APEC in Hong Kong: A Stage Set for Bigger Influence

Hong Kong is hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Finance Ministers' Meeting on behalf of the country. The gathering serves as a high-profile prelude to the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, which China will host in Shenzhen this November.

Hong Kong's APEC Moment

It is China's third turn as APEC host after an 11-year gap, and Hong Kong's first time staging the finance ministers' meeting. More than 500 financial officials, delegates and business leaders from 21 member economies have descended on the city.

The timing tells its own story. In early October, the US-hosted Group of Twenty (G20) trade ministers met in Milwaukee, where Washington tried to rally a statement targeting so-called "China's overcapacity." The push ended in failure.

The contrast could hardly be sharper. While Washington plays confrontation, Beijing plays cooperation. This APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting zeroed in on areas where members can work together, from closer macroeconomic policy communication to the new opportunities opened up by artificial intelligence.

Chief Executive John Lee said on October 20 that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is hosting the APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting for the first time. Hong Kong will seize this high-level international platform and put its role as an international financial center to work, showing the attending APEC finance officials, international organization representatives and the wider world its all-round development across the economy, finance and society.

Lee will also introduce Hong Kong's combined strengths as a core city of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, a hub that connects national opportunities with international ones.

Hong Kong has been here before, and the memories are not all fond. The last time the city hosted a major international conference was 21 years ago, in December 2005, when it staged the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference. Crowds of Korean farmers came to protest the World Trade Organization, and together with local demonstrations the event erupted in repeated clashes.

This time, the APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting came off peacefully, a success from start to finish.

A Deliberate Signal

China is this year's APEC host economy, and its decision to stage the Finance Ministers' Meeting in Hong Kong carries a deliberate message.

The backdrop is tense. The United States began sanctioning Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong officials in 2020, and the Chief Executive himself is on that list. The aim was to undercut Hong Kong's standing as an international financial center.

Lately, though, China-US relations have thawed slightly. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, himself under Chinese sanctions, traveled to China in May alongside President Donald Trump. Chief Executive John Lee, meanwhile, hosted a welcome dinner for the APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting. Both sides are playing down the effect of their mutual sanctions.

Hong Kong's turn as host of the APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting helps burnish the city's status as an international hub. That can be seen on several levels.

First, the meeting amounts to rock-solid backing from Beijing.

This APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting is hosted by China's Ministry of Finance and organized by the Hong Kong SAR Government. That arrangement is widely read as a strong endorsement of Hong Kong's role as an international hub.

The timing matters. Hong Kong is rolling out its first five-year plan and aligning with the national 15th Five-Year Plan. Handing the city such a high-level multilateral financial dialogue shows the world that Hong Kong's unique place in the Asia-Pacific financial landscape is not fading. It is growing stronger.

Show, Don't Tell

Second, it puts Hong Kong's existing strengths under the global spotlight.

The meeting brings together financial and economic policymakers from 21 APEC member economies. By hosting it, Hong Kong gives these officials and business leaders a chance to see the city firsthand, clearing away their misunderstandings and biases.

Consider what I hear from foreign diplomats and consular officials posted here. Even their own families and friends have doubts about the assignment. The usual questions: Is Hong Kong chaotic? Can you even get on the internet there?

Bringing these visitors, who rarely came to Hong Kong in the past, to see the situation for themselves helps erase bias and misunderstanding.

It also opens their eyes to Hong Kong's institutional strengths: a mature offshore renminbi market, a financial management and regulatory framework aligned with international standards, comprehensive legal and professional services, and a free and open business environment. That is Hong Kong showing its strengths, live and on the ground, to the Asia-Pacific business community.

Hong Kong has lined up a program of visits for these foreign APEC members and business leaders. Day one is mostly sightseeing. Day two takes in the Science Park, Cyberport and the International Mediation Institute, along with the Palace Museum and the Museum of Art.

Every stop drives home the role Hong Kong can play in innovation and technology, culture, and even international affairs.

The Bigger Prize

Third, it highlights Hong Kong's status as an international center.

Geopolitical rivalry used to be less fierce. London, New York, Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong were all international centers that China could put to work.

That era is ending. As a once-in-a-century upheaval arrives and China-US competition intensifies, China has no choice but to weigh the security of those centers. Under One Country, Hong Kong's status comes into full relief.

There is no ISO-style certification for an international center, but some institutions have built yardsticks. The International Exchange Center City Index, released by Tsinghua University and Deloitte, defines one as a city that connects and serves the world, gathers high-end international factors, and carries real influence in global affairs.

Its framework has three first-level indicators: attractiveness, influence and connectivity. Those sit above 11 second-level measures, including livability, business friendliness, international affairs, technological innovation and transport facilities.

In the 2025 assessment, Hong Kong ranks seventh. Ahead of it, in order, are London, Paris, New York, Seoul, Singapore and Beijing. That is a strong position, with room still to rise.

