diff --git a/apps/emqx/src/emqx.app.src b/apps/emqx/src/emqx.app.src
index 2a2b3c323..e156d8cf0 100644
--- a/apps/emqx/src/emqx.app.src
+++ b/apps/emqx/src/emqx.app.src
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@
 {application, emqx, [
     {id, "emqx"},
     {description, "EMQX Core"},
-    % strict semver, bump manually!
-    {vsn, "5.0.27"},
+    {vsn, "5.1.0"},
     {modules, []},
     {registered, []},
     {applications, [
diff --git a/apps/emqx_ft/src/emqx_ft.app.src b/apps/emqx_ft/src/emqx_ft.app.src
index c503ab8e0..74d1b84b7 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_ft/src/emqx_ft.app.src
+++ b/apps/emqx_ft/src/emqx_ft.app.src
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {application, emqx_ft, [
     {description, "EMQX file transfer over MQTT"},
-    {vsn, "0.1.1"},
+    {vsn, "0.1.2"},
     {registered, []},
     {mod, {emqx_ft_app, []}},
     {applications, [
diff --git a/apps/emqx_rule_engine/src/emqx_rule_funcs.erl b/apps/emqx_rule_engine/src/emqx_rule_funcs.erl
index 73e2f78e7..a94aa0c8a 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_rule_engine/src/emqx_rule_funcs.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_rule_engine/src/emqx_rule_funcs.erl
@@ -228,7 +228,9 @@
     format_date/3,
     format_date/4,
     date_to_unix_ts/3,
-    date_to_unix_ts/4
+    date_to_unix_ts/4,
+    timezone_to_second/1,
+    timezone_to_offset_seconds/1
 ]).
 
 %% MongoDB specific date functions. These functions return a date tuple. The
@@ -1104,6 +1106,12 @@ date_to_unix_ts(TimeUnit, Offset, FormatString, InputString) ->
     OffsetDelta = erlang:convert_time_unit(OffsetSecond, second, Unit),
     date_to_unix_ts(Unit, FormatString, InputString) - OffsetDelta.
 
+timezone_to_second(TimeZone) ->
+    timezone_to_offset_seconds(TimeZone).
+
+timezone_to_offset_seconds(TimeZone) ->
+    emqx_calendar:offset_second(TimeZone).
+
 %% @doc This is for sql funcs that should be handled in the specific modules.
 %% Here the emqx_rule_funcs module acts as a proxy, forwarding
 %% the function handling to the worker module.
diff --git a/apps/emqx_rule_engine/test/emqx_rule_funcs_SUITE.erl b/apps/emqx_rule_engine/test/emqx_rule_funcs_SUITE.erl
index 9bb6e2e6f..12110b206 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_rule_engine/test/emqx_rule_funcs_SUITE.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_rule_engine/test/emqx_rule_funcs_SUITE.erl
@@ -1012,6 +1012,25 @@ prop_format_date_fun() ->
     Args3DTUS = [<<"second">>, <<"+04:00">>, <<"--%m--%d--%Y---%H:%M:%S">>, Formatters3],
     Second == apply_func(date_to_unix_ts, Args3DTUS).
 
+t_timezone_to_offset_seconds(_) ->
+    timezone_to_offset_seconds_helper(timezone_to_offset_seconds),
+    %% The timezone_to_second function is kept for compatibility with 4.X.
+    timezone_to_offset_seconds_helper(timezone_to_second).
+
+timezone_to_offset_seconds_helper(FunctionName) ->
+    ?assertEqual(120 * 60, apply_func(FunctionName, [<<"+02:00:00">>])),
+    ?assertEqual(-120 * 60, apply_func(FunctionName, [<<"-02:00:00">>])),
+    ?assertEqual(102, apply_func(FunctionName, [<<"+00:01:42">>])),
+    ?assertEqual(0, apply_func(FunctionName, [<<"z">>])),
+    ?assertEqual(0, apply_func(FunctionName, [<<"Z">>])),
+    ?assertEqual(42, apply_func(FunctionName, [42])),
+    ?assertEqual(0, apply_func(FunctionName, [undefined])),
+    %% Check that the following does not crash
+    apply_func(FunctionName, [<<"local">>]),
+    apply_func(FunctionName, ["local"]),
+    apply_func(FunctionName, [local]),
+    ok.
+
 %%------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 %% Utility functions
 %%------------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/changes/ce/feat-10858.en.md b/changes/ce/feat-10858.en.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1e2fa9fee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/ce/feat-10858.en.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+A new utility function timezone_to_offset_seconds/1 has been added to the rule engine SQL language. This function converts a timezone string (for example, "+02:00", "Z" and "local") to the corresponding offset in seconds.