HONG KONG (Reuters) -German automaker BMW and its joint venture will recall a combined 1.36 million locally produced and imported cars in China due to potential risks with the Takata airbag, China's market regulator said on Friday.

The recalls, effective immediately, are for models produced from 2003-2017, China's State Administration for Market Regulation said in a statement.

BMW Brilliance Automotive, a joint venture based in northeast China, will recall 598,496 China-made cars, while BMW China Automobile Trading will recall 759,448 imported cars, the regulator said.

For vehicles that have been confirmed to have defects after inspection, BMW will replace the driver's front airbag free of charge to eliminate safety hazards, the statement said.

The recall is for BMW cars with steering wheel refits by the car owners, which could have installed faulty Takata airbags, the statement said.

The German carmaker also recalled 394,000 vehicles in the United States due to faulty Takata airbag inflators that could potentially cause serious or fatal injuries, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in July.

BMW China did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Farah Master, Zoey Zhang and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Muralikumar Anantharaman)