Shanghai's Artificial Sun Holds Plasma for Twenty-Two Minutes

China's Private Fusion Reactor Matches World Record

Shanghai-based startup Energy Singularity has announced that its HH70 high-temperature superconducting tokamak sustained a steady-state plasma current for one thousand three hundred and thirty-seven seconds, roughly twenty-two minutes, setting a new milestone for commercially built nuclear fusion devices.

The achievement came during the device's five thousand seven hundred and fifty-fifth experiment since it first achieved plasma in June 2024, and was enabled by continuous optimisation of the company's AI-based plasma control system.

Matching Government-Backed Facilities

The duration matches the record set by France's WEST tokamak in February 2025, though that device is operated by the government-backed French Atomic Energy Commission. China's own government-run EAST tokamak achieved one thousand and sixty-six seconds a month prior to that. The fact that a private company has now matched these state-funded facilities represents a significant shift in the fusion landscape.

High-Temperature Superconductors Change the Game

The HH70 is the world's first tokamak built entirely with high-temperature superconducting magnets, a technology that allows for dramatically smaller and more cost-effective reactor designs. The device features twenty-six high-temperature superconducting magnets and boasts a localisation rate exceeding ninety-six percent with independent intellectual property rights.

Founded in 2021 as China's first private fusion energy company, Energy Singularity completed construction of the HH70 in just two years, a record pace for superconducting tokamak development.

The Road to Commercial Fusion

The company is now accelerating work on its next-generation device, the HH170, which targets a fusion energy gain factor greater than ten by 2027. This would mean the reactor produces ten times more energy than is required to sustain the reaction. Co-founder Dong Ge stated the company's ultimate goal is to reduce the cost of fusion electricity to match or beat thermal power generation.

In early 2025, Energy Singularity's large-bore high-temperature superconducting magnet generated a world-record magnetic field of twenty-one point seven tesla, further demonstrating the company's rapid technical progress.