and 4pm to 6pm in Beijing. Inside that 2-hour window, the cleanest slot is typically 9:30am to 10:30am London time (4:30pm to 5:30pm Beijing). Avoid the London lunch hour of 12:30 to 1:30pm, which falls outside the overlap anyway. Note that in Beijing, meetings with state-owned enterprises often run formally with full delegations, so allow adequate preparation time. London finance teams may schedule informally between 5pm and 6pm, but that hour is already outside Beijing's working day.
Working Hours Overlap Explained
London operates on Europe/London (currently UTC+1). Beijing operates on Asia/Shanghai (currently UTC+8). The table below maps a standard 9:00 AM–6:00 PM day in London to Beijing's local time.
| London time | Beijing time | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 AM | 4:00 PM | Beijing in business hours |
| 10:00 AM | 5:00 PM | Beijing in business hours |
| 11:00 AM | 6:00 PM | Beijing wrapping up |
| 12:00 PM | 7:00 PM | Beijing outside hours |
| 1:00 PM | 8:00 PM | Beijing outside hours |
| 2:00 PM | 9:00 PM | Beijing outside hours |
| 3:00 PM | 10:00 PM | Beijing outside hours |
| 4:00 PM | 11:00 PM | Beijing outside hours |
| 5:00 PM | 12:00 AM | Beijing outside hours |
| 6:00 PM | 1:00 AM | Beijing outside hours |
Tips for Scheduling Across London and Beijing
- Book the 9am to 11am London slot early; it is the only 2-hour overlap with Beijing's working day.
- When UK clocks fall back in autumn, update recurring meeting invites immediately as the gap becomes 8 hours.
- Block Golden Week (1 to 7 October) in your London calendar; most Beijing offices are closed the full week.
- Beijing meetings with state-owned firms often require full delegations; send agendas well before the call.
- Chinese New Year shuts Beijing offices for an extended period each January or February; confirm exact dates annually.
Public Holidays and Working Weeks
Both cities follow a standard Monday to Friday week. Key dates to watch: London observes the May Bank Holiday (first Monday in May) and Christmas Day on 25 December. Beijing observes Chinese New Year (January or February, date varies each year) and National Day Golden Week from 1 to 7 October. Golden Week is a full seven-day shutdown for many Beijing offices. Cross-city meetings should account for both calendars, as a working day in one city can easily fall on a public holiday in the other.