China turned in a dismal foreign trade performance in July, with its trade surplus falling 10 percent on the year to around 263.0 billion yuan ($43.1 billion), customs said on Saturday, which could spell more worry for the world's second largest economy.

Exports plunged 8.9 percent year-on-year to 1.19 trillion yuan, while imports dropped 8.6 percent to 930.2 billion yuan, it said in a statement on its website.