Who’s winning the nuclear fusion race?
One of the many areas where China is vying with the US is the nuclear industry, particularly nuclear fusion for energy. While the US remains ahead for now, China is also moving quickly to build its nuclear infrastructure. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Lim Zhan Ting speaks to academics and those in the industry.
In October 2025, a 400-tonne, 18-metre giant disc was carefully lowered into the central foundation pit of an avant‑garde steel‑structured building in Hefei, Anhui province. To outsiders, this might be just another engineering project, but behind it lies a contest that would shape China’s energy future.
This is the construction site of the Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak (BEST), China’s next-generation “artificial sun” experimental platform. The installation of the main unit marked a key milestone in the project, with the next goal to light the first lamp via nuclear fusion around 2030.
All signs indicate that China is stepping up efforts to lead global nuclear fusion development, aiming to achieve commercialisation ahead of the US and expand its influence in the global energy landscape.
Nuclear fusion mimics the sun: under extremely high temperatures and pressures, lighter atomic nuclei fuse into heavier nuclei and release energy. Because of its enormous energy potential, abundant fuel resources, as well as a clean and safe process, nuclear fusion is described as “the ideal ultimate energy for humanity”, and is a frontier that many countries, led by the US and China, are continually researching.
BEST is just one link in China’s accelerating push towards nuclear fusion.
Also in Hefei, the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), which has been in operation since 2006, achieved in 2025 the milestone of “high-quality plasma operation” at 100 million degrees Celsius for 1,000 seconds. In Mianyang, Sichuan province, an X‑shaped building has been erected, reportedly to become a laser-ignited fusion research centre.
All signs indicate that China is stepping up efforts to lead global nuclear fusion development, aiming to achieve commercialisation ahead of the US and expand its influence in the global energy landscape.
15th Five-Year Plan heats up nuclear fusion development
China’s emphasis on nuclear fusion can be clearly seen in its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) released in October last year.
Within its blueprint for building a modern industrial system, nuclear fusion power is listed, alongside quantum technology, brain-computer interfaces and embodied artificial intelligence (AI), as industries of the future to drive new sources of economic growth. This is also the first time nuclear fusion has been written into one of China’s five‑year plans.
The “15th Five-Year Plan effect” has quickly sped up nuclear fusion development in China. Zhou Jian, a founding member of the private Chinese nuclear fusion company NovaFusion, told Lianhe Zaobao that the firm completed its angel round of financing in August 2025. Investor interest surged further after the release of the plan, with over 100 potential investors approaching the company by the end of 2025.
... since 2023, China has invested at least US$6.5 billion in nuclear fusion, mainly from central and local government funds — roughly three times the US Department of Energy’s budget over the same period.
NovaFusion, which is currently focused on research and development, aims to build small, distributed nuclear fusion power stations and hopes to achieve power generation between 2030 and 2035, providing energy to facilities such as AI data centres.
In recent years, more private Chinese companies like NovaFusion have thrown their hat into the race, exploring new technological pathways to complement state-owned enterprises in tackling issues with regard to large-scale infrastructure and key technologies.
Overall, China is pouring huge sums into accelerating the commercialisation of nuclear fusion. According to estimates by the Commission on the Scaling of Fusion Energy under the US think tank Special Competitive Studies Project, since 2023, China has invested at least US$6.5 billion in nuclear fusion, mainly from central and local government funds — roughly three times the US Department of Energy’s budget over the same period.
In an interview, Dr Victor Nian, co-founding chairman of the Centre for Strategic Energy and Resources in Singapore, pointed out that multiple strategic considerations lie behind China’s acceleration of nuclear fusion development. As a disruptive technology, once nuclear fusion achieves a critical breakthrough, it would reshape the global energy and industrial landscape. China is looking to secure a strategic initiative for the future by moving quickly.
He added that nuclear energy technology exports often lead to decades of deep cooperation between countries. “China has already demonstrated global competitiveness in the field of nuclear fission power. Developing nuclear fusion is key to sustaining and expanding this strategic advantage”. Nuclear fission refers to the splitting of atomic nuclei and is currently used in nuclear power generation.
