China Finally Relents, Resigned to US Chip Influx
China has reportedly begun allowing entry of a small number of Nvidia’s most capable AI chips, the H200, into the country. The move provides a boost for Chinese technology giants amid tight technology trade restrictions from the United States.
The H200 chip is one of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips, though not the most sophisticated. The Trump administration opened the door for H200 chip exports to China from late 2025. However, for months, Xi Jinping’s government remained reluctant and had not yet issued formal approval for H200 chips to enter the country.
To date, Xi Jinping has also not made any public announcement regarding permission to import the H200 chips.
Nevertheless, according to a Financial Times report cited by Reuters on Wednesday (19/8/2026), two Chinese technology giants, ByteDance and Tencent, have each received around 10,000 H200 processors in recent weeks. Several other Chinese technology companies are also expected to follow suit to secure similar shipments in the near future.
Previously, although the US government had granted permission for these companies to bring in up to 100,000 H200 chips per company, Beijing imposed internal restrictions.
Chinese authorities requested that the high-tech hardware remain outside mainland China in order to encourage and protect the growth of the domestic chip manufacturing industry.
As a compromise, Chinese regulators directed the relevant companies to divert shipments of the processors to Hong Kong. The territory, which operates outside mainland China’s customs jurisdiction, was permitted to serve as an operational base for utilising the chips.
This report corroborates statements made by senior US officials last month before Congress, confirming that a small number of Nvidia H200 chips had indeed begun to be shipped to China.
As of the time this report was published, Nvidia had not provided an official response to Reuters’ request for comment. Reuters was also unable to independently verify the report.