NVIDIA Resumes H200 Chip Production for Chinese Market Following License Approval
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang announced on March 17 that the company is resuming production of its H200 AI processors for Chinese customers. This marks a significant shift in the chipmaker’s efforts to re-enter the world’s second-largest AI market after months of regulatory uncertainty.
Speaking at NVIDIA’s GTC conference in San Jose, Huang confirmed that the company has secured licenses for “many customers in China” for H200 sales. The company has received purchase orders that have prompted manufacturing to ramp back up. This development represents a notable change from just weeks earlier when NVIDIA had secured only one limited license and was not including any China data center revenue in its financial forecasts.
The H200, a product from NVIDIA’s previous generation, remains more powerful than any AI chips currently available in China. However, significant constraints remain in place:
- Shipments are subject to U.S. government inspection and a 25% duty
- Officials are considering caps of 75,000 chips per Chinese customer
- Total shipments could potentially be limited to 1 million processors
China once accounted for roughly a quarter of NVIDIA’s revenue but has since dropped to a small fraction following U.S. export restrictions implemented over national security concerns.
The partial reopening comes as China remains the largest single market for semiconductors globally. This makes it crucial to NVIDIA’s long-term growth strategy, despite strong demand in other regions. However, NVIDIA’s top-tier Blackwell and forthcoming Rubin series chips remain banned from sale to China.
Source: https://www.axios.com/2026/03/17/nvidia-huang-china-h200