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                                                                    Exhibit 12.1

                  CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER
                         PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE
                           SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

      I, Lin Xiaogang, Chief Executive Officer of Brilliance China Automotive
Holdings Limited, certify that:

      1.    I have reviewed this annual report on Form 20-F of Brilliance China
            Automotive Holdings Limited;

      2.    Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
            statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
            necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
            under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect
            to the period covered by this report;

      3.    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
            information included in this report, fairly present in all material
            respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
            flows of the company as of, and for, the periods presented in this
            report;

      4.    The company's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
            establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
            defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the
            company and have:

            (a)   Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
                  such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
                  our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
                  to the company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is
                  made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
                  during the period in which this report is being prepared;

            (b)   [omitted pursuant to the guidance of Release No. 33-8238 (June
                  5, 2003), Release No. 33-8392 (February 2, 2004) and Release
                  No. 33-8545 (March 2, 2005)];

            (c)   Evaluated the effectiveness of the company's disclosure
                  controls and procedures and presented in this report our
                  conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
                  and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
                  report based on such evaluation; and

            (d)   Disclosed in this report any change in the company's internal
                  control over financial reporting that occurred during the
                  period covered by the annual report that has materially
                  affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
                  company's internal control over financial reporting; and

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      5.    The company's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based
            on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
            reporting, to the company's auditors and the audit committee of
            company's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
            functions):

            (a)   All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
                  design or operation of internal control over financial
                  reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
                  company's ability to record, process, summarize and report
                  financial information; and

            (b)   Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
                  or other employees who have a significant role in the
                  company's internal control over financial reporting.

                                          By:   /s/ Lin Xiaogang
                                             -----------------------------------
                                             LIN Xiaogang
                                             Chief Executive Officer
                                             June 28, 2005

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