China has overtaken the United States to become Germany's most important trading partner last year, according to data from the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) released on Friday.

Data showed that goods with a value of 170 billion euros (about 180.3 billion U.S. dollars) were traded between China and Germany in 2016.

France was the second most important trade partner with total trade with Germany valued at 167 billion euros in the same year. The United States was relegated to third place, with total trade volume with Germany amounting to 165 billion euros.

Nevertheless, the United States remained the most important export destination for German goods, with 107 billion euros "made in Germany" products making the transatlantic journey.

The United States only held the crown of Germany's most lucrative trade relationship in 2015. Before that France had been the most important partner for every year since 1975.