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China ISO CN

People's Republic of China

中国

Eastern Asia · Asia

China (People's Republic of China) is in Eastern Asia with Beijing as capital. This profile lists ISO CN / CHN, +86, the yuan (CNY), Chinese, Asia/Shanghai and Asia/Urumqi, six-digit postcodes, and right-hand / metric conventions — noting that a single “China time” label can hide regional zone identifiers.

Time zones now Calling codes ISO codes Postal format

Quick codes

Alpha-2 CN
Alpha-3 CHN
Numeric 156
Calling +86

Capital Beijing
Calling code +86
Currency CNY · ¥
Time zones 2 IANAs

Key facts

Concise statements from the verified fields on this page. Missing values stay unavailable — we do not invent statistics.

China's ISO 3166-1 codes are alpha-2 CN, alpha-3 CHN, and numeric 156. ISO alpha-2 and alpha-3 are different country-code formats.
China's international telephone calling code is +86.
China's currency in this dataset is Chinese yuan (ISO 4217 CNY, symbol ¥). A currency symbol does not always uniquely identify a currency — prefer the ISO 4217 code.
The capital listed for China is Beijing.
China may use more than one time zone (2 IANA identifiers listed on this page). There is no single national clock for every location.
China's postal-code format in this dataset is “######”. Postal-code format validation does not confirm that an address exists.
Driving side listed: right.
Measurement system listed: metric.

At a glance

Country-specific notes grounded in the verified fields below.

Asia/Shanghai (CST, UTC+08:00) is the primary civil zone used nationwide in practice; Asia/Urumqi is also listed in IANA.
Currency: Chinese yuan (¥ / CNY) — pair with CNY to avoid confusion with JPY.
Native name 中国; language Chinese (zho).

Names & geography

Official name: People's Republic of China
Native name: 中国
Capital: Beijing
Continent: Asia
Region: Asia
Subregion: Eastern Asia

Codes & dialing

ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 ISO 3166-1: CN Two-letter country code as used in this catalog.
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 ISO 3166-1: CHN
ISO 3166-1 numeric ISO 3166-1: 156 Three-digit UN M49-style numeric code from the dataset.
International calling code Calling +N: +86 Country calling code +86.
Internet TLD: .cn

A country calling code (telephone dialing prefix) is not the same as an ISO country code. Codes above are third-party reference values — not an official ISO product listing.

Currency & languages

Currency ISO 4217: Chinese yuan (ISO 4217 CNY) · symbol ¥ · minor units: 2 Tender from the open-dataset snapshot — third-party reference, not live exchange rates. Prefer the ISO 4217 code when a symbol is shared.
Languages (dataset identifiers) ISO 639: Chinese zho Identifiers as recorded in the assembled datasets — not a complete official language schedule.

Time zones

Live local time from IANA identifiers (server/OS tzdata). Offsets can change with daylight saving.

Asia/Shanghai

4:31:34 PM

UTC+08:00
Asia/Urumqi

2:31:34 PM

UTC+06:00

Practical details

Postal code format Format only: ###### Six-digit pattern (######).
Driving side Third-party: Right
Measurement system Reference: Metric Imperial listed for US, Liberia, and Myanmar in this snapshot; otherwise metric as the prevailing customary system in reference sources — not a legal metrology certificate.
Area km²: 9,596,960 km² Reference snapshot area in square kilometres when present.
Population Estimate: 1,408,280,000 Third-party reference estimate · effective year 2024 (not a live census)
Nationality (demonym): Chinese
Independent: Yes As recorded in the open dataset — not a legal status determination.
UN member: Yes As recorded in the open dataset — confirm with the United Nations for official membership lists.

Locale & conventions

Common practice for orientation — not a substitute for local legal or institutional rules.

Dates commonly YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY年MM月DD日.
Currency: CNY (also discussed as RMB in markets). This page uses the ISO code CNY from the dataset.
International dialing: +86.

