How Many More Have to Die Before This Will End?

The recent subway escalator accidents in China have provoked hot debate over safety of public facilities, with many Chinese residents now questioning the safety of elevators in residential buildings. After a series of investigations, our reporter Liu Min has discovered some very worrying results.

Accidents involving aging electric elevators and problematic escalators in China have become a matter of increasing public concern.

With an expected service life of 20 years, most of the equipment installed in the country in the 1980s has now reached an advanced age. But problems do not only exist among old elevators. An anonymous resident, living in Yongle Community, in west Beijing's Shijingshan District says he highly suspects the safety of the newly installed elevators in his building.

"This is a new elevator they put in to replace the old one some time ago, but it frequently breaks down. We usually feel a sudden drop, and then it continues to run smoothly. We've reported this problem many times, but no one seems to be responsible for it."

Figures released by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine show that the number of operating elevators in China has reached 1.6 million, the largest amount anywhere in the world. Usually, an elevator should be replaced by a new one every 20 years, though many elevators in China have surpassed this age.

As early as the mid-1990s, the Beijing Municipal Government stipulated that such facilities require mid-scale inspection and maintenance every three years, and a major overhaul every five years, but few people are now obeying this regulation.

Manager Niu Juntian is from Shenyang Brilliant Elevator Group, an Elevator Manufacturer and Maintenance Service Company. He says many elevator buyers will later sign contracts with a third-party company to provide maintenance service.

"Usually, the elevator manufacturer would provide a one-year maintenance service for free to customers. But after that period, it's not our decision as to whether the service is continued or not. Many property management companies choose specialized elevator maintenance companies instead of us."

It usually costs 7000 yuan to maintain an elevator per year, using the elevator manufacturer's service, but those maintenance companies can offer a much lower price at 3000 yuan per elevator a year.

Xu Ronggen, Secretary-In-Chief of Beijing Elevator Trade Association, says the malicious competition among these maintenance companies has led to poor service.

"The property management companies usually want to spend less on maintenance. Some smaller elevator service companies would suppress their profit margin to compete for a market share, which leads to vicious competition in the market. But in order to stay in profit, they devote little money to staff training and cut basic costs in all areas. Some workers usually take a quick look at the elevator instead of providing proper maintenance service."

The industry insider admits a lack of administrative inspection has to a certain extent indulged the bad situation.

The Beijing Elevator Trade Association says the Municipal Government has asked for help from them to provide random inspection assistance in order to reduce the possibility of accidents. Recently, a thirteen year old boy died when the direction of an escalator, in a Beijing subway station, suddenly reversed. Now, ordinary residents are asking whether the government's recent efforts on elevator inspection are temporary, as a result of the tragedy, or whether they will be consistent, providing a safe living environment for everybody.

For CRI, I'm Liu Min.