 Shortly afterward, many Cantonese in the Guangxi government were replaced by Zhuangs and Guangxi annexed the Nanlu region of Guangdong in 1952, giving the formerly landlocked region access to the sea.In 1958, the entire province was officially designated the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.In 1988, Hainan was separated from Guangdong and established as a separate province.