CHINA'S securities regulator has asked third-party payment site Alipay to submit payment clearance documents for the newly-launched and highly-hyped asset management product "Yu'e Bao" sold through Alipay.

An official of the China Securities Regulatory Commission told a press conference yesterday that some of the bank accounts used by Alipay to conduct payment with fund management firms didn't meet regulatory requirements.

The CSRC has asked Alipay to submit the materials to go through the full regulatory procedure in order to carry on its business, but added that it supported innovative methods to sell mutual funds as it offers more choices for investors.

"We will complete the regulatory requirements and the Yu'e Bao business will continue as usual to ensure the interests of mutual fund buyers," Alipay said in a statement yesterday.

Alipay launched the new service earlier this month to allow users to subscribe to mutual funds with Alipay accounts and it had attracted more than 1 million subscribers by Tuesday, Alipay said without releasing the total investment volume.

The newly launched mutual fund by Tianhong Fund Management Co is designed for Alipay users who want to keep some money in their account until they use it to pay for online purchases on Alibaba's shopping site Taobao.

Both Alipay and Taobao are Alibaba's arms.

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, said earlier this year that the central bank supports emerging Internet-aided financing models such as Alibaba's financing platform.