China's dramatic economic rise has tended to overshadow other wider perspectives on the developing China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) relationship, including in higher education. The article examines contemporary relations between China and ASEAN, set against the longer term development of cultural and trade relations. It is argued that, notwithstanding current territorial disputes, and a history of discrimination against ethnic Chinese in several parts of ASEAN, prospects for a deepening of relations in higher education remain strong. Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam are selected as three instances of the developing relationship in higher education and some of the links traced, with the former assessed as best placed to take advantage of its China relations in higher education. The developing sense of regionalism is seen as likely to further enhance China-ASEAN relations in higher education.