Cash, Scale, and Speed: Why China’s $6.5 Billion Fusion Buildout Should Shock the World
A new analysis of China’s investments in fusion energy from the SCSP Fusion Energy Team.
Hello, I’m Ylli Bajraktari, CEO of the Special Competitive Studies Project. This week, Caleb Barnes, David Lin, Abigail Remler, and Nicholas Furst from SCSP’s fusion energy team are sharing a new analysis of China’s investments in fusion energy. Their findings come ahead of the October release of a new report by SCSP’s Commission on the Scaling of Fusion Energy in tandem with the AI+ Fusion Summit. More details below.
For generations, the United States has led the world in fusion science, capped by the historic achievement of ignition—the release of more energy than was put into the reaction—at the California-based National Ignition Facility (NIF) in 2022, nested within Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. What the NIF achieved has yet to be replicated anywhere else in the world. American fusion companies, many of which were spun out of government-funded university programs and supported by the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E), have raised over $7.5 billion in capital over the past decade. That foundation helped America create the world’s largest and most dynamic private fusion industry.
But China is laying the groundwork to dominate the next phase: fusion commercialization. The NIF’s ignition achievement in December 2022 marked the beginning of the next level of China’s fusion push. We estimate that China has mobilized at least $6.5 billion towards commercialization-relevant fusion projects since the start of 2023, almost three times the funding appropriated to the Department of Energy’s Fusion Energy Sciences Program in roughly the same period of time. This represents the most conservative estimation in a range that could be as high as $10 or $13 billion. As is often the case when evaluating Chinese science and technology investments, the true picture is obscured by the blending of state and private capital in China’s ecosystem, gaps in data availability, and the challenges in making apples-to-apples comparisons with U.S. counterparts.
China is backing its fusion goals with massive infrastructure projects. The message is clear: Beijing isn't just competing. It's aiming for global leadership in the deployment and commercialization of this potentially game-changing energy source. As outlined by SCSP’s Commission on the Scaling of Fusion Energy in its February Fusion Power report, the commercialization of fusion energy could reshape the geopolitical landscape. But while the United States pioneered fusion science, China is moving money, concrete, and steel, outpacing the United States in transitioning the science into serious large-scale infrastructure projects.
Below, we track the remarkable pace at which China is building out the infrastructure underlying the fusion energy industry of the future. Satellite imagery and firmographics reveal a fusion ecosystem with multiple technological pathways built in parallel, and the fundamental R&D facilities to ensure that the systems work. We’ll analyze the financial backing of the major projects and companies, and show that China’s funding of fusion is much higher than has previously been reported.
Centers of the PRC’s fusion efforts
Burning plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak (BEST)
What: Compact, high-field tokamak; the successor to EAST (see below) and predecessor to the planned China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR), which aims to produce a gigawatt of fusion power and go online in the 2030s.
Where: Hefei Science Island, Hefei, Anhui province
When: Construction began in June 2023 and is scheduled for completion in 2027.
Cost: Neo Fusion, the commercialization arm for BEST, has raised $2.1B so far.
Who’s funding it? Most of Neo’s funding comes from the Anhui provincial government, and a smaller share comes from the central government. There are minority stakes from private investors, most notably electric vehicle manufacturer NIO.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Video circulated on TikTok in May showing the night-time construction of China’s BEST fusion facility, a reflection of the rapid, virtually 24/7 pace of construction by which China has built some of its fusion facilities. Note that the Spanish label in this video misidentifies BEST as EAST, but it is correctly identified in Chinese. Source: TikTok.
Comprehensive Research Facilities for Fusion Technology (CRAFT)
What: A campus of 14 different fusion technology research facilities including test facilities for magnets, materials, and heating systems.
Where: Hefei Science Island, Hefei, Anhui province.
When: Construction began in 2019 and is scheduled for completion in 2025. Multiple facilities inside CRAFT have been operational for at least three years.
Cost: $570M or $700M, depending on the source. We use $570M in our estimate.
Who’s funding it? Central government.
Xinghuo Facility
What: Fission–fusion hybrid reactor, designed to output 100 MW of electricity.
Where: Yaohu Science Island, Nanchang, Jiangxi province.
When: Construction of its supporting science island began in 2024, and the machine is expected to become operational in 2030 or 2031, depending on the source. The specific machine is under an environmental review scheduled to be completed this year.
Cost: Expected cost of $2.76B. The funds are still being raised, but given the state of buildup of facilities on Yaohu, we conservatively estimate at least one billion already raised.
Who’s funding it? The project is a 50-50 split between the centrally funded China Nuclear Industry 23 Construction Company and the privately owned Lianovation Superconductor, a subsidiary of Jiangxi Electronics.
Mianyang Laser Facility
What: NIF-style laser facility, likely to be used for PRC weapons research.
Where: Mianyang, Sichuan province.
When: Construction began in 2023 and is ongoing, but the July installation of a roof indicates that the largest parts of the machine are in place.
Cost: Unknown. As a comparison, NIF’s initial construction cost in the United States (built from 1997 to 2009) was $3.5B. This figure is not included in our total PRC fusion funding estimation.
Who’s funding it? It’s most likely funded by the central government, but there are no public financial records.
Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), also known as the ‘Artificial Sun’
What: Low temperature superconductor (LTS) tokamak based on the design of the DIII-D tokamak in the United States. During the 2000s and 2010s, government-sanctioned exchanges between researchers at DIII-D and EAST fostered joint experiments and training, with scientists on both sides emphasizing that the collaboration was mutually instructive. LTS magnets are weaker and have stricter cryogenic standards than newer high-temperature superconducting magnets, but EAST has nonetheless set various records (some now broken) for plasma duration and temperature.
Where: Hefei Science Island, Hefei, Anhui province.
When: Construction began in 2003 and was completed in 2006.
Cost: >$1.8B. Construction and operations from 2003 to 2019 cost about $900M, and another $900M was approved in 2019.
Who’s funding it? EAST has been funded by the central government, through the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science.
China’s Fusion Champions
The top 8 Chinese fusion facilities and companies and the breakdowns of their funding sources since 2023. Note the level of government support found in the best-funded companies (top row).
The top 8 Chinese fusion facilities and companies and the breakdowns of their funding sources since 2023. Note the level of government support found in the best-funded companies (top row). Sources: WireScreen, Deal Street Asia, South China Morning Post, FusionXInvest, Yicai Global.
China’s ambitions lie far beyond building the research facilities to accelerate fusion science. It also has a burgeoning industry of corporations, each positioning themselves to commercialize breakthroughs. These companies are not on their own. The best-resourced of them feature heavy backing from the central or provincial governments, a benefit that no American company can yet claim. Funding numbers are from 2023 onward, unless otherwise specified. These companies include:
China Fusion Energy Company (CFEC)
$2.1B in funding
A consortium largely made up of government-owned companies and affiliated universities.
Largely led by China National Nuclear Corporation, which currently operates the HL-3 tokamak through the Southwestern Institute of Physics.
Neo Fusion
$2.1B in funding.
Mostly backed by the provincial government, with significant investment from the central government, and private investment from NIO and Anhui Wenergy Company.
Commercialization arm of the BEST facility mentioned above.
ENN Energy Research Institute
$550M in funding, $350M since 2023
Subsidiary of the larger private ENN Group, an established electricity player.
Pursuing multiple approaches, but most notably spherical tokamaks with alternative fuel (proton–boron instead of deuterium–tritium).
Startorus Fusion
$139M in funding
Mostly backed by private VC, but with hefty governmental support.
Pursuing a spherical tokamak and already home to the SUNIST-2 machine.
Energy Singularity
$113M in funding, $58M since 2023.
Privately backed, by NIO and others.
Pursuing compact HTS tokamaks similar to Commonwealth Fusion Systems, and has built the HH-70 tokamak.
NovaFusionX
$70M in funding.
Backed by private VC and central and provincial innovation funds.
Pursuing a dual field reversed configuration approach, similar to Helion.
Other companies, including Star Energy Xuanlight ($14M reported) and Hanhai Ju Neng, founded only 25 days after NIF’s ignition (at least $1.5M, and home to a working machine).
The Bottom Line: China’s $6.5 Billion Fusion Bet
This conservative tally of at least $6.5 billion in Chinese public and quasi-private registered capital towards fusion infrastructure and companies amounts to almost three times the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fusion Energy Sciences Program’s funding over roughly the same period of time (FY2023–FY2025). Annualized, it is almost double the Department of Energy’s previous estimate of China’s yearly fusion expenditures.
If anything, the $6.5 billion figure is likely a significant undercount. It excludes EAST, which is likely on the order of $100M/yr based on 2019 funding announcements and continued publications. It also omits the Mianyang laser fusion facility, which features a larger experiment bay than the one at the NIF (which took $3.5 billion to construct), as well as all funding for university fusion research programs.
Perhaps the most important comparison is what it would take to build the equivalent of this infrastructure in the United States. While U.S. fusion companies have raised billions in private capital, six of China’s eight major fusion projects and companies are state-owned or heavily state-backed, insulating them from early-stage risk.
While Commonwealth Fusion Systems in Massachusetts is nearing completion on its SPARC demonstration unit in Massachusetts and Helion recently broke ground on its pilot plant in Washington, there are no significant public fusion infrastructure projects underway in America. Even if Washington matched Beijing dollar-for-dollar, China’s advantages in labor costs, manufacturing capacity, localized supply chains, and rapid regulatory approvals for state-directed priorities would still enable China to outpace U.S. efforts.
If the United States wants to convert its scientific accomplishment into industrial leadership, Washington must not treat fusion energy as an over-the-horizon aspiration, but as a strategic competition that is already at its doorstep. In short, fusion energy needs to move from a laboratory achievement to deployment planning now—or risk becoming another sector where China turns American breakthroughs into its own dominance.
For more on this, stay tuned for the Commission on the Scaling of Fusion Energy’s upcoming report: Fusion Forward: Powering America’s Future. Special thank you to Caroline Armstrong for data analysis and Nyah Stewart for graphics.
Want more? Attend our AI+Fusion Summit!
We are excited to announce that the latest installment of our AI+ Summit Series, the AI+ Fusion Summit, is set to take place on October 14, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Drawing on insights from SCSP's Commission on the Scaling of Fusion Energy, the summit will feature key architects of the U.S. fusion enterprise – including senior leadership from the U.S. Department of Energy, industry trailblazers, and America’s National Labs.
This summit will move beyond discussion, uniting participants around a winning strategy for American fusion leadership in the AI era. Together, we will harness the full strength of the U.S. fusion ecosystem to chart the path forward on critical priorities, including R&D acceleration, supply chain resilience, regulatory innovation, and more.