Prefabricated building exports tripled over ten years to $4.3 billion
Construction has always been a symbol of human activity — raising walls, roofing, creating living space. But today, this ancient process is undergoing an industrial revolution: homes are no longer individual creations but high‑precision factory‑made products. China, turning construction into assembly‑line production, not only accelerates building but also brings to the global market a product where every millimetre is calculated and error margins are measured by robotic precision.
In recent years, Chinese prefabricated buildings have gained global popularity. Customs data show that export volume grew from $1.472 billion in 2015 to $4.339 billion in 2025, and increased by 45% year‑on‑year in the first quarter of 2026. Modules of such buildings are manufactured in factories and assembled on site. In an intelligent manufacturing park in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, a four‑storey plant carries out over 100 production steps for prefabricated modules in an orderly manner. Ceilings, floors, walls, pre‑embedded plumbing and electrical conduits, and bathroom waterproofing layers are all produced there.
“Just like in auto manufacturing, some components and parts are first produced separately on the second or third floor. Then they are assembled on the production line using highly automated robotic welding manipulators. After that, the assembled structures move to the assembly line. The park’s annual capacity is about 20,000 to 30,000 modules,” said Wang Qiong, chief engineer of China State Construction’s Hailong Technology Company. Unlike traditional sites where scaffolding, brick‑laying, plastering and installation are done sequentially, prefabricated buildings handle all processes in parallel at the factory.
Thanks to automated stereoscopic warehouses and intelligent production lines, construction time can be cut by more than 60% compared to traditional buildings. “There are about 2,568 storage spaces here, and all necessary materials are stored right here. If we need a toilet, the stereoscopic warehouse knows where it is and calls an automated guided vehicle to deliver it to the specified location,” said Wu Yexing, warehouse logistics director at the firm. For building homes, like industrial products, the design concept must also change. “Once a product enters industrial production, it cannot be constantly adjusted. The position of every steel bar and even every screw must be precisely determined. We control error and precision to the millimetre,” added Zhang He, executive director of the company’s Design Institute.
According to research platform MarketsandMarkets, the global prefabricated building market is expected to exceed $142.8 billion by 2030. China, as one of the world’s largest construction markets, demonstrates export competitiveness through its well‑developed supply chain covering all stages — from design, R&D and intelligent manufacturing to overseas logistics and installation. As CCTV+ reports. Growing exports and technological innovations are strengthening China’s position as a global leader in prefabricated construction, opening new opportunities for international cooperation.
