US Officials Confirm H200 Shipments to China; Report Says US Re-Approves 3 Chinese Firms to Buy Advanced Chips

(CNA, Washington, 14th – comprehensive international news report) Jeffrey Kessler, US Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce, told the US Congress today that Nvidia H200 chips have been shipped to China or Hong Kong, though in very small quantities. Reuters reported that the United States has again approved three Chinese companies to purchase advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips from Nvidia and AMD.

In May, Reuters reported that the US had approved around 10 Chinese companies, including Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and JD.com, to purchase Nvidia’s second-most powerful AI chip, the H200. However, at that time, these transactions were still pending approvals or reviews from both Beijing and Washington, so no shipments had occurred.

However, Kessler, who oversees industrial and security affairs, stated during a hearing today before the US House Foreign Affairs Committee that H200 shipments have now begun, though in “very small” quantities. He also said the US Department of Commerce has provided Congress with a classified list detailing H200 shipment applications and their statuses, but offered no further details.

According to documents and two sources cited by Reuters, ZTE’s subsidiary Zhongxing Kangxun, and Chinese server manufacturer Maginfra, have received US approval to purchase H200 chips. Meanwhile, Zhuhai Hengqin Yunxiang Zhisheng Network Technology Co., a subsidiary of Chinese cloud computing firm Kingsoft, has been approved to use certain AMD chips that rival the H200.

The approval for these three companies indicates that Chinese firms seeking access to advanced US chips are no longer limited to the largest internet conglomerates or electronics distributors. According to sources, some Chinese cloud companies have recently informed partners and customers that they may soon gain access to H200 chips, suggesting progress in Chinese regulatory import reviews.

Shipments of the H200 to China are being closely watched and have become a major focal point in US-China technological competition. Washington seeks to restrict Beijing’s access to cutting-edge chips, while also being mindful of their potential military applications. (Compiled by: Zhang Zhengqian) 1150715