Property management companies usually outsource maintenance to professional companies.

There are about 300 such companies in Beijing and they have fewer than 50,000 technicians in charge of maintaining more than130,000 elevators.

But there are only 13 large maintenance companies and each are responsible for about 1,000 elevators. The remainder are serviced by small firms.

The industry association inspected 60 maintenance companies in Beijing between May and October, exposing a number of problems.

"Safety checks and maintenance were just empty terms in some buildings, as they were never carried out," Miao said.

About the broadcaster:

CJ Henderson is a foreign expert for China Daily's online culture department. CJ is a graduate of the University of Sydney where she completed a Bachelors degree in Media and Communications, Government and International Relations, and American Studies. CJ has four years of experience working across media platforms, including work for 21st Century Newspapers in Beijing, and a variety of media in Australia and the US.

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