Why does China have only 1 time zone?

Answer 1

In the past, China had been divided into five time zones.

In 1912, the Central Observatory of the Republic of China in Peking (Beijing) divided the country into five time zones, namely Kunlun Time Zone (GMT+5.5), Sinkiang-Tibet Time Zone (GMT+6), Kansu-Szechuan Time Zone (GMT+7), Chungyuan Standard Time Zone (GMT+8), and Changpai Time Zone (GMT+8.5). These time zones were ratified in 1939 in the standard time conference of the Ministry of Interior of the Executive Yuan.

These time zones were no longer in effective use after 1949, when the PRC was established on mainland China, as the new government had its own policies regarding the time zones on mainland China. However, as the ROC still claimed that it had sovereignty over mainland China, the time zones that were assigned in 1912 are still in use in the view of the Government of the ROC, which had retreated to Taiwan. That is the reason why some government departments on Taiwan still refer to the time on Taiwan as "Chungyuan Standard Time" nowadays, although a lot of people want to officially change the name of the time zone to "Taiwan Time", Chungyuan being part of mainland China.

(reference from Wikipedia)

Answer 2

China doesn't "have five time zones". It has only one, which is what "the country is on the same time" means.

If China were divided strictly by longitude, it would span 5 time zones (from UST+5 in the west to UST+9 in the extreme northeastern corner).

China apparently considers having a single time for every location in the country to be of more value than having a specific time (by the clock) correspond to a specific time of day. In an agrarian society, people pay a lot more attention to solar time than to the clock; sunrise is sunrise whether it happens at 4 AM or 8 AM.

Answer 3

China, although great in its east west extent (and therefore practically crossing many time zones), has only one time zone dictated by law, and that is Beijing time

Answer 4

According to experts, China only uses one time zone throughout the country. China was known to have five time zones prior to 1949.

Answer 5

Although India spans more than 15 degrees of longitude, when practical it's easier for a country to have one time zone than to be split between/among more than one.