A look at APEC's background

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Finance Ministers' Meeting was held in Hong Kong for the first time.

Here's a look at the history of the summit.

Established in 1989, APEC was an informal forum for discussions between governments, as well as economic and trade affairs. APEC currently has 21 member economies, including China, the United States, Russia, Japan and South Korea.

Hong Kong joined as a member in 1991. Since 1997, the SAR has continued to participate as an official and standalone member under the name Hong Kong, China.

Currently, trade between Hong Kong and APEC and other member economies accounts for about 80% of Hong Kong's total foreign trade value, making it a key hub for expanding economic and trade cooperation between Hong Kong and various regional parties.

The goal is to create greater prosperity for the people of the Asia-Pacific region by promoting balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative, and secure growth and accelerating regional economic integration.

As for the Finance Ministers' Meeting held in Hong Kong this time, it is a second-tier ministerial meeting and is usually held annually before the leaders' meeting.

The Treasury Bureau previously revealed the total expenditure for holding the Finance Ministers' Meeting in Hong Kong was about 72 million dollars. Among the expenses, salary-related expenditure amounted to about 22 million dollars, accounting for roughly 30% of the amount.

The Treasury Bureau emphasised it will make good use of this conference to deepen international exchanges and cooperation, fully highlighting Hong Kong's role as a "super connector" and "super value-added person."