Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel sent congratulatory letters on breaking ground for a new BMW Brilliance plant in China.

The ceremony was held in Tiexi district in the city of Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province on Thursday.

BMW Group has become the first beneficiary since China relaxed the joint-venture equity limit for the automobile sector, starting a new journey for the integrated development and mutually beneficial cooperation of the auto manufacturing sectors of China and Germany, Li said in the letter.

The premier said China would open its door wider and wider, further relax control over market access as this year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up.

Foreign companies are welcomed to expand cooperation with China to better achieve common development, Li added.

The German Chancellor echoed Li's stance on deepening reform and opening up, looking forward to the cooperation between the two sides.

The signing of a strategic cooperation agreement between BMW and Brilliance Auto in Berlin this July witnessed by Li and herself sent a clear signal for the two countries to develop long-term win-win economic cooperation and partnership, she added.

(Cover: Guests attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the BMW Brilliance Tiexi New Plant in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Oct. 11, 2018. /Xinhua Photo)