Jen-Hsun Huang wins big: Nvidia re-enters China’s artificial intelligence market

Huang’s months-long charm offensive in Washington appears to be paying off. President Donald Trump allowed Nvidia to sell its H200 GPU, its second most powerful artificial intelligence chip, to China, reversing a Biden-era ban. The decision comes after months of lobbying by Mr Huang, who has been trying to restore the company’s foothold in its largest overseas market.

Trump said in a Truth Social post yesterday (December 8): “I have informed President Xi of China that the United States will allow Nvidia to ship its H200 products to approved customers in China and other countries under conditions that allow for continued strong national security.” The president said that AMD, Intel and other US chip manufacturers will also receive similar approval.

Nvidia was previously only allowed to sell the H20, a special GPU designed to comply with U.S. export rules, to China. According to a recent report from the Progress Institute, the H200 is six times more powerful than the H20 and significantly better than GPUs made by Chinese chipmakers.

Nvidia has been facing a trade blockade from both sides. Earlier this year, the Trump administration banned H20 sales and later lifted the ban. According to the Financial Times, Chinese regulators have moved to restrict these imports and Beijing will also impose restrictions on H200 sales. Chinese buyers must go through an approval process that requires them to explain why domestic suppliers cannot meet their needs.

The H200 is still not as powerful as Nvidia’s latest generation Blackwell chips or the upcoming Rubin chips. Trump said the top products were not part of the China deal, saying approval of H200 would still “support American jobs, strengthen American manufacturing and benefit American taxpayers.”

Nvidia welcomed the move. The company said in a statement that the decision “struck a thoughtful balance.” “We applaud President Trump’s decision to allow the U.S. chip industry to compete in order to support good-paying jobs and manufacturing in the United States.”

But critics say the policy harms U.S. national security interests. “It’s hard to see how this move would benefit national security or technological competitiveness,” Larry Ward, a national security law expert at Dorsey & Whitney LLP, said in a statement. The U.S. “may be a little too late on both fronts,” he said in a statement.

Trump’s approval also appears to have a transactional element. The president said “25 percent” of chip sales would be paid to the United States, but did not specify the revenue figure to which that percentage would apply. This summer, the U.S. government proposed a similar deal in which Nvidia would provide the U.S. with 15% of its China H20 revenue. The deal failed to materialize.

The announcement capped months of successful lobbying by Huang, who argued that Chinese artificial intelligence companies should be required to build on U.S. technology rather than replace it. The CEO spent much of 2025 shuttling between Washington and Beijing in an effort to win support. China has brought a $50 billion opportunity to Nvidia, which Huang said will grow at an annual rate of 50%. In August, Nvidia Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress estimated that the company could generate $2 billion to $5 billion in revenue per quarter from H20 sales alone if restrictions were eased.

For now, Huang appears to have achieved at least part of what he wanted. He and Trump met in Washington last week to discuss export controls. Trump told reporters after the meeting that Nvidia’s CEO is a “smart guy.”