China for the first time became Germany's most important trading partner in 2016, overtaking the United States, which fell back to third place behind France. <br/><br/>Data showed today that German imports from and exports to China rose to 180 billion dollars last year. <br/><br/>The development is good news for the German Government, which has made it a goal to safeguard global free trade after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on imports and his top adviser on trade accused Germany of exploiting a weak euro to boost exports.