Hong Kong has been an Associate Member of the ICC since 1969 although they played their first match way back in 1866. They, however, had to wait till 2004 to play their first ODI match when they participated in the Asia Cup. A decade later, they were awarded the ODI status until 2018 after finishing third in the ICC World Cup Qualifier. Hong Kong also gained the T20I status when they qualified for the ICC World T20 in 2014 and were a part in the next edition as well.
During the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier, Hong Kong got defeated by the Netherlands in a playoff match and lost their ODI status. Although they were allowed by the ICC to play two more ODI matches after that in the Asia Cup. Also, Hong Kong were benefited by ICC's decision to grant T20I status to all its members.
