Hong Kong could join world’s biggest trading bloc next year, with most members backing city’s inclusion, commerce minister says

Hong Kong applied in January last year to join Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a trade pact that covers a third of world’s population

‘The whole vetting process takes about 18 months and I expect Hong Kong can join the free-trade pact next year,’ commerce minister Algernon Yau says

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The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership covers nearly a third of the world’s population and about 30 per cent of global gross domestic product. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 6:54pm, 16 Sep 2023Updated: 7:57pm, 16 Sep 2023

Hong Kong could join the world’s biggest free-trade pact next year, after “most members” of the Asia-Pacific-based partnership threw their support behind the financial hub becoming a member, the city’s commerce chief said on Saturday.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) started vetting Hong Kong’s membership application after the city filed it in January last year, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau Ying-wah said.

“RCEP may hold a meeting this year to discuss new applications from different jurisdictions. Most of its members have thrown their support behind Hong Kong becoming a member,” he told a radio programme.

“The whole vetting process takes about 18 months and I expect Hong Kong can join the free-trade pact next year.”

The free-trade agreement covers nearly a third of the world’s population and about 30 per cent of global gross domestic product. Its members include the 10 Asean countries and major trading partners of Hong Kong, such as mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

The 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.