BEIJING — China's financial institutions, including banks, insurers and securities firms, saw net investment outflows in the third quarter of this year, said the country's foreign exchange regulator on Nov 15.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China's financial institutions came in at $5.53 billion during the period, while $6.71 billion of investment flowed out, resulting in a net outflow of $1.18 billion, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

China's financial institutions made a net overseas investment of $3.73 billion during the period.

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