HELSINKI, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Finland's Kone Corporation, a leader in the elevator and escalator industry, reported its July-September results on Thursday, noting that its Chinese market showed a notable growth.

Kone reported a 333.1-million-euro (394 million U.S. dollars) operating income in the third quarter (Q3) of 2020, up from 314.2 million euros in the same period of 2019. This performance exceeded the expectations of analysts quoted by the Finnish business daily Kauppalehti.

Kone's sales in Q3 2020 grew by 1.1 percent to 2,587 million euros from 2,557.6 million euros in the corresponding period last year, according to a press release issued by the company. Orders received declined by 3.8 percent to 1,931.7 million euros from 2,007.3 million euros in Q3 2019, however.

Henrik Ehrnrooth, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Kone, described in the press release the Q3 results as "overall strong although mixed across the different regions and businesses."

He said that in Q3, Kone's Chinese market developed extremely well in terms of both sales and orders. Markets in other parts of the world improved but continued to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with increasing uncertainty towards the end of the quarter, he noted.

Ehrnrooth said that demand for new equipment decreased in most parts of the world. However, in the Asia-Pacific area volumes grew clearly as a result of high-level activity in China, while those in markets elsewhere declined.

In a commentary published on Thursday, Kauppalehti noted that Kone's business in China is already responsible for a third of its turnover.

Talking to Kauppalehti, Ehrnrooth said that Kone's strong position in China can be partially attributed to the current economic recovery measures there, but that concerns only public infrastructure construction, which is less than 15 percent of the whole market. Kone's largest market segment in China is house construction.

"When we look at the next couple quarters, we see the good situation to continue in China," said Ehrnrooth. However, he also acknowledged that Q3 was exceptional and that this level of performance cannot be expected to continue. Enditem

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