Touching the Pulse of the 15th Five-Year Plan’s Industries | Technological Breakthroughs and Capital Enthusiasm: The “Artificial Sun” Accelerates Toward Commercialization

Known as the “artificial sun,” controlled nuclear fusion has repeatedly topped the capital markets’ popularity charts this year. As of November 18, the Wind Nuclear Fusion Index has risen nearly 60% year-to-date. Behind this surge is the rapid transition of fusion‑energy technology from scientific research toward engineering implementation and commercial deployment.

  Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan period, robust policy support, competing technological pathways, and a surge of capital from all sectors are converging to usher in a critical window of opportunity for the quest to unlock “the ultimate energy source.” In the global race to reshape the future energy landscape, a trillion-dollar market across the entire value chain is within reach.

   Commercialization of multi-route racing

  Nearly 40 countries are advancing fusion programs, and more than 160 fusion devices are either operational, under construction, or in the planning stages—according to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s recently released “Fusion Energy Outlook 2025,” which paints a picture of the global race in this field.

  Building on Earth a device capable of sustaining controlled nuclear fusion—much like the Sun—has long been humanity’s dream, and today it has become a cornerstone of national energy strategies and industrial planning. This year, China’s fusion research has seen a steady stream of major breakthroughs: the EAST tokamak set a new record of “100 million degrees for 1,000 seconds”; the Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR) is advancing toward combustion‑driven experiments; the state‑backed China Fusion Energy Company was officially established; and private enterprises such as Xinghuan Jueneng continue to grow in strength.

  “China’s journey toward the commercialization of nuclear fusion is undergoing a pivotal transition—from ‘catching up’ to ‘running alongside,’ and now even ‘taking the lead.’ Various technological approaches, including tokamaks, stellarators, reversed-field pinches, and Z-pinch, are flourishing in parallel. A fusion development ecosystem driven jointly by state‑led initiatives and market dynamism has taken clear shape, with an increasingly robust upstream–downstream industrial chain.” Chen Rui, founder and CEO of Xinghuan Jueneng, keenly senses the accelerating pace of industry progress.

  The “Suggestions of the CPC Central Committee on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development” explicitly calls for fostering nuclear fusion energy and other sectors as new drivers of economic growth. Industry insiders believe that, over the next five years, the most pressing challenge for the nuclear fusion sector will be achieving engineering breakthroughs in core hardware and system control.

  “In 2027, we anticipate launching a fusion‑energy burn experiment; by around 2030, we will have the R&D and design capabilities for China’s first engineering test reactor; by approximately 2035, we will complete construction of that first engineering test reactor; and by around 2045, we aim to commission China’s first commercial demonstration reactor,” said Zhang Libo, General Manager of China Fusion Energy Co., Ltd. and Director of the Southwest Institute of Physics under the Nuclear Industry.

  Unlike the large-scale devices of traditional national fusion programs, the Stellarator‑Based Energy‑Gathering System achieves miniaturization and rapid iteration through repeated magnetic reconnection and high‑temperature superconducting technology. “At present, our team is systematically advancing three major initiatives in parallel—operating the first generation (SUNIST‑2), constructing the second generation (NTST), and developing the third generation (CTRFR‑1)—continuously refining our approach to realize fusion energy quickly and cost‑effectively,” revealed Chen Rui. He added that the team plans to complete the engineering validation of the CTRFR‑1 device around 2028 and to finish building a commercial demonstration reactor by approximately 2032.

   The industrial chain unlocks incremental markets.

  As technological breakthroughs continue, controlled nuclear fusion is no longer an unattainable dream—far from the oft‑repeated refrain of “another 50 years.”

  “The industrialization of this field has clearly accelerated, and the likelihood of commercialization within the next 20 years is very high,” said Mi Lei, founding partner of Zhongke Chuangxing, who has been following this sector for the past six to seven years, offering his latest assessment.

  A report by the Fusion Industry Association (FIA) indicates that achieving grid‑connected electricity generation by 2040 has become a consensus among the vast majority of commercial fusion companies worldwide. According to projections from the International Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the global nuclear fusion market is expected to reach US$496.55 billion by 2030 and surpass US$1 trillion by 2050.

  “Multiple segments of the industrial chain are poised to tap into incremental markets,” a research report by China Merchants Securities notes. The report highlights that materials innovation remains the key bottleneck in the commercialization of controlled nuclear fusion and recommends focusing on leading firms in the supply chain, as well as suppliers of materials and core components that have already achieved domestic substitution.

