Growing Momentum in Nuclear Fusion Energy: Insights from the 2026 Technology and Industry Conference

Industry Symposium and Financing Implementation: The Momentum of Nuclear Fusion Energy Continues to Rise

Source: Shanghai Securities News Author: Liu Yifeng Date: January 19, 2026

The nuclear fusion energy, often referred to as humanity’s “ultimate energy,” is currently at a pivotal moment transitioning from “science” to “energy,” becoming a focal point of global competition. Domestically, nuclear fusion energy is recognized as a crucial future industry, with advancements in AI technology accelerating its development and application, marking a period of rapid growth for the sector.

From January 16 to 17, the 2026 Nuclear Fusion Energy Technology and Industry Conference was held in Hefei, Anhui Province. This two-day event showcased significant achievements in the industry, facilitated a series of collaborations, and signed major procurement contracts. Numerous academicians and experts delivered keynote speeches and special reports, outlining the future development directions and critical timelines for nuclear fusion technology.

Ecological Synergy and Innovation in the Whole Industry Chain

The conference, themed “Harnessing Nuclear Power for a Brighter Future,” consisted of three main components: an industrial conference, an offline exhibition of the industry chain, and the opening of the Fusion Innovation Exhibition Hall. As the first large-scale comprehensive conference in China that integrates technological foresight, industry collaboration, capital connection, and ecological development, the event attracted over 1,500 professional guests from universities, research institutions, upstream and downstream enterprises, and financing platforms, exceeding expectations and generating unprecedented market response.

Yan Jianwen, president of the Anhui Fusion Industry Association, highlighted several key points of the conference in an interview with Shanghai Securities News: First, full industry chain participation was ensured, featuring 110 exhibition booths, including special and standard exhibitions, with a rich array of exhibits and the highest number of participating companies and guests compared to similar industry events. Second, the establishment of a joint platform for science and industry aims to cover various fields within nuclear fusion energy, including a Fusion Science and Engineering College, joint laboratories, and research project funds. Third, insights from academician reports and the announcement of the Fusion Science and Technology Demonstration Zone indicate the future ecological landscape of the fusion industry.

During the conference, the top ten innovative achievements in Hefei’s fusion sector for 2025 were announced, including the “artificial sun” EAST, which set a world record of “hundreds of millions of degrees for a thousand seconds,” the commencement of the BEST project assembly, and the CRAFT ion cyclotron heating system achieving 100% independent intellectual property rights. Additionally, the first phase of the 10 billion yuan Hefei Future Fusion Energy Venture Capital Fund was officially launched, and 15 financial institutions jointly established the Fusion Financial Institutions Alliance, leading to multiple significant procurement projects and joint laboratory agreements.

Key industry players like Xuguang Electronics, Antai Technology, and Jiuli Special Materials signed orders at the event. For instance, Antai Technology secured contracts for an advanced filter joint laboratory and major procurement projects for the BEST filter target plate, while also showcasing its core materials, key components, and system solutions through its subsidiaries, including Antai Tianlong and Antai Zhongke. The newly established Fusion Science and Engineering College at Hefei University of Technology was officially inaugurated at the conference. Furthermore, a research funding initiative focused on nuclear fusion energy, the Xiyuan Fund, was launched, led by Chinese Academy of Engineering academician Li Jiangang and Chinese Academy of Sciences academician Wan Baonian, who head the engineering and physics teams, respectively, and held a closed-door seminar on January 17.

Hu Haomin, Executive Vice President of the Energy Research Institute at Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, commented, “The fusion field itself is oriented towards engineering and industrialization, involving multiple interdisciplinary intersections. The development of the industry also requires a certain time frame. This conference’s deep integration of the innovation chain, industry chain, capital chain, and talent chain is profoundly significant.”

Capital Empowerment and Growing Investment in the Industry

Interest in financing nuclear fusion energy is on the rise. On January 16, Supermagnetic New Energy, established just eight months ago, completed several hundred million yuan in angel round financing. The company focuses on key core components and aims to develop the world’s first globally leading controllable nuclear fusion large-scale high-temperature superconducting strong magnetic field system. This announcement came less than a week after Star Ring Energy revealed on January 12 that it had completed 1 billion yuan in financing, focusing on compact repetitive controlled nuclear fusion technology solutions with multi-stroke repeated operation and plasma current self-magnetic field reconnection heating, marking the largest single financing for a privately-owned commercial fusion company to date.

Statistics show that by 2025, the cumulative global financing amount for the nuclear fusion energy sector will reach 9.766 billion USD, an increase of 2.643 billion USD from 2024, indicating a rapid growth trend in overall investment. Among the 58 nuclear fusion equipment companies established globally, China boasts 14 enterprises, accounting for 24% of the total.

Xu Qiang, Chief Analyst of Electric Power New Energy at Guotai Junan Research Institute, stated, “Currently, global nuclear fusion is at a crucial point of transition from experimentation to engineering. How to better constrain nuclear fusion energy is the core issue facing the industry.” During the project roadshow event for the upstream and downstream nuclear fusion industry chain held on January 17, the venue was packed. Thirteen companies from Anhui, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Sichuan presented their projects, covering various aspects such as stellarator technology routes, technology spillovers from large scientific installations, and key materials and components. Experts from research institutes, investment entities, and private equity funds assessed investment opportunities on-site.

Dinghui Baifo has identified nuclear fusion energy as a key investment area and has completed layouts for several nuclear fusion enterprises. A company representative involved in the roadshow evaluation noted, “Unlike the U.S., where financing is highly concentrated on fusion devices, China, leveraging its manufacturing prowess, has seen a surge of high-quality enterprises with global competitiveness emerging in the upper-middle reaches of the industry chain. With in-depth capital empowerment, China’s nuclear fusion energy sector is rapidly advancing from the ‘laboratory’ to the ‘application field.’

For instance, Zhongke Terahertz is capitalizing on the core technological achievements of fully superconducting tokamaks to provide complete solutions for nuclear fusion interferometers. The company’s representative mentioned that the market scale for fusion diagnostics is expected to reach a trillion-level in the next decade, with terahertz interferometers meeting the needs for laboratory scientific research and industrial application diagnostics, as well as applications in security checks, medical testing, and non-destructive testing.

Wang Lianfeng, General Manager of the Strategic Project Department at Shanghai Guotou, stated in an interview, “High-end materials used in large scientific installations may also be applicable in aerospace, high-end medical devices, transportation infrastructure, and other intelligent manufacturing sectors. The cross-industry technological spillover during the construction and verification phase of nuclear fusion energy complete devices can create investment opportunities along the way.”