The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government invites the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to authorize the facility of an Accession Working Group (AWG) today (September 21) to begin the accession procedure for particular candidate economies consisting of Hong Kong.

The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, stated, “The decision concerned is a pivotal step forward in enlarging the membership of RCEP. Hong Kong will actively cooperate and take part in the work of the AWG, including the relevant accession negotiations with RCEP members, with a view to completing all the required procedures as soon as possible”

He repeated Hong Kong’s complete preparedness for early accession to RCEP, leveraging Hong Kong’s strengths to contribute considerably to both RCEP and the promo of local financial combination. At the exact same time, Hong Kong’s accession will assist combine and improve its status as a global trade centre, producing synergies and producing a win-win result.

Mr Yau thanked in specific the Central People’s Government, consisting of the Ministry of Commerce, for their strong and long-lasting assistance of Hong Kong’s early accession. He likewise revealed gratitude to RCEP members, consisting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in assistance of the facility of the AWG. Throughout his presence at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting in Suzhou in May 2026 and his check out to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in August 2026, Mr Yau fulfilled a lot of the Ministers respectively to get assistance for Hong Kong.

The HKSAR Government will continue to work carefully with the RCEP Support Unit and keep close intermediary with all stakeholders of RCEP members to promote beneficial conditions for early accession of Hong Kong to RCEP.

The other candidate economies being confessed to the AWG are Bangladesh, Chile and Sri Lanka.

RCEP is the world’s biggest open market contract. Its fifteen member economies consist of the Chinese Mainland, the 10 member states of the ASEAN (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam), Australia, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand. RCEP participated in force on January 1, 2022. The HKSAR Government sent Hong Kong’s accession demand within the exact same month, being the very first amongst the candidate economies.