The article considers the relations between the People's Republic of China and the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the impact of political and economic factors on them during various historic periods, offers a periodization of the development of relations between China and the Southeast Asian countries and analyzes the state and the prospects of those relations.

China, PRC, Southeast Asia, SEA, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, Free Trade Area, South China Sea, Spratly