What does APEC stand for?

APEC is the acronym for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, a group of Pacific Rim countries which promote free trade. The member economies (rather than countries) are:

Australia

Brunei

Canada

Chile

Republic of China (Taiwan)

Hong Kong, China

Indonesia

Japan

Malaysia

Mexico

New Zealand

People's Republic of China

Peru

Philippines

Republic of Korea

Russia

Singapore

Thailand

United States

Viet Nam

The distinction between member economies and countries is so that Hong Kong, which is a special administrative region of PRC is a member alongside PRC.