BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- China's trade with neighboring countries has exceeded the total trade volume that China had with Europe and the United States, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said here Saturday.

The country's trade volume with neighboring countries reached 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars last year, said Yang at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.

Yang said such a trade volume exceeded his expectation.