2026 is the final year of the “14th Five-Year Plan” and a key turning point for the construction industry to shift from “go big and fast” to “intensive farming”.
After the Two Sessions set the tone, the new direction of the construction industry has become clear: the engineering industry is shifting from scale expansion to quality and efficiency improvement, and a profound industry change has arrived.
As the upstream link of the industrial chain, construction and building materials feel the most keenly – which segmented tracks are exploding?
Which traditional models are being disrupted?
Based on industry research reports, policy documents and leading company trends, the following are the top ten trends in the construction and building materials industry in 2026:
Wind direction 1: The dual-carbon strategy is accelerating, and green building materials have changed from a “choice question” to a “must-answer question”
In 2020, China solemnly promised to peak carbon emissions in 2030 and 2060
Since the carbon neutrality in 2016, the construction and building materials industry has been the focus of policy attention.
As a major consumer of energy consumption and carbon emissions, the construction industry accounts for approximately 40% of the country’s total carbon emissions, with the building materials industry accounting for an important proportion.
At the policy level, government procurement policies to support green building materials have covered 101 cities. Old city renovation projects have been included in the scope of implementation. Cities where the policy is implemented must implement green standards in the entire process of feasibility study preparation and design review.
This policy framework means that green building materials are no longer a voluntary choice for enterprises, but an entry threshold for participating in government projects.
At the technical level, breakthroughs in 2026 deserve special attention: zero-carbon cement and solid waste recycled building materials technology have entered the commercialization stage, and the emission reduction contribution rate in 2025 has exceeded 25%.
The living space of traditional high-energy-consuming building materials is being compressed to the extreme, while companies with low-carbon technologies have gained unprecedented competitive advantages.
Wind direction two: Prefabricated buildings move from the niche to the mainstream, and the demand for supporting building materials explodes
Prefabricated buildings are simply “building a house in a factory” – stairs, walls, balconies and other components are prefabricated in the factory and transported to the construction site for direct assembly.
This construction method can significantly improve construction efficiency, reduce costs and reduce environmental pollution, and is in line with the core demands of high-quality development of the construction industry.
The data best illustrates the problem: the prefabricated construction market size will be approximately US$30 billion in 2024, and is expected to grow to US$80 billion by 2030, with an average annual compound growth rate of approximately 17%.
This growth rate far exceeds the overall growth rate of the traditional building materials industry, which means that supporting building materials for prefabricated buildings is a clear incremental track.
Opportunities for supporting products: The standardization of prefabricated components, connectors, sealing materials, ready-mixed concrete and other products is rapidly increasing.
Especially in the field of sealing materials, since prefabricated buildings have much higher requirements for air tightness and water tightness than traditional construction methods, the demand for high-performance sealants and waterproof membranes has shown explosive growth.
Wind direction three: Intelligent upgrade – building materials change from “passive materials” to “building nervous systems”
If prefabricated buildings change the form of building materials, then intelligent upgrades change the “soul” of building materials.
In 2026, the popularity of the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G networks will make building materials no longer passive structural components, but become part of the building’s “nervous system”.
Products such as smart doors and windows, smart lighting, and environmental monitoring systems realize remote control and data interaction through Internet of Things technology to meet consumers’ needs for convenient and comfortable life.
A specific application scenario: In commercial buildings, smart glass curtain walls can automatically adjust the light transmittance according to the light intensity, which not only reduces air conditioning energy consumption, but also improves indoor comfort.
In residential scenarios, smart door locks, smart window frame sensors, and whole-house smart systems are linked to build a complete residential security network.
These are not distant concepts, but products that are being implemented on a large scale in 2026.
Aging-friendly smart building materials are a new direction worthy of special attention in 2026: the aging society is accelerating, and floor and wall materials with fall detection, automatic lighting, and voice interaction functions are gradually moving from concept to mass production.
This is a brand-new incremental market. The current competitive landscape has not yet solidified, and first-mover companies have significant advantages.
Wind direction four: consumption of building materials “C
“End-oriented” is accelerating, from “industry supporting products” to “consumer brands”
For a long time, building materials companies have mainly faced “B-end customers” such as real estate developers and government projects. Brand building relies on project endorsement rather than consumer recognition.
But in 2026, an important trend is reversing: consumption upgrades are reshaping the demand structure of the building materials industry.
Data support: In 2025, the revenue of the consumer building materials sector will be 25.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 7%, but the gross profit margin of leading companies has not dropped significantly – this shows that companies with brand premium capabilities remain stable in the cold winter.
