Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
APEC
Twenty-one member economies around the Pacific rim, bound by nothing more than voluntary commitment — and responsible for a substantial share of world trade.
Latest — APEC
All analysis →What APEC is
APEC was founded in 1989 to knit together the economies of the Pacific rim. It is deliberately the loosest of the major forums: members are described as economies rather than countries, precisely so that Hong Kong, China and Chinese Taipei can all sit at the table without the membership becoming a question of statehood.
Nothing APEC agrees is binding. Commitments are voluntary and progress is assessed by peer review rather than enforcement. That sounds weak, and in a narrow legal sense it is. What it buys is participation: economies that would never accept a treaty obligation will accept a target they have set themselves, and over three decades that has produced substantial reductions in tariffs and behind-the-border barriers across the region.
The annual Economic Leaders' Meeting is accompanied by the APEC CEO Summit, which is where much of the commercial business of the week is actually done.
2026 host economy
APEC China — Shenzhen 2026
China hosts APEC 2026, with the 33rd Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen on 18–19 November 2026, accompanied by the APEC CEO Summit and the joint ministerial meeting of foreign and trade ministers.
The host year runs under the theme “Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together.”
The twenty-one member economies
Australia · Brunei Darussalam · Canada · Chile · China · Hong Kong, China · Indonesia · Japan · Republic of Korea · Malaysia · Mexico · New Zealand · Papua New Guinea · Peru · the Philippines · Russia · Singapore · Chinese Taipei · Thailand · the United States · Viet Nam.
Recent host economies
| Year | Host economy | Leaders' meeting |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | United States | San Francisco |
| 2024 | Peru | Lima |
| 2025 | Republic of Korea | Gyeongju |
| 2026 | China | Shenzhen, 18–19 November |
In Pictures
Full picture desk →
Our APEC record
Group of Nations has published APEC titles across successive host years, including the APEC Leaders & CEO Summit review featuring COP26, and the APEC-ABAC Chile report.
Summit alerts
Know what is being published, before it is published.
A short note ahead of each summit — the edition in production, the deadline for inclusion, and what the presidency has put on the agenda. No more than one a month.