London to Shanghai: time difference and best times to meet

Shanghai is 8 hours ahead of London. Their working days overlap for 1 hour, from 9am to 10am in London (5pm–6pm in Shanghai). The best time to schedule is 9am London time, which is 5pm in Shanghai.

By LemCall EditorialUpdated November 3, 2026

London

11:07

Europe/London

Shanghai

19:07

Asia/Shanghai

London and Shanghai time difference

This live comparison uses the current time-zone rules for both cities, so it reflects daylight-saving changes as well as the usual London and Shanghai clock gap. Set your working hours below to see the practical overlap before proposing a meeting.

Hour-by-hour overlap

Each row is one hour of the London day and the matching hour in Shanghai. Adjust the working hours to match how your team actually works.

Day starts

Day ends

London	Shanghai	Suitable?
1am	9am	Working hours in Shanghai only
2am	10am	Working hours in Shanghai only
3am	11am	Working hours in Shanghai only
4am	12pm	Working hours in Shanghai only
5am	1pm	Working hours in Shanghai only
6am	2pm	Working hours in Shanghai only
7am	3pm	Working hours in Shanghai only
8am	4pm	Working hours in Shanghai only
9am	5pm	Both cities at work
10am	6pm	Working hours in London only
11am	7pm	Working hours in London only
12pm	8pm	Working hours in London only
1pm	9pm	Working hours in London only
2pm	10pm	Working hours in London only
3pm	11pm	Working hours in London only
4pm	12am	Working hours in London only
5pm	1am	Working hours in London only

Best times to propose

1. 9am in London · 5pm in Shanghai — Right at the edge of someone's day

Avoid 1am London time and 2am London time — only the other city is at work.

When the gap changes in the next twelve months

Sunday, March 28, 2027 — Shanghai goes from 8 hours ahead of to 7 hours ahead of London.
Sunday, October 31, 2027 — Shanghai goes from 7 hours ahead of to 8 hours ahead of London.

Recurring meetings set as a fixed clock time in one city will move by an hour for the other on these dates.

Public holidays to avoid

Dates where one side is off work while the other is not are the most common cause of no-shows on this route.

Monday, November 30, 2026 — Saint Andrew's Day — London is off, Shanghai is working.
Friday, December 25, 2026 — Christmas Day — London is off, Shanghai is working.
Monday, December 28, 2026 — St. Stephen's Day — London is off, Shanghai is working.

With 1 shared working hours, London and Shanghai can run standing meetings without anyone giving up an evening — as long as the slot sits inside that window on both sides of the next clock change.

Sending a booking link avoids the arithmetic entirely: each side picks a time in their own zone and both calendars get the correct local time, including after a daylight-saving change. See how LemCall handles cross-timezone bookings.

Frequently asked questions

What is the time difference between London and Shanghai?: Shanghai is currently 8 hours ahead of London. That changes to 7 hours ahead of on Sunday, March 28, 2027, when one side shifts for daylight saving.
When is the best time to schedule a meeting between London and Shanghai?: 9am in London, which is 5pm in Shanghai. Right at the edge of someone's day.
How many hours do London and Shanghai overlap?: 1 hours, from 9am to 10am London time (5pm–6pm in Shanghai).
Does daylight saving change the London–Shanghai gap?: Yes. Over the next twelve months the difference changes 2 times: Sunday, March 28, 2027 (8 hours ahead of becomes 7 hours ahead of); Sunday, October 31, 2027 (7 hours ahead of becomes 8 hours ahead of).
Are there public holidays that affect London–Shanghai meetings?: Yes. The next is Monday, November 30, 2026 — a public holiday where London is, but a normal working day in Shanghai.

Nearby pairs

Sources

1.IANA. Time Zone Database
2.Nager.Date. Public holidays API · Retrieved 2026-11-03