Nvidia CEO says company receives orders for China shipments

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said at the company’s GTC conference in San Jose that Nvidia has received purchase orders and is restarting manufacturing to ship H200 processors to customers in China.

Huang told CNBC the company now has clearance from both the US and Chinese authorities for some H200 shipments.

Nvidia has been shut out of China since April 2025 after US export controls required licenses for certain chips and the company said it would take a US$5.5 billion charge.

Washington in December allowed H200 exports under licensing terms that include shipment caps, mandatory third-party testing, and a 25% cut of sales to the US government, the company has said.

Nvidia’s Colette Kress, CFO, told analysts in late February that a small number of H200 units had been approved but had not yet generated revenue and that the company had guided its next quarter assuming no China data-center revenue.

🔗 Source: CNBC

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Nvidia’s China restart runs into demand and supply limits

Nvidia is restarting manufacturing, yet Chinese firms have reportedly ordered more than two million H200 chips. That suggests about US$54 billion in potential demand at roughly US$27,000 each 1.
Nvidia’s inventory has been reported at about 700,000 chips. U.S. rules also say China cannot receive more than 50% of the total number of chips Nvidia sells to American customers 1.
US officials are considering a limit of 75,000 Nvidia H200 chips for any single Chinese firm. Shipments of AMD’s MI325 chips (a competing AI accelerator from chipmaker AMD) would also count toward a customer’s cap, according to people familiar with the matter 2.
Even with US approvals, Chinese customs authorities have reportedly told agents to block H200 imports. That leaves shipments bound for China stuck 3.

The 25% fee and licensing terms set new rules for U.S. tech exports

The Trump administration linked permission for H200 sales to China to a 25% fee paid to the US government, according to reporting on the policy 1.
The administration says limited access to H200-class chips, with more advanced chips still restricted, can slow Chinese rivals. The argument includes heavily sanctioned Huawei (a Chinese telecoms and electronics company) and its efforts to close the gap with Nvidia and AMD chip designs 1.
Washington’s licensing terms also cover shipment caps plus mandatory third-party testing in the US before chips can ship to China 1.
Investors now face an AI hardware market where returns depend on export rules as much as product advances 4.