The China Securities Regulatory Commission said it had approved the tie-ups with Chinese securities companies to allow the US banks to underwrite stocks and bonds in China, in notices posted late Wednesday.

The decisions allow the banks to compete with Goldman Sachs, which has had a Chinese joint venture since 2006, and European banks including UBS, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse, which have similar partnerships.

No one at Morgan Stanley or JP Morgan was immediately available to comment Friday.

The announcements come ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington later this month.

Wall Street banks have been aggressively pushing for greater access to the world's second largest economy as more mainland companies go public and China's capital markets expand.

Morgan Stanley will form a joint venture with Shanghai-based Huaxin Securities Co. while JP Morgan is teaming up with Shenzhen-based First Capital Securities Co.

For Morgan Stanley, the approval marks a fresh start in China after it agreed to sell its stake last year in China International Capital Corporation, the mainland investment bank it helped found in 1995.