On January 15, 2022, the volcanic eruption in Tonga occurred. Since the eruption, the Chinese government has been highly concerned about the disaster, and the Chinese people have expressed deep sympathy for the suffering of the people of Tonga. President Xi Jinping immediately sent a message of condolences to the King of Tonga, demonstrating the Chinese government’s deep care for Tonga. At the same time, China took swift action, urgently mobilizing relief supplies, and became the first country in the world to provide aid to Tonga. On January 26, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a phone call with Tonga’s Foreign Minister Utoikamanu, clearly stated that more relief supplies were being prepared and would be delivered in stages.

In accordance with Tonga’s actual needs, China carefully allocated a series of disaster relief supplies, including drinking water, food, generators, water pumps, first aid kits, integrated houses, tractors, and other essential materials that the people of Tonga urgently required. Some of the supplies were transported urgently by Chinese military aircraft, while the rest were delivered by Chinese naval ships to the areas in Tonga most in need.

On January 24 at 12:00, the Ministry of Commerce decided to provide Tonga with 200 sets of integrated houses and entrusted this task to China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC). CSCEC placed great importance on this task and immediately assigned its subsidiary, China State Construction Technology (CSCT), to undertake it. The CSCT Party Committee responded quickly, forming a special aid project team. The team worked tirelessly, day and night, and completed the construction of the 200 integrated houses by 22:00 on January 26, ensuring that all the houses were delivered on time to a port in Guangzhou by 12:00 noon on January 27.

The 200 integrated houses for this aid project were produced by GS HOUSING. Upon receiving the task, GS HOUSING immediately activated overtime production. From 9:00 on January 25, workers began intense production, and by 9:00 on January 27, the 200 sets of integrated houses were completed and successfully left the factory. Using a new modular construction method, Guangsha Housing efficiently and rapidly completed this urgent task.

During the preparation phase, Guangsha Housing actively communicated with CSCT to fully understand the specific needs of the aid project. A professional team was then arranged to optimize the design. After several discussions, a flexible frame structure was chosen, and anti-pollution electrostatic powder coating and wall baking techniques were used to ensure the stability, heat resistance, moisture resistance, and corrosion resistance of the houses.

At 21:00 on January 24, CSCT and GS HOUSING formed the Tonga aid project team overnight. A production team of 35 people and a packaging team of 25 people were quickly mobilized. The project team worked at full capacity, confirming a series of plans, including house designs, material procurement, production, and logistics, before 23:00, and began immediate execution.

The 200 integrated houses provided for Tonga’s support used modular construction. Compared to traditional construction methods, modular construction offers significant advantages, with the most notable being speed. In the production facility, all the modules were completed according to the construction drawings in advance and then transported to the site. During construction, the modules only needed to be lifted, assembled, and integrated, reducing the construction period by 60% compared to traditional methods, while also reducing construction waste by 80%.

On January 25 at 9:00, over 60 workers from CSCT and GS HOUSING began a 24-hour, non-stop production task, with more than 30 transport vehicles on standby. By 22:00 on January 26, the 200 sets of integrated houses were completed. From the start of production to the packing of all materials, only 37 hours were required.

Due to the pandemic, Tonga had not yet opened its borders. Therefore, to ensure that installation personnel could efficiently complete the assembly of the integrated houses locally, CSCT and GS HOUSING, based on the high standardization and integration characteristics of modular construction, worked overnight to prepare the “Modular Integrated Housing Installation Manual” and “Important Instructions on Transportation, Installation, and Other Matters for Modular Integrated Housing” in both Chinese and English. They also produced a bilingual training video with Chinese and English subtitles on “Integrated House Installation Guidance” to help local construction workers quickly master the assembly method.

Moving forward, CSCT and GS HOUSING will continue to follow up on the installation and usage of the relief supplies once they arrive in Tonga, providing timely services and guidance to ensure the successful completion of the aid mission, securing valuable time for Tonga’s relief efforts, and helping the people of Tonga resume normal life as soon as possible.