The Grand Theater is located in Yiwu, Zhejiang, covering an area of ​​47,000 square meters and a total construction area of ​​about 95,000 square meters, including a 1,600-seat Grand Theater, a 1,200-seat Medium Theater and an International Conference Center that can accommodate 2,000 people. In MAD's design, the distant mountains are the background and the nearby water is the stage. The Grand Theater is like a sailing boat on the Yiwu River, floating peacefully and elegantly on the water, reflecting the river and resonating softly.

MAD, led by Ma Yansong, won the design rights for Yiwu Grand Theater.

Yiwu, the world's largest small commodity distribution center, is one of the most internationally known Chinese cities; it is also the first national comprehensive reform pilot in Zhejiang Province and an important strategic fulcrum of the "Belt and Road" initiative. In 2018, Yiwu proposed to fully implement the cultural priority strategy to enhance the city's soft power. In the same year, it proposed to build Yiwu Grand Theater and invited five internationally renowned architectural firms - Japanese Arata Isozaki Studio, French Bozambac, German GMP, American KDG and Chinese MAD to participate. MAD eventually won the competition and obtained the design rights.