Safety, intelligence, and high quality: "Good Elevators" Lead the Way in Urban Renewal and Industrial Upgrading.

Elevators are not only a means of transportation within buildings—they also reflect the city’s intelligence and warmth.

From October 30 to November 1, the "Good Elevator Innovation Technology Exchange Conference," themed "Safety, Intelligence, and High Quality," was successfully held at the Shanghai Expo Exhibition Center. As a key component of the upcoming Shanghai International Urban and Architectural Expo 2025, the conference was jointly organized by UN-Habitat and the Shanghai Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Management Committee, drawing in numerous enterprises, expert scholars, and media representatives from across China's elevator industry chain—both upstream and downstream.

Zhu Gang, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Elevator Industry Association, delivers a welcome speech.

Attending experts pointed out that, as China’s elevator stock surpasses 12 million units—ranking first in the world—and with the urbanization rate already exceeding 67%, the demand for urban renewal is becoming increasingly prominent. Nationwide, there are more than 900,000 aging elevators that have been in use for over 15 years, and each year approximately 500,000 to 600,000 new elevators enter their aging cycle, making the task of elevator renovation and upgrading all the more urgent.

Industry现状: Scale and Challenges Coexist

The Chinese elevator industry is currently undergoing a critical period of transformation. On one hand, the existing market remains vast; on the other, the number of aging elevators continues to rise, making safety concerns increasingly prominent. Against this backdrop, the concept of "good elevators" has emerged as a new guiding principle, steering the industry toward high-quality development. According to the latest statistics, China not only boasts the world's largest elevator market but also stands as the most productive nation in elevator manufacturing. Yet behind this impressive scale lie structural challenges: as the real estate market undergoes a transformative shift, the elevator industry itself is facing a transition—from focusing on incremental growth to serving an expanding stock of existing installations.

At the conference, Deng Liling, founder of New Elevator Network, pointed out that real estate expectations do not fully align with elevator market development, as elevators serve far more than just the real estate sector—they are also integral to architecture, public transportation, retrofitting projects, villa elevators, and even automated walkways, making them versatile tools for diverse applications across multiple settings. As a result, the future prospects for elevator usage remain incredibly promising. Moreover, with aging elevator systems and growing demand for smart technologies, there is still ample room to address the slowdown in new elevator market growth by focusing on elevator refurbishment, upgrading elevator components, and enhancing maintenance services. This trend is vividly reflected in Beijing's recent initiative to conduct safety assessments of older elevators: From October to December 2025, the city plans to evaluate the safety of 6,000 residential elevators, with a budget of 2.6136 million yuan. Overall, the city aims to complete safety evaluations for a total of 26,000 older elevators throughout the year.

What is a "good elevator"? Redefining industry standards

At the conference, experts elaborated on the essence of a "good elevator" from multiple perspectives. Shi Jingyu emphasized that a "good elevator" should possess three key attributes: exceptional safety, intelligent features, and outstanding comfort—none of which can be overlooked. Together, these elements form the core value system of modern elevators.

Safety is the cornerstone of elevator operation. From structural design to component selection, every step requires rigorous scrutiny to ensure the safety of passengers' lives. And in today’s rapidly advancing technological landscape, relying solely on passive safety measures is no longer sufficient—predictive safety has emerged as the new frontier. Intelligent features are a key hallmark of high-quality elevators. Technologies like the Internet of Things and big data enable elevators to offer capabilities such as remote monitoring and proactive fault alerts, significantly enhancing operational efficiency. Beyond convenience, intelligence directly impacts the elevator's overall safety and service life. Meanwhile, comfort cannot be overlooked either. Factors like ride smoothness and the ambiance inside the cabin greatly influence passengers' overall experience. In an era where high-rise buildings are becoming increasingly common, the elevator riding experience has become a critical benchmark for evaluating building quality.

Zhu Gang, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Elevator Industry Association, called in his speech for the industry to join forces and collaborate, driving development through innovation and jointly promoting high-quality growth in the elevator sector, thereby contributing to urban construction.

Elevator Parts Supplier: New Opportunities Amid the Smart Technology Wave

In the "Good Elevator" ecosystem, elevator component suppliers are now facing unprecedented opportunities and challenges. As the elevator industry evolves toward smarter, higher-quality solutions, the components market is also witnessing rapid growth and technological upgrades. By 2025, the elevator components market is expected to show a significant upward trend, driven primarily by the accelerating pace of urbanization and the ongoing modernization of aging elevator systems. According to market research data, the elevator components sector is projected to maintain steady expansion, with drive system components accounting for the largest share—over 40%—followed by control system components at around 30%, and safety system components making up approximately 20%.

For companies producing accessories such as display monitors, station lights, and buttons—components that serve as "human-machine interaction interfaces"—the wave of智能化 presents threefold opportunities:

Opportunities for technological upgrades: Traditional physical buttons are gradually being supplemented or replaced by non-contact, intelligent interaction methods such as touchscreens, voice recognition, gesture control, and even facial recognition. By integrating sensors and IoT modules, these accessories can collect real-time data on elevator operation status, passenger flow, and other metrics—and upload it to a cloud-based platform.

