In November 1939, the Japanese landed on the coast of Guangxi and captured Nanning. In this battle, the Japanese successfully cut off Chongqing from the ocean, effectively severing foreign aid to China's war efforts by the sea, rendering Indochina, the Burma Road and The Hump the only ways to send aid to China. The Chinese launched several major offensives that maximized Japanese casualties. A majority of the conflicts occurred in the fighting for Kunlun Pass. With the success of the Vietnam Expedition in September 1940, the Japanese were able to cut China off from Indochina. Now only the Burma Road and The Hump remained, ending the costly necessity of occupying Guangxi. By November 1940, Japanese forces had evacuated from Guangxi except from some coastal enclaves.

The Battle of South Guangxi and the invasion of Vietnam had a number of consequences. From a global perspective, it put Japan on a direct path to war with the United States. From a localized perspective (albeit a large one), the Chinese, though they won the Battle of South Guangxi militarily and forced the Japanese to retreat into fortified coastal areas there, the concurrent Japanese invasion of Vietnam cut off an important supply route into the territories under their control. Any supplies that came into China would have to come from either the Soviet Union (which did send limited amounts) or from the area of British India or Burma. Either route was exceedingly difficult.

The Chinese, not being able to drive the Japanese from their own country, were not able to do anything to aid the French (or later the Vietnamese) in their struggle against the Japanese. The Japanese were too strong at sea and able to resupply their forces in Vietnam at will.