About 600,000 Nvidia H200 artificial intelligence chips are currently stalled in Hong Kong as Beijing delays large-scale import approvals. Despite Washington permitting Nvidia to sell the chips to vetted Chinese entities, Chinese regulators seek to curb reliance on US technology by capping total H200 approvals below 200,000 and pressing tech giants like Alibaba and ByteDance toward domestic processors. Supply shortages have driven mainland underground server prices to triple, forcing Nvidia to absorb a $400 million inventory charge.
Chinese restrictions on H200 chip imports
- ▪In January 2026, Beijing approved a first batch of H200 chip imports for ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent
- ▪Several major Chinese internet companies have each obtained about 10,000 Nvidia H200 chips in recent months through limited approvals or indirect routes
- ▪Approximately 600,000 Nvidia H200 artificial intelligence chips are stored in Hong Kong awaiting shipment to mainland China, as Beijing has withheld approval for large-scale imports
- ▪The Information reported that Chinese officials informed tech companies including Alibaba, ByteDance, and DeepSeek that total H200 import approvals could be limited to fewer than 200,000 chips
US export controls on Nvidia chips
- ▪In January 2026, the United States government began reviewing Nvidia H200 export licenses for China on a case-by-case basis
- ▪The United States government barred H200 chip exports to China before President Donald Trump's administration granted Nvidia permission in December 2025 to sell the processors to approved Chinese customers
- ▪United States export controls introduced in 2022 restricted China's access to advanced Nvidia chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment
Financial impact on Nvidia
- ▪Nvidia recorded a $400 million charge for unsold H200 chip inventory and related purchase commitments amid Chinese import restrictions
- ▪Nvidia reported in its quarterly filing that Nvidia H200 chip sales to China accounted for less than 1% of its data center revenue
Black-market sales of Nvidia chips in China
- ▪Servers featuring Nvidia's newer Blackwell chips, which remain barred under United States export controls, were offered for more than 20 million yuan each on China's unofficial market
- ▪At least $1 billion worth of restricted Nvidia artificial intelligence chips, including B200 chips, have illegally entered China through black-market distributors since May 2026, according to a Financial Times report cited by Firstpost
- ▪In mainland China's unofficial market, an eight-card Nvidia H200 server was offered for more than 6 million yuan ($900,000) by late October 2026, approximately triple its price from a year earlier
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