OTIS ELEVATOR FORMS HOLDING COMPANY TO MANAGE ITS FIVE JOINT VENTURES IN CHINA TIANJIN, China, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/Asianet/ -- Otis Elevator today announced formation of Otis China Limited, a joint venture holding company that will manage its five operations in the country. China is the world's fastest growing elevator market. Otis' Chinese partners are CITIC Development Company Ltd. and Tianjin Tai Kang Industrial & Commercial Co. Otis China will be operational following approval of the joint venture by the Chinese government. Otis will have majority share in the holding company. "China is a very important market for our products," said Otis President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Page, "and our factories here have already begun to export to other countries." The first Otis elevators were shipped to China in 1900. Since 1984, the company has formed five Chinese joint ventures in Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hangzhou. The company employs nearly 5,000 people at five factories and has built a network of more than 100 branch offices throughout the country. "This agreement to form Otis China is a natural result of the successful evolution of our business partnerships in China," said Pier Luigi Foschi, executive vice president for Pacific Asia. "The linkage of our various operations around the country will help us achieve synergy in the management of our marketing, manufacturing and product development resources,"he added. Otis has a market share in China of approximately 25 percent. Its products can be found throughout the country. in TV towers, high-rise apartment and office buildings, hotels, hospitals, factories and underground railway stations. Otis Elevator, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation, is the world's largest company in the manufacture and service of people-moving equipment, including elevators, escalators, moving walkways and shuttle systems. CONTACT: Peg Hashem of Otis Elevator, 860-676-5402/