MK sportphoto shows the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 15, 2025. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's artificial sun, maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Huang Bohan)" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2025/2025-01-09/df306b7c-2021-4af2-b871-08a6e383ba67.jpeg" />

This photo shows the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 15, 2025. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Huang Bohan)

The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), commonly known as China's "artificial sun," set a new world record by sustaining high-confinement plasma operation for 1,066 seconds, the Global Times learned from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on Tuesday.

The engineering design of the next-generation "artificial sun" has been completed. According to China's roadmap for magnetic confinement nuclear fusion, the country aims to construct the world's first demonstration fusion power plant, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the CAS, surpassed the previous world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. 

The Global Times learned from CAS that the ultimate goal of developing an artificial sun is to replicate the nuclear fusion processes that occur in the sun, to provide humanity with unlimited clean energy and enable deep-space exploration.

"Fusion reactions need to reach the order of thousands of seconds to sustain themselves. The latest record marks the first time humanity has simulated conditions necessary for operating fusion reactors in an experimental setup," said Song Yuntao, director of the Institute of Plasma Physics, reported Xinhua.

According to CAS, since its inception in 2006, EAST has served as an open testing platform for both Chinese and international scientists to pursue fusion-related research and experiments.

China officially joined the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) program in 2006 as its seventh member. Under the agreement, China is tasked with contributing about 9 percent of the project's construction and operational requirements.

ITER, currently under construction in southern France, is set to become the world's largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment and the largest experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor upon completion.

Gong Xianzu, the chief physicist of the EAST project, told Xinhua that researchers have improved the stability of the heating system, the accuracy of the control system, and the precision of the diagnostic system. These advancements have solved many frontier issues, highlighting China's comprehensive scientific and technological expertise in this area.