The US has approved ZTE Kangxun Telecom, a unit of Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE, along with server maker Maginfra and Zhuhai Hengqin Yunxiang Zhisheng Network Technology, a subsidiary of Beijing-based cloud computing company Kingsoft, to buy AI chips from Nvidia and AMD.

The decision expands the group of Chinese companies cleared to purchase advanced AI chips under Washington’s export licensing rules.

Documents and sources said ZTE Kangxun and Maginfra can buy Nvidia’s H200 chips, while Zhuhai Hengqin Yunxiang Zhisheng has been cleared to use some AMD chips that compete with the H200.

The approvals follow a January 2026 US Commerce policy change under which certain H200-class chip exports to China and Macao can be reviewed case by case if exporters meet supply, compliance, and third-party testing conditions, rather than automatically face a presumption of denial.

Around 10 Chinese firms, including Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and JD.com, had also won approval by May, though no deliveries had been made at that time.

The clearance for a ZTE unit is notable because parent company ZTE previously paid US$1.19 billion in combined US sanctions and export-control settlements tied to Iran and later faced renewed export restrictions.

🔗 Source: Reuters