(Yicai Global) Nov. 1 -- Renovations and remodeling of lifts built in the early 2000s and installations of elevators in old buildings have accelerated and will be the main focus of Chinese liftmakers.

The remodeling of elevators will be the major focus of Shanghai Mitsubishi Elevator in the future, the joint venture between Shanghai Mechanical & Electrical Industry, Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric, and two other parties said in its semi-annual earnings report. The demand for renovations or updating of old lifts and installation of new ones in old buildings has increased amid the aging population.

The demand for renovating old lifts in China’s elevator sector is prominent and rapidly growing, Canny Elevator said in its half-year annual financial report. The corresponding growth momentum in application scenarios, such as elevators for rail transit, hospitals, villas, and old constructions, is also promising, the Shenzhen-based firm added.

The number of renovation projects for old elevators and new installations in old buildings soared over 50 percent this year from last year, Xu Junjie, general manager of engineering at Hitachi Elevator’s China business, told Yicai Global. However, most of China’s elevator market demand is still new installations, as the remodeling of old ones accounts for less than 10 percent of the total, Xu noted.

Renovating old residential communities is important to improve people’s livelihood. China has begun to encourage affordable old communities to install elevators to benefit the elderly since 2018. A number of Chinese municipalities have also launched a series of supporting measures on lift installations from the following year.

Policies regarding the installation of elevators vary from province to province. Municipalities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Shanghai will award subsidies of between CNY50,000 and CNY350,000 (USD6,840 and USD47,900) to old communities that decide to build lifts.

China’s number of existing elevators and lifts, their annual outputs, and corresponding annual growth achieved the top rankings worldwide, data from China’s State Administration for Market Regulation showed. There were 8.8 million operational elevators in China by the end of last year.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione