Historically, both sides had been colonies of the United Kingdom for a long period of time.

Only until 1965, when Maldives gained independence from the United Kingdom, the situation changed.

At that time, Hong Kong, still a colony of the United Kingdom, followed the British in diplomacy and immediately [citation needed] recognised the independence of Maldives as well as established relations with the nation.

The agreements between the two nations include several elements, such as (a) elimination or reduction of tariffs, (b) liberalisation of non-tariff barriers, (c) flexible disciplines on rules of origin which would facilitate bilateral trade, (d) customs facilitation procedures, (e) liberalisation as well as promotion and protection of investment; (f) liberalisation of trade in services, and (g) the legal and institutional arrangement and dispute settlement mechanism for the Free Trade Agreements.

The relations between the two have a focus on economic, social and cultural aspects because Hong Kong is restricted by Hong Kong Basic Law from concluding military agreements with foreign countries.