China to approve limited Nvidia H200 chip sales to top AI firms: Report

ByteDance, DeepSeek, and Alibaba may soon be allowed by Chinese authorities to purchase Nvidia's H200 AI chips. According to a report by The Information, China is considering approving the sale of Nvidia's H200 chips to select domestic companies.

While the US government has already allowed Nvidia to sell its advanced H200 chips to China and has licensed around 10 Chinese firms to purchase them, Chinese regulators—keen to nurture domestic chipmakers—have so far withheld their approval.

Reuters had reported in March that Nvidia had received Beijing's approval to sell chips in China, citing sources. Around the same time, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC that the company had secured clearance to resume sales in the country. However, Beijing is still determining the exact number of Nvidia chips it will approve, with the initial batch expected to total fewer than 200,000 units.

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Last month, Reuters exclusively reported that Nvidia informed its Chinese customers that its new Vera CPUs for AI data centres could be available as early as August, with orders expected to open soon.

Speaking in October, Huang said Nvidia's market share in China had "effectively fallen to zero," citing the impact of US export restrictions and Beijing's push for greater self-reliance in critical technologies.

The apparent shift in China's stance underscores the growing shortage of AI computing capacity, as the country's technology companies struggle to secure enough advanced hardware to meet rising demand.

Before tightened export controls

Before the US tightened export controls, Nvidia commanded nearly 95 per cent of China's advanced AI chip market. China once accounted for roughly 13 per cent of Nvidia's total revenue, and Huang has previously estimated the country's AI market alone could be worth around $50 billion this year.

The 10 Chinese companies licensed to purchase the chips reportedly include Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and JD.com. A previous Reuters report also stated that Lenovo and Foxconn had received approval.

Under an arrangement negotiated by US President Donald Trump, the United States would receive 25 per cent of the revenue generated from the chip sales. To comply with US law—which does not allow the direct imposition of export fees—the chips would first pass through US territory before being shipped to China.

The proposed arrangement has reportedly raised concerns in Beijing over the possibility of tampering or hidden vulnerabilities, even though sources say the routing is primarily intended to work around legal restrictions.

Chinese scrutiny has also intensified following the State Council's introduction of two new supply chain security regulations.