The Chinese market is now the third most-important trade partner for German firms after a surge in trade between the two countries in recent years, dpa cited official figures as showing.
In 2013, bilateral German-Chinese trade was worth 140.4 billion euros (176.2 billion dollars), with the balance in China's favour, according to Germany's Federal Statistics Office.
Chinese exports to Germany slipped 6.6 per cent to 73.4 billion euros last year, as against German deliveries to China of 67 billion euros, up a slight 0.4 per cent, the data showed.
Comparative figures going back two decades underscore what has been nearly a 12-fold explosion in German-Chinese trade in recent years.