By Ian Werther in News — 18 Mar 2026

Nvidia Secures Limited U.S. Approval to Export H200 Chips to China

China has approved purchases of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips for multiple Chinese firms, a move described by Chinese economic media as signaling very strong demand for the device in the domestic market. The development underscores how global AI hardware sales are increasingly tied to political and regulatory steps between the United States and China.

Reuters cited sources saying Nvidia waited months for licensing from both sides and that the company has obtained U.S. approval to export limited quantities to certain Chinese customers. Chinese authorities reportedly granted preliminary approvals for imports of the H200 by ByteDance, Tencent, Alibaba, and an AI startup referred to as DeepSik, with final clearance expected to follow a review.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said at the GTC 2026 conference in California that the company has received purchase orders from several Chinese firms and is restarting H200 production to fulfill those requests. This public frame from Nvidia aligns with expectations that demand from China could soon translate into actual shipments, even as regulatory steps remain sensitive.

The East India Company iron steam ship Nemesis, commanded by Lieutenant W. H. Hall, with boats from the Sulphur, Calliope, Larne and Starling, destroying the Chinese war junks in Anson's Bay, on 7 January 1841.
An engagement in the First Opium War (1839-42), showing the ‘Nemesis’ (right background, in starboard broadside view) attacking a fleet of Chinese war junks in the middle ground. The war junk third from the left is shown being destroyed with splinters flying up into the air. Two rowing boats with Chinese passengers ew from the left foreground. Various men can be seen overboard and clinging on to debris throughout the scene. The lettering below includes lists of dimensions. PAH8193 and PAH8893 are additional copies, both hand-coloured, and the print is from an oil painting by Duncan presented to the Williamson Art Gallery at Birkenhead in 1925, with another showing Prince Albert visiting iron ships off Woolwich Dockyard. They were a gift from Alderman J.W.P. Laird, one of the Birkenhead shipbuilding family who built the 'Nemesis' and others of the vessels shown in them. On 7 January 1841, the 'Nemesis' of the Bombay Marine (the East India Company's naval service), commanded by William Hutcheon Hall, with boats from the ‘Sulphur’, ‘Calliope’, ‘Larne’ and ‘Starling’, destroyed Chinese war junks in Anson's Bay, Chuenpee, near the Bocca Tigris forts guarding the mouth of the Pearl River up to Canton. British forces then captured the forts themselves. Hall was a Royal Naval master at the time. He had steam experience and had been privately engaged by John Laird to command the 'Nemesis', which the latter had built experimentally as the first fully iron warship, and was so successful in it in China that in 1841 he was specially commissioned as a Naval lieutenant. He went on to later Royal Naval service as a captain in the Crimean War and was a retired admiral at his death in 1875. His portrait (BHC2733) and papers are also in the Museum collection. — Representative image for context; not directly related to the specific event in this article. License: Public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

A Chinese company executive told Reuters that while final government approval may not be fully confirmed, Nvidia had informed them that orders could proceed. The absence of a formal China statement leaves some regulatory details unresolved, but industry sources view this as a meaningful step toward reintroducing Chinese buyers to Nvidia’s high-end chips.

Nvidia disclosed in an SEC filing that the U.S. government had, in February, permitted exports of small quantities of H200 products to a limited set of Chinese customers. This context sits against a broader export-control backdrop that has long constrained China’s access to leading AI accelerators.

Historically, the Trump administration restricted exports of high-performance chips to China. The article notes that late last year the administration proposed easing some of these rules on Nvidia in exchange for a licensing fee of about 25% of profits, signaling how policy shifts can influence supply chains for AI hardware.

Video about the RTX 4090 with appearance, PCB, performance comparisons and more. — Representative image for context; not directly related to the specific event in this article. License: CC BY 3.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

China has long prioritized domestic chip development, which helped justify delays in approvals for AI hardware imports. Still, market observers see the latest permissions as a cautious reopening of China’s access to Nvidia’s H200 in a limited, regulated fashion, with potential implications for Nvidia’s sales and for global AI chip dynamics.

Analysts and industry observers from Chinese financial media called the move a positive development for Nvidia’s engagement with China and noted that, as the world’s largest semiconductor market, China remains central to Nvidia’s long-term growth. They also hinted that Nvidia could soon publish Chinese sales data as demand appears set to remain robust.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not offer a formal comment, saying it did not have specifics and directing queries to the relevant authorities. For U.S. readers, the key takeaway is that these approvals—if fully realized—could affect AI deployment, supply chains, and competitive dynamics between the United States and China in high-end computing hardware.

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