Policy 21 Limited was first incorporated in British Virgin Islands in July 2000 as a fully owned subsidiary of The University of Hong Kong.

After the transfer of ownership on 1 May 2009 to its current management staff, Policy 21 continues to provide evidence-based research services to the community, as it has done so previously.

Since its establishment in July 2000, Policy 21 has conducted more than 700 research projects for academic staff of 8 local universities, over 10 non-governmental organizations, more than 20 government bureaus and departments, over 10 quasi-governmental organizations and a number of private corporations.

Policy 21 has a staff complement of more than 30 professional and sub-professional researchers and a team of enumerators with years of experience conducting face-to-face and telephone interviews.

Policy 21 Hong Kong Ltd. was set up in November 2018 as a non-profit-making company. It is run by the same management team of Policy 21 Ltd.

The mission of Policy 21 Hong Kong Ltd. is to provide evidence-based research services to not-for-profit organizations. Its research staff is mainly drawn from experienced research staff of Policy 21 Ltd. seconded to Policy 21 Hong Kong Ltd. on a project-by-project basis.