The private fusion sector in China is experiencing unprecedented growth as numerous startups employ various technical approaches. This boom is fueled by the growing demand for energy from artificial intelligence and state support, with companies aiming to build demonstration reactors by 2030.
In Chengdu, there is a facility housing a 20-meter apparatus resembling a giant dumbbell. This device, named HHMAX-901, is the first linear device with a reverse field configuration from the startup HH Fusion. A year ago, this installation achieved its first plasma ignition, costing approximately $28 million.
China's private fusion sector is showing a sharp acceleration. In June alone, several startups, including Guomai Juneng, Juhe Juliang, Xingneng Xuan Guang, and Dongsheng Juliang, announced securing significant funding rounds. Partner Legend Capital's Gao Tianyao noted that this investment influx is driven by the explosive growth in the need for high-density energy due to AI, indicating that this breakthrough direction leads to nuclear-level energy release.
The global acceleration began in November 2021 when Helion Energy raised $500 million from investors, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and signed an energy supply agreement with Microsoft. A month later, Commonwealth Fusion Systems raised over $1.8 billion, marking the largest financing round in fusion history. These events triggered a chain reaction in China: since 2015, over 20 innovative fusion companies have been founded, 80% of which are private, and total government funding has exceeded $28 billion.
The sector received a major boost from two factors. At the end of 2025, nuclear fusion was included in China's Five-Year Plan as a priority technology. In January 2026, the Atomic Energy Law came into effect, explicitly encouraging private sector participation in controlled fusion research. Most Chinese private startups prefer using differentiated technical routes instead of the traditional tokamak design used in national projects and international ITER collaboration.
Major startups include HH Fusion (which uses the Field-Reversed Configuration or FRC) and Nova Fusion, founded by Dr. Guo Hoxiang, which works with FRC-SMR technology aimed at commercial 50 MW plants costing about $100 million per unit. These companies aim to create demonstration reactors by 2030, leveraging the advantages of lower cost and faster construction of non-tokamak designs.
Nevertheless, serious engineering challenges remain. Success requires breakthroughs in power systems, high-power switches, sub-microsecond precision control systems, and plasma stability. Although the industry joke that fusion is always 50 years away reflects the extreme difficulty of taming stellar fire on Earth, private capital betting on alternative paths is shortening this timeline through rapid iteration cycles.
China has made a significant breakthrough in the development of nuclear fusion energy by successfully passing technical acceptance and testing of two superconducting magnet systems for reactors. The Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced that both magnets—the toroidal field and the central solenoid coil—have reached international performance levels with the complete domestic production of all key components.
The Institute's director, Sun Yuntao, noted that the coaxial working current of 46.5 kA significantly exceeds the performance of the existing EAST device, which operates at 10 kA. These achievements lay a crucial foundation for the construction of China's nuclear fusion reactor after six years of work on the project.
