BERLIN (Reuters) - A German government spokesman on Wednesday welcomed a merger of Siemens' (>> Siemens) and Alstom's (>> Alstom) rail operations, saying the tie-up showed that the European Union's single market was also working on a corporate level.

Speaking during a regular news conference, Steffen Seibert said that Berlin was in contact with Paris on the issue of rail industry sites in both countries.

The merger aims to create a European champion to better withstand the international advance of China's state-owned CRRC Corp Ltd (>> CRRC Corp Ltd).

(Reporting by Michael Nienaber, editing by Thomas Escritt)

Stocks treated in this article : Alstom, Siemens, CRRC Corp Ltd