China's GDP growth edged up in the second quarter, but officials and analysts foresee persistent downward pressure in the second half of this year.

The economy grew 7.5 percent over a year earlier, slightly higher than the first quarter's 7.4 percent, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed.

The market was little impressed by the data. The Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.15 percent lower while the Hong Kong H-share index fell 0.1 percent.