  Take high‑temperature superconducting materials as an example: their core application is the fabrication of the critical components—superconducting magnets—for tokamak devices, which account for roughly one‑third of the total system cost. These magnets collectively generate a helical “magnetic cage” that confines plasma at temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius. Compared with other superconducting materials, high‑temperature superconductors offer higher critical magnetic fields, greater current‑carrying capacity, and higher operating temperatures, thereby enabling more compact designs and reduced costs for controlled nuclear fusion reactors.

  The Fusion Energy Outlook 2025 notes that high-temperature superconducting magnets have emerged as a transformative technology in the development of next-generation magnetically confined fusion devices.

  “China has successfully achieved large-scale mass production of second-generation high-temperature superconducting tapes and has established a comprehensive core technology system with independent intellectual property rights. At present, the most pressing challenges are to refine the batch‑production technologies for these tapes and to further enhance their material properties and consistency,” an official from the Science and Technology Department of the China Nonferrous Metals Innovation Research Institute told reporters.

  According to reports, the China Nonferrous Innovation Research Institute has already put into operation a 2,000-square-meter experimental facility and its core, in-house R&D equipment. A second-generation high-temperature superconducting tape‑fabrication pilot line has been completed, and development of products based on an independently controllable technological roadmap is underway, with the goal of achieving industrialization by 2030.

  An official from the Science and Technology Department of the China Nonferrous Metals Innovation Research Institute forecasts that, during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, high‑temperature superconducting materials will transition from research‑level validation and small‑batch trials to a new phase of engineered, large‑scale applications. Driven by accelerating capital expenditures in the controlled nuclear fusion sector, the global market for high‑temperature superconducting materials used in experimental fusion‑technology devices is expected to grow exponentially—rising from approximately RMB 300 million in 2024 to nearly RMB 5 billion by 2030—and becoming a core growth area worth tens or even hundreds of billions of yuan by 2035.

   Capital is pouring in at an accelerated pace.

  Capital from all sectors, having “sniffed out” the immense potential of fusion energy, is rushing to enter the field.

  According to an FIA report, as of July this year, the global commercial fusion industry has attracted $9.7 billion in investment, a 414% increase compared with the same period in 2021, reflecting growing investor confidence.

  In China, controlled nuclear fusion companies have been established at a rapid pace this year, with over ten billion yuan in investment pouring into the sector. “While the scale of individual financing rounds in China still lags behind that of overseas markets by an order of magnitude, the momentum of development is exceptionally strong,” said Mi Lei.

  Take Xinghuan Jueneng as an example: the company has been established for four years and has completed two rounds of financing, each worth several hundred million yuan, in 2022 and 2024, and is currently raising Series A funding.

  The reporter noted that the spillover effect of capital is spreading throughout the industrial chain. For example, the high‑temperature superconducting magnet company Yixi Technology recently closed its third round of financing this year, with investors including Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Group, the Shanghai Future Industry Fund, and the SJTU Mother Fund.

  According to reports, Zhongke Chuangxing has invested in eight companies across the fusion‑energy value chain, covering tokamak and reversed‑field pinch technologies, as well as related projects involving superconducting magnetic materials, tapes, and heating systems. “If we fail to position ourselves in the field of controlled nuclear fusion, we may well miss out on the most pivotal energy‑transition opportunity of the next technological revolution,” said Mi Lei, articulating the rationale behind many investors’ strategic moves.

  In the view of respondents, the core drivers behind this wave of investment are the miniaturization of devices, which has made commercialization feasible, and the substantial, urgent demand for stable, clean energy in high‑energy‑consumption applications such as AI computing centers. Global policy support and growing investor consensus have further accelerated industry development, fostering faster iteration across multiple technological pathways and spurring rapid growth in related supply chains—including high‑temperature superconducting materials and plasma technologies—while also boosting talent mobility.

  “At present, the nuclear fusion industry remains in its early stages of development. It requires close collaboration across the entire value chain to overcome engineering challenges, and it also calls for diversified capital to significantly increase investment.” Mi Lei suggested strengthening support for early-stage investment firms focused on hard‑tech sectors, exploring the establishment of a large, national‑level fusion‑specific fund, and introducing favorable tax policies to encourage deep participation from diverse sources of capital, thereby adopting a multi‑pronged approach to accelerate the industry’s rapid growth. (Reporter: Wang Lu)

[Editor-in-charge: Wang Xue]

Source: Economic Information Daily