Alibaba to debut fixed-term investment

After rolling out China's first Internet finance product, Yu'E Bao, in June last year, Alipay, the e-payment arm of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, is set to launch its first fixed-term wealth management service on Friday in a bid to offer an investment choice for those who are willing to wait longer for bigger returns.

The new service, open for reservations between Sunday and Thursday, will be released only to Yu'E Bao users. The minimum investment is 1,000 yuan ($165), and the maximum is 2 million yuan per investor.

Compared with Yu'E Bao - which allows users to invest their idle cash in a money market fund run by Tian Hong Asset Management, in which Alibaba holds a majority stake, and make withdrawals whenever they want - the new product requires users to deposit their money for an entire year.