Nvidia CEO plans visit to China as he works to reopen market
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Nvidia's chief executive Jensen Huang plans to visit China in late January for company events and potential meetings with officials.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang plans to visit China in late January for company events and potential meetings with officials.
- The US is loosening AI chip export restrictions, allowing Nvidia to sell its H200 model in China, albeit with limitations.
- China aims to boost its chip industry, but Nvidia's chips are more powerful. US lawmakers remain concerned about AI dominance.
AI generated
WASHINGTON – Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang is planning to visit China in late January as he works to reopen a crucial market for his company’s artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
Mr Huang will be in the country to attend company parties ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays, according to a person familiar with the matter. The CEO is also expected to visit Beijing, though it is unclear whether he will meet with senior Chinese officials, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. Mr Huang’s itinerary could still change, depending on whether prospective meetings come through.
The China visit – a trip Mr Huang regularly takes at this time of the year – comes at a pivotal moment for the world’s most valuable company. The US is loosening export restrictions on AI processors, letting Nvidia sell its H200 model in the Asian nation.
But on the Chinese side, government officials are deciding how many of the chips to let in. Beijing plans to approve imports of the products as soon as this quarter for certain uses, Bloomberg News has reported.
A representative for Nvidia declined to comment.
China, the largest market for semiconductors, is looking to build up its home-grown chip industry and decrease reliance on US products. For now, though, local producers cannot match the capabilities of Nvidia’s processors, which are used to develop and run AI models. Though the H200 is a generation behind the Nvidia chips available in the US, it is still seen as more powerful than Chinese offerings.
Due to security concerns, Beijing will bar the H200 chip from the military, sensitive government agencies, critical infrastructure and state-owned enterprises, said sources familiar with the matter. That mirrors similar measures that the Chinese government adopted for foreign products such as Apple devices and Micron Technology chips.
During a China trip in July 2025, Mr Huang managed to secure meetings with Vice-Premier He Lifeng and Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. He also celebrated the Chinese New Year holidays with his employees in China in January 2025, opting to skip US President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony.
Mr Huang is scheduled to appear at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan 21, where he will be interviewed by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.
Meanwhile, the US is imposing a 25 per cent tariff on certain advanced semiconductors
Washington has also stipulated additional requirements for H200 licensing applications. Exporters have to certify that approved China shipments will not create a shortage in the US market. And companies must ensure that production for Chinese customers will not displace manufacturing capacity that could be used to make chips for American buyers.
Even with those restrictions, letting China buy Nvidia AI chips remains controversial among US lawmakers.
In a hearing last week, US Representative Brian Mast said that China “would likely overtake us in the AI arms race” if the country had free access to Nvidia processors. The Florida Republican, who chairs the House panel on foreign affairs, added that Nvidia chips are far better than anything China can make domestically.
Mr Mast went further on social media over the weekend, accusing Mr Huang and his “paid minions” of “fighting to sell millions of advanced AI chips to Chinese military companies like Alibaba and Tencent”. BLOOMBERG
