Posted on 11 Oct 2019
Recently, the elevator maintenance and modernisation market has become a hot topic in China. This article will address the current status of China’s elevator maintenance and modernisation market from the perspective of market information, laws and regulations.
In 2017, China’s permanent urban population was 813.47 million, and the urbanization rate reached 58.52%, an increase of 1.17 percentage points from the previous year. Growth in areas such as rail transit and affordable housing can be linked to an increase in new elevator installation and there is now a growing market for the modernisation of existing elevators.
The number of elevators in China is ranked number one in the world. By the end of 2018, the number of elevators in the Chinese market had reached more than 6.3 million units, with an annual output of about 850,000 units, an increase of about 5%. In February 2018, the General Office of the State Council issued the “Opinions on Strengthening the Quality and Safety of Elevators” and contracted out elevator quality and safety work. In March of the same year, Premier Li Keqiang also proposed in the government work report to “orderly promote the ‘village in the city’, renovate old communities [and] improve supporting facilities”. According to the experience in the mature markets of Europe and the United States, according to the rate of new installs over the last 10-15 years there are now a large number of cars which could be good candidates for modernisation.
According to the National Census Bureau’s 2017, China’s population aged 60 and over has reached 17.3% of the total population, which means that China has entered an aging society. Due to the large number of retired communities in China, the vertical traffic problem has become a hot topic, and the government has given great support to the installation of elevators with policies and subsidies. In August 2016, the government issued a pilot work plan document on the installation of elevators for existing multi-storey residential buildings. In the 2018 government work report, Premier Li Keqiang also proposed to “encourage installation of elevators if condition allows”. In recent years, with the successive introduction of local policies and the commencement of pilot work, a coordinated mechanism of government-led, community-based, and enterprise-operated has been formed, driving new installations of elevators into existing buildings.
It can be seen from China’s 15-year ageing forecast that the elevator modernisation market has huge potential. The service life of a general elevator is about 15 years, and then it requires significant modernisation to avoid failures. Normally, the main measures in this case include: servicing parts such as rails, doors, cars, etc., if necessary replacing the main drive, and control system; or completely replace with a new elevator. In February 2016, China’s first “Technical Conditions for the Retirement of Main Components of Elevators” was officially implemented. The standard stipulates technical conditions for the scrapping of the 13 main elevator components such as “safety protection devices, emergency rescue devices, and hoist way safety doors” that have a great impact on the safe operation of the elevator, and provides a basis for the safety supervision of the elevator.
Avire has specific solutions for the increasing modernisation market in China. Panachrome+ is an intelligent, unique and premium light curtain that offers advanced door and passenger protection by showing door movement with red and green coloured LEDs. This premium light curtain is available with 3D detection and in Europe the latest version can be monitored remotely using our cloud platform the Avire Hub.
Avire’s Retrofit display kits from E-Motive are an industry first. One that promises to save elevator operators considerable time and money. Modernisation can be easily achieved in hours, resulting in minimum downtime and no need to connect to the elevator controller. The range includes the PRP picture display and the MRP multimedia display.
Share article
