It is used alongside Beijing Time, which is widely observed by the rest of the country.
This offset accounts for Xinjiang's geographical location in the westernmost part of China.
In February 1986, the Chinese government approved the use of Xinjiang Time (UTC+06:00) in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (thus excluding area colonized by Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps) for civil purposes, while military, railroad, aviation, and telecommunication sectors were supposed to continue using Beijing Time (UTC+08:00).
[4][3] However, the decision was rejected by the local ethnic Han population and some Han-dominated regional governments.
This change caused alarms that had been set using Beijing Time to ring two hours later than expected, resulting in a disruption of daily activities on the day after the change was released.