GUANGZHOU - The elevator business has become a new growth engine for Midea Group, China's leading home appliance manufacturer, according to the company.

Midea's building technologies division recorded a 55 percent increase in its operating revenues in the first three quarters of 2021, with the revenue of its elevator business growing 35 percent year-on-year.

The data was released during the group's global launch event recently held in Foshan City, South China's Guangdong province.

In December 2020, the group teamed up with elevator and escalator manufacturing enterprise LINVOL Elevator Co Ltd to make its first foray into the elevator market.

China has a huge elevator market, and foreign enterprises have taken the lion's share. Midea is currently accelerating its key layout for the research and development as well as production of digital and intelligent elevators.

Midea Group's revenues rose 20.57 percent year-on-year to a total of approximately 261 billion yuan ($40.8 billion) in the first three quarters of 2021, according to the company's financial report for the period.