As one of the world’s leading elevator companies, KONE Corporation will celebrate its 30th anniversary in China in 2026 and is stepping up investment in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. On August 29, KONE Elevator and the Authority of Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone held a strategic cooperation signing ceremony in Shenzhen, announcing that the company will establish a southern headquarters and build a research and development center as well as a smart logistics and assembly center, providing deep support for the high-quality development of cities in the Greater Bay Area.

KONE Group executives told Securities Times and other media that the dual-headquarters model marks KONE’s strategic shift toward a “service-oriented” approach in the Chinese market, with the company focusing on elevator modernization, renovation and maintenance services in the future. In addition, the company has begun applying artificial intelligence to elevator maintenance and smart building integration to improve safety and efficiency.

Expanding Presence in the Greater Bay Area

At the signing ceremony, KONE Group President and CEO Philippe Delorme emphasized that, as a foreign-invested company with nearly 30 years of experience in the Chinese market, establishing a southern headquarters in Shenzhen is a strong implementation of KONE’s commitment to “in China, for China.” KONE hopes to help the Greater Bay Area develop into a world-class city cluster and contribute to urban intelligence and sustainable development.

“The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is one of China’s most dynamic and innovative regions.” said Bao Jiafeng, Executive Vice President of KONE Group and President of KONE Greater China. Qianhai, as an important platform for Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation, has unique advantages for cross-border collaboration, thanks to its robust industrial ecosystem, favorable geographic location and convenient transportation network, as well as efficient policy support. Through its cooperation with Qianhai, KONE hopes to fully leverage and strengthen these advantages, achieve efficient allocation of resources across the Greater Bay Area city cluster, promote industrial upgrading, and advance urban renewal in the region.

According to the plan, KONE’s southern headquarters in Qianhai, Shenzhen, is expected to officially begin operations in early 2026, when the company will establish a “dual headquarters, coordinated linkage” structure in China.

KONE Group executives told reporters that the company’s southern headquarters in Qianhai, Shenzhen, will “focus deeply on the Greater Bay Area,” while its headquarters in Kunshan will “coordinate operations nationwide.” The dual-headquarters model marks KONE’s strategic shift toward a “service-oriented” approach in the Chinese market, with a core focus on elevator modernization, renovation and maintenance services. The company will strengthen the development of localized teams to improve service responsiveness; establish cross-regional coordination mechanisms to enable real-time sharing of information, resources and talent; and optimize supply chain deployment close to customers to ensure that elevator modernization and renovation projects move forward with “every second counting.”

According to disclosed figures, KONE Group’s net sales reached €11 billion in 2024, with China being KONE Group’s largest single market. Five of the 10 tallest buildings in mainland China use KONE’s people-flow solutions. The company currently has production bases in Kunshan, Suzhou and Nanxun, Huzhou. Among them, KONE Industrial Park in Kunshan is the world’s largest production base and its largest overseas R&D center.

Joining Forces to Develop Urban Renewal Projects

On the same day, KONE Group also announced that it would join forces with Shenzhen Metro Group and Vanke Group to build a smart logistics and assembly center. The smart logistics center officially began construction in July this year and is expected to be put into operation in October.

Under the strategic cooperation framework, KONE Group and Shenzhen Metro will jointly develop efficient, safe and low-disruption modernization and renovation solutions, focusing on elevator and escalator upgrades in metro systems; KONE and Vanke will work together to advance the application of smart maintenance and smart building technologies, particularly in commercial buildings.

As the real estate industry enters the post-property era, maintenance and modernization of the existing elevator stock will become a key growth market for the elevator industry. According to disclosed figures, modernization and renovation has become KONE China’s second growth curve, with order volume achieving double-digit growth for three consecutive years.

KONE Group executives pointed out that despite challenges facing the real estate market, the elevator modernization and renovation business continues to show strong growth momentum. In China, elevators that have been in operation for more than 15 years are generally considered old elevators and require assessment or modernization and renovation. As the world’s largest elevator and escalator market, China currently has approximately 11 million elevators in operation; although elevators operating for more than 15 years currently account for less than 10%, this proportion is rising rapidly as the overall elevator stock ages.

Xie Jijuan, Senior Vice President of KONE Greater China and Managing Director of the Greater Bay Area, said that in Hong Kong, China, for example, the number of buildings more than 50 years old is increasing rapidly each year. It is expected that the number of old buildings will reach 24,300 by 2043, while the shortage of industry personnel means elevator modernization and renovation will face significant pain points and offer substantial market potential.

Overall, China’s elevator market is huge and demand is diverse, with modernization and renovation needs varying from one residential community to another and even from one building to another. Company executives said that KONE relies on flexible production lines and an independent business unit dedicated to serving this market to provide customers with customized solutions. This investment will further enhance its ability to serve customers in the Greater Bay Area.

In July this year, KONE completed the modernization of 2,106 elevators in Kunshan, Jiangsu, in eight months, making it one of the largest elevator modernization and renovation projects in China.

Artificial Intelligence Empowers the Elevator Industry

KONE Group is currently promoting digitalization across the entire value chain and exploring the application of artificial intelligence in areas such as maintenance and smart inspection.

Company executives said that the company is integrating data-driven decision-making into operations, building a digital ecosystem and promoting industry transformation. At the same time, the company has introduced a “service transparency” model to replace the traditional “master-apprentice inheritance” model, improving elevator safety and reliability while providing support for the development of smart buildings.

Regarding artificial intelligence, KONE Group executives said that the company has already built a knowledge database and a vertical large language model, integrating them into maintenance technicians’ work helmets to create an edge-side AI solution that improves operational safety and efficiency. This initiative began pilot testing this year; in addition, artificial intelligence is playing a role in intelligent passenger guidance, fault prediction, passenger flow forecasting and smart building integration. In terms of policy, Guangdong Province’s guidelines for the rail transit industry also propose intelligent upgrading of high-end equipment, requiring full consideration of AI technologies, including speech recognition and digital applications.

In terms of sustainable solutions, starting this year, KONE will extend the regenerative energy technology used in mid- to high-end projects to its entire product line, which is expected to reduce energy consumption by up to 70%. In the Kunshan elevator modernization project completed in July, the company focused on improving elevator safety, operating efficiency and energy performance, with average daily energy consumption per elevator expected to decrease by 50%.

Regarding China’s “anti-involution” initiative, KONE Group executives expressed support, saying that the initiative highlights the importance of collaboration, innovation and long-term value in building a healthy industry ecosystem. For the elevator industry, achieving breakthroughs requires a focus on maintaining the bottom lines of safety and quality. Especially during modernization and renovation, elevators and escalators are directly connected to the daily lives of community residents, making safety and reliability non-negotiable core principles. In addition, green innovation needs to be made more accessible, with sustainable solutions benefiting a broader range of people, helping China achieve its overall sustainable development goals and create social value.

At the same time, KONE Group also recommended building an open and innovative digital ecosystem. Similar to automotive maintenance, elevator maintenance is a key link in ensuring the safe operation of equipment. The current market is highly fragmented, with varying levels of development among small and medium-sized service providers. By building an open digital platform, the transformation of the entire industry can be empowered, ultimately providing end users with greater peace of mind.

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