The Sino-British Club was an organisation founded in 1946, aimed at promoting harmony among different groups in Hong Kong (especially British and native Hongkongese) through cultural activities.

In 1947, Anthony Braga, one of the leaders of the music group of the Sino-British Club, suggested to form a symphony orchestra to gather instrumentalists in the city and provide musical performance to the citizens, as the society was still recovering from the World War II.

Solomon Bard, a violinist who just finished his medical degree in the UK, returned to Hong Kong in the autumn of 1947, and was invited by Braga to be the conductor of the orchestra.

Under the professional training of Foa, the orchestra improved rapidly, and gained a higher reputation in the city.

In February 1986, the HKPO made its debut tour of several cities in the People's Republic of China, with conductor Kenneth Schermerhorn and soloists Stephanie Chase (violin) and Li Jian (piano).

In the autumn of 1995, the HKPO travelled to nine cities in the United States and Canada in its North American début under conductor David Atherton.

In 2003, the orchestra made its European début with performances in London's Barbican Hall, Belfast, Dublin and Paris (Théâtre des Champs-Élysées).

In July 2024, the orchestra announced the appointment of Peltokoski as its next music director, effective with the 2026-2027 season, with an initial contract of four years.

Its repertoire includes Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto and selected Chinese orchestral works, under the baton of Hans Gunther Mommer.

In 1997, the orchestra was featured in Tan Dun's album Heaven Earth Mankind: Symphony 1997 (Sony Classical Records), as a celebration for the handover of Hong Kong.