China overtook the United States and France as Germany's most important trading partner in 2016, according to Germany's Federal Statistics Office on Feb 24.

China's trade volume with Germany exceeded 999.1 billion yuan in 2016, up 2.6 percent from the previous year, according to China's General Administration of Customs.

Xue Rongjiu, deputy director of the Beijing-based China Society for WTO Studies, says he expects the Sino-German bilateral trade relationship to be further strengthened in the future, should the US administration pursue trade protectionism that might shake the confidence of a majority of Chinese exporters.

"The Trump administration has been pressing both China and Germany to appreciate their currency exchange rates to maintain competitiveness in manufacturing," Xue says.

"Both China and Germany are expected to forge closer business and political ties to tackle the challenge from the US under the current global business setting."

Earlier, China had already become Germany's largest trading partner in Asia, and Germany has ranked as China's largest trading partner from the European Union for years.

Germany mainly exports mechanical and electrical products, transportation-related equipment and chemical products to China. It imports machinery, textiles, furniture and toys from China.

In terms of two-way investments, the accelerated growth has become an "important pillar" of economic and trade relations between the two countries, said Sun Jiwen, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, at a news conference in February.

At the end of 2016, China gave a green light to 9,394 German investment projects in the country, with a total value of $28.18 billion, according to the ministry.

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