Part of the region officially became part of China in 214 BC, when the army of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC) claimed most of southern China. The name "Guangxi" can be traced to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), which administered the area as a circuit called the Guangnanxi Circuit (literally "Guang-South West Circuit").

During the late Mongol Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) the name was revived again to name a province in the region, but it was shortened to "Guangxi", or "Guang-West". For the next six centuries, Guangxi was a province of China, until its conversion into an autonomous region by the People's Republic of China because of its large minority population.

During the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Guangxi was the site of the Jintian Uprising (é‡'ç"°èµ·ä¹‰), which occurred in what is now Guiping county in eastern Guangxi on January 11, 1851. On March 23, 1885, Zhennan Pass (now Youyi Pass) on the border with Vietnam was also the site of the Battle of Bang Bo (镇南关战役) during the Sino-French War. During the battle, a French incursion was routed by Chinese forces under Feng Zicai (冯子才).

After the founding of the Republic of China, Guangxi served as the base for one of the most powerful warlord cliques of China: the Old Guangxi Clique. Led by Lu Jung-t'ing (陆荣廷) and others, the clique was able to take control of neighboring Hunan and Guangdong provinces as well. The Old Guangxi Clique crumbled in the early 1920s, to be replaced by the New Guangxi Clique, led by Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi. Guangxi is also noted for the Baise Uprising (百色起义), a communist uprising led by Deng Xiaoping in 1929. Communist bases were set up, but eventually destroyed by Kuomintang forces.

In 1944, near the end of World War II, Japan invaded Guangxi as part of Operation Ichigo (also known as the Henan-Hunan-Guangxi Campaign (豫湘桂战役), in an attempt to seize the Hunan-Guangxi railway line and open a land link to French Indochina. The operation succeeded and most major cities in Guangxi came under Japanese occupation.

Being in the far south, Guangxi was not taken by communist forces until after the People's Republic was formed; it joined in December 1949, two months after the foundation of the People's Republic. In 1958, Guangxi was converted into an autonomous region for the Zhuang, by recommendation of Premier Zhou Enlai. This decision was made because the Zhuang were the biggest minority group in China, and the Zhuang were mostly concentrated in Guangxi.

For most of its history, Guangxi was landlocked. In 1952, a small section of Guangdong's coastline was given to Guangxi, giving it access to the sea. This was reversed in 1955, then restored in 1965.

While some development of heavy industry occurred in the province in the 1960s and 1970s, it remained largely a scenic tourist destination which attracted people from all over the world. Even the economic growth in China in the 1990s seemed to leave Guangxi behind. However in recent years there has been a growing amount of industrialization, and concentration on cash crops. Per capita GDP has begun rising more rapidly, as industries in Guangdong seek a way to locate production to lower wage areas.

Guangxi celebrated its 50th anniversary as an autonomous region on December 11th, 2008.

Wikipedia