China’s state council has shared plans for more use of prefabrication, digital technology and construction robots in its five year construction plan to 2025. Modernisation efforts lie at the heart of its plan to lower the carbon footprint of the industry, encourage more widespread use of digital tools and improve the safety and quality of buildings.

Prefabricated buildings, manufactured in factories and transported to construction sites for assembly, will account for more than 30 percent of the country’s new construction states the plan. Building waste at new construction sites will be lower than 300 tons per 10,000 square meters.

More cooperation between construction companies, internet enterprises and research institutes is being encouraged to promote the use of information technologies, such as the Internet of Things and big data, in the building sector.

The plan also highlights the mass application of construction robots in some fields by 2025.

Looking to 2035, the plan anticipates that the construction sector will move towards industrialisation, with great improvements to the quality of buildings and its business-innovation capability, seeking to demonstrate world-leading competitiveness, especially in intelligent construction.