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The impact of climate change on thermal climate zones and building energy standards in China were investigated based on the latest weather data. The moving t-test method was applied to determine the jump phenomena of climate. Building simulation technique was used to quantitatively analyze the potential impact of re-assignment of cities to new thermal climate zones based on public building energy consumption. Cities were reassigned based on the meteorological data recorded after 1997 investigated to be more rational representing current climate conditions. Among 354 cities investigated, 30 cities were reassigned to warmer climate zones; however, 8 cities cannot be assigned to any zone. Moreover, simulation results indicated that better building energy conservation would be achieved if office buildings located in those cities were designed according to building allowances regulated in the standard corresponding to the reassigned climate zone. The defects of current climate zones were identified and new updated zones were defined. Compared with current climate zones, the total area of severe cold-zone (SCZ) in the new updated one has decreased significantly, while the area of cold-zone (CZ) has increased. Boundary between SCZ and CZ has moved slightly towards north, while boundary between CZ and hot-summer-and-cold-winter zone has moved farther north. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.