The Maritime Silk Road Index (STI) revealed more robust trade in March than in February between China and the countries along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

The overall import and export index surged by 46.42 percent month on month to 146.49 in March, marking a rise of 11.89 percent year on year, according to the data released Friday by the Ningbo Shipping Exchange.

The March sub-index for export jumped by 59.54 percent from February to 153.94, up 21.17 percent from a year earlier, while that for import reached 137.71, up 32.11 percent month on month and 1.65 percent year on year.

The sub-index tracking the imports and exports between China and Southeast Asia surged by 57.93 percent from February to 148.65, the highest among all five region-specific sub-indexes.

The sub-index for China and South Asia came in with the second-highest month-on-month rise of 33.84 percent in March, followed by 30.92 percent for China and Central and Eastern Europe, 30.85 percent for China and the Middle East and 29.16 percent for China and Red Sea region.

Sub-indexes for containerized cargo, bulk cargo and liquid cargo all reported a month-on-month rise of more than 30 percent in March.

According to an analysis of the exchange, China's trade with major regions along the 21st Maritime silk Road rebounded by varying degrees in March after a seasonal decline caused by the Spring Festival.

The monthly index was officially launched in May 2017 to track the trade development between China and the major countries participating in the Maritime Silk Road cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.