The Republic of China (Taiwan) joined the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 1991 together with People's Republic of China and British Hong Kong.
[1] The heads of government of all APEC member economies meet annually in a summit called the "APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting", rotating in location among APEC's member economies.
However, owing to the nature of the Economic Forum of APEC and the One China policy, the president of the Republic of China is not allowed to appear in APEC and thus appoints a special envoy every year to attend the APEC meeting under the name Chinese Taipei.