why is there only one timezone in china?

Question

why is there only one timezone in china?

Answer 1

There is only one time-zone in China because the government there regulates it to be that way. Time-zones are largely a convention, and given the use of UTC time (Universal Coordinated Time / Greenwich Mean Time), time-zones are not entirely necessary. They are predominantly kept because of familiarity and historical convention. That said, in China it is easier for the nation to function administratively with only one time-zone, so they have chosen that. In the United States, the government chose to have time-zones for the people over administrative reasons...although some regions of the country (such as parts of Indiana and Arizona) have selected rules that do not follow the national norm (i.e. they don't use Daylight Savings Time).

Answer 2

China operates under just one time zone (it should have five). That means the sun reaches its zenith at 3 p.m. in the west and 11 a.m. in the east. government offices strictly observe Beijing time; most others go by the sun.(1)



In an article titled "Time and the Internet at the Turn of the Millennium" by Heejin Lee and Jonathan Liebenau, suggests that the reason is likely political. Stating, "China has only one, Peking Time. We infer that one standard time in

China is a reflection of Chinese history and politics. China has always been a

centralized country, and Peking Time is the representation of centralized control

by the Peking Government." (2)

Answer 3

Its government opted to have a single time zone, to standardize times. It makes it simpler for regulation, but it changes the way time is viewed based on which area of the country one resides.