For the specific role of international financial center, the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) is one of the most authoritative systems. It continually assesses major financial cities across five dimensions: business environment, human capital, infrastructure, financial-sector development, and reputational and general.

In that system, Hong Kong has long ranked third worldwide. It stands in the first tier alongside New York and London.

Overall, with national support, Hong Kong keeps advancing along the path toward becoming an international center.

An international city's central standing rests on lasting inflows of capital and talent, predictable law and regulation, and deep links to the real economy.

The role is not just to be a node for international exchange, or only a market that follows established rules. It is to fight for a say where rules are made. Hong Kong's progress on that front is crucial, and hosting the APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting is only a beginning.

Lo Wing-hung

Bastille Commentary

** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **

The world is a mess, and everyone has to fend for themselves.

A lot happened last weekend. China-EU trade talks reached a preliminary agreement, finally bringing a measure of stability to turbulent international trade relations.

The crisis in France kept heating up. Student riots raged on, and the damage showed no sign of stopping.

On another front, the Saudi-led coalition had earlier backed the Yemeni government's counteroffensive and at one point claimed to have recaptured the coast along the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. The move ended in disaster.

The Houthis struck back at Saudi Arabia, unleashing four consecutive attacks on Saudi airports and inflicting heavy casualties. Riyadh airport in the Saudi capital was completely shut down.

But none of it was as shocking as what came next. After US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on October 9, the United States announced that Russia would immediately supply 300,000 tons of diesel to the United States and global markets.

The about-face was dizzying. Not long before, Trump had just signed a bill tightening sanctions on Russia. But the US midterm elections were looming, and diesel prices stayed stubbornly high because of the two wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Trump had no other choice. He struck a deal with Putin, and after hanging up the phone even said he wanted to thank him.

The US-Russia agreement left Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky furious. He publicly slammed Trump's move as a weak decision and warned that lifting sanctions would give Russia the funds to attack Ukraine.

Trump did not back down. He first leaked to the media that the reason he had to reach an agreement with Russia was that Zelensky had repeatedly ignored US calls to stop attacking Russian oil refineries.

Then Trump stepped in personally. He told reporters at the White House on October 10 that Ukraine should get a new president. He blasted Zelensky for continuing to attack Russian oil refineries, accused him of trying to make trouble for the whole world, and warned that Zelensky had "better damn well stop".

A day later, Donald Trump turned to social media with a fresh claim: Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an energy ceasefire. Neither the Russian nor the Ukrainian side has confirmed it so far.

The energy price chaos gripping the United States is, basically, self-inflicted. The entire Russia-Ukraine war disaster erupted during the Biden era, with US backing. And the Iran war? That was orchestrated single-handedly by Trump.

Two wars have cooked up a giant global mess. Yet the United States can suddenly change face and strike a diesel supply agreement with Russia. That raises several questions.

First, where are the principles?

When the mood suits, the US sanctions Russian energy, convinced this can cut off Russia's war funding.

But when its own livelihood is squeezed and votes are on the line, the country can suddenly loosen those sanctions and freely buy Russian diesel. America's logic here is pretty messy!

In the "justice versus evil" narrative that the US has long championed, the US and the West embody the alliance of justice, while Russia, Iran, and North Korea are all evil regimes.

When others do not support US sanctions against these "evil regimes," the US will sanction those third parties. That is how the United States extends its long arm, imposing secondary sanctions on people around the world.

Back then, the US even asked Canada to arrest Huawei's CFO, Meng Wanzhou. The accompanying charge: that Meng had failed to comply with US orders on Iran sanctions.

These unilateral US sanctions never had United Nations authorization, and they have always lacked a legal basis. Now the United States can scrap them at any time, purely to suit its own needs. Sanctions pop in and out with zero logic, and the only explanation behind it all is these words: "American interests."

Anyone who still believes in America's democracy-lighthouse narrative is an absolute idiot.

Second, what happens next?

Ukraine has bombed Russia's own refining facilities hard, and the country's refining capacity is already down at least 20 percent. Even if Russia truly reaches a deal with Ukraine to pause mutual strikes on energy facilities, the diesel Russia can supply will remain quite limited.

A US-Russia deal can offer only a brief dose of psychological comfort. As long as the two wars have not truly stopped, the global energy crisis will keep worsening.

Rising energy prices push up inflation. Inflation pushes up bond yields. And yields stuck at high levels could at any moment bring the economies of heavily indebted countries such as France crashing down. That is where the real danger of the war trigger lies.

Third, stability is opportunity

There was a time when both Dubai in the UAE and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia counted as hubs of the Middle East and paradises for investment.

But after Trump ignited this Middle East war, it took barely half a year to send them plunging from heaven into hell. They lost their security, and they lost everything.

Their examples speak the truth: safety and stability bring opportunity. And Hong Kong is fortunate enough to be seizing exactly that kind of opportunity right now.

We can’t  save the world or stop these two wars. All we can do is mind our own house, get our work done, and brace for whatever risks come next.

Lo Wing-hung