Southwest China's Tibet saw robust growth in foreign trade in 2011, as local government increased efforts to improve infrastructure in inland port cities and the efficiency of customs clearance.

The Himalayan region's foreign trade stood at 1.359 billion U.S. dollars -- its highest volume in 10 years, up 62.53 percent from a year earlier, according to a statement released by Lhasa Customs on Wednesday.

The growth rate was much higher than the government's forecast over a month a ago, according to which, the percentage would be 31.6 percent.

The government offered more support to export-oriented cities, foreign trade companies and export products in 2011, Ma Xiangcun, head of the region's commerce department said at that point.

Border trade played a major role in the region's foreign trade as it has border lines of 4,000 km.

Neighboring country Nepal is Tibet's top trade partner. In 2010, bilateral trade between Tibet and Nepal stood at 542 million U.S. dollars, up 65 percent over the previous year.

Tibet mainly exports wool, carpets and Chinese caterpillar fungus - a valuable ingredient in traditional medicines believed to boost the immune system.

Trading partners of Tibet have grown to over 100 countries and regions over the past few decades from only a few in the late 1970s when China started its opening-up policies.