The total import and export volume of Guangxi's foreign trade reached 138.51 billion yuan ($21.32 billion) in the first quarter of 2021, a year-on-year increase of 50.7 percent, officials from the Nanning Customs said on April 21.

Guangxi has been fully using its geographical advantages - as the only region of its kind in China to border ASEAN countries by both land and sea - to further deepen cooperation with ASEAN in economy and trade.

The trade volume between Guangxi and ASEAN in the first quarter accounted for 52.1 percent of Guangxi's total figure.

The overall volume of Guangxi's border trade expanded by 106.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, ranking first among all trade types in terms of its growth rate.

The export volume of Guangxi's household appliances and medical instruments surged due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a year-on-year increase of 142.9 percent and 44.5 percent respectively. The export volume of textile products, including masks, climbed by 84.6 percent year-on-year.

In addition, private companies in Guangxi helped boost Guangxi's foreign trade by 34.3 percentage points in the first quarter.