- The China Fusion Engineering Corporation’s new device aims to sustain fusion with a gain factor above five
- The project puts China alongside US and European efforts to turn fusion power from an experiment into an energy source
China has unveiled the first images of its next-generation fusion device in Shanghai, as the country steps up efforts to develop high-temperature superconducting technology for sustained fusion power.
The “China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor IV” (中国环流四号), or CFETR-IV was among three major projects unveiled at the 2026 Fusion Energy Conference and Fusion Energy Week, which opened in Shanghai on August 25.
Built by China Fusion Engineering Co., the device is designed as what organizers describe as the world’s first high-temperature superconducting, high-field steady-state fusion experimental platform.
Its central goal is to achieve a fusion gain, or Q value, above 5, meaning the reactor would produce more than five times the energy supplied to sustain the reaction.
That would mark a significant step toward commercially viable fusion power.
At the heart of the project is a 25-tesla high-temperature superconducting magnet. The system is designed to create a powerful magnetic field that confines plasma at temperatures approaching 100 million degrees Celsius, preventing it from coming into contact with the reactor walls.
China says it has already achieved stable operation of a fully superconducting 25-tesla magnet, providing the technological foundation for the project.
Once completed, CFETR-IV is expected to compete with projects such as the US-based SPARC and the UK’s STEP.
Building a fusion supply chain
The Shanghai conference also saw the release of China’s first systematic technology roadmap for fusion devices.
The Tokamak volume covers seven major technology areas and 251 technical items, providing a framework for development across the domestic supply chain.
A separate roadmap from a Yangtze River Delta consortium for high-temperature superconducting magnets targets completion of China’s first 25-tesla high-field magnet development and testing line by 2028.
The push comes as controlled nuclear fusion gains greater prominence in China’s national technology strategy.
Vice Minister of Science and Technology Zhang Guangjun (张光军) said fusion energy has been included in the country’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) as a major frontier technology project.
China is also deepening its role in the international fusion effort. Its procurement packages for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, are more than 80% complete.
Meanwhile, Chinese institutions have led the development of the first international standard for nuclear fusion, according to officials.
Joining the race for steady-state fusion
More than 1,800 researchers, industry executives and other representatives attended the Shanghai event, which featured more than 70 participating institutions.
The scale of the gathering reflects the growing industrial ambition behind China’s fusion program.
The focus is increasingly shifting from laboratory experiments toward high-field magnets, engineering systems and supply-chain capabilities needed for sustained operation.
For the global fusion industry, the emergence of CFETR-IV adds another major contender to a field that includes ambitious projects in the US and Europe.
Its eventual ability to sustain a high fusion gain will be a key test of whether China’s advances in superconducting magnets can translate into a practical route toward fusion energy.
