There are nine chapters in the present study. Chapter one consists of the introduction. Chapters two to four contain brief surveys of the sources from which the present study draws much of its primary information. Chapter five details the changes in the administration of maritime trade in China, and the impact that it had on the role of maritime trade in the Chinese economy and on Chinese maritime trade practices. Chapter six focuses on the Malacca Straits region's maritime state-level diplomatic and trade exchanges with China, against the backdrop of changes in China's view and administration of maritime trade. Chapter seven examines the general trends that occurred in the trade in Malacca Straits region products to China. Chapter eight details the developments in the trade of key categories of Chinese products to the Malacca Straits region, and examines the changing patterns of the Chinese products trade at the regional and sub-regional levels. Chapter nine serves as the conclusion, drawing together the strands of information in the preceding chapters, and providing an overview of the changing patterns of trade between the two regions over a period of four centuries.