China becomes world's largest elevator provider

BEIJING -- China has become the world's largest manufacturer and seller of elevators, with an average annual growth of 20 percent over the past ten years, the organizers of the upcoming 2012 World Elevator Summit said Tuesday.

By the end of 2011, China had installed more than 2 million elevators nationwide, while its elevator sales and production volume both topped 450,000 units, accounting for more than 60 percent of the global total, the organizers said.

China's elevator export volume exceeded 47,000 units in the same period, it said.

The huge demand has help boost the development of domestic elevator producers, who now occupy almost 40 percent of the domestic market, up from 20 percent ten years ago, it said.

There is still a great deal of room for future development, as the country's per capita ownership of in-service elevators is only one-third of the global average, it added.

The 2012 World Elevator Summit, which is set to open on October 25 in Beijing, will focus on future trends in the elevator market and improving elevator security, according to the organizers.