【By Guan察者网, Ruan Jiaqi】
During the Trump administration, the United States focused on the extraction and overseas sales of oil, natural gas, and coal; while China, as its main economic competitor, has already become the largest supplier of clean energy products such as solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles around the world.
Therefore, the U.S. media, the New York Times, has turned its attention to a new battlefield in the Sino-U.S. rivalry - nuclear fusion. Its report published on the 13th pointed out that this technology, which holds the potential for infinite clean energy, could reshape the energy landscape of both countries and even the world.
The media compared the different approaches of the United States and China in nuclear fusion research: the United States relies on private industry and market-driven innovation to achieve technological breakthroughs, but the government's support for this field has been criticized repeatedly; on the other end of the earth, China has listed nuclear fusion as a national priority, mobilizing resources at an astonishing speed to push forward research and build large experimental facilities, with clear goals to achieve key technological breakthroughs in the coming years.
The report pointed out that this energy competition is not only about who can first master the scientific challenge of nuclear fusion, but more importantly, the winner will have the ability to reshape the global energy structure and geopolitical alliances, thereby dominating the future clean energy market.
Liu Chang, a nuclear physicist who returned to China at the beginning of this year and joined Peking University, shared his personal experience when interviewed by the U.S. media: during his time working at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in the United States, his team was unable to recruit young researchers due to insufficient budget. He frankly stated that the lack of government support in the United States is one of the main reasons why many nuclear fusion researchers have moved to start-up companies.
In sharp contrast, China is investing heavily in solving this technology, which may become the ultimate solution to human energy problems. Liu emphasized, "China can truly make continuous investments in important areas."
On November 15, 2025, in Hefei, Anhui, the construction site of the compact fusion energy experimental facility (BEST). Visual China
According to U.S. media reports, China, the United States, and other countries are now competing to develop nuclear fusion devices that can operate stably, work repeatedly, and meet grid-connected power standards. However, two decades ago, China was just a minor player in the field of nuclear fusion, growing through cooperation with other countries.
China once closely collaborated with France to develop the fully superconducting tokamak nuclear fusion experimental device (EAST); it is also a core contributor to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project involving 33 countries; and for most of the past decade, Chinese and U.S. researchers have also carried out many joint experiments in plasma physics.
Now, the development progress of the United States and China in this field is about to face a direct confrontation:
The U.S. nuclear fusion company with the most funding, "Commonwealth Fusion Systems" (CFS), previously announced that the experimental device it built in Massachusetts will achieve a key goal in 2027: producing more energy than the energy required for operation. This would be a signal that nuclear fusion could potentially power data centers, steel mills, and other facilities in the future.
On the other hand, Ma Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and director of the Department of Information, shared the latest progress of the compact fusion energy experimental facility (BEST) project located in Hefei on overseas social platforms, stating, "It is expected to be completed by 2027 and could become the first device in human history to achieve fusion power generation."
According to a report from Xinhua News Agency, according to the research plan, after the completion of the facility at the end of 2027, it will conduct deuterium-tritium burning plasma experiments to verify its long-pulse steady-state operation capability, aiming to achieve a fusion power of 20 to 200 megawatts, achieving output energy greater than consumption energy, and demonstrating fusion power generation.
This October 1st, the first key component to enter the host hall of the BEST project - the dewar base - successfully installed, marking a new stage in the construction of the main project, and the component development and engineering installation have entered an "acceleration" phase.
And just last January, when Richard Pitts, a British-French physicist from ITER, visited the BEST site, it was still an empty plot of land. Now, the project has completed more than half.
Dr. Pitts said that China has accumulated a lot of experience from the ITER project, and is now converting these experiences into the driving force for independent innovation. "Each time I visit, I am amazed by the massive manpower input and extremely high execution efficiency."
The U.S. media cited expert analysis that even if core technologies are broken through, nuclear fusion reactors need to achieve low-cost, industrial-scale construction and operation to truly power the world. In this regard, China's engineering construction expertise gives it a clear advantage.
Jimmy Goodrich, a senior researcher at the Institute for Global Conflict and Cooperation at the University of California, said directly, "The risk the United States faces is that even if we find a viable technical path, China may complete the engineering and scaling before us."
