Beijing, May 20 (IANS): German luxury automaker BMW opened its third intelligent assembly plant in China where the firm operates one of its major global production centres.

The plant located in Shenyang city, with an investment of 7.6 billion yuan ($1.1 billion), can manufacture 450,000 units annually, Efe news reported on Saturday.

The new assembly line has been designed with the German industrial 4.0 concept and has incorporated sophisticated technologies such as virtual reality, augmented manufacturing, laser scanning and bug data analysis in the whole production process, according to company officials.

The newly-inaugurated facility also houses the other two plants, one of which manufactures engines and the other is a research and development centre.

In 2016, 316,000 cars were produced in Shenyang, one-eighth of BMW's total production.

Since the establishment of the Shenyang factory in 2003, the German company has generated 16,000 jobs in the city.