Qinzhou Port in south China handled 31.89 billion yuan (about 4.61 billion U.S. dollars) of goods imported and exported via the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 77.4 percent year on year.

The land-sea trade corridor is a trade and logistics passage jointly built by western Chinese provincial regions and ASEAN countries, with Qinzhou and several other ports in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region as major trade gateways.

Since the beginning of this year, new materials and new energy industries have become new driving forces improving the quality and volume of foreign trade via the land-sea trade corridor, according to the customs of Nanning, capital of Guangxi.

From January to March, Qinzhou Port handled 40,000 tonnes of new energy raw materials, such as nickel sulfur, nickel iron, and spodumene, imported via the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a 37-fold increase over the same period last year.