China still lags US in trade

Different accounting methods 'lead to misunderstanding'

The Ministry of Commerce has quashed recent media reports speculating that China had surpassed the United States to become the world's biggest trading nation by volume.

Recent data from the world's two largest economies show that Chinese trade in goods and services reached $3.87 trillion in 2012, according to the General Administration of Customs, while the value of US exports and imports was $3.82 trillion, according to the US Commerce Department.