(Photo: VCG)

LHASA, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The volume of small-scale trade in border areas of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region topped 2.4 billion yuan ($358 million) last year, up by 4 percent year on year, according to local customs Monday.

Small-scale border trade accounted for 50.8 percent of the region's total foreign trade last year, with its export volume reaching 2.38 billion yuan, up 3.77 percent, according to the customs of Lhasa, the regional capital.

The imports and exports volume of Gyelung port, where most small-scale border trade took place, totaled 2.41 billion yuan.

Tibet's import and export volume totaled 4.752 billion yuan (701 million U.S. dollars) last year.