China Advances Controlled Nuclear Fusion Program Toward Burning Plasma Phase

China is accelerating research and infrastructure development across its controlled nuclear fusion installations as researchers push toward the burning plasma phase. With key magnetic confinement facilities operating in Chengdu and Hefei, state institutes report crossing prolonged high-temperature operational thresholds. Scientists target 2027 for burning plasma experiments on the Huanliu-3 tokamak, positioning fusion as a zero-carbon, meltdown-safe baseload power solution while construction begins on next-generation compact experimental facilities.

Commercial nuclear fusion promises an abundant, carbon-free energy source relying on widely available isotopes like deuterium. Successful deployment would provide high-output baseload power without long-lived high-level radioactive waste or catastrophic meltdown hazards, fundamentally altering global industrial energy structures and decoupling economic growth from fossil fuels.

China is accelerating the construction and testing of controlled nuclear fusion facilities as part of a national push to develop clean, baseload energy capabilities. State scientific institutions are progressing through the primary phases required to transition laboratory plasma experiments toward engineering demonstration reactors, according to a report by People's Daily. Nuclear fusion, which replicates the physical processes powering the sun by fusing light atomic nuclei under extreme temperature and pressure, offers significant safety and fuel-supply advantages over conventional energy sources. Duan Xuru, chief fusion scientist at China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), noted that deuterium extracted from one liter of seawater can generate fusion energy equivalent to burning 300 liters of gasoline. Unlike traditional fission systems, fusion reactors present no risk of runaway meltdowns because plasma reactions automatically cease when confinement parameters are disrupted, producing no greenhouse gas emissions and leaving no long-lived radioactive waste. Domestic research is currently anchored by two primary state-run magnetic confinement tokamak platforms. In Chengdu, Sichuan Province, the Huanliu-3 tokamak developed by the Southwestern Institute of Physics (SWIP) achieved sustained dual-temperature milestones exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius, with researchers planning to initiate burning plasma experiments by 2027. Meanwhile, in Hefei, Anhui Province, the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) operated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences reached a 100-million-degree steady-state run lasting over 1,000 seconds, as construction proceeds on a compact fusion energy experimental facility. According to Xiao Guoliang, head of an experimental research division at SWIP, commercial fusion requires six developmental stages: principle exploration, scale experiment, burning experiment, experimental reactor, demonstration reactor, and commercial reactor. Xiao stated that China has entered the burning experiment phase, possessing the required plasma density and hardware conditions to conduct testing. While tokamak confinement remains the leading track, Chinese research institutes, universities, and private-sector entrants are also exploring alternative configurations, including stellarators and magnetized target fusion.