Otis Elevator opens new plant in Chongqing

Otis Elevator Co opened its first factory in western China to meet rising demand and get closer to customers.

China now accounts for more than half of the global elevator sales thanks to urbanization and infrastructure development.

"Even if there is a slowdown, the country still makes up more than half of the global market," Tom Vining, president of Otis China, told reporters today while announcing the opening of the new plant in Chongqing.

The plant is the American company's seventh in China and first in the western region. It will be operated by Xizi Otis, a joint venture between Otis and Hangzhou-based Chinese manufacturer Xizi United Holding.

Otis is a unit of Hartford, Connecticut-based United Technologies Corp.

The new factory, with an initial investment of more than 100 million yuan, is capable of making 15,000 elevators a year.

There are around 2 million elevators in operation in China.