China reportedly tightens Nvidia H200 restrictions, limits purchases to special cases

Update, January 13, 2026:

China reportedly limits Nvidia H200 purchases to special cases

The Chinese government has tightened its stance on Nvidia's H200 chips. According to The Information, officials told some tech companies this week that H200 purchases will only be approved under special circumstances, like for university research labs. Some Chinese server manufacturers have reportedly already placed non-refundable orders. Nvidia disputes this claim, saying the company doesn't take payment for undelivered orders.

The directive is deliberately vague: companies should only buy the chips when "necessary." But officials didn't define what counts as necessary, leaving room to loosen restrictions later. That ambiguity is likely intentional: Beijing will need to monitor AI model progress and adjust course accordingly. Hardware independence doesn't help China much if it falls far behind on software.

Still, the government appears to have made its choice: protecting the domestic chip industry takes priority over giving local AI developers easy access to advanced US processors. Just last week, Beijing had only imposed a temporary purchase freeze and was reportedly considering a quota system that would have required Nvidia buyers to also purchase domestic chips.

Update, January 8, 2026:

Chinese companies waiting for government approval

According to Bloomberg, China is expected to approve H200 imports as soon as this quarter. Beijing will reportedly allow domestic companies to buy the chips for commercial use, though military, government agencies, critical infrastructure, and state-owned enterprises remain barred due to security concerns.

Tech giants Alibaba and ByteDance are reportedly ready to order over 200,000 chips each once they get the green light. The H200 is one generation behind Nvidia's latest Blackwell GPUs, but still far more powerful than the China-specific H20 and domestic alternatives.

Original article, January 7, 2026:

Despite Trump's approval, China slows Nvidia chip imports to protect domestic industry

The Chinese government has reportedly ordered domestic tech companies to temporarily stop buying Nvidia's H200 AI chips.

According to The Information, Beijing is reviewing import conditions for these high-performance chips to avoid undermining its domestic semiconductor industry. The move comes about a month after President Donald Trump announced he would allow Nvidia to sell H200 chips to China, relaxing restrictions put in place during the Biden administration. Nvidia still can't sell its most capable B30A chip to China.

Besides the B30A restrictions, Nvidia reportedly has strong demand from China, with more than two million H200 chips expected for 2026. Beijing now wants to stop local companies from stockpiling chips too early. According to insiders, government officials are considering a quota system: anyone buying Nvidia's H200 would also have to purchase a set percentage of domestic AI chips.

Beijing struggles to balance AI progress with tech independence

China's government faces a tough trade-off. Cutting-edge AI development requires Nvidia's chips, but Beijing also wants to build technological independence. Officials see access to American chips as a stopgap while domestic manufacturers catch up, according to The Information's sources.

Chinese companies like Huawei can produce chips for inference, when AI models generate answers, but they lack the technology to train large models. That's why the H200 remains critical for Chinese AI development. Even DeepSeek, the Chinese startup known for its AI efficiency breakthroughs, reportedly smuggled Nvidia chips on a massive scale.

New rules push for domestic equipment as Meta deal faces scrutiny

According to Reuters, chip manufacturers building factories in China must now prove that at least half of their equipment comes from Chinese suppliers. Beijing's long-term goal is 100 percent. The requirement is already paying off: Naura Technology, China's largest chip equipment supplier, grew its revenue by 30 percent in the first half of 2025.

Beijing is also reviewing Meta's acquisition of Manus, an AI agent startup. Officials worry the deal could drain AI expertise from China. Manus moved its headquarters from China to Singapore earlier this summer to make Western investment easier.