Germany has a preference for Canadian auto parts group Magna's bid for General Motors unit Opel, but the process of selecting a suitor is still open, a government spokesman said on Friday.

As you will remember, we already made clear at the meeting in the Chancellery ... that we had a preference for the Magna plan, spokesman Ulrich Wilhem said. Nothing has changed on that. But the fact remains that the process is still open.

He said that talks with Magna and rival suitor RHJ were more advanced than those with China's Beijing Automotive (BAIC).

(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Writing by Noah Barkin)

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