China very likely overtook the United States last year to become the world's largest trading country in goods for the first time, a spokesman for China's customs administration said on Friday.

Combined annual exports and imports in China amounted to $4.16 trillion, said Zheng Yuesheng from the General Administration of Customs.

China's imports last year stood at $1.95 trillion, an increase of 7.3 percent from the previous year, and exports reached $2.21 trillion, a rise of 7.9 percent. This left the country with a trade surplus of $259.75 billion, the customs administration said.