I studied a year in Hong Kong during Freshman year, the grading system there is very different and a 70% is considered decent and the passing grade is 50%. I have an around 60% average so my high school converted my gpa to a really low number. I had an acceptable SAT score and GPA now but would that year affect my admission rate? Especially when colleges like UCs require a 3.4 gpa out state and I don’t have it because of that year.
I would recommend the best thing to do is to get a teacher from your school whether it is the US school or the Honk Kong school to account for the situation described when transferring to another country in your letters of recommendation as well as finding some way to explain that in your essay/interview/additional information where the admission officers can really see your situation. You can also try getting a high SAT/ACT score to show that you are doing well academically and the low grade was just from switching schools from another country.
To keep this community safe and supportive:
I believe colleges would look at the context of your country.