China plans to complete construction of its experimental fusion reactor BEST — the so-called “artificial sun” — by 2027, according to a statement from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on her official account on social media platform X.

She noted that the construction of the experimental superconducting tokamak with burning plasma will be completed in 2027.

The world’s first fusion power plant

The facility, developed by the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Hefei, Anhui Province, may become the first fusion system in the world capable of generating electricity on an industrial scale.

The reactor, weighing over 400 tons, operates on the principle of a massive superconducting “thermos.” Powerful magnets are cooled to –269°C to confine superheated plasma made of deuterium and tritium.

A predecessor and a world record

BEST is not China’s first project to bear the title “artificial sun.” Its predecessor, the EAST tokamak, set a world record in early 2025 by maintaining plasma for 1,066 seconds.

Beating the forecasts

In May 2025, Bloomberg predicted that a similar operational fusion facility would not be achieved until the mid-21st century. Beijing’s new announcement moves that timeline forward by nearly three decades.

In summary

China intends to complete the BEST fusion reactor by 2027, creating the world’s first installation capable of generating electricity through controlled nuclear fusion — a milestone that far exceeds previous expectations.