China Eases Nvidia H200 Curbs, Letting ByteDance and Tencent Import 10,000 Chips Each
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Aug 19
China Eases Nvidia H200 Curbs, Letting ByteDance and Tencent Import 10,000 Chips Each
3 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Aug 19
Summary
ByteDance and Tencent have each received about 10,000 Nvidia H200 processors in recent weeks after Beijing allowed small batches into mainland China to support AI model training.
The shift reflects pressure on Chinese AI groups to catch up with US rivals: regulators have recently loosened US-chip restrictions as companies race to build cutting-edge models, even though H200s trail Nvidia’s top chips by at least two generations.
Beijing still wants most approved H200 purchases kept outside the mainland to protect domestic chipmakers, and companies must win separate NDRC approval for imports; Hong Kong is also allowed but lacks enough data-centre and power capacity.
Nvidia has roughly 500,000 H200 chips in stock mainly for Chinese clients, with sales previously stalled by Beijing’s controls, while Lenovo and other partners have resumed taking orders for H200-based AI servers.
The partial opening underscores China’s balancing act: backing Huawei and other local chipmakers while still relying on Nvidia chips for AI training because domestic supply cannot yet meet surging demand.