Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are also believed to have been appointed as lead managers for the dollar tranche, which is expected to be US $1 billion, sources said.
Officials from the banks declined to comment.
The cabinet was close to giving final approval to the Ministry of Finance to issue the bonds, a ministry official, who declined to be identified, said. The ministry was in talks with several banks, the official said.
"There are several potential underwriters, but we haven't made a final decision," the official said.
The official said the total size of the issue could be around US $1.5 billion. Apart from the dollar portion, Beijing is expected to issue a euro-denominated tranche.
Market talk suggested UBS, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas would handle the euro tranche, a market source said.
The ministry official said the bond proceeds would be mainly used to repay matured debt.
The dual-tranche offering, expected to be launched in October, is likely to be well received because of its rarity, market sources said.
Previous issues have been closely held by investors. Beijing last sold US $1 billion of 10-year and 400 million euros of five-year bonds in October 2003.
The US dollar tranche in October last year was lead managed by Goldman, J.P. Morgan and Merrill, while the euro portion was managed by BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and UBS.
China's sovereign dollar bonds due in 2013 were quoted at 70/65 basis points over comparable US Treasuries on Monday.
China is rated A2 by Moody's Investors Service and BBB-plus by Standard & Poor's.
A Ministry of Finance official said in July the ministry had already set a target of selling between US $1 billion and US $2 billion in global bonds this year, but the actual amount and maturity would depend on final cabinet approval.
The ministry was considering selling global bonds regularly, probably once a year, to develop a benchmark to help Chinese firms tap the international debt market, but a final decision had yet to be made by the cabinet, the official said.