The US Commerce Department has reportedly given 10 Chinese companies, including Alibaba, TikTok parent Tencent, ByteDance, retailer JD.com, Lenovo and Foxconn, permission to buy NVIDIA’s second-best H200 processor. According to ReutersHowever, NVIDIA has not yet made a delivery.
In December 2025, the U.S. government authorized NVIDIA to sell H200 processors to approved customers in China, after blocking its sales over concerns that it would help the development of the country’s military technologies. China agreed to import several hundred thousand H200 chips in January, Reuters reported at the time, with the first shipments going to three unnamed Chinese internet companies.
The H200 is one of the company’s most powerful AI chips, second only to its high-end B200 processors. Although the B200 is faster, the H200 is still much more capable than the H20, which was authorized for the Chinese market six months earlier than the H200. Companies approved for the H200 can purchase up to 75,000 chips either directly from NVIDIA or through intermediaries, but the companies reportedly backed away from making a purchase after receiving guidance from the Chinese government.
Reuters He says China’s directions were triggered by changes on the U.S. side, but those changes remain unclear. It is also worth noting that local Chinese companies developed their own chips after the United States blocked exports to their country. China encourages local companies to use them to boost the local chip industry. The Chinese government is also reportedly concerned that H200 chips sold to its companies have hidden vulnerabilities. Indeed, for the American government to legally obtain its 25% reduction in H200 sales, the chips must pass through American territory.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, who previously warned the U.S. government that its export restrictions were causing his company to lose its grip on China, recently traveled to Beijing with President Donald Trump to attend a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. It remains to be seen whether this trip will lead China to give local companies the green light to purchase the H200.