• Participation is open to all citizens or permanent residents of any of the 21 APEC member economies: Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; People’s Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; the Philippines; Russia; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; United States; and Viet Nam.
• Participants must be aged 18 or above at the time of submission. Where local laws define the age of majority differently, the higher threshold applies.
• No professional photography background is required. Entries from amateur and professional photographers are equally welcome.
• Staff of the APEC Secretariat and members of the host economy organizing committee, including affiliates and contractors directly engaged in running the contest are not allowed to participate.
• Similarly, immediate family members (spouse, parent, child, sibling) of the above are also not allowed to participate.

NOTE: APEC reserves the right to verify eligibility at any stage. Any entry found to be ineligible will be disqualified.

All participants must submit their entries through the official online submission form. This is the main method for submission. Should participants encounter difficulties in accessing the submission form, please submit your photos by email.

Each entry must fulfill all the requirements, as specified, to be eligible to win a prize. Entries that are incomplete or do not adhere to the rules or specifications may be disqualified at the sole discretion of APEC Secretariat.

All entries submitted through the online form or by email constitute the official record for the APEC Photo Contest 2026 and will be used for judging and prize administration.

Participants may additionally post their photo on social media as a secondary step. Social posting is optional for general entry but required for Influencer Award eligibility.

1. Complete the online submission form here.
2. Fill in all the required details in the form accurately.
3. Upload your photo file(s) and fill in all required fields.
4. Upload a maximum of three (3) photos. You may submit three (3) photos in one form. Submitting more than three photos will result in disqualification.
5. Make sure photos follow the general guidelines of APEC Photo Contest 2026.

For those who do not have access to or encounter issues with the online form, you may submit your photos by email following the next steps:

1. Download the submission form here and fill all the required details.
2. Send an email to contest@apec.org attaching the form and the photo (s). Use the subject: “Submission: APEC Photo Contest 2026”
3. Submit a maximum of three (3) photos. You may submit three (3) photos in one form. Submitting more than three photos will result in disqualification.
4. Make sure photos follow the general guidelines of APEC Photo Contest 2026.

IMPORTANT: Submitting via online form or via email and social media does not increase your photo allowance. A maximum of three (3) photos per participant applies regardless of submission channel.

1. To be eligible for the Influencer Award, participants need to post photo(s) on Instagram.
2. Follow the official APEC account: @apec.
3. Your post must include:
   
   1. The official contest hashtag #APECPhotoContest2026
   2. The hashtag of the APEC priority your photo represents: #Openness, #Innovation or #Cooperation
   3. A tag of the official APEC Instagram account
   4. A photo title
   5. A location tag
4. Please note:
1. Your account and post must be set to public at the time of submission and remain public through the end of the voting period.
2. Each participant is allowed a maximum of three (3) posts with one (1) photo each. More than 3 posts will result in disqualification.
3. The three (3) photos shared on social media must be the same ones to be submitted via online form or email.
4. Maximum three (3) photos tagged per participant.
5. Make sure photos follow the general guidelines of APEC Photo Contest 2026.
6. Those who participate in the contest through the selected social media stand a chance to win the Influencer Award on top of the chance to win the main prize.

Those who participate in the contest through Instagram stand a chance to win the Influencer Award on top of the chance to win the main prize.

The photograph must have been taken in one of the 21 APEC member economies. The location must be identified at the time of submission.

The photograph must be the original work taken by the submitting participant. Photos taken by a third party may not be submitted, even with that person’s permission.

The photograph must not have been submitted to any other photo contest, including previous editions of the APEC Photo Contest.

• Any camera type is accepted, including smartphone, DSLR, or mirrorless cameras.
• File size: minimum 1 MB and maximum: 10 MB.
• Accepted file format: JPEG
• Original EXIF metadata must be intact and unaltered. Do not strip or modify the date, time, or location data embedded in the image file.
• Photos must be submitted as individual image files. Embedded text, watermarks, logos, frames, signatures, or borders added in post-production are not permitted and will result in disqualification.

• Minor digital adjustments are permitted, including: color correction, white balance, contrast, brightness, cropping, and straightening.
• The following are NOT permitted and are grounds for disqualification:
  
  • Compositing, collaging, or photomontage (combining elements from multiple photographs).
  • Addition of artificial elements, objects, people, or scenery not present at the time of capture.
  • Substantial AI-assisted manipulation or AI-generated content. This includes, but is not limited to, the use of generative AI tools (e.g., Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, Adobe Firefly’s generative fill) to add, remove, or substantially alter elements in the photograph.
  • Excessive HDR, heavy tone-mapping, or sky replacement that fundamentally alters the original scene.

