Companies are racing to take advantage of government subsidies to replace aging elevators in China.

The country’s early-2000s construction boom saw millions of buildings go up; now, hundreds of thousands of elevators are reaching the end of their useful life, and Beijing is offering financial support for an upgrade program.

China’s property slowdown has hit the industry hard, but it is still a big business: Finland’s Kone — which has bet big on China’s property sector — agreed to buy a German rival for $24 billion this week.

Elevators are unglamorous, but they have transformed land use. The safety elevator, first demonstrated at the 1853 New York World’s Fair, made high-rises and skyscrapers possible, creating modern ultra-dense city centers.