KUNMING, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- The foreign trade volume of southwest China"s Yunnan Province rose 18 percent to 166.5 billion Yuan (23.46 billion U.S. dollars) during the first three quarters of 2019, local customs authorities said Thursday.

The province"s exports rose 28.1 percent to 72.81 billion Yuan, while imports gained 11.1 percent to 93.69 billion Yuan, according to the customs office of the capital city of Kunming.

Trade with countries along the Belt and Road grew by 16.7 percent year on year to 118.09 billion Yuan in the first nine months, accounting for 70.9 percent of the province"s total trade volume.

The province"s export volume to B&R countries reached nearly 46.47 billion Yuan, up 23.7 percent year on year, and the import volume grew to 71.62 billion Yuan, with an increase of 12.5 percent compared with the same period last year.

Statistics also showed the province"s trade volume with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states totaled 82.2 billion Yuan, up 24.9 percent year on year.