In 2026, consumer building materials are going through a stage of “weak reality but brewing positive changes”, and companies with brands, channels and differentiated products will be the first to break through.
The driving force of change: renovation of old houses and home decoration have become important increases in demand.
Unlike new home construction, home decoration consumers are much more concerned about brand, appearance, and environmental protection than they are price sensitive.
This has created huge market space for C-end products such as art coatings, microcement, and smart bathrooms.
Wind direction five: Digital transformation changes from “optional” to “core competitiveness”
In 2026, digital transformation is no longer a question of “whether to do it”, but a question of “whether it is done fast enough”.
The overall digital maturity assessment of the industry shows that the digitalization level of building materials companies is uneven, and the gap between leading companies and small and medium-sized enterprises is widening.
Leading companies continue to consolidate their market position through the layout of the entire industry chain, technological innovation and green transformation; the living space of small and medium-sized enterprises is squeezed by both sides – rising raw material prices in the upstream and fierce competition in downstream terminal prices.
The core value of digital transformation is reflected in three levels:
- Precision marketing: achieving precise reach of target customers through data analysis
- Personalized customization: meeting the differentiated needs of decoration consumers
Full-process digital management: Improvement of efficiency across the entire chain from orders, production to distribution
Wind direction six: Structural opportunities in the export market – from “involution” to “external expansion”
2026
In 2017, the underlying logic of building materials companies going global has undergone fundamental changes: it is no longer low-price competition and OEM, but a pragmatic model of industry chain cohesion and localization.
Southeast Asia is the core battlefield: In 2026, Southeast Asia will become the preferred destination for Chinese building materials companies to go overseas.
With its strong export momentum, Vietnam ranks first in the Southeast Asian overseas market for Chinese woodworking machinery and furniture materials.
Thailand and Vietnam have become the core hubs for Chinese building materials companies to go overseas.
The Middle East market cannot be ignored: Middle East sovereign wealth funds are actively investing in Chinese technology companies, and infrastructure construction in cities such as Dubai has created continued demand for waterproofing materials, pipes, ceramics and other building materials products.
Wind direction seven: the proportion of traditional building materials fell below 50% for the first time, and the industry structure was deeply adjusted
A milestone data: in 2026, the proportion of traditional building materials is expected to fall below 50% for the first time, falling to 48%, and the proportion of new building materials will exceed 52%.
This means that the growth engine of China’s construction and building materials industry has completed a substantial switch.
There are two driving forces behind this structural change: First, the policy side has increasingly strict restrictions on high-energy-consuming and high-emission building materials; second, the demand side has rapidly growing demand for high-performance, green, and smart building materials.
Wind direction eight: The market in the central region is rising and the regional growth pattern is being reshaped
For a long time, the growth of China’s construction and building materials market has mainly come from the eastern region.
However, data for 2026 show that the central region has huge market potential and the regional growth pattern is being reshaped.
The Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area still contribute about 65% of the incremental demand, but the growth rate is slowing down; at the same time, the infrastructure construction and urbanization process in the central region (Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Changsha and other urban agglomerations) are accelerating and have become a new growth pole.
Wind direction nine: Leading companies accelerate integration and industry concentration increases
In 2026, another significant trend in the construction and building materials industry is the continued increase in industry concentration.
Leading companies continue to consolidate their market position through full industry chain layout, technological innovation and green transformation.
Take China National Building Materials Group as an example: it has 7 business scales that lead the world, and its voice continues to strengthen in core fields such as cement, gypsum board, and fiberglass.
Correspondingly, the living space of small and medium-sized building materials companies continues to be compressed.
Wind direction ten: Innovative products are moving from the laboratory to mass production, and the commercialization process is accelerating
Innovative products such as self-healing concrete, temperature-sensitive glass, and photochromic coatings are moving from the laboratory to mass production.
Take self-healing concrete as an example. Microencapsulated repair agents are embedded in the concrete. When cracks occur, the repair agent is automatically released and fills the cracks, greatly extending the service life of the building.
This technology has been applied in some bridge and tunnel projects, and it is expected to enter the large-scale promotion stage from 2027 to 2028.
Summary: 2026
Three core judgments on the construction and building materials industry in 2019
| Dimension | Judgment |
|---|---|
| Industry growth | The overall growth rate has slowed down, but structural opportunities are abundant, and new building materials and intelligent building materials are the main growth forces |
| Concentration continues to increase, leading companies have stronger voice, and small and medium-sized enterprises need to find differentiated survival paths | |
| Development driving force | Three-wheel drive of policy (dual carbon, old renovation), technology (intelligent, digital), and overseas expansion (Southeast Asia, the Middle East) |
