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China’s HL-4 Fusion Plan Puts 25-Tesla Magnets at the Center
China presented HL 4 as a planned Shanghai fusion test platform built around 25 tesla high temperature superconducting magnets, with a prototype magnet target of 2030—not as a power plant. At the 70th IAEA General Conference, the focus was international fusion engineering cooperation and HL 3’s joint experimental pr...
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Key takeaways
- China presented HL 4 as a planned Shanghai fusion test platform built around 25 tesla high temperature superconducting magnets, with a prototype magnet target of 2030—not as a power plant.
- At the 70th IAEA General Conference, the focus was international fusion engineering cooperation and HL 3’s joint experimental program; ITER separately reported an MoU with China Fusion Energy.
- HL 3 reported 117 million °C ion and 160 million °C electron temperatures in 2025, while a deuterium tritium campaign is planned for 2027.
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China’s fusion announcements describe a two-track effort: HL-3 in Chengdu is advancing plasma research today, while HL-4 in Shanghai is intended to test a major piece of future reactor hardware—very high-field superconducting magnets. The important caveat is that HL-4’s headline capabilities are design goals. It has not been presented as an operating or commercial electricity-producing reactor. 2
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What HL-4 is intended to do
HL-4, also called Huanliu-4, was unveiled as a fourth-generation magnetic-confinement fusion experimental facility. Chinese reporting describes the planned Shanghai machine as aiming to be the world’s first high-temperature-superconducting, high-field, steady-state burning-fusion experimental platform. That wording describes the project’s intended role, rather than a result already achieved. 2
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Its core mission is more specific than simply reaching a high plasma temperature: to verify whether high-temperature-superconducting (HTS) magnets can remain reliable in the demanding environment of a fusion device. That environment combines intense heat, radiation exposure and substantial mechanical and electromagnetic forces. 14
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Why the 25-tesla magnet target matters
A consortium led by China Fusion Energy has set out a magnet-development program for HL-4. The stated milestones are a 25-tesla HTS high-field magnet development and testing line by 2028, followed by a prototype magnet by 2030. 1
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The distinction matters because a magnet prototype is not the same thing as an integrated reactor magnet system, and an integrated fusion experiment is not the same thing as a power station. HL-4 is therefore best understood as an engineering validation platform: its value would be in showing that high-field HTS hardware can be manufactured, operated and maintained under conditions relevant to fusion.
What the 70th IAEA General Conference added
At a CNNC side event during the 70th IAEA General Conference, China emphasized international cooperation aimed at practical fusion engineering. CNNC released an update on HL-3 and its joint experimental program, and opened applications for international partners to participate in experiments. 3
ITER also reported that, during the conference, it signed a memorandum of understanding with China Fusion Energy Co., Ltd. 44 Public material provided here supports the direction of cooperation, but does not establish detailed technical work packages, financing or deliverables for any separate arrangement involving Thailand. Those details should not be inferred from broad cooperation announcements.
HL-3: the operating research platform behind the next step
HL-3 is a copper-conductor tokamak at the Southwestern Institute of Physics in Chengdu. ITER describes it as a facility for frontier fusion physics that can provide scaling information relevant to ITER. 39
In 2025, HL-3 reported ion temperatures of 117 million °C and electron temperatures of 160 million °C, alongside a fusion triple product above 0.67 × 10²⁰ m⁻³·keV·s in the cited conference material. 15 The device has also reported hot-ion operation at approximately 10 keV ion temperature.
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HL-3 has become an ITER satellite device under deeper collaboration between SWIP and the ITER Organization. A deuterium-tritium experimental campaign is planned for 2027 in support of ITER physics and operations, with international teams already participating in joint research. 16
These are meaningful research advances, but they do not demonstrate grid electricity production. A high temperature or a planned deuterium-tritium campaign addresses only part of the challenge of creating an available, maintainable and economically credible fusion plant.
The long path from experimental tokamaks to fusion power
China’s published magnetic-fusion roadmap places experimental devices ahead of engineering test reactors and a later prototype power plant. One roadmap outlines testing steady-state operation and tritium self-sufficiency in an engineering reactor, followed by a prototype plant intended to validate power generation in the 2050–2060 period. 45
That sequence shows why the often-cited goal of commercial fusion around 2050 should be read as a strategic ambition, not a committed delivery date. Before a commercial plant can be credible, developers must demonstrate integrated, long-duration operation; a workable tritium fuel cycle and self-sufficiency; and power-plant validation at scale. 45
Standardization is also beginning to take shape. In August 2026, ISO published ISO 19991:2026, covering a supersonic molecular-beam injection fueling technique for experimental magnetic-confinement fusion facilities; CNNC describes it as the first ISO standard in fusion fueling. 18
Bottom line
The HL-4 announcement is significant because it focuses on a central engineering constraint for compact, steady-state tokamak concepts: whether 25-tesla HTS magnets can operate reliably in a fusion environment. But it is still a planned experimental platform. HL-3’s high-temperature results and planned 2027 deuterium-tritium work strengthen China’s research base, while HL-4 is meant to push the hardware and systems challenge forward. Neither milestone, by itself, establishes commercial fusion power. 14
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What is the short answer to "China’s HL-4 Fusion Plan Puts 25-Tesla Magnets at the Center"?
China presented HL 4 as a planned Shanghai fusion test platform built around 25 tesla high temperature superconducting magnets, with a prototype magnet target of 2030—not as a power plant.
What are the key points to validate first?
China presented HL 4 as a planned Shanghai fusion test platform built around 25 tesla high temperature superconducting magnets, with a prototype magnet target of 2030—not as a power plant. At the 70th IAEA General Conference, the focus was international fusion engineering cooperation and HL 3’s joint experimental program; ITER separately reported an MoU with China Fusion Energy.
What should I do next in practice?
HL 3 reported 117 million °C ion and 160 million °C electron temperatures in 2025, while a deuterium tritium campaign is planned for 2027.