Chinese scientists have set a new world record by achieving a 1,056 second-long operation of a "man-made sun".

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The breakthrough was made on Thursday during the latest round of experiments at the experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST), or China’s "man-made sun".

The scientists achieved a temperature of 70 million degrees Celsius of long-pulse and high-parameter plasma, lasting for 1,056 seconds, according to Gong Xianzu, a researcher at the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The scientist is in charge of the experiment conducted in Hefei, capital of east China’s Anhui province.

They had earlier set a world record of achieving a plasma temperature of 120 million degrees Celsius for 101 seconds on May 28 this year.

The latest round of experiment started in early December this year, and will last until at least June 2022.

The ultimate goal of EAST, located in Hefei, is to create nuclear fusion like the Sun, using deuterium abound in the sea to provide a steady stream of clean energy.