LHASA, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Foreign trade in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region increased by 2.6 percent to 4.87 billion yuan (708 million U.S. dollars) in 2019, a customs official said Tuesday.

Liu Dali, head of the Lhasa customs in the regional capital, said the export volume of the region exceeded 3.74 billion yuan and the import volume reached 1.13 billion yuan last year.

Liu said border trade accounted for 64.7 percent of the total foreign trade, up 11.8 percentage points from 2018.

Private companies contributed 4.12 billion yuan of foreign trade, up 60.3 percent from the previous year.

"Private sectors have become a major contributor in foreign trade in Tibet," he said.

Nepal is the largest trade partner of Tibet, accounting for 64.9 percent of the total regional foreign trade.

Liu said the deepening of the Belt and Road Initiative, the conclusion of the joint communique between China and Nepal, reopening of the cargo transport passage of the Zham port and the opening of the Lektse port all contributed to the foreign trade growth of the region in 2019.