The history of elevator maintenance in China can be divided into four stages.

The first stage is before the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. During this period, there were about 1,100 elevators in operation in China, all of which were exclusively foreign-made and serviced by foreign enterprises.

The second stage lasted from 1950 to 1979: from the founding of the People’s Republic of China until the opening-up reform, about 10,000 elevators were installed and, most importantly, about a dozen Chinese elevator manufacturers emerged. At this stage, the scale of the elevator maintenance market in China was still small, but it was no longer limited to servicing elevators exclusively from foreign brands.

The third stage is from 1980 to 2013. During this period, elevator production in China grew exponentially. By the end of 2013, the number of elevators in China reached 3 million. Most of the world’s famous elevator companies established joint ventures or set up their own factories in China. With the use of more and more new elevator technologies, the technical requirements for elevator maintenance have been constantly increasing.

The fourth stage began on January 1, 2014, with the implementation of the “Special Equipment Safety Law”, which requires the establishment of a maintenance system for elevators in cooperation with manufacturing enterprises. In 2019, 70% of the elevator maintenance market in China was occupied by independent elevator service providers, and the remaining 30% was serviced by elevator manufacturers (and their share continues to increase). On the other hand, through years of technical improvement and innovation, coupled with the supervision of the elevator market, some third-party service companies have become technically mature enough to completely overcome the technological barriers of any brand. The Chinese authorities hope that with the gradual regulation of the industry, uncompetitive maintenance providers will gradually leave the market.