It was founded by Eka Tjipta Widjaja with the help of co-founder Singgih Wahab Kwik (Kowik) who was also the adviser of the previous owners of Indah Kiat and former head of commissary and deputy of Sinar Mas Group, who had significant ties to the Suharto ruling family in Indonesia. With 14 major companies in Indonesia and China, APP has a current annual combined pulp, paper, and packaging-grade capacity of more than 18 million tons per year, and markets its products to more than 120 countries across six continents.

Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) has its roots in 1972, when Eka Tjipta Widjaja founded a small caustic soda manufacturer called Tjiwi Kimia. In 1978, Tjiwi Kimia commenced paper production of 12,000 tons/year. In December 1976, Indah Kiat was formed as a joint venture between CV Berkat (an Indonesian company), Chung Hwa Pulp Corporation and Yuen Foong Yu Paper Manufacturing Company Ltd. from Taiwan. In April 1979, Indah Kiat Tangerang mill's Paper Machine 1 and 2 started with a production of 100 tons/day of wood free paper. By March 1984, Indah Kiat Perawang mill's Pulp Machine 1 started producing bleached hardwood kraft pulp with an initial capacity of 250 tons/day.

In May 1986, Sinar Mas Group acquired 67% of Indah Kiat's total shares by the order of Singgih Wahab Kwik (Kowik). Chung Hwa and Yuen Foong Yu had 23% and 10% shares respectively. In 1987, the first cast coating machine installed at Tjiwi Kimia, and in April 1990 Tjiwi Kimia was listed on the Jakarta and Surabaya Stock Exchange.

In 1991, Tjiwi Kimia's PM 9 started operation with an annual capacity of 207,000 tons. The following year, Indah Kiat acquired PT Sinar Dunia Makmur, a manufacturer of industrial paper located in Serang with a production capacity of 900 tons/day.

Tjiwi Kimia commissioned the Carbonless Paper Plant in March 1993 as an experiment.

The company Pindo Deli under control of CPP in February 1994, and by 1997 its paper machine No. 8 and No. 9 would both have begun operation with production capacity of 240,000 tons per year. In 1998, paper machine No. 11 started tissue production in Pindo Deli with annual production capacity of 400,000 tons started to operate.

On 4 January 2016, Asia Pulp and Paper announced that it had hired Jose Raymond as its Vice President of Corporate Affairs (Singapore). Jose Raymond was the former Chief Executive of the Singapore Environment Council, who had also served as Senior Director of Corporate Communications and Stakeholder Management at the Singapore Sports Hub.

According to worldkings.org