Siemens 'wins Chinese train deal'

China hopes the trains will ease transport problems

German engineering giant Siemens and Japanese firm Kawasaki Heavy Industries look set to win an order to provide bullet trains to China, reports claim.

According to a number of media reports, Beijing will place orders for 60 trains with each firm.

The contracts are part of a project worth more than 10 trillion yen ($83.9bn, £48.8bn) for a 7,500 mile high-speed railway network.

Beijing hopes to have the new trains running as early as 2008, reports said.

Last week, Siemens reported it had won a deal worth 700m euros ($827.7m, £481m) to supply 60 high-speed trains to China.

The first three trains are expected to be designed and manufactured in Germany while the rest will be made at a plant in northern China.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries declined to comment on reports it is leading a Japanese consortium which will provide a further 60 "Hayate" bullet trains, able to travel at up to 180 miles per hour.

The deal comes a year after the consortium - which also includes Hitachi and Mitsubishi - won a 140bn yen deal to provide bullet trains to the country.

Local media reports said China planned to set up a rail link between Beijing and Shanghai to ease transport problems.