China clears first NVIDIA H200 AI chips for import: sources
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Wed, January 28, 2026 at 3:10 AM EST
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STORY: China has approved its first batch of Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence chips for import.
That's according to Reuters sources familiar with the matter.
It's a notable shift as Beijing tries to balance its AI development needs with support for its domestic semiconductor industry.
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The approval covers several hundred thousand H200 chips and was granted during Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s visit to China this week, according to the sources, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Two said the semiconductors would go to tech giants ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent, with more firms waiting in line for future approvals.
None of the firms involved immediately responded to requests for comment.
The H200 is Nvidia’s second most powerful AI chip and a key flashpoint in U.S.-China relations.
Washington has cleared it for export, but Beijing's hesitation to allow imports has been the main barrier to shipments.
Chinese firms have already ordered over two million H200 chips, far beyond Nvidia’s available inventory, and while domestic alternatives such as Huawei are improving, they still lag well behind the H200’s performance.
It remains unclear how many additional approvals Beijing will grant as it weighs access to foreign chips against long‑term tech self‑reliance.
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