JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley have been given the green light in China to operate domestic securities businesses with local partners, the two U.S. investment banks said Friday.

JPMorgan Chase said that the China Securities Regulatory Commission approved its joint venture with First Capital Securities Co. while Morgan Stanley said its partnership with Huaxin Securities Co. has also been approved.

The joint ventures will be able to help local clients raise money by selling stocks and bonds on local Chinese markets. Foreign banks are already able to help Chinese companies with such deals in Hong Kong, New York, London or other places outside of mainland China. But they are keen to get into China's expanding domestic securities market.

The local partners will have a two-thirds share in the ventures while JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are limited to the remaining one-third stake.

Morgan Stanley previously had a stake in China's first investment bank, China International Capital Corp., but sold it last year. Its new joint venture will give it more management control. Under Chinese rules, foreign institutions can only have one such domestic operation.

"Developing our domestic market capabilities in China has been and continues to be a priority for the firm," said James P. Gorman, Morgan Stanley's president and chief executive officer.