SHANGHAI, July 7 (Reuters) - Chinese investors sold off shares on Tuesday morning after Premier Li Keqiang was quoted on a government website saying that China has the ability to deal with economic risks but did not specifically mention the country’s embattled stock market.

Investors were also reacting to news of tightened restrictions on futures trading on a major small cap index, and signs that companies are rushing to file trading halts.

The CSI300 index fell 1.1 percent to 3,953.89 points at 0156 GMT, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.8 percent to 3,746.19 points.

China CSI300 stock index futures for July fell 0.1 percent, to 3,987.6, 33.71 points above the current value of the underlying index. (Editing by Alex Richardson)