China has quietly crossed a threshold in magnet technology that most people will never see but many will eventually feel. By pushing an all-superconducting device to 35.6 tesla, roughly 700,000 times stronger than the magnetic field at Earth’s surface, its researchers have created a tool that can bend the rules of how matter behaves. The achievement is not just a record, it is a signal that the global race to control extreme magnetic fields is entering a new phase.
At these intensities, magnets stop being lab curiosities and start becoming strategic infrastructure for physics, chemistry, energy research and advanced manufacturing. The new Chinese system is designed as a user magnet, meaning outside teams can book time on it, and that choice hints at how Beijing wants to turn a technical milestone into long term scientific leverage.
How China reached 35.6 tesla with an all-superconducting design
The core of the breakthrough is an all-superconducting magnet that can sustain a steady field of 35.6 tesla without relying on the power hungry resistive coils that usually dominate this range. According to reports from BEIJING, the system was developed in Jan by a team in China that focused on integrating multiple superconducting stages into a compact bore while keeping the field stable. That stability is crucial, because many of the most sensitive experiments, from quantum materials to precision spectroscopy, fail if the field jitters even slightly.
What makes this system stand out is that it delivers a field more than 700,000 times stronger than Earth’s natural magnetism while still being accessible as a user facility. Technical descriptions highlight that the magnet reaches 35.6 tesla in a configuration that can be operated for extended periods, not just as a short pulse. One analysis notes that China builds 35.6 tesla using an all-superconducting approach that is available in conventional laboratories, which is a sharp contrast to the massive, power intensive hybrid magnets that have dominated the 30 tesla class until now.
Engineering a user magnet that scientists can actually share
From an engineering perspective, turning a record setting magnet into a practical user instrument is at least as hard as hitting the peak field. Chinese teams describe a design that keeps the bore size unchanged while upgrading the internal coils, so visiting researchers can use familiar sample holders and cryostats. One detailed account notes that the all-superconducting user magnet was reported in Jan with a specification that explicitly targets external users, and that the upgrade path was managed so the system could be improved without shrinking the experimental space, as highlighted in a Chinese summary.
Behind that user friendly façade sits a complex stack of superconducting materials and cryogenic systems. The development process involved the design, manufacturing and integration of multiple superconducting modules that can carry enormous currents with very low energy consumption. Official descriptions stress that the magnet’s architecture was optimized for reliability and efficiency, with the goal of supporting long experimental runs rather than one off demonstrations, a point underscored in Jan by technical notes on the development of the all-superconducting system.
A record built on years of escalating magnetic feats
The 35.6 tesla milestone did not appear in isolation, it sits on top of a ladder of earlier records that steadily pushed China into the top tier of high field research. In Sep 2024, a resistive magnet in China produced a steady magnetic field of 42 tesla, a level that previously required facilities in the United States or Europe. That device, credited in official materials as the 42 Tesla resistive magnet, was described with a clear nod to HFIPS, and it showed that Chinese engineers could manage the extreme heat and mechanical stress that come with such fields.
Only days later, another report framed the same 42 tesla achievement as a moment when World records shifted away from long standing US dominance. That account emphasized that it took the team four years of work to beat the most powerful resistive magnet that had held the title since 2017, and it explicitly stated that World records in this niche are now being reset in China. When seen together, the resistive and superconducting projects look less like isolated wins and more like a coordinated strategy to master every major magnet architecture.
From 351,000 g to 700,000 times Earth’s field
Even before the all-superconducting user magnet crossed 35 tesla, Chinese scientists had already shown they could generate extreme steady fields in other configurations. One widely cited experiment reported a magnetic field of 351,000 g, explicitly described as more than 700,000 times stronger than the field at Earth’s surface. That result, shared by Chinese researchers, underscored how far the country’s magnet science had moved beyond the scales familiar from MRI scanners or industrial magnets.
By 2025, the narrative had sharpened around the comparison with Earth’s field. Chinese scientists announced a magnetic field 700,000 times Earth’s strength in a system designed to remain stable for long periods, not just in microsecond pulses. Reports on that work highlighted how the team overcame stress concentration, shielding current effects and multi field coupling effects to keep the field uniform and controllable, and they explicitly framed the result as a step toward technologies such as lossless transmission of large currents, as described in a Sep briefing.
Why a 35.6-t user magnet matters for science and strategy
What sets the new magnet apart is that it combines those extreme numbers with open access for the broader research community. Official descriptions stress that Chinese scientists have established a new world record in high field magnet technology with a 35.6-t all-superconducting user magnet, and that the system is intended to support work in physics, chemistry, materials science and life sciences. One summary notes that the successful development of this magnet is the result of joint efforts and collaborative research by multiple institutions, and that it is expected to accelerate discoveries across several disciplines, according to the CAS.
At the same time, the facility has been positioned as the only all-superconducting user magnet in the world capable of providing stable magnetic fields above 30 teslas for materials research. Technical notes explain that with this upgrade, the system has become a unique platform for experiments that demand both very high fields and long measurement times, such as probing unconventional superconductors or testing next generation battery materials, as outlined in a materials focused overview.
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