Personalized customization needs: Different building types and user groups have created highly diversified demands for elevator human-machine interaction interfaces, giving rise to a vibrant market for personalized customization.

The elevator modernization and renovation market is poised for a new wave of growth as demand for upgrading and retrofitting older elevators surges. Many existing elevators still rely on basic interaction systems, leaving significant room for improvement. Property managers and building owners are increasingly eager to enhance the overall riding experience and elevate the quality of their structures by upgrading to smart call systems, LCD display devices, and other advanced features.

Technological Advancement: Digital Intelligence Drives New Transformations in Industry

The elevator industry is undergoing a technology revolution centered on digitalization and intelligence. At this conference, digitally intelligent elevators were widely regarded as the key direction driving the future development of the industry.

The smart elevator system addresses inefficiencies, maintenance challenges, safety concerns, energy-saving issues, and ride experience—problems that traditional elevators simply can’t solve. By leveraging advanced technologies such as high-performance CPU chips, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence, the intelligence level of elevators has been significantly enhanced. Predictive maintenance is a prime example of how elevators are becoming smarter. Thanks to IoT technology, real-time monitoring and intelligent analysis of elevator operation data allow for the early detection of potential faults, reducing failure rates by approximately 55% and lowering the risk of people being trapped by about 40%. This shift from "passive repair" to "proactive prevention" is fundamentally transforming elevator operation and maintenance practices. Meanwhile, green and low-carbon development is another major trend driving the evolution of the elevator industry. Elevator systems account for roughly 15% of the energy consumption in large-scale public buildings. Through innovative technological advancements—such as the development of more energy-efficient drive systems and intelligent control technologies—elevators are increasingly becoming a vital component of sustainable, eco-friendly architecture.

Senior engineer Wang Guanshan pointed out in his speech that the digital and intelligent innovation of elevators not only involves digitization and intelligence themselves, but also requires a strong focus on safety innovation. These technological advancements are reshaping the value chain of the elevator industry, while simultaneously offering component suppliers opportunities for transformation and upgrading.

Industrial Collaboration: Building a "Great Elevator" Ecosystem

To achieve the goal of "good elevators," close collaboration is needed across all segments of the industry chain. This conference particularly emphasized the importance of coordination among complete elevator manufacturers, component suppliers, installation and maintenance companies, and architectural design firms.

Improving elevator quality is a comprehensive, end-to-end process that involves multiple stages, including design, production, installation, and maintenance. Each stage requires meticulous management to systematically enhance the overall quality of elevators. As a critical component of the industry chain, the quality and technical expertise of component suppliers directly impact the performance and reliability of the entire elevator system. Moreover, in the context of urban renewal, the degree of integration between elevators and buildings has also become an important benchmark for defining a "good elevator." Ma Zefeng, Deputy Chief Engineer of the Structural Institute at Shanghai Modern Architectural Planning & Design Research Institute under Huajian Group, points out that the structural design of an elevator significantly influences its safety and stability. During the design phase, it is essential to thoroughly consider factors such as the elevator's load-bearing capacity and seismic performance.

For component companies, participating in the construction of this ecosystem requires a transformation from traditional "suppliers" to "solution providers." By deeply understanding the needs of elevator manufacturers, component companies can develop products that better meet market demands, while leveraging technological innovation to drive improvements in overall elevator performance.

Outlook: The Future Vision of the Elevator Industry

As technology continues to advance and market demands evolve, the elevator industry will embrace trends toward diversification, intelligence, and personalization. For component manufacturers, these trends represent both challenges and opportunities.

The aftermarket for elevators holds tremendous potential, with double-digit growth expected to continue until 2025. By 2025, the market size is projected to approach 100 billion yuan, accounting for more than 30% of the industry's total market value. This trend opens up vast opportunities for component suppliers. Meanwhile, the market share distribution in the elevator parts sector is already showing a diversified growth pattern. Looking ahead, as the elevator industry continues to expand and new markets keep emerging, the distribution of elevator parts market shares will become even more varied, creating additional growth opportunities for businesses.

The elevator industry will place greater emphasis on collaboration with architectural design and urban planning, such as developing elevator products better suited for an aging society and seamlessly integrating with urban public transportation systems. These emerging trends will drive elevator components toward increasingly intelligent and user-friendly innovations. For component manufacturers, the future calls for a stronger focus on technological innovation and product quality, while also strengthening partnerships with complete elevator companies to jointly promote high-quality growth in the industry. Only by staying attuned to industry trends can businesses secure a competitive edge in today’s fiercely contested market.

In the future, elevators will no longer be mere vertical transportation tools. As experts have noted, elevators will undergo a transformative shift—from "manufacturing" to "intelligent manufacturing," from conventional equipment to smart devices, and from simple product sales to a platform-based economy. With new IoT technologies constantly emerging and innovative opportunities still abundant, elevators are perfectly positioned to evolve into more than just building transportation systems—they can become vital platforms for information delivery and even act as building managers. The more elevators we have, the easier it becomes to move around; the more developed our cities grow, the happier our people will be.