China sets out fusion progress, collaboration opportunities

World Nuclear News 18th Sept 2026

China’s aim to achieve the commercial utilisation of fusion energy by 2050, and the benefits to be gained from international collaboration, have been set out at Fusion for the Future: Engineering the Key Pathway to Realising Fusion Energy, a side event at the 70th IAEA General Conference.

The event, hosted by China Fusion Energy Co, which is part of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), began with the signing of cooperation agreements with the multinational ITER fusion project and between China’s Southwestern Institute of Physics and the Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology.

China Fusion Energy Co was established in 2025 and manages the Southwestern Institute of Physics (SWIP) which was established in 1965 and was China’s earliest professional research institute dedicated to the development of controlled nuclear fusion energy and research on fusion plasma physics.

The institute, which has developed more than 20 fusion research devices of various magnetic configurations, “serves as a national team and core force in fusion reactor R&D under the ‘three step’ national nuclear energy development strategy”. It has three campuses across two cities – Chengdu in Sichuan province and in Shanghai.

The event in Vienna was also told that the HL-3 device, the largest and highest-parameter tokamak in China, had since 2020 achieved “continuous breakthroughs” and in 2025 it achieved “dual hundred-million-degree” operation, with an ion temperature of 120 million degrees Celsius and an electron temperature of 160 million degrees Celsius…………………………………………………

In terms of global cooperation, the meeting heard that nuclear fusion “has advanced from fundamental research to engineering demonstration and pre-commercial phases”. But while scientific feasibility has been verified, “engineering bottlenecks remain the key challenge” and “existing international mechanisms focus on R&D, lack dedicated frameworks for fusion engineering innovation, industrial collaboration and standard-setting”.

“Gaps in the engineering chain propagate costs and risks downstream, demanding systematic engineering collaboration. Confronted with unprecedented engineering challenges, accelerated breakthroughs can only be achieved by pooling global wisdom and strengths. The initiative targets breaking down barriers, promoting co-construction and shared benefits, and advancing the early commercialisation of fusion energy.”

A Global Fusion Supply Chain Sharing Programme is proposed which “aims to break bottlenecks, cut costs and accelerate industrialisation, pursues joint procurement, unified standards, risk-sharing and technology collaboration and builds a safe, efficient and sustainable industrial ecosystem”.

The tasks include creating a “universal engineering language for fusion engineering” and uniting “top global fusion experts to jointly develop a scientific, rigorous industry-standard system”.

Global research institutions and enterprises were invited to participate with the message that “together we can build an open, collaborative ecosystem that delivers clean, sustainable energy for humanity’s future”.
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/china-sets-out-fusion-progress-collaboration-opportunities