ABSTRACT |This paper discusses manufacture capacities in China’s Pearl River Delta (PRD), and the chasm between domestic digital practices. It begins by case studying two fabrication plants in the PRD, illustrating potentials of computer numerically controlled (CNC) technologies among digital manufacturers. Then the paper summarizes ideological evolutions in digital architecture, and how those have fostered new materialization strategies in Western architecture. Thirdly, in China’s current circumstances, it explains the barriers that are impeding a streamlined connection between computational designs and accessible productivities. The emergence of digital “home-grown” architects and their pragmatic adaptations illustrated regional methodologies. The paper continues to argue how these experiments may challenge a rigidified workflow of China, increase cooperation opportunities between architects and digital manufacturers. It concludes by advocating the necessities of revisiting China’s conventional paradigm and project delivery mode, along with promoting a digital “conception” to “production”.