The APEC CEO Summit 2026 takes place in Shenzhen on 17 and 18 November 2026, on the sidelines of the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, which China hosts in the city on 18 and 19 November. The summit is convened by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and is expected to gather around 1,000 political and business leaders from the 21 APEC economies, according to the organiser's announcement of 11 September 2026.
The CEO Summit is the business counterpart to the APEC leaders' meeting and has in past years been addressed by heads of state and government from the member economies alongside the chief executives of major Asia Pacific companies. Its sessions address trade and investment, supply chains, digital economy, energy transition and the regional economic outlook, and it is the venue at which the host economy presents its business agenda to the region.
China last hosted APEC in Beijing in 2014, and the 2026 meetings in Shenzhen return the forum to the country twelve years later. Shenzhen's selection places the meetings in China's technology and manufacturing capital, and the organiser has yet to announce a dedicated venue for the CEO Summit within the city.
For chief executives and boards with Asia Pacific exposure, the summit is the highest level regional business gathering of the year and an opportunity to hear directly from the leaders of the largest Pacific economies on trade policy. Gulf companies with growing Asian trade and investment ties, and the leadership of multinational companies operating in China, will treat it as a fixed point. Readers should watch for the venue announcement and for the summit's speaker list, which typically emerges in the weeks before the meeting.
