France’s Alstom and Germany’s Siemens have a deal ready to sign to merge their rail businesses in the face of Chinese competition, German business daily Handelsblatt reported on Monday.

The two groups have overcome past reservations about a joint venture with a “balanced agreement acceptable to both sides,” Handelsblatt wrote citing “insiders” familiar with the deal. But Siemens has also been courting Canadian firm Bombardier, whose European operations are based in Berlin, and the two companies have their own detailed plan for two joint ventures covering rolling stock and signalling.

The Munich-based group’s supervisory board is set to meet on Tuesday to discuss the two options, Handelsblatt reported, while Alstom’s executive board will also meet. Both companies declined to comment when contacted by AFP. An Alstom-Siemens tie-up would bring together the engineering giants that make their countries' flagship high-speed trains, including France’s world-famous TGV.

Siemens brings in 7.8 billion euros ($9.3 billion) of revenue annually from rail, while Alstom boasts sales of 7.3 billion euros. Combined, they would be more of a match for the 18.1 billion euros in revenue at Chinese giant CRRC.