China says US tried to buy superconductor magnet that ‘outperforms American ones by 40%’

America’s Brookhaven lab once ‘monopolised’ the specialist technology, but China says it is now ’winning’ in that field

The US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory once “monopolised” this type of specialised technology, according to Science and Technology Daily.

There has been no indication that the US lab has acquired the magnet.

“We have proven that the Chinese are capable of competing head-to-head with the world’s best in cutting-edge fields of basic science, and can consistently win,” Yu Chenghui, chief operator of the collider, told the newspaper.

“To break free from our dependence on others as soon as possible, we spent 13 years developing the world’s best combined superconducting magnet,” Zhu Yingshun, a researcher at the institute, told the newspaper, which is run by the science ministry.