BEIJING - China's financial institutions, including banks, insurers and securities firms, saw net investment inflows from overseas investors in the third quarter, according to the country's foreign exchange regulator.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China's financial institutions came in at $2.9 billion during the period, while $2.64 billion of investment flowed out, resulting in a $258 million net inflow, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

The country's financial institutions made a net overseas investment of $1.75 billion in the July-September period.

China has become the largest recipient of FDI in the first half of 2018, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

In the first nine months, new overseas companies set up in China surged 95.1 percent to 45,922, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

SAFE has been publishing data on a quarterly basis since 2012 to increase the transparency of foreign exchange statistics.