The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine announced that BMW's China joint venture will recall 143,215 vehicles. BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd will recall the cars because of an issue that has to do with its electric power steering system. These 5-series cars were made from 2009 to 2012.

A week earlier, the German luxury carmaker was denied approval for the expansion of one of its plants. China's environment ministry said the car manufacturer's wastewater analysis was inadequate and that it had failed to meet anti-pollution goals set by the government.

Reuters reported that foreign luxury car brands in China have been criticized by state media for pricing their cars extraordinarily high. Last week, Xinhua news agency said that these luxury car manufacturers reaped huge profits and should be the subject of an antitrust investigation. Audi, another luxury carmaker doing business in China denied the accusation. Audi, the luxury division of Volkswagen, said that after taxes and other factors were considered, the car prices in China were similar to that of other countries.