On February 26, Chen Liyan, Party Secretary of the CPC Kunshan Municipal Committee, met with Philippe Delorme, President and CEO of KONE Corporation, and his delegation. Muicipal leaders Sun Daoxun and Wang Hao also attended the meeting.

KONE Corporation is one of the global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry. It has been rooted in Kunshan for nearly 30 years, where it has established KONE’s largest production base and overseas R&D center.

In May of last year, Liu Xiaotao, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee and Party Secretary of the CPC Suzhou Municipal Committee, met with Philippe Delorme and expressed hope that KONE would seize the opportunities in the Chinese market and achieve win-win cooperation with Suzhou by further expanding its business in Suzhou, and collaborate to build a digital brain for the elevator industry. Kunshan has conscientiously implemented the directions from Party Secretary Liu Xiaotao, actively implementing national policies on supporting the large-scale renewal of equipment and the trade-in of consumer goods. The Kunshan city was the first nationwide to launch an investigation into its old elevators and has worked hard to apply for policy support. In November last year, Kunshan was approved for 2,196 elevator upgrades, with a supporting fund of approximately 330 million yuan. The number of upgrades accounted for nearly 70% of Suzhou’s total, ranking first among similar cities in the country. Among them, 2,106 elevators were independently selected for replacement with the KONE brand, accounting for 96%.

During the meeting, Chen Liyan expressed her gratitude on behalf of the municipal committee and the government for KONE’s contributions to the economic and social development of Kunshan. She stated that China is currently intensifying support for the large-scale renewal of equipment and the trade-in of consumer goods, focusing on boosting consumption and stabilizing growth. She hopes that KONE will actively seize the limitless opportunities presented by changes and shifts in the market, and continue to deepen cooperation with Kunshan in the fields of old elevator upgrading, elevator installation in old residential areas, and the construction of the smart elevator management platform. She also emphasized the need to explore establishing efficient communication and negotiation mechanisms between the government, enterprises, and communities, to create more checklist-based, process-driven, and standardized solutions for upgrading old elevators while maintaining strict quality and safety standards to fully meet the public’s needs. Kunshan will maintain a “user-centered, customer-focused” approach, develop more application scenarios, continuously strengthen government services, and create a first-class business environment to help businesses develop with confidence and thrive.

Philippe Delorme thanked Kunshan for the support and assistance. He said that, thanks to Kunshan’s top-notch business environment and strong industrial foundation, KONE has been deeply rooted in Kunshan for nearly 30 years and has achieved fruitful results. Particularly in recent times, with the support and guidance of Kunshan, KONE has seized the opportunity in the Chinese market for upgrading residential elevators, taking the lead in the industry. KONE will continue to focus on the Chinese market, placing its top R&D personnel, efficient management teams, and high-quality technical resources in Kunshan, further enhancing digitalization, optimizing design solutions, improving construction efficiency, and creating more typical application scenarios. KONE is committed to working hand in hand with Kunshan to create a bright future.