GUANGZHOU, March 24 (Xinhua) -- German manufacturing conglomerate Thyssenkrupp Friday opened its tallest elevator test tower in southern China's Zhongshan City.

With a height of 248 meters, the new test tower will help develop existing and new products and ensure they meet quality and safety standards.

The tower has 13 shafts, with a highest test speed of 18 meters per second. It is expected to go into operation in the second half of this year.

The company also opened a new elevator plant in the city, which is expected to produce 30,000 elevators each year.

Together, the new plant and tower cost about 800 million yuan (125 million U.S. dollars).

Thyssenkrupp Elevator entered China in 1995 by opening a plant in Zhongshan and opened its China headquarters in Shanghai in 2016.

China is one of the most important markets for Thyssenkrupp and has huge demand for elevators, with about 500,000 installed each year, according to Andreas Schierenbeck, CEO of Thyssenkrupp Elevator.