How is China accelerating investment in conventional nuclear power, small modular reactors, and fusion to meet rising AI data center electricity demand and its 2060 carbon neutrality goal; what are the projected scale of that demand, the funding and development timelines for Junh

China’s near-term answer is to build more conventional nuclear capacity; small modular fission reactors are a longer-term option, and fusion remains experimental. The push is intended to supply rising AI-related electricity demand while supporting China’s 2060 carbon-neutrality goal, but neither the SMR nor fusion projects discussed below is generating commercial power yet.101214

• Scale of demand and conventional nuclear: Wood Mackenzie projects Chinese data-centre electricity use will roughly quadruple to 774 terawatt-hours in 2030, about 6% of national electricity use. China has 64 operable reactors and 38 under construction, representing nearly 40 gigawatts of additional capacity; that existing construction programme is more relevant to near-term demand than proposed fusion plants.1012
• Junhe Nuclear — modular fission: The Shanghai startup has reportedly raised 300 million yuan. It is designing a demonstration small modular reactor that it aims to operate around 2031, potentially using former coal-plant sites and workers. That is a target, not an approved or completed plant.711
• NovaFusionX — fusion: Reported financing comprises 500 million yuan, then 700 million yuan, then 1.2 billion yuan in pre-Series A rounds—about 2.4 billion yuan in total. It targets first plasma by late 2026 and has described 2029 as a net-energy-gain goal; its founder wants to compress a prospective commercialization window to five to ten years. First plasma and experimental net gain would not, by themselves, mean electricity delivered to a data centre.81413
• China versus the US: China can pair reactor construction with coordinated state investment and a substantial domestic nuclear-equipment supply chain; one reported Chinese reactor project sourced more than 90% of its equipment domestically. A CSIS analysis estimates China mobilized at least $6.5 billion in public fusion funding during 2023–25. The US has a larger privately driven fusion effort, including technology-company investment, alongside federal research and milestone funding; its government roadmap targets initial fusion-plant deployment in the mid-2030s and identifies supply-chain and materials gaps that still need closing.161556

These are different clocks: operating and under-construction fission reactors can affect the grid first; Junhe’s demonstration is planned for the next decade; NovaFusionX’s fusion milestones remain research and development goals, not a dependable contribution to the 2030 electricity forecast.121114