Hitachi is to build a new elevator factory in Shanghai with an annual output capacity of 10,000 units, according to company sources.

Hitachi, which already has elevator factories in Guangzhou and Tianjin, expects the completion of the Shanghai facility in January. It involves a registered capital of 40 million U.S. dollars and covers a 185,000-square-meter site.

Completion of the facility will boost Hitachi's annual elevator production capacity in China to 35,000 units, the company said.

China's elevator market saw an annual growth rate of 25 percent since 2000. The country became the largest elevator market, buying more than 150,000 units in 2006, sources said.

The upcoming Beijing Olympic Games, Shanghai's World Expo and Guangzhou's Asia Games were bound to expand the market, analysts said.

(Xinhua)