China economy still facing downward pressure - state planner

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's economy still faces downward pressure and growth momentum is "insufficient", the country's top economic planning agency said on Tuesday.

The flow of capital into the real economy is not smooth, Li Pumin, secretary general of the National Development and Reform Commission(NDRC), told a news conference in Beijing.

Speaking at the same briefing, Gao Gao, vice-director of the integration department of the NDRC, said that he was not optimistic on the outlook for external demand.

For the first six months, China reported a growth rate of 7 percent, in line with Beijing's full-year target. But a stock market plunge since June has fuelled concerns about the health of the economy.

China's central bank has cut interest rates three times this year, in a bid to support an economy headed for its poorest performance in a quarter of a century.

(Reporting by Xiaoyi Shao; Editing By Nicholas Heath & Kim Coghill)