Picture dozens of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) participants stepping off the train in West Kowloon. The sight of presidents, prime ministers, and CEOs arriving in Hong Kong would be more than ceremonial. It would be a statement: Hong Kong is in the global spotlight.

This vision will not materialize automatically. Leaders will only come if Hong Kong makes itself visible and relevant. APEC 2026 is not just another summit; it is Hong Kong’s once-in-a-generation test of influence and impact.

For too long, Hong Kong has been reactive in multilateral forums, content to follow agendas rather than shape them. The failure to host APEC’s Finance Ministers’ meeting in 2014 symbolized a decade of drift. APEC 2026 is a chance to show Hong Kong can convene leaders and institutions — not just connect them.

This year offers a rare alignment. Finance ministers will meet in Hong Kong in October, followed by leaders gathering in Shenzhen in November. The 14-minute rail link makes Hong Kong the most accessible side visit in APEC history. For many leaders, this may be their only chance to set foot in the city. If Hong Kong can persuade them to come — even briefly — it gains legitimacy and momentum. If it cannot, the moment may pass for good.

The payoff, if leaders do come, will be immense. Their presence would validate Hong Kong’s role as an APEC member economy and generate visibility no marketing campaign can buy. Each visit becomes a diplomatic endorsement, a media spectacle, and a chance to showcase Hong Kong’s strengths in finance, innovation, and culture. In a region where visibility is currency, leaders arriving in Hong Kong would signal that the city remains indispensable — a hub worth engaging, investing in, and learning from.

Global cities offer instructive models. New York transformed its United Nations liaison into a Mayor’s Office for International Affairs, integrating diplomacy with economic promotion. Singapore fused foreign policy with trade strategy to become Asia’s leading dispute resolution hub, attracting the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center. Dubai staged mega-events and built infrastructure that draws international attention and investment.

Institutional reform is the first step. Hong Kong should seize its low-politics advantage by institutionalizing external engagement. In an era of fragmenting global trade and heightened geopolitical friction, traditional trade promotion is no longer enough. Hong Kong must transition from passive economic representation to active, strategic coordination of its external economic relations. By playing to its strengths in “low politics” — economic, trade, and cultural relations — Hong Kong can naturally evolve into an even more prominent global hub. Creating a dedicated office for international economic diplomacy under the chief executive would be a decisive upgrade, unifying the city’s international footprint and ensuring Hong Kong speaks with a singular, strategic voice. Without coherence, Hong Kong cannot credibly design agendas; with it, the city can move from reactive participant to proactive shaper of regional norms.

To seize this moment, Hong Kong must evolve into something more ambitious: a norm entrepreneur, a place that does not simply connect markets but designs the standards others adopt. This requires leveraging its institutional distinctiveness under the “one country, two systems” framework not as a defensive talking point but as an offensive tool. Its common law system, capital mobility, and independent regulatory regime can be deployed to craft rules in frontier domains where credibility is scarce and demand is high.

Green finance is the natural vanguard for this institutional shift. Hong Kong’s credentials are world-class: over HK$240 billion ($30.6 billion) in government sustainable bond issuances, including the world’s largest multicurrency tokenized green bond, and Core Climate — the only voluntary carbon market offering dual-currency settlement in Hong Kong dollars and renminbi. Leveraging these strengths, Hong Kong can move beyond being a funding hub to become a key architect of Asia’s climate transition.

Digital trade and artificial intelligence governance form another frontier. Hong Kong’s common law system and reputation as a trusted data hub allow it to host dialogues on cross-border digital trade rules and ethical artificial intelligence. By piloting frameworks under its regulatory environment, Hong Kong can set the tone for how the Asia-Pacific region manages the digital economy. In an era of fragmented supply chains and contested data flows, this is precisely the kind of agenda that leaders want to be seen supporting.

Trade facilitation and smart logistics also play to Hong Kong’s strengths. As one of the world’s busiest ports, the city can export its expertise in customs modernization and logistics efficiency. For emerging APEC economies, this is not abstract policy but practical capacity building. A visit to Hong Kong could mean signing onto standards that improve transparency and competitiveness — tangible deliverables leaders can take home.

Hong Kong’s universities, think tanks, and alumni networks add another layer of influence. By convening intellectual forums and youth exchanges, the city can set the agenda on how APEC economies build trust and cooperation beyond official channels. This soft power dimension ensures visits are substantive, embedding Hong Kong in the region’s intellectual and social fabric.

That is the essence of becoming an agenda designer: identifying domains where Hong Kong has comparative advantages, convening stakeholders, and codifying rules that others adopt. APEC is a forum of vast diversity — developed and developing, Western and Eastern, large and small economies. Hong Kong’s unique contribution is to serve as the “glue” that binds these disparate elements together.

If leaders come, Hong Kong demonstrates relevance, gains media visibility, and positions itself as a rule-setter and norm entrepreneur. Each visit becomes proof that Hong Kong is indispensable to Asia’s economic order. APEC 2026 is not a photo opportunity. The true measure of success will be simple: Who shows up in Hong Kong. If leaders arrive in droves, the city can transform a side visit into a strategic amplification of its global voice.

The author is a professor of globalization and business at the City University of Hong Kong.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.