The heaviest component of the BEST host system, and the largest vacuum component in China's fusion field - the dewar base - was successfully placed in Hefei. China News Network
CFS has already experienced the speed of China's R&D.
Last year, the company's scientists published a paper showing the giant D-shaped magnet they developed for their new tokamak device in Massachusetts. This magnet is made of ultra-low resistance material and can generate an extremely strong magnetic field.
This summer, a Chinese startup specializing in fusion energy technology research and commercial application also published a paper showcasing a magnet with similar performance.
Although still promoting the so-called "reverse engineering" theory, CFS co-founder Dennis Whyte admitted that China can quickly mobilize its supply chain and manufacturing capabilities to complete the development and testing of magnets, which itself demonstrates "astonishing technical strength."
Alain Bécoulet, the French chief scientist of ITER, directly refuted the "imitation" theory. He emphasized, "China now has the ability to innovate, and is no longer simply imitating or copying."
At the same time as technological research and development is advancing rapidly, China has also shown an open and cooperative attitude. On the morning of November 24, the "Burned Plasma" international science program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was launched in the BEST host hall in Hefei's Future Science City, and for the first time, the BEST research plan was released to the global fusion community.
That day, fusion scientists from 10 countries including China, France, the UK, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, and Belgium jointly signed the "Hefei Fusion Declaration." The declaration advocates the spirit of open sharing and win-win cooperation, encouraging researchers from various countries to carry out fusion cooperation research in China.
"The door for collaborative research is always open," said the head of external cooperation of the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In contrast, the United States has taken an "isolationist" stance. This point, Bécoulet from ITER has already deeply experienced. When he attended the annual fusion conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Chengdu this October, he found that there were no U.S. representatives present. Three researchers told the New York Times that the Trump administration's Department of Energy had advised U.S. scientists not to attend, and the department did not respond to requests for comments.
At the same time, as energy security becomes increasingly important for industries such as artificial intelligence, some U.S. government and industry figures with a Cold War hegemonic mindset have also viewed nuclear fusion as a global influence battlefield where it is either win or lose.
Ylli Bajraktari, head of the Special Competition Research Program at a Washington-based research institution, exaggeratedly claimed, "Whoever wins and achieves technological implementation will set the framework for the rest of this century."
In May this year, Trump signed a series of executive orders related to nuclear energy, covering a comprehensive reform of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, modifying regulatory processes to accelerate the testing of nuclear reactors, etc. A senior White House official said the government hopes to "test and deploy" new nuclear reactors before the end of Trump's second term in January 2029.
The U.S. Department of Energy also released a new roadmap in October, planning to help the nuclear fusion industry develop and commercialize in the 2030s, calling for the construction and upgrading of multiple scientific facilities, but canceling the previously proposed plan to lead the design and construction of a demonstration fusion power plant in the 2040s.
The Department of Energy said the cancellation was because U.S. startups were rapidly advancing the construction of such power plants. However, many scientists believe the U.S. government needs to do more.
U.S. media analysis pointed out that although the Trump administration supports nuclear fission technology to provide energy for existing nuclear power plants, it has not shown the same interest in nuclear fusion, making this field increasingly dependent on venture capital to drive development. Additionally, while China is actively cultivating nuclear fusion talent, the Trump administration has been cutting research funding, casting a shadow over the development of U.S. nuclear fusion.
CNN pointed out last year that although the United States is one of the first countries in the world to attempt nuclear fusion power generation, the pace of "latercomers" like China is clearly "accelerating". The report cited industry data indicating that since 2015, China's number of nuclear fusion patents has surged, surpassing all other countries worldwide.
The report also mentioned that Chinese companies have built the world's first full high-temperature superconducting tokamak device. Andrew Holland, CEO of the nuclear fusion industry association in Washington, admitted that compared to this, the United States' tokamak devices are generally aging, and have to rely on equipment from Japan, Europe, and the UK allies to advance research.
"We don't have such things. The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory has been upgrading its tokamak device for 10 years. Another operating tokamak device in the United States is 30 years old. The U.S. national laboratories do not have modern nuclear fusion devices," he said.
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Original: toutiao.com/article/7583351073369326106/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author.