Nvidia Begins H200 Shipments to China as U.S. Grants New Export Licenses to ZTE, Kingsoft, and Maginfra

Under Secretary of Commerce Jeffrey Kessler testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on July 14, 2026, confirming that a "trivial" quantity of Nvidia H200 chips has been shipped to China and Hong Kong under U.S. export licenses — the first confirmed deliveries since President Trump approved limited H200 exports in December 2025 subject to a 25% duty and case-by-case inter-agency review. The U.S. government has licensed approximately 10 Chinese firms to purchase H200 chips, capped at 75,000 units per customer. Newly cleared buyers include ZTE Kangxun Telecom and server maker Maginfra for H200s, and Kingsoft subsidiary Zhuhai Hengqin Yunxiang Zhisheng Network Technology for AMD MI325X accelerators — joining earlier licensees Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and JD.com. Nvidia has recognized zero revenue under the program to date, partly because Chinese customs has informally blocked imports with no formal announcement. The hearing also addressed congressional criticism from both parties. Democrats accused the administration of using export controls as a trade bargaining chip and weakening national security safeguards. Republicans including Rep. Bill Huizenga warned that rules are only as effective as the willingness to enforce them. Kessler also defended the administration's July 10, 2026 decision to loosen export controls on the UAE for AI chips and military equipment. Separately, the administration has held off adding DeepSeek, ChangXin Memory Technologies, and over 100 other flagged Chinese entities to the Entity List to avoid escalating U.S.-China tensions. Nvidia's Blackwell-generation chips remain barred from China. CEO Jensen Huang told investors in May 2026 to "expect nothing" from Chinese H200 sales. AMD and Nvidia shares rose approximately 6% and 3.5% respectively on July 14 following the Reuters report on newly licensed buyers.

H200 chip shipments to China

• ▪KeyBanc analyst John Vinh raised his price target on Nvidia stock to $330 from $310 with an Overweight rating; Bank of America raised its AMD target to $620 with a Buy rating
• ▪Under Secretary of Commerce Jeffrey Kessler testified to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on July 14, 2026, that only a trivial quantity of Nvidia H200 chips has been shipped to China and Hong Kong.
• ▪AMD shares rose approximately 6% and Nvidia shares rose approximately 3.5% on July 14, 2026, after Reuters reported new H200 and AMD MI325X licenses for Chinese firms.
• ▪In May 2026, the U.S. Commerce Department cleared approximately 10 Chinese firms — including Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and JD.com — to purchase Nvidia H200 chips, capped at 75,000 units per customer.
• ▪Nvidia has recognized $0 in revenue under its H200 licensing program per its FY2026 filings; chips require U.S.-based pre-shipment inspection, and Chinese customs has informally blocked H200 imports with no formal announcement.
• ▪ZTE Kangxun Telecom (a unit of ZTE Corp) and server maker Maginfra received U.S. approval to purchase Nvidia H200 Hopper-generation AI chips, joining roughly 10 licensed Chinese firms including Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and JD.com.
• ▪Zhuhai Hengqin Yunxiang Zhisheng Network Technology, a subsidiary of Kingsoft Cloud, received U.S. clearance to purchase AMD MI325X AI accelerators — chips within the same Hopper-equivalent tier as the H200 under BIS licensing rules.
• ▪Chinese firms ordered over 2 million Nvidia H200 chips after the December 2025 policy announcement; China conditionally approved only ~400,000 units for ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent

U.S.-China AI chip export controls

• ▪The U.S. BIS shifted H200 and AMD MI325X export license review for China from "presumption of denial" to case-by-case review effective January 15, 2026, requiring applicants to pass KYC checks, third-party U.S.-based performance testing, and demonstrate they won't divert foundry capacity from U.S. customers.
• ▪Beijing has discouraged Chinese firms from purchasing foreign chips, directing state-funded data centers to use domestic accelerators such as Huawei's Ascend series; Chinese firms with approved H200 licenses were told not to buy unless absolutely necessary.
• ▪The U.S. allows Chinese firms to buy AI chips up to the Hopper family (H200, AMD MI325X) on a case-by-case basis, subject to a 25% duty on chips imported into the U.S. from overseas fabs before re-export, a 50% volume cap relative to U.S. sales, third-party performance testing, and KYC requirements. Blackwell-generation chips remain restricted.
• ▪The Trump administration held off on adding DeepSeek and memory chip maker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) to the Entity List to avoid escalating U.S.-China trade tensions, despite congressional pressure from both parties.

Congressional scrutiny of Commerce Department

• ▪Representative Gregory Meeks criticized the Commerce Department for not adding any Chinese companies to its export control Entity List since October 2025.
• ▪Representative Gregory Meeks accused President Donald Trump of turning export controls into a bargaining chip and weakening safeguards by licensing advanced AI chips for China.
• ▪The Trump administration held off on adding China's AI startup DeepSeek and memory chip maker ChangXin Memory Technologies to the Entity List to avoid escalating tensions.

Nvidia chip smuggling concerns

• ▪Taiwanese authorities raided the offices of Super Micro and other firms in late June 2026 as part of an investigation into GPU smuggling to China.
• ▪Nvidia has halved its list of approved Asian customers by expanding compliance checks, facility visits, and interviews in Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan.
• ▪Representative Bill Huizenga criticized Commerce Department guidance from May 31, 2026, which allegedly allowed Chinese subsidiaries to keep smuggled Blackwell chips.

UAE export control loosening

• ▪Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler defended the Trump administration's decision to loosen export controls on the United Arab Emirates for Nvidia AI chips and military equipment.
• ▪The United States loosened export controls on the United Arab Emirates on July 10, 2026, to ease exports of commercial satellites, spacecraft, and AI chips.