China granted $1.02 billion in fresh combined quotas to licensed overseas institutional investors in October, according to data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) on Thursday.

This increases the total quotas issued under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program to $48.51 billion by the end of October from $47.49 billion a month earlier. SAFE issued $4 billion in quotas in the third quarter.

Singapore's Temasek Fullerton Alpha Investments Pte Ltd received an additional $500 million quota in October, bringing its total to $1.5 billion.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission had granted three QFII licenses in September, to US-based Mayo Clinic, Hong Kong-based GF International Investment Management and Guosen Securities Management.

This brings the licences issued in the third quarter to 11 and to 34 this year. There are now 240 licencees under the program.

October licence application results will be announced in mid-November. Institutional investors need to apply for a licence from the securities regulator to be eligible to seek investment quotas from the foreign exchange regulator.