About 600,000 of Nvidia's advanced artificial intelligence chips are stored in Hong Kong awaiting shipment to mainland China, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday, November 5, as Beijing withholds approval for large-scale imports despite strong demand from Chinese technology firms.
Source: Reuters, Nov 5
The size of the stockpile of H200 chips, which has not previously been reported, reflects Beijing's reluctance to increase reliance on US technology, Reuters reported. At the same time, Chinese companies need Nvidia's advanced computing power to meet surging AI demand in the world's second-largest economy — a standoff that leaves the chips, in the words of one market analysis, as revenue sitting in a warehouse rather than sales on Nvidia's books.
Source: Reuters, Nov 5; ad-hoc-news analysis, Nov 5
China has allowed some of the chips to enter the country in recent months, three people familiar with the matter said. Several major Chinese internet companies have each obtained about 10,000 H200 chips in the past few months, one of the people said, and three people said small quantities had been shipped via intermediaries and indirect routes, without specifying how many. But Beijing has yet to approve large-volume imports into mainland China, the people said.
Source: Reuters, Nov 5
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Neither did Nvidia or the Chinese tech companies Alibaba, ByteDance, DeepSeek and Tencent — so the stockpile figure rests on Reuters' anonymous sourcing and has not been confirmed by any of the companies or ministries involved.
Source: Reuters, Nov 5
Not Nvidia's newest chip — but still unmatched in China
The H200 is not Nvidia's newest AI processor, but it has capabilities that Chinese alternatives have yet to match, making it useful for training AI models, particularly when combined with Nvidia's software, Reuters reported. US export controls since 2022 have sought to restrict China's access to advanced Nvidia chips and the equipment needed to make them, and with authorised supply constrained, Chinese buyers have turned to intermediaries and indirect routes, pushing up prices in the unofficial market.
Source: Reuters, Nov 5
The chip sits at the centre of the wider trade and technology tension between Washington and Beijing. The United States barred exports of the H200 to China before President Donald Trump's administration gave Nvidia permission last year to sell the chips to approved Chinese customers, a policy shift that followed US-China trade negotiations. Beijing then imposed its own constraints on H200 imports, reflecting concerns about dependence on US technology.
Source: Reuters, Nov 5
Technology publication The Information 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 inference — the task of running AI models.
Source: The Information, July, via Reuters, Nov 5
What is solid
- Reuters reported on November 5, citing two people familiar with the matter, that about 600,000 Nvidia H200 chips are stored in Hong Kong awaiting shipment to mainland China, and that Beijing has not approved large-volume imports
- Limited quantities have entered China in recent months — several major internet companies have each obtained about 10,000 H200s, and small quantities moved via intermediaries and indirect routes (Reuters, citing three people)
- Neither China's MIIT or NDRC, nor Nvidia, Alibaba, ByteDance, DeepSeek or Tencent, commented to Reuters
- An eight-card H200 server was offered for more than 6 million yuan (about $900,000) in mainland China by end-October, about three times its price a year earlier (Reuters)
What is only claimed
- The 600,000 stockpile figure itself: it comes from anonymous sources via Reuters and is not confirmed by Nvidia, the Chinese ministries or the named tech firms — treat it as reported, not established
- How much of the stockpile ever becomes Nvidia revenue: market analysts note chips on a shelf generate no sales until Beijing grants clearance, and even a green light would only be the precondition for deliveries
What happens next
The next test is twofold. In Beijing, any decision to approve large-volume H200 imports would unlock shipments against demand that already exists; continued silence keeps the unofficial market — and its tripled prices — in place. In the United States, Nvidia is scheduled to discuss its third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on a conference call on November 17, and its revenue outlook of $108 billion at the midpoint explicitly excludes China data-center computing revenue, according to the ad-hoc-news analysis — a caveat that underlines how much of the China story remains a political decision, not a commercial one.