Finally got all pre-clearance for the APEC card - excluding USA, Russia, Canada + "Chinese Taipei". But this 4 "economies", according to the friendly officer from the Immigration Deptmt anyhow will never be pre-cleared.
So 2 weeks later it will be ready to pick-up.
To finish the whole process it was almost 6 months, but I think it is worth doing this.
The APEC card is valid for 3 years and the price here in HK is HKD 427. If you compare how much a 6 month multiple entry visa for China costs then this card comes really very cheap and does not waste the pages in the passport. The application is not very complicate: provide company info, reason why need to go to some of the APEC member economies, some copies from your passport and business registration. And then simply wait. as the economic downturn is in full swing most probably the applications will be getting more easy and approved faster.
The card is valid for following economies (normally at least up to 60 days per stay):
Australia Brunei Darussalam Chile China Indonesia Japan Korea (South) Malaysia
Mexico New Zealand Papua New Guinea Peru Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam
See the link here and you just need to click through the page and then you will find the info how to apply here in Hong Kong.
http://www.businessmobility.org/