I. Policy Enhancement: A Comprehensive Push from Collaborative Prefabrication to Specialized Support

As a core sub-sector of prefabricated construction, steel structure buildings have established a policy framework characterized by “national strategic guidance + local special support + industry standard assurance,” thereby driving the industry’s large-scale development.

At the national level, the “14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of New Building Industrialization” clearly states: “Promote steel structure buildings and prioritize their use in scenarios such as super-high-rise buildings, large-span structures, and industrial plants.” The “Implementation Plan for Peaking Carbon Emissions in the Urban and Rural Construction Sector” sets a target that by 2025, steel structure buildings will account for more than 15% of newly built urban buildings, rising to over 25% by 2030. The revised edition of the “Code for Design of Steel Structures” (GB 50017-2017) strengthens seismic and fire-resistant design requirements, thereby promoting the standardization of related technologies.

Local Implementation: Beijing provides a subsidy of 300 yuan per square meter for steel-structure residential projects, and the proportion of newly built public buildings using steel structures is expected to reach 80% by 2024. Guangdong has introduced a dual mandatory standard for “steel structure + prefabrication”; cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou require that buildings over 20 stories adopt steel structures at a rate of 100%. Shandong is fostering a steel-structure industry cluster, with cities like Liaocheng and Weifang establishing a complete industrial chain spanning “raw materials—component production—construction and installation.” In 2023, the output of steel-structure buildings reached 32 million tons.

Special Incentives: The central government provides financial support of up to 20 million yuan for demonstration projects involving steel structures. The National Development and Reform Commission has included steel-structure buildings in the Green Industry Catalog, enabling them to enjoy preferential green credit interest rates that are 15%–20% lower.

II. Market Boom: Multi-Scenario Penetration Spurs Trillion-Dollar Scale

Policy-driven initiatives and technological cost reductions are jointly accelerating the rapid expansion of the steel structure construction market, fostering a collaborative development pattern across the entire industry chain.

Scale Data: According to statistics from the China Steel Structure Association, in 2023, the scale of China’s steel structure construction market reached 1.1 trillion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 46%. It is projected that by 2025, the market size will surpass 2 trillion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 40%. By 2030, the market size is expected to reach 4.5 trillion yuan, with super-high-rise buildings, industrial plants, and residential buildings accounting for 30%, 28%, and 22% of the total, respectively.

Industrial chain layout:

Upstream: Enterprises such as Baowu Steel and Hebei Iron and Steel Group have launched high-strength, earthquake-resistant steel products with a yield strength exceeding 690 MPa, reducing carbon emissions by 18% compared to conventional steels. Production capacity of specialty steels—including weathering steel and fire-resistant steel—has increased by 25% annually, meeting the demands of diversified application scenarios.

Midstream: Leading enterprises such as Jinggong Steel Structure, Hangxiao Steel Structure, and China Construction Science & Technology Group are spearheading component production and integration. Jinggong Steel Structure boasts an annual production capacity exceeding 6 million tons, with a market share of over 35% in steel structure bridges and stadium projects. Modular steel structure companies are rapidly emerging; for instance, Yuanda Residential’s steel structure residential modules have an annual production capacity of 150,000 units.

Downstream: In the ultra-high-rise sector, landmark projects such as the Shanghai Tower (632 meters) and the Shenzhen Ping An Finance Centre (599 meters) adopt steel structural systems, improving seismic performance by 40%. In the industrial plant sector, Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory and CATL’s power battery plant both utilize 100% steel structures, shortening construction periods by 50%. In the residential sector, Vanke and Poly have launched steel-structure residential product lines; in 2024, Vanke plans to account for 30% of its newly built residential units using steel structures, reducing construction waste per project by 75%.

III. Core Advantages: A Triple Breakthrough in Low-Carbon, Efficiency, and Safety

Compared to concrete structures, steel-structure buildings leverage the material properties to achieve multiple value enhancements, making them a core choice for the transformation of the construction industry.

Significant advantages in low-carbon emission reduction: Steel structures can be recycled at a rate of over 95%, reducing construction waste by 80% compared to concrete structures. A 10,000-square-meter steel-structure building has a lifecycle carbon footprint that is 30%–40% lower than that of conventional buildings, equivalent to an annual reduction of approximately 1,200 tons of CO₂ emissions. Moreover, the steel production process is gradually adopting green electricity; in 2023, the share of green steel structures reached 28%, further unlocking substantial carbon-reduction potential.

Dual excellence in construction efficiency and quality: The prefabrication rate at component factories exceeds 90%, and the on-site assembly approach shortens the construction period by 30% to 50%. This improvement in construction efficiency is particularly pronounced in super-high-rise projects—for example, the steel structure installation at the Guangzhou Tower advances an average of 3.5 meters per day. Standardized production ensures that component precision errors are no greater than 2 mm, and the seismic resistance rating can reach level 8 or higher, giving these structures a significant safety advantage in disaster scenarios such as earthquakes and typhoons.

