Jensen Huang plans to visit China before the Lunar New Year, aiming to restart NVIDIA's AI chip market in China

It is rumored that Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang plans to visit China around the Lunar New Year, with the timing set for late January. This trip is not just a routine employee event but is also viewed by the outside world as a crucial step for him to reopen the Chinese market for Nvidia AI chips and to engage in extensive efforts. The timing coincides with a critical moment when both the US and China are simultaneously adjusting their policies on AI chip controls, making the political and industrial significance of the entire trip particularly sensitive.

Jensen Huang’s proposed visit to China before the Lunar New Year is highly sensitive

It is rumored that Jensen Huang plans to go to China around the Lunar New Year, mainly to attend a company-hosted employee event there, which has been a fixed arrangement for many years. However, this time, he also plans to visit Beijing, though it is still uncertain whether he will meet with high-level Chinese officials, and the itinerary remains variable.

Nvidia has not responded to this trip. The trip to China occurs at a critical moment when US-China technology policies are highly sensitive, drawing extra attention from the outside world.

US relaxes chip export restrictions, China’s approval stance remains unknown

The background of this China visit is closely related to recent US adjustments to export policies. The US government has eased some AI chip export restrictions, allowing Nvidia to sell the H200 model to China, but whether shipments can actually proceed still depends on approval from the Chinese government.

According to reports, Beijing plans to approve the import of these chips for certain uses as early as this quarter. In other words, although the export policy has been relaxed by the US, whether the Chinese market can truly be opened depends ultimately on the Beijing government.

China strives to develop domestically produced chips, but performance still lags behind Nvidia

China is currently the world’s largest semiconductor market and has been actively supporting its domestic chip industry in recent years, aiming to reduce reliance on US technology. However, at this stage, Chinese domestic chips still cannot compete with Nvidia in terms of performance.

Even though the H200 is a generation behind the latest US chips, it is still regarded in the Chinese market as significantly superior to domestic products and is an essential tool for training and running AI models. This explains why, despite policy restrictions, Nvidia chips remain highly attractive to China.

China imposes usage restrictions on H200, prohibiting military and state-owned enterprise applications

To safeguard national security and industrial safety, the Chinese government has also set usage restrictions on the H200. Informed sources indicate that this chip will not be used for military purposes, sensitive government agencies, critical infrastructure, or state-owned enterprises.

This approach is consistent with China’s past restrictions on foreign products, such as limiting the use of Apple devices and Micron memory, with security and autonomy as core considerations.

US pressure and Congressional backlash keep chip exports a political battleground

Even though the US has relaxed some export controls, sales of Nvidia chips to China still come with multiple conditions, including a 25% tariff on certain advanced chips and requirements that exporters guarantee that Chinese orders will not cause shortages in the US or displace capacity originally intended for US customers.

Furthermore, there is strong opposition within the US Congress. During a hearing last week, Congressman Brian Mast openly stated that if China can freely access Nvidia chips, it could surpass the US in AI military capabilities, and he publicly named Jensen Huang, accusing Nvidia of attempting to sell large quantities of advanced chips to Chinese military-related enterprises.

Mast is also pushing a bill that would, like arms deals, require congressional review of AI chip exports, and could even use joint resolutions to block the H200 export. In response, Jensen Huang has stated that such powers should be handled by the President and the Department of Commerce, not directly by Congress. The future of Nvidia chips being smoothly exported to China remains uncertain.

(China requests local companies to suspend procurement of Nvidia H200 chips, hoping to support domestic semiconductor development)

This article, “Jensen Huang Rumored to Visit China Before Lunar New Year, or Strive to Restart Nvidia AI Chip Market in China,” first appeared on Lian News ABMedia.