This photo taken on June 9, 2026 shows a workshop of Foshan Meizong Buildings Technology Co., Ltd. in Foshan, south China"s Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Huang Guobao)

　　A 19-story hotel in Brisbane was not a conventional construction project in Australia, much of it having already been built thousands of kilometers away, inside a factory in south China.

　　Its room modules arrived with walls, pipes, wiring and interior fittings largely completed, allowing the building to be assembled at a pace of roughly one floor every four to five days.

　　The project was delivered by Foshan Meizong Buildings Technology Co., Ltd., a firm based in the city of Foshan in Guangdong Province. It reflects a broader shift in the industry, with more work that once had to be done at a construction site now being completed on a factory floor.

　　Inside Meizong"s workshop, automated cutters slice steel tubes to precise dimensions as workers weld structural joints. Assembly teams install wall panels and lay utility lines. In the finished-goods area, dozens of units stand ready for shipment, with kitchens, bathrooms, lighting and sockets already fitted.

　　More than 90 percent of the work can be completed in the factory, while delivery takes only about one-third of time needed for conventional construction, according to Pang Mingyuan, the company"s general manager.

　　"Building a new home is like building with blocks," Pang said.

　　Modular housing is gaining acceptance in markets such as Australia and New Zealand, where conventional construction faces high labor costs, lengthy building cycles and weather-related disruptions, while housing remains scarce in some remote areas, Pang adds.