China May Approve Limited Nvidia H200 Chip Sales to Top AI Firms

China Signals Shift on Advanced AI Chip Imports

Chinese officials have informed several of the country's leading artificial intelligence companies that they may soon receive permission to purchase Nvidia's H200 graphics processing units, according to a report from the Information published Wednesday. The companies named include Alibaba, ByteDance, and DeepSeek.

The development represents a potential thaw in Beijing's stance on importing advanced AI chips, though the quantities under consideration remain substantially limited. According to sources cited in the report, China may approve fewer than 200,000 H200 chips in total—less than half what these companies requested earlier in 2025.

Nvidia shares rose 1% following the news.

Navigating Dual Approval Requirements

The situation reflects an unusual dynamic in semiconductor trade. While the U.S. government has authorized Nvidia to sell H200 chips to China and licensed approximately 10 Chinese firms to purchase them, Chinese officials have withheld their own approval until now. Beijing's hesitation stems from its broader policy objective of nurturing domestic chip suppliers and reducing dependence on foreign technology.

Reuters previously reported in March that Nvidia had secured Beijing's approval to sell the chips in China, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang confirmed to CNBC around the same time that the company had received clearance. However, the actual implementation of sales has remained stalled.

Computing Capacity Crunch Drives Policy Reconsideration

The potential approval comes as Chinese technology companies face mounting pressure from insufficient computing resources to train and deploy large-scale AI models. This capacity shortage appears to be influencing Beijing's calculus on chip imports, even as it continues promoting domestic alternatives.

Nvidia's position in the Chinese market has deteriorated sharply under the weight of U.S. export restrictions and China's self-reliance push. CEO Jensen Huang stated in October that the company's market share in China had effectively fallen to zero.

Meanwhile, Nvidia has continued developing China-compliant products. Last month, Reuters reported exclusively that the company informed Chinese clients its new "Vera" central processors designed for AI data centers could become available as early as August, with orders opening soon.

Why it matters

This development signals Beijing may be pragmatically balancing its technology self-sufficiency goals against the immediate computational needs of its AI industry leaders. The limited approval—if finalized—would provide Chinese companies access to cutting-edge training hardware while maintaining pressure to develop domestic alternatives. For Nvidia, even restricted sales would represent a meaningful shift after months of near-zero market presence in the world's second-largest economy.

Neither Nvidia nor the U.S. Commerce Department, which oversees advanced AI chip exports, immediately responded to requests for comment. China's commerce ministry and the three named companies also did not provide immediate responses.

These details were first reported by the Information, citing two people with direct knowledge of the matter.