This helped lead to the creation in 2018 of the Sino-French Fusion Energy Center, a platform that not only allows Chinese and French scientists to develop and validate key components and technology for magnetic confinement fusion devices, but also supports the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), one of the most ambitious energy projects in the world today.

In southern France, 35 nations are collaborating to build the world's largest tokamak, a magnetic fusion device that has been designed to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale and carbon-free source of energy based on the same principle that powers the Sun and stars, according to the ITER organization.

Thousands of engineers and scientists have contributed to the design of ITER since the idea for an international joint experiment in fusion was first launched in 1985. China officially joined the ITER program in 2006 as the seventh member.

China, India, Japan, Russia, the Republic of Korea, the European Union and the United States are now engaged in a 35-year collaboration to build and operate the ITER experimental device and together bring fusion to the point where a demonstration reactor can be designed.

According to the agreement, China is responsible for about 9 percent of the project's construction and operation. China has even gone further to help other members.