China has completed testing of a 582-ton superconducting magnet designed for its BEST fusion reactor, according to an announcement from the Institute of Plasma Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in June. The reactor is scheduled for completion in 2027, with first power generation targeted for 2030.
The magnet is engineered to confine plasma at temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius. According to the institute's statement, the coil stores three times more energy than comparable magnets used in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, the multinational fusion project under construction in France.
The BEST reactor, which stands for Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor, represents China's next-generation approach to magnetic confinement fusion. ITER's largest toroidal field coils weigh approximately 360 tons each and are designed to operate at lower magnetic field strengths.
China's fusion effort has accelerated over the past five years. The country operates the EAST tokamak, which in 2022 set a record by maintaining a plasma state for 102 seconds. BEST is intended as a bridge between EAST and a future commercial demonstration reactor, testing engineering systems and materials under conditions closer to those required for net energy gain.
The 582-ton magnet completion marks a manufacturing and quality-control milestone for superconducting magnet production at scale. The component underwent testing to verify its ability to generate and sustain the magnetic field strength required for the reactor's design specifications. Officials have not disclosed whether the magnet will be installed immediately or staged into the reactor during its construction phase.
The 2030 target for first power from BEST would position China's fusion timeline ahead of ITER's operational start, currently expected in the early 2030s. However, "first power" typically means controlled plasma ignition and energy output, not sustained net energy gain, which remains the engineering frontier for all fusion programs globally.
China's investment in fusion has grown steadily, with multiple private fusion startups also operating in the country alongside the state-backed Academy of Sciences programs. The BEST timeline places pressure on other national fusion programs to demonstrate comparable engineering progress within the same window.
