Prefabricated Composite Housing

Prefabricated composite housing is a form of housing that primarily uses prefabricated components for construction, mainly including modular buildings and prefabricated panel houses.

Modular buildings involve breaking down a building into independent modules, which are manufactured in a factory, including ceilings, floors, plumbing and electrical systems, and then transported to the site for assembly. Its construction method is similar to building with building blocks, with total assembly completed through welding robots and automated production lines. Some projects adopt parallel operations, reducing the construction period by more than 60% compared to traditional buildings. For example, a public housing project in Shenzhen, Guangdong, was assembled from 6,028 concrete modules, with the construction period reduced from 2.5-3 years to 1 year. Modular buildings offer advantages such as short construction periods, controllable quality, energy efficiency, environmental protection, and ease of maintenance. However, they require a high level of industrial infrastructure, supported by technical and production systems. Overseas customers choose Chinese modular buildings for reasons including low cost, with British merchants stating that 'the price is unbeatable,' and savings on on-site labor, as evidenced by repeated purchases from project owners in Papua New Guinea. They have a wide range of applications, suitable for hotels, apartments, dormitories, office buildings, hospitals, and data centers. For example, 63 modules purchased by the UK were installed on-site in just two weeks, and 84 modules in Papua New Guinea were used to build a fully functional hotel. Market data indicates that the global modular building market is expected to exceed $142.8 billion by 2030; China's prefabricated building exports grew nearly threefold from 2015 to 2025, with a growth rate of 45% in the first quarter of 2026.

Prefabricated panel houses, on the other hand, are constructed using factory-prefabricated cement components (such as solid or hollow prefabricated panels) as the main structural elements. Originating in the early 20th century, they were once widely used for floor slabs and roof insulation layers. Existing prefabricated panel houses suffer from issues such as weak earthquake resistance and poor sound and thermal insulation. Since 2022, China has focused on renovation and upgrading, only demolishing dangerous buildings. Additionally, the export form of prefabricated composite housing is known as 'giant express delivery.' For example, enterprises in the Guangzhou Customs district exported RMB 1.4 billion worth of mobile houses in the first four months of 2026, a year-on-year increase of 38.1%.