China's annual trade surplus reached $US259.75 billion ($A292.96 billion) in 2013, up 12.8 per cent from the previous year.
Exports from the world's second-largest economy rose 7.9 per cent to $US2.21 trillion ($A2.49 trillion), while imports increased 7.3 per cent to $US1.95 trillion, the General Administration of Customs announced on Friday.
The country's total trade in goods for last year came to $US4.16 trillion, an increase of 7.6 per cent, just below the government's target of eight per cent.
The European Union was China's biggest trading partner, Customs said, followed by the United States, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Hong Kong and Japan.
Between them, the traditional markets of the EU, US and Japan accounted for 33.5 per cent of China's trade, down 1.7 percentage points, indicating that emerging markets' share of business was growing.
For the month of December alone, China's trade surplus fell 17.4 per cent to $US25.64 billion, Customs said.
Exports increased 4.3 per cent to $US207.74 billion, while imports were up 8.3 per cent at $US182.1 billion.
