CHINA has become the world's biggest trading nation, overtaking the United States in 2013 with an annual trade value surpassing US$4 trillion for the first time last year according to official data.

Total trade increased 7.6 per cent year on year to $4.16 trillion, reported the London Guardian, which added that the US has yet to publish its 2013 trade figures, but with trade totalling $3.5 trillion in the first 11 months of the year, it is unlikely to beat China.

"It is very likely that China overtook the US to become the world's largest trading country in goods in 2013 for the first time. This is a landmark milestone for our nation's foreign trade development," said China Customs spokesman Zheng Yuesheng.