Nvidia AI Chips Stuck in Hong Kong as China Holds Back

About 600,000 Nvidia AI chips are stored in Hong Kong, waiting for shipment to mainland China, because Beijing has not approved large-scale imports. The stockpile has built up even though Chinese technology firms want the chips badly, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The chips are Nvidia’s H200 model. The size of the stockpile has not been reported before. It shows how far Beijing will go to cut reliance on American technology, even at the cost of slowing its own artificial intelligence work. At the same time, Chinese companies need Nvidia’s computing power to meet surging demand for AI in the world’s second-largest economy.

China has let some of the chips into the country in recent months. Several large Chinese internet companies have each obtained about 10,000 H200 chips in the past few months, one of the people said. Small quantities have also moved through intermediaries and indirect routes, three people said, without giving numbers. But Beijing has yet to approve large-volume imports into mainland China.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission did not respond to requests for comment. Nvidia also declined to comment, as did Alibaba, ByteDance, DeepSeek and Tencent.

Why Nvidia AI chips matter to China

The H200 is not Nvidia’s newest AI processor, but it has capabilities that Chinese alternatives have yet to match. That makes it useful for training AI models, particularly when combined with Nvidia’s software. For Chinese firms racing to build bigger models, the chip is hard to replace.

American export controls since 2022 have sought to restrict China’s access to advanced Nvidia chips and the equipment needed to make them. The controls have not stopped demand. They have pushed Chinese buyers towards intermediaries and indirect routes, and that has pushed prices up in the unofficial market.

An eight-card H200 server was offered for more than 6 million yuan, about $900,000, in mainland China by the end of October. That is about three times its price a year earlier, one person familiar with the matter said. Servers using Nvidia’s newer Blackwell chips, which fall under American export controls, were offered for more than 20 million yuan apiece.

Nvidia AI chips caught between two governments

The H200 sits at the centre of the wider trade and technology tension between Washington and Beijing. The United States barred exports of the chip to China before the Trump administration gave Nvidia permission in 2025 to sell it to approved Chinese customers. That policy shift followed trade negotiations between the two countries.

Beijing has now imposed its own constraints on H200 imports, reflecting concern about dependence on American technology. The Information, a technology publication, reported in July that Chinese officials had told companies including Alibaba, ByteDance and DeepSeek that they could receive permission to buy limited quantities of H200 chips for training AI models. It reported that total approvals could amount to fewer than 200,000 chips, and that Beijing wanted firms to prioritise Chinese processors for running AI models.

The 600,000 chips sitting in Hong Kong are three times that reported approval figure. The gap shows how far supply has run ahead of the permissions Beijing is willing to grant.

Demand stays strong despite the blockade

Chinese firms are not waiting quietly. Reuters reported last month that ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent had ordered more than 3 million Nvidia RTX Pro 5500 graphics cards, a less powerful export-compliant product, with a combined sticker price above $35 billion. The order shows that demand for Nvidia hardware remains huge, even when the most advanced chips are out of reach.

The wider AI hardware market tells the same story. Wall Street stocks slid this week as investors worried about a backlash against data centres, yet deal-making in the sector has not slowed. Marvell agreed to buy Lumentum in a $115 billion AI deal, and Meta plans a $35 billion stock offering to fund its AI growth. Intel shares crashed 28.6 per cent in their worst day since 1974, a reminder that the chip market punishes weakness fast.

For Nvidia, the Hong Kong stockpile is both a problem and a measure of its power. The chips are made, paid for in effect, and sitting in warehouses a short hop from the customers who want them. For Beijing, releasing them in volume would hand American technology a bigger role in China’s AI build-out. For Washington, the controls have already forced China to pay far more for less. Neither side has a reason to move first, so the chips are likely to stay where they are until one of the two governments changes its mind.

How many Nvidia chips are stuck in Hong Kong?

About 600,000 Nvidia H200 AI chips are stored in Hong Kong, awaiting shipment to mainland China, according to people familiar with the matter. The figure has not been reported before.

Why is China not approving the imports?

Beijing has yet to approve large-volume imports of the H200, reflecting concern about increasing reliance on American technology. Chinese officials have told firms they may receive permission for limited quantities only, and want them to prioritise Chinese processors for running AI models.

What is the H200 chip used for?

The H200 is an advanced AI processor used mainly for training AI models. It is not Nvidia’s newest chip, but Chinese alternatives have yet to match its capabilities, especially when combined with Nvidia’s software.

How much do H200 servers cost in China now?

An eight-card H200 server was offered for more than 6 million yuan, about $900,000, in mainland China by the end of October, about three times its price a year earlier. Servers using Nvidia’s newer Blackwell chips were offered for more than 20 million yuan each.

Did the US allow Nvidia to sell H200 chips to China?

Yes. The United States barred H200 exports to China before the Trump administration gave Nvidia permission in 2025 to sell the chips to approved Chinese customers, following trade negotiations. Beijing has since imposed its own limits on imports.