• The photograph must reflect the APEC China 2026 theme (“Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together”) and/or at least one of the host economy priorities: Openness, Innovation or Cooperation.
• The photograph must not contain material that is defamatory, obscene, offensive, or that violates the rights, dignity, or privacy of any person depicted.
• The photograph must not contain material that violates or infringes any third-party intellectual property rights, including copyright or trademark.
• Photos featuring identifiable individuals: by submitting the photograph, the participant confirms they have obtained any necessary consent from persons depicted for the photo to be published by APEC Secretariat across its communications channels.
• Photos must not contain violence, hatred, discrimination, or politically inflammatory content.

• Participants retain copyright of their photographs.
• The winners shall grant the APEC Secretariat a perpetual non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to publish, display and exhibit the photograph in connection with APEC communications, publications, social media, press releases, exhibitions and future APEC Photo Contest promotional materials, with appropriate credit to the photographer.
• Participants who do not wish their photos to be used beyond judging purposes should not submit.
• The APEC Secretariat will credit the photographer where practicable. However, credit may be omitted in certain formats (e.g., social media stories, printed materials with limited space) without affecting the validity of this license.

Each photo will be evaluated by a selected panel of judge based on the following criteria:

1. Interpretation and relevance to the APEC China 2026 theme and priorities

2. Photo composition and technical quality

3. Creativity and originality

The Popular Choice Award will be determined by online vote from among the top 10 finalists during the voting window from 1 to 30 October 2026.

The prize is awarded to the photograph that receives the highest number of picks during the voting period, which will be conducted via the official platform on the contest page in apec.org. One choice per person per day is permitted. APEC Secretariat reserves the right to disqualify selections it determines to be fraudulent or generated by automated means.

The Award goes to the photograph shared via social media that receives the highest combined engagement on the original post during the contest period. Only posts by the original participant account are counted. APEC reserves the right to exclude engagement it determines to be inauthentic.

Those who participate in the contest through the selected social media stand a chance to win the Influencer Award on top of the chance to win one of the main prizes.

APEC Secretariat reserves the right to disqualify any entry at any stage of the contest for any of the following reasons, without limitation:

• Failure to meet eligibility criteria.
• Breach of any rule set out in this document.
• Use of multiple accounts or channels to exceed the three-photo limit.
• Submission of AI-generated or excessively manipulated imagery.
• Submission of watermarked, bordered, or signed photographs.
• EXIF metadata has been stripped or materially altered.
• Evidence of fraudulent voting (Popular Choice Award).
• Evidence of inauthentic engagement (Influencer Award).
• Failure to provide satisfactory winner verification documentation.
• Any conduct that the APEC Secretariat reasonably considers to bring the contest or APEC into disrepute.

• These rules constitute the entire agreement between the participant and APEC Secretariat in relation to the contest.
• APEC Secretariat reserves the right to amend, suspend, or cancel the contest at any time, with reasonable notice where practicable.
• The decisions of the judging panel and APEC Secretariat on all matters relating to this contest are final.
• Participation in the contest constitutes acceptance of these rules in full.
• By submitting an entry, participants warrant that they are the author and sole copyright owner of the submitted photograph(s) or otherwise have all necessary rights and permissions to submit the photograph(s) and grant the rights set out in these rules.
• All prizes are denominated in Singapore Dollars (SGD).
• Prizes will be disbursed to winners via bank transfer. Winners are responsible for providing accurate banking details and for any fees charged by their receiving bank.
• Foreign exchange costs, bank transfer fees, and any applicable taxes or withholding obligations in the winner’s home economy are the sole responsibility of the winner.
• By submitting photos, participants agree that no claim relating to any damage, loss, injury or inconvenience shall be asserted against the APEC Secretariat, and the directors, officers, employees and assignees from any and all losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind resulting from the project.
• The participants hereby indemnify and hold the APEC Secretariat harmless from any claims, actions, proceedings costs and expenses arising because of any allegation that the relevant participants did not own or are not wholly entitled and authorized to allow publication and reproduction of the work by the APEC Secretariat.
• The APEC Secretariat reserves the right to disqualify any entries if the contents are deemed inappropriate or against the public interest.
• The terms and conditions above are subject to change and/or supplement by the APEC Secretariat at any time during the submission period as and when it deems fit. The APEC Secretariat assumes no liability whatsoever for any outcome because of such action.
• By submitting photos, finalists and winners consent to the use of their personal information and photographs by the APEC Secretariat for publicity, promotional and communication purposes across all media and communication channels, whether existing now or developed in the future. This includes, but is not limited to, websites, social media platforms, digital and online publications, email communications, newsletters, mobile applications, multimedia content, newspapers, magazines, television, radio, exhibitions, and other print or electronic media.
• Read more about APEC Secretariat Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) here.