Development Status of Prefabricated Housing

Prefabricated housing is currently experiencing rapid growth in the global market, with China's exports of prefabricated housing performing particularly impressively.

Market Size and Growth: Driven by the increasing demand for global digital infrastructure construction, the scale of China's prefabricated housing exports continues to expand. China's export volume of prefabricated buildings climbed from $1.7 billion in 2020 to $4.3 billion in 2025, a 1.5-fold increase. To provide specific data, in the first four months of 2026, enterprises in the Guangzhou Customs area exported movable houses worth 1.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 38.1%. According to Shenzhen Customs data, in the first four months of this year, enterprises across the country exported movable houses worth 1.68 billion yuan through Shenzhen ports, a year-on-year increase of 19.6%, with exports to more than 150 countries and regions. The United States, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Western Europe are the main buyers of China's prefabricated housing.

Market Distribution: The ASEAN market has shown outstanding growth, with strong demand in countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam, while markets in Thailand and Malaysia are also actively engaging. In addition, the construction of global data centers has also contributed to the popularity of domestic modular buildings overseas, with rapid growth in related business demand.

Technological Advantages: Prefabricated buildings use modular factory-prefabricated components, significantly shortening the construction period compared to traditional methods. For example, CMC composite modular buildings enhance earthquake resistance through integrated steel-concrete pouring, reducing the construction period by 30%. Modular buildings can reduce the construction period by more than 60% compared to traditional buildings. At the same time, prefabricated housing also has core advantages such as environmental protection, energy efficiency, strong adaptability, and controllable quality.

Enterprise Situation: Leading enterprises such as Guangdong CIMC Architectural Manufacturing Co., Ltd. offer a diverse range of products, covering more than 20 countries and regions, with持续增长 (continuously growing) overseas orders. However, the industry also faces intense homogeneous competition, with over 1,000 prefabricated housing factories competing, leading to thinned profits. It is expected that more than one-third of the factories will exit in the coming years.