The AI chip war between China and the US has taken another dramatic turn as US President Trump recently traveled to Beijing for talks.Reuters News ReportThe U.S. Department of Commerce has approved the release of 10 Chinese companies, including Alibaba, Tencent, TikTok's parent company ByteDance, Lenovo, and JD.com, to purchase NVIDIA's second-tier flagship AI chips.H200The order, which was originally seen as a major breakthrough for NVIDIA in the Chinese market, has now been stalled due to the Chinese government's "guidance" regarding the acquisition of a license. This shows that in the context of low-orbit diplomatic maneuvering, chips are no longer just a purely commercial transaction, but have become a core bargaining chip in the geopolitical struggle between the two sides.
Key Factor: The Generational Difference in Computing Power Between H200 and H20
The H200 that has been approved for export this time is far more effective than the "crippled" version of H20 launched for the Chinese market six months ago.
• Performance range:The H200 is one of NVIDIA's most powerful AI chips on the market, second only to the latest B200. For Chinese internet giants that urgently need to build large language model (LLM) computing power clusters, the release of the H200 should have been a much-needed boost.
• Purchase limit:According to the license, these 10 authorized companies can collectively purchase approximately 7.5 chips, and the purchase methods include direct purchase or resale through intermediaries.
• Technology sensitivity:The U.S. Department of Commerce has been conditionally allowing H200 visas starting in late 2025, primarily due to concerns that high-end computing power might be diverted to military development. However, the ban only began to ease after NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang repeatedly communicated with the U.S. government, emphasizing that losing the Chinese market would weaken NVIDIA's long-term R&D funding.
Beijing's concerns: hidden loopholes and the 25% "toll fee".
However, according to reports, the Chinese government has been extremely cautious in purchasing this batch of H200 aircraft, even providing guidance to companies and requesting them to slow down the pace of procurement. There are two main reasons behind this:
• Security concerns and path tracing:China is concerned about unknown technological vulnerabilities in H200 chips sold to China. In particular, according to US regulations, for the US government to legally take a cut (25% tax rate) on H200 transactions, the chips must first be processed within US territory, which makes China uneasy about the security of the hardware.
• Supporting domestic "product substitution":With the US repeatedly imposing technology export restrictions, Chinese chipmakers such as Huawei and Cambricon are rapidly catching up. Beijing prefers to encourage leading local companies to adopt domestically produced chips, thereby stimulating the development and maturation of the domestic supply chain and preventing the US government from again "strangling" them in critical infrastructure.
Jensen Huang's trip to Beijing with Trump: Will it open the door?
It is worth noting that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang also demonstrated remarkable diplomatic flexibility earlier, accompanying US President Trump to Beijing to attend the summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This meeting, which transcends political and business boundaries, is widely interpreted as Huang attempting to personally dispel any suspicions between the two sides and seeking China's approval for local companies to purchase H2O2.
Analysis: The "Trust" Dilemma in the Era of Computing Power Sovereignty
The "US approval, China rejection" phenomenon encountered by NVIDIA H200 in the Chinese market highlights the most fundamental contradiction in the global semiconductor industry in 2026: when computing power is equivalent to national strength, the advancement of technology is no longer the only procurement indicator.
For companies like Alibaba and Tencent, the H200's performance is definitely superior to current Chinese-made chips, but under pressure from political correctness and security compliance, they have to adopt a wait-and-see attitude. This is a huge blow to NVIDIA, because once Chinese companies successfully adapt to the ecosystem of domestically produced chips (such as Huawei's Ascend series), even if NVIDIA completely lifts the ban in the future, it will likely be difficult to regain its original market share.
This chip war has now evolved into a "trust game." Jensen Huang's trip to Beijing with Trump demonstrates the tech industry's efforts to alleviate the "computing iron curtain" through top-level political engagement. Whether H200 can successfully enter Chinese data centers will be a crucial indicator of the global trend towards AI decentralization and semiconductor decoupling in the coming years.
