The relations between the societies and states of Southeast Asia and China have been an enormous significance to both these regions, extending back for literally thousands of years. This useful single-volume edition of key studies on Southeast Asia-China interactions published in the Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society and its precursors includes classics such as Wang Gungwu's ""The Nanhai Trade"" and Paul Wheatley's ""Geographical Notes on Some Commodities Involved in Sung Maritime Trade"". Altogether it contains 18 studies covering political, economic and social interactions, along with the flows of people and technologies that link the two regions, offering a comprehensive summation of the Southeast Asia-China historical relationship. As China re-emerges as a global power, it is essential to understand that East Asia has long existed as a region of interactions, with China and Southeast Asia a key zone in this system. The history of these interactions - the patterns and processes of the links, the conditioning events and trends, technological exchanges and migrations, and individual accomplishments as well as institutional and organizational change - offers a way to understand current and future developments.