Its principal activity is the production, distribution, and sale of BMW passenger cars in mainland China.

On 27 March 2003 BMW and Brilliance Auto agreed to form a joint venture to produce BMW cars for the Chinese market, with BMW holding a 50 per cent stake, Brilliance Auto 40.5 per cent and the Shenyang municipal government 9.5 per cent.

[4] In April 2009 BMW Brilliance announced that it would construct a second automobile assembly plant in China.

[5] Construction of the plant began in Shenyang in June 2010, with a planned cost of US$73.53 million and a production capacity of 100,000 units.

It was expanded in 2020, making it BMW's largest R&D centre outside of Germany.