As China intensifies its development efforts, anxiety within US industry and policy circles has become increasingly apparent.
At the level of green development, Lin Boqiang, dean of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University, noted when interviewed that the development of nuclear fusion reflects China’s determination to pursue a green transition and achieve carbon neutrality. “China still has a relatively high reliance on fossil fuels and is therefore keen to expand its clean energy options,” he added.
Fusion face-off: from research to commercial application
Compared with China’s state-led approach, nuclear fusion development in the US relies more heavily on private companies, attracting substantial private capital, with government funding seeing limited growth in recent years. As China intensifies its development efforts, anxiety within US industry and policy circles has become increasingly apparent.
A report released in October last year by the Commission on the Scaling of Fusion Energy noted that the US has maintained its lead in nuclear fusion for decades. Its most emblematic recent achievement was the first-ever scientific energy breakeven in a controlled fusion experiment in 2022, where the energy produced exceeded the energy used to trigger the fusion. To date, China has not reported a comparable breakthrough.
However, the report warned that this competition is shifting from a contest of scientific discovery to a competition for commercial dominance, with China mobilising massive state resources to advance infrastructure and supply chain development.
It urged the US government to officially recognise fusion energy as critical to national security and to provide a one-off injection of US$10 billion, stressing that “there is no time to waste”.
Nian assessed that China and the US each have their own strengths and weaknesses in nuclear fusion, with the US still ahead overall in certain foundational and frontier areas.
He noted that China’s advantages lie in its extensive experience in large-scale engineering construction and its highly efficient organisational capacity, both of which have been proven in the building of fission nuclear power plants. Furthermore, the continuity of China’s long-term policy planning also provides stable expectations for research and development over extended time frames.
... the US remains more competitive in high-barrier fields such as controlled nuclear fusion, with deep research foundations in other core areas, including superconducting magnets and materials capable of withstanding extreme conditions. — Dr Victor Nian, Co-founding Chairman, Centre for Strategic Energy and Resources
However, compared with the US, China still falls short in terms of technological originality. Nian explained that the US remains more competitive in high-barrier fields such as controlled nuclear fusion, with deep research foundations in other core areas, including superconducting magnets and materials capable of withstanding extreme conditions.
Meanwhile, Zhou pointed out that through the construction of multiple large-scale facilities, China has nurtured successive generations of suppliers. “The supply chain is now well established and backed by hands-on experience, which is something the US lacks. However, America’s strengths lie in its formidable theoretical research, abundant funding and large talent pool.”
Too early to tell
Despite intensifying China-US competition, nuclear fusion has yet to reach the power generation stage, and it remains uncertain who will be the first to achieve large-scale commercialisation. As Nian put it, “Both countries are still in a critical phase of pushing towards demonstration and validation, rather than standing on the eve of commercial application.”
Zhou added that, following the nuclear fusion development pathway of “experimental reactor to engineering reactor to demonstration reactor to commercial reactor” (progressing from experiments to engineering and ultimately to commercial operation), China has yet to reach the stage of demonstration power generation. “The challenges are substantial, but there are opportunities,” he said.
Some commentators believe that China is attempting to replicate the global expansion path of industries such as new energy vehicles and photovoltaics in the nuclear fusion sector.
... there is broad consensus that once nuclear fusion is commercialised, it will profoundly impact the global energy landscape, particularly in the field of AI.
In response, Nian noted that while nuclear fusion does have the potential to develop into a structural strategic advantage, unlike new energy vehicles and photovoltaics — where large-scale industrialisation has been achieved — nuclear fusion is still in the early stages of commercialisation. Whether its potential is realised will depend on the pace of breakthroughs in key technologies and engineering validation over the next decade.
Regardless of who achieves a breakthrough first, there is broad consensus that once nuclear fusion is commercialised, it will profoundly impact the global energy landscape, particularly in the field of AI.
As Chinese fusion expert Professor Sun Xuan remarked at a forum last year, the rise of AI is driving energy consumption to increase exponentially, and the ultimate solution to this demand is nuclear fusion. “The end point of AI is energy, and the end point of energy is fusion.”
This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “砸重金扩基建加速度 中国押注核聚变能与美争先”.
