BEIJING has pulled a key Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meeting out of Hong Kong.

The Apec Finance Ministers' Meeting (FMM) was scheduled to be held in the city from September 10 to 12.

It will now be "postponed to a new date after late September".

"Accordingly, the location of the FMM would be changed to Beijing to facilitate logistics arrangements," said the Hong Kong government on Tuesday in a statement.

It said that it was informed of the change by Beijing - which is the host of this year's main Apec Summit - on Tuesday.

The reason given was that "due to the number of events and the broad range of themes and issues covered in the 2014 Apec process, some Apec meetings would have to be rescheduled to ensure that various Apec events would be well organised and co-ordinated".

The finance ministers' meeting was meant to be Hong Kong's showcase moment this year.

A Hong Kong government spokesman said that it "fully respects and understands the Central People's Government's decision to change the timing and location of this year's Apec FMM".

"The HKSAR Government would like to thank the relevant CPG ministries, including the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, as well as the Legislative Council and relevant organisations, for their support and co-operation over the past months."