Flexible adaptation of space and function: Steel structures boast high strength yet low self-weight—only one-third to one-half that of concrete structures—enabling large-span, column-free spatial designs (with maximum spans reaching 120 meters), making them ideal for applications such as convention centers, sports venues, and industrial plants. The structural components are detachable and reconfigurable, offering exceptional flexibility for later renovations and extending the building’s service life to over 100 years.

Long-term economic benefits: Although the initial construction cost is 5%–10% higher than that of concrete structures, the overall life-cycle cost can be reduced by 12%–18% thanks to shorter construction periods (which save on capital-occupation costs), lower operation and maintenance costs (due to upgraded anti-corrosion and fire-retardant technologies that extend maintenance intervals to 15 years), and revenue from demolition and recycling (with steel recycling fetching up to 70% of the original material cost). As a result, the payback period for commercial building investments is approximately 6–8 years.

IV. Development Bottlenecks: A Triple Constraint of Technology, Cost, and Awareness

Despite the promising market outlook, steel-structure buildings still face phased challenges that hinder their large-scale adoption.

Insufficient technological adaptability: Fireproofing and anti-corrosion technologies for steel-structure housing still need to be optimized. Traditional fire-retardant coatings have a service life of only 8 to 10 years, and high-end water-based fire-retardant coatings are relatively expensive. In cold regions, steel structures lack adequate thermal insulation performance, necessitating the use of efficient insulation systems that add extra costs.

High costs persist: The production of high-strength steel and specialized components requires substantial capital investment. Small- and medium-sized component enterprises have dispersed production capacities and lack economies of scale, resulting in prices for certain niche products that are 15% to 20% higher than those for concrete components. Additionally, high logistics and transportation costs—particularly the freight charges for extra-long and extra-wide components, which are 30% higher than those for standard goods—hinder cross-regional expansion.

Lack of Standards and Collaboration: There are discrepancies in the acceptance criteria for steel structure construction across different regions, and technical specifications for aspects such as node connections and waterproof sealing in the residential sector have not yet been fully harmonized. Data interfaces among design, manufacturing, and construction stages are incompatible, and the adoption rate of BIM technology throughout the entire steel structure process stands at only 42%, resulting in low collaboration efficiency.

Market perception biases: Some consumers harbor concerns about the fire resistance, corrosion resistance, and sound insulation performance of steel-structure housing, resulting in insufficient market acceptance in third- and fourth-tier cities. Small- and medium-sized property developers are sensitive to the incremental upfront costs and show limited willingness to undergo transformation, leading to uneven regional penetration rates in the market.

V. Future Trends: Technological Iteration and Scenario Expansion Drive High-Quality Development

With advancements in technology and the refinement of policies, steel-structure buildings will evolve toward “efficiency, low-carbon emissions, and intelligence,” becoming a core pillar supporting the transformation of the construction industry.

Technological innovation breaks through bottlenecks: The costs of new fire-retardant and anti-corrosion materials—such as nano-composite fire-retardant coatings and weather-resistant steel surface treatment technologies—are steadily declining, while their service life has been extended to over 25 years. Modular steel structure technology is being upgraded, and the adoption rate of integrated bathroom and kitchen modules is expected to reach 50% by 2025, further boosting construction efficiency by another 20%.

Deepening the Low-Carbon Transition: The large-scale application of green-electricity-based steelmaking technologies is expected to push the share of green steel structures to over 50% by 2026. Furthermore, integrating steel structures with building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and energy-storage technologies will enable the development of multifunctional composite components that combine power generation, load-bearing capacity, and thermal insulation, thereby achieving self-sufficient building energy systems.

Intelligent Integration and Upgrade: BIM+AI technologies enable digital control across the entire process of steel structure design, manufacturing, and construction, boosting the automation rate of component production to 70%. Digital twin technology is applied in the operation and maintenance phase, enabling real-time monitoring of steel structure stress and corrosion conditions with an early-warning accuracy rate exceeding 95%.

Expansion of scenario-based applications: extending from super-high-rise buildings and industrial plants to residential projects, rural revitalization initiatives, low-temperature storage facilities, and temporary structures; promoting steel structure retrofitting and elevator installation solutions in the renovation of older residential communities; and driving comprehensive coverage of steel structure construction in key regions such as the Xiong'an New Area and the Hainan Free Trade Port.

Industrial Ecosystem Collaborative Optimization: Leading enterprises are integrating and reorganizing the industrial chain through mergers and acquisitions, thereby establishing an integrated service capability spanning “raw materials—component manufacturing—construction and installation—operation, maintenance, and recycling.” Universities and research institutions are strengthening their efforts to cultivate specialized talent in steel structure engineering; by 2027, the rate of industry practitioners meeting the required technical competence standards is expected to reach 65%. The standardization system will be further unified, boosting cross-regional construction and acceptance efficiency by 30%.