The operational life of lifts can last up to 18 years but must be checked every six months, officials said.

The bureau has vowed to conduct thorough checks of the city's 30,000 lifts to ensure safety.

Lifts in China are used on average around 3,000 times a day, 10 times that of other countries due to its huge population, statistics from the bureau claimed.

Residential lifts usually have more problems than those in hotels and high-rise buildings where high-quality lifts are usually in operation.

Most residential lifts installed in the 1980s and early 1990s are domestic-made lifts and most of them have failed to meet the present state quality standards, according to the bureau.

The municipal government has replaced 2,000 old lifts with higher-quality ones since 1996. The other 1,000 are due to be renovated soon, the source said.

Lifts must be under strict supervision, said Ling Qiu, vice-director of the Beijing Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision.

A lift accident occurred back in August, when a person was killed in a residential building in Beijing.

The maintenance of lifts is now the responsibility of property owners, governmental housing departments, and real estate firms.

(China Daily 09/18/2001)