Xi Jinping Finally Gives In: China Relents to American Chip Influx
The back-and-forth over the flow of US chips to China has finally reached a breakthrough point. Just moments ago, US President Donald Trump opened access to Nvidia’s advanced H200 chips to China, after previously imposing strict bans.
Trump’s decision is viewed as a increasingly conciliatory stance towards China, sparking debate among US policymakers. Many are concerned that China will use advanced US chips to develop military AI.
On the other hand, China, which has been ramping up its domestic chip industry following repeated US sanctions, did not immediately accept Trump’s decision with open arms.
Reports indicate that China also played hardball and initially rejected Nvidia’s H200 chips for its market. After prolonged negotiations, the Xi Jinping administration finally ‘gave in’ and accepted the influx of US chips.
Nvidia can now sell a number of its AI chips in China. This brings an end to months-long trade conflict between Beijing and the US.
Sources cited by Reuters state that Nvidia has received Beijing’s approval to sell its second-most powerful AI chip in the country. This includes preparing a version of Groq’s AI chip for sale in China.
Nvidia has indeed been caught in the whirlwind of the US-China conflict, which hampered sales to Beijing. Subsequently, Nvidia obtained US approvals for several chips, including the H200, for customers based in China.
Not long ago, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also confirmed obtaining licences for more customers for the H200. Nvidia has received larger orders, allowing the company to continue chip production.
‘Our supply chain is becoming increasingly active,’ he explained.
Most recently, Nvidia has received licences for numerous Chinese customers from the local government, as cited from Reuters on Thursday (19/3/2026).
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington said they were unaware of the details on the matter. The embassy side asked to direct questions to the relevant authorities.
The same report was covered by CNBC International, which stated that Huang confirmed the company obtained approvals from both the US and China.
A Chinese company claimed it was unaware of the government’s final approval. The information came from Nvidia, stating that the company could now place purchase orders.
In January, Reuters reported that China had given preliminary approval to three domestic giants—ByteDance, Tencent, and Alibaba—along with AI startup DeepSeek to import Nvidia chips.
However, that report stated that China’s approval to purchase Nvidia chips was still in the finalisation stage. The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.