China is preparing new limits on Nvidia’s H200 chips even though Donald Trump approved exports of the hardware to Chinese buyers.
The plan, described by officials involved in the talks and confirmed through reporting by Financial Times, centers on Beijing’s push to grow its own semiconductor base while still letting select companies buy the American chips.
Regulators are discussing a system that would force buyers to file requests explaining why they need Nvidia’s H200 instead of Chinese chips. The approval structure is still being shaped, and nothing has been formally announced.
The chip at the center of this fight is Nvidia’s second-best AI processor, a part that was blocked under Joe Biden because Washington feared it could be used for military systems inside China. That ban is what pushed Beijing to ramp up its own chip development.
Beijing builds rules to filter H200 access
Donald Trump said on Truth Social that he told President Xi Jinping the US would permit Nvidia to “ship its H200 products to approved customers in China… under conditions that allow for continued strong National Security.”
Trump added that “25% will be paid to the United States of America,” and he did not explain the structure or timing of that payment. The announcement quickly hit the tech sector because it marked a major shift from the earlier Biden rules that stopped all H200 shipments.
The Chinese regulators shaping the limits are the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Both agencies lead the country’s years-long strategy to reduce dependence on foreign semiconductors. Officials involved in those discussions said Beijing may take extra steps, including blocking government departments from buying the H200 altogether.
China has already been increasing customs checks on chip imports and giving energy subsidies to data centers that run local processors.
The return of Nvidia hardware matters for major firms like Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent, which still run their biggest models on US chips because of stronger performance and smoother upkeep.
Some of them have been training models outside China to use chips they cannot access at home. That workaround is costly and slow, but it became common after the Biden restrictions blocked all H200 shipments.
Washington faces pushback while China weighs more limits
Trump’s new position is already facing resistance in Washington. A group of senators has proposed a bill that would block exports of advanced chips, including the H200, for 30 months.
The bill would stop the White House from approving any new deals during that period. Officials watching the talks said Washington may also set its own approval filter that clears sales only to companies the US sees as “safe.”
Nvidia still has permission to send China a cut-down product called the H20, which was designed specifically to meet US rules. In August, the company agreed to give 15% of its revenue from China chip sales to the US government.
Even with that deal, Beijing has limited access to the H20 because officials said the performance difference compared to Chinese alternatives was too small to justify broad adoption.
The back-and-forth continued after Trump’s Truth Social statement, when Guo Jiakun, spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, said China supports cooperation with the US that leads to “mutual benefit and win-win results.”
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