Yunnan, a border province in southwest China, saw its foreign trade rise 35.8 percent year on year to 19.9 billion yuan (3 billion U.S. dollars) in January, said Kunming Customs Thursday.

Trade with countries along the Belt and Road accounted for about 70 percent of the total, with the value increasing by 18.7 percent to 13.9 billion yuan, the customs said.

Exports of machinery and electrical equipment surged 87.1 percent to 2.8 billion yuan, while exports of agricultural products jumped 49.5 percent to 2.3 billion yuan.

Despite robust growth in the broader trade, Yunnan witnessed a decline in imports of crude oil and natural gas.

The province imported 812,000 tonnes of crude oil and 315,000 tonnes of natural gas in January, down 8.7 percent and 2 percent, respectively.