Chinese Commerce Minister Meets Jensen Huang: "The Door to Openness Will Open Even Wider"

Meeting Between Chinese Government and Nvidia CEO

Wang Wentao, Chinese Minister of Commerce, is speaking at the 13th Korea-Japan-China Economic and Trade Ministers' Meeting held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul on March 30. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce stated that Minister Wang met with Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, on the 17th. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The Chinese government announced on July 18 that Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce, met with Jensen Huang, CEO of the American artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor company Nvidia, on the 17th.

According to Reuters and China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce stated in a press release that during the meeting with CEO Huang, Minister Wang said, "We hope that companies, including Nvidia, will provide high-quality and reliable products and services to Chinese customers."

In response, CEO Huang said, "The Chinese market is very attractive," and added, "Nvidia would like to further deepen cooperation with Chinese partners in the field of AI." Minister Wang replied, "China's policy of attracting foreign investment will remain unchanged," and emphasized, "The door to openness will open even wider."

CEO Huang visited Beijing this week to attend the 3rd China International Supply Chain Expo. On the 15th, he also met with He Lifeng, Vice Premier of the State Council of China, and Ren Hongbin, Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. On the 14th, he met with Lei Jun, CEO of Chinese tech giant Xiaomi.

CEO Huang explained that although there is strong demand from Chinese customers for the H20 semiconductor chip, which is exclusively for export to China, "despite being removed from U.S. export controls this week, actual orders have not yet been placed because we are still waiting for U.S. government export license approval."

Earlier, during his visit to China, CEO Huang directly announced the resumption of H20 chip supply to China in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV), raising expectations for a positive outlook on U.S.-China trade relations. Nvidia has been selling the lower-spec H20 chip to China, rather than its latest AI chips, but exports of the H20 were also blocked after the United States tightened sanctions in May.

The decision by the Donald Trump administration to approve the export of Nvidia's H20 chips to China was made in exchange for China's resumption of rare earth exports. On July 15, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick explained the reason for approving the export of H20 chips in an interview with U.S. economic media outlet CNBC, stating, "When we made the (rare earth) magnet agreement with China, we said we would start selling chips to China again."