China Standard (CST)
Taipei operates on China Standard (CST). This time zone does not observe Daylight Saving Time.
Time Zone: Taiwan Standard Time (TST) — Standard Offset: UTC+8 (CST) — DST: Not observed
Country: Taiwan
This city does not observe Daylight Saving Time. The UTC offset remains constant year-round, which simplifies international scheduling.
Taipei operates on UTC+8, identical to Singapore, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Taiwan does not observe DST. As the home of TSMC — the world's most important semiconductor manufacturer, producing chips for Apple, Nvidia, AMD, and Qualcomm — Taipei's time zone is tracked by the entire global tech industry. Earnings calls, production updates, and supply chain communications from TSMC move markets worldwide.
Beyond TSMC, Taiwan's tech manufacturing ecosystem includes Foxconn (the world's largest electronics manufacturer), MediaTek, ASUS, and Acer. The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) trades from 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM TST — one of the shorter trading days globally. The early close means morning TST is the most active window for Taiwanese business coordination.
Taipei's UTC+8 offset places it in the massive East Asian business corridor alongside Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Intra-regional scheduling is effortless — no time conversion needed for calls between Taipei, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Japan and Korea are just 1 hour ahead. This clustering has enabled the tightly integrated East Asian supply chains that dominate global electronics manufacturing.
Taipei is 13 hours ahead of New York (12 during EDT). The standard approach for US-Taiwan business calls: early morning Taipei (8-9 AM TST) catches evening US East Coast (7-8 PM ET the previous day). Many Taiwanese tech executives maintain evening availability specifically for US partner calls. For European coordination, afternoon Taipei (3-4 PM TST) catches morning London (7-8 AM GMT).