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China reportedly includes domestic AI chips in procurement list
China has included domestic AI chips in its official procurement list for the first time, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has added AI processors from Chinese companies such as Huawei and Cambricon to a government-approved supplier list.
The move is part of Beijing’s ongoing efforts to reduce reliance on foreign technology, especially after US export controls limited access to advanced chips.
The new procurement guidelines, which have not yet been made public, have already been distributed to some government agencies and state-owned firms.
Previously, China had urged public institutions to use local technology, but this is the first time such instructions have been formalized in writing.
The policy shift comes as the US has allowed Nvidia to resume exports of its H200 chips to China, though these sales may still face regulatory hurdles.
🔗 Source: Financial Times
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
Procurement lists rarely ensure adoption
- MIIT added Huawei Ascend (Huawei’s AI accelerator line) and Cambricon (a domestic AI chip designer) chips to procurement lists. Deployment at agencies and state firms depends on mandatory orders. Earlier IT catalogs named domestic CPUs and Windows substitutes, with limited impact 1.
- Regulators are weighing strict approvals for Nvidia H200 imports, and buyers would need to explain why local chips fall short. No final decision exists yet 2. These controls and promotion raise hurdles that lists cannot clear.
- The timing overlaps with the US move that lets Nvidia ship H200s to approved buyers in China, which hints that Beijing hedges against market forces that may favor foreign tech 1.
Data centers can tap provincial power subsidies
- Some provinces and cities cover part of power bills for AI data centers that use domestic chips to offset higher draw from Huawei Ascend gear. A CloudMatrix 384 with 384 Ascend 910C accelerators uses more energy than Nvidia’s GB200 NVL72, a rack-scale AI system with 72 GPUs 3.
- Builders, vendors, plus integrators should map provinces with richest subsidies or vouchers. China uses low-cost nuclear, solar, and wind power to blunt chip inefficiency 3. Time entries to match subsidy windows and eligibility rules, which can decide project economics.
- The AI Plus Manufacturing plan brings AI into industrial production. It will lift demand for migration tools, compilers, plus optimization software that help enterprise IT and factory teams shift workloads to domestic chip clusters while capturing subsidies 4.
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