Under the dual influence of climate change and human activities, the river runoff in the Xijiang River Basin has changed to varying degrees. It is of great significance to re-understand and master the temporal and spatial evolution law of runoff in the changing environment for the scientific management of the river basin. Based on the daily runoff data of 7 controlled hydrological stations in the main and tributaries of the Xijiang River Basin for nearly 60 years, and comprehensive extreme-point symmetric mode decomposition method (ESMD), Mann-Kendall test, R/S analysis, wavelet analysis and other methods, the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of runoff were analyzed from multiple time scales of the inter-decadal, inter-annual, seasonal and intra-annual. The results showed that the runoff in the Xijiang River Basin alternated and varied greatly at the inter-decadal scale. The runoff was abundant in the 1970s and 1990s, and dry in the 2010s. Rainfall affected the runoff, and the upper and middle reaches of the Basin were more prone to flood and drought disasters. The oscillation periods of seasonal runoff were 2-7, 15-20, 28-29 a; 3-5, 7-10, 20 a; 2-3, 6-8, 12-15 a and 3-8, 12-15, 20 a, respectively, all of them showed double period characteristics of interannual and interdecade. The variation of runoff was mainly determined by IMF1. Affected by rainfall and reservoir regulation and storage, there are a downward trend in the annual, summer, and autumn runoff, a persistent predicted downward change, and an upward trend in the overall spring and winter runoff. The change trend in the upper reaches of the space is more significant. The annual and seasonal runoff increased abruptly after 1980, especially from 2000 to 2010. Human activities and climate change were the main reasons for the sudden change in the Xijiang River Basin. After 2000, except the tributary Liuzhou station, the annual distribution of runoff tended to be uniform, the variation range of monthly average runoff decreased, the concentration period moved forward, and the reservoir group had a significant effect by storing water during the wet season and replenishing water during the dry season. The results provide reference for the rational development, utilization and effective management of water resources in the Xijiang River basin.