Trust & provenance

Data class: Third-party open reference data assembled for tools — not an official ISO, UN, or national-statistics publication.

Profile editorial date: 2026-10-23 (publication set for curated copy)
Source evaluation reviewed: 2026-10-22 (UTC calendar date)
Reference dataset snapshot: 2026-10-22 21:03:56
Effective dataset note: Imported static snapshot used by CountryCatalog / ref_* tables; population year typically 2024 from upstream snapshot metadata.
Live clocks: IANA via PHP at request time (depends on server/OS tzdata). Not a stored permanent national offset.

Primary attributions: ISO 3166-1 / ISO 4217 / ISO 639 code systems; mledoze/countries (ODbL); dr5hn/countries-states-cities-database (ODbL); samayo/country-json (MIT); IANA Time Zone Database.

Standards & definitions in use

ISO 3166-1: Country codes: alpha-2, alpha-3, and numeric identifiers as used in our catalog (not a sold ISO product dump).
ISO 4217: Currency codes (and symbols when present). Symbols may be shared across currencies.
ISO 639 (dataset identifiers): Language codes as recorded in the assembled open datasets — not a complete legal language schedule.
International calling codes: Country/territory telephone dialing prefixes (E.164-style +N). Distinct from ISO country codes.
IANA Time Zone Database: Zone identifiers and live offsets via PHP/OS tzdata at request time. Offsets can change with daylight saving.
Area (km²): Land/area figure from the reference snapshot, expressed in square kilometres when present.
Population (estimate): Reference estimate with an effective year when known — not a live census API.

How empty values are labeled

Not available — missing from the verified dataset (not invented).
0 — a recorded zero when the source supplies zero (distinct from missing).
Does not apply — used only when a field is explicitly not applicable (rare).

Full source evaluation Report a correction

Data class: Third-party open reference data assembled for tools — not an official ISO, UN, or national-statistics publication.

Attribution: ISO 3166-1 / ISO 4217 / ISO 639 code systems; mledoze/countries (ODbL); dr5hn/countries-states-cities-database (ODbL); samayo/country-json (MIT); IANA Time Zone Database. Fields marked “Not available” are missing from those sources — not fabricated. A value of 0 means a recorded zero, not a missing value. Source review: 2026-10-22. Dataset snapshot: 2026-10-22 21:03:56. Full source evaluation. Report a correction.

Data limitations

Not an official ISO, UN, or national-statistics publication.
Population and area are reference estimates with effective year where known.
Postal checker validates format only — not delivery-point existence.
Currency finder does not show live FX rates (see Currency Converter for rates).
Driving side / measurement may be incomplete for some territories.
Administrative divisions are not bulk-published (avoids thin/incomplete geography pages).
Timezone “now” depends on server/OS tzdata freshness.
ODbL sources require attribution and share-alike considerations for redistributed database dumps.

Frequently asked questions

Does China use daylight saving?

Not under current IANA rules for Asia/Shanghai.

What is China’s currency code?

CNY — Chinese yuan. Use the currency finder for symbol reference and the converter for live rates.

What is the difference between a country calling code and an ISO country code?

A calling code is an international telephone dialing prefix (for example +92). An ISO 3166-1 country code identifies the country in data systems (for example PK, PAK, or 586). They serve different purposes and are not interchangeable.

Does a country always have one time zone?

No. Some countries use a single IANA zone; others span many. This profile lists the zones available in our catalog — use the country time-zones page for live clocks.

Does a valid postal-code format prove that an address exists?

No. Format checks only compare structure to a documented pattern. They do not confirm delivery points or that a code is currently assigned.

Where does this country data come from?

Fields are assembled from maintained open datasets (ISO codes, calling codes, currencies, languages, postal patterns, population/area) plus live IANA time zones via PHP. Editorial notes are written for this profile. Unavailable fields are labeled — we do not invent values.

Are population and area official census figures?

They are reference estimates from the dataset snapshot (year shown when available). For legal or statistical work, confirm with a national statistics office.