"Jensen Huang to Visit China at End of January Amid Resumption of H200 Exports"

With the path now open for exports of NVIDIA's advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chip H200 to China, Bloomberg News reported on the 20th (local time) that CEO Jensen Huang is planning to visit China later this month.

According to sources, CEO Huang will visit Beijing to attend an event at the company’s China branch celebrating the Lunar New Year. The sources also indicated that he may meet with high-ranking officials. However, as the schedule is private, it may change depending on whether the meetings are finalized.

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA. Photo by Getty Images Yonhap News

During his visit last July, he met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao. CEO Huang, who visits China every year at the end of January, also traveled to China instead of attending the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump in January of last year. Bloomberg pointed out that this year's visit to China comes at a very significant time for NVIDIA.

On the 14th, the Trump administration eased restrictions on semiconductor exports to China in exchange for imposing a 25% tariff. As a result, NVIDIA is now able to sell the H200 chip to China. Chinese authorities are currently reviewing how much they will import. However, as China seeks to foster its domestic semiconductor industry and reduce reliance on U.S.-made semiconductors, there appears to be some caution regarding H200 imports. The H200 is based on the previous-generation Hopper architecture, unlike NVIDIA's flagship Blackwell product. It offers significantly better performance than the H20 chip, which had its capabilities reduced for export to China.

According to Bloomberg’s sources, Chinese authorities have notified the military, major government agencies, key infrastructure, and state-owned enterprises not to use H200 chips for security reasons. On the 14th, Reuters reported that Chinese customs officials were recently instructed not to allow the import of H200 chips into China. The day before, The Information cited multiple sources saying that the Chinese government had informed technology companies that H200 chips could only be used in special situations, such as at university research institutes. It was also reported that these companies were given vague guidance to purchase NVIDIA chips only 'when necessary.'