China Allegedly Grants ByteDance and Tencent Permission to Import 10,000 H200 Chips
Recent reports indicate that China is relaxing its restrictions to facilitate training of advanced AI models by local businesses.
According to recent reports, ByteDance and Tencent have acquired 10,000 NVIDIA H200 chips each in recent weeks. This development comes as China permits these processors to enter its market, aiming to enhance the competitiveness of its domestic firms in the AI sector. The H200 chips will aid in the training of sophisticated AI models, enabling local companies to compete more effectively against their American rivals. Other Chinese firms may also be set to receive similar shipments of H200 processors soon.
Previously, the U.S. government had prohibited the sale of H200 chips to China due to security concerns related to military technology development. It only permitted NVIDIA to sell these chips to select Chinese companies in December 2025, a significant delay as the H200 had been available for two years by then. Reports highlighted that China planned to import several hundred thousand H200 chips earlier this year. Additionally, it was noted that the U.S. authorized ten Chinese businesses, including ByteDance and Tencent, to purchase these processors.
Now, it appears that shipments of these processors to the approved companies are underway. Both ByteDance and Tencent have the opportunity to acquire up to 100,000 chips, although it has been reported that China intends for most of these to be retained outside the mainland to encourage the growth of its domestic chip industry. As local firms innovate their own AI chips, reducing reliance on foreign products, Chinese authorities have directed these companies to route their orders through Hong Kong, despite the absence of data centers in that region.
