BEIJING - China's financial institutions, including banks, insurers and securities firms, received $1.53 billion of net direct investment from overseas investors in the third quarter, the nation's foreign exchange regulator revealed on Thursday.

This was lower than the $1.79-billion net investment from overseas investors logged in the second quarter of the year, according to data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Meanwhile, the country's financial institutions made a net equity investment worth $901 million in overseas companies during the July-September period, increasing from $357 million in the second quarter, the data showed.

The SAFE has been publicizing the data on a quarterly basis since 2012, as part of the regulator's efforts to increase the transparency of foreign exchange statistics.