China’s securities regulator has approved a joint venture between Alibaba-owned fintech firm Ant Financial and American asset-management company Vanguard that will offer investment advisory services to retail clients in China, the two companies said in a statement Friday.

The joint venture will combine technology developed by Ant Financial’s electronic payment platform Alipay with Vanguard’s expertise in investment management to provide investors with tailored services based on their investment objectives, time horizons, and risk preferences, the statement said.

The service will be accessible through Alipay and Ant Fortune — a wealth management platform operated by Ant Financial — and will carry a minimum investment requirement of 800 yuan ($113.60).

The tie-up comes six months after the joint venture, which has a registered capital of 20 million yuan, appeared in an online national registry, Reuters reported.

The partnership is seen as a renewed effort by Alipay to help China’s poorly-funded small businesses get off the ground. Last year, the company launched an initiative aiming to supply such businesses with loans totaling 1 trillion yuan over the next three years through Alibaba-backed specialist online lender MYbank.

Vanguard, which manages global assets of $5.9 trillion, launched a wholly foreign-owned enterprise in Shanghai in 2017.

Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com)

Related: Ant Financial to Seek $1 Billion for India, SE Asia Startup Fund