China's net foreign direct investment increased 17.6 percent year-on-year in 2012 to $87.8 billion.

This ranks the economy as the world's third-largest in terms of outward FDI for the first time.

It also places it as the 13th largest in terms of stock, said the Statistical Bulletin of China's Outward Foreign Direct Investment jointly released by the Ministry of Commerce, National Bureau of Statistics and State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Monday.

Accumulated FDI stock volume stood at $531.94 billion by the end of 2012. The average annual growth of the net flows was 41.6 percent from 2002 to 2012.

Incremental equity investment stood at $31.14 billion, or 35.5 percent of the total, and $22.47 billion, or 25.6 percent of the total, was reinvested earnings. Other investment accounted for $34.19 billion, or 38.9 percent of the total, the bulletin said.

China's financial FDI surged 65.9 percent year-on-year in 2012 to $10.1 billion while the non-financial FDI rose 13.3 percent year-on-year to $77.73 billion in 2012.

In 2012, China's FDI to developed economies reached $13.51 billion, compared with $13.42 billion in the previous year.

The United States received $4.048 billion, an increase of 123.5 percent year-on-year, and thus becoming the second-largest destination for China's investment in 2012, after Hong Kong.