This chapter first presents historical developments and current characteristics of Chinese and Indian higher education systems. It then examines the respective roles of China and India in increasingly globalised higher education sphere by looking into cross-border mobility and international research competitiveness. The chapter finally explores the internal challenges related to higher education access, equity and emergence of private provision in China and India. It shows that while China and India are two of the world’s largest academic systems, it is less clear that these systems will be globally competitive in the near future. This chapter first presents historical developments and current characteristics of Chinese and Indian higher education systems. It then examines the respective roles of China and India in increasingly globalised higher education sphere by looking into cross-border mobility and international research competitiveness. The chapter finally explores the internal challenges related to higher education access, equity and emergence of private provision in China and India. It shows that while China and India are two of the world’s largest academic systems, it is less clear that these systems will be globally competitive in the near future.