After much back and forth, China has started to create the purchase rules to allow domestic tech companies to begin buying Nvidia’s (NVDA) H200 GPUs, Nikkei Asia reported.
Shares of Nvidia rose 1% in premarket trading on Thursday, boosted in part by Taiwan Semiconductor’s (TSM) strong earnings report.
The Chinese government is creating rules that will likely limit the overall number of H200s that can be purchased, the news outlet added, citing people familiar with the matter. The first approvals are expected to come as soon as the end of January, the people added.
The U.S. Chinese embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha.
In addition, the Chinese government is likely to weigh in on which companies are able to purchase the chips, one of the sources said. Another source said the Chinese government is likely to impose quotas on the percentage of foreign chips that are purchased compared to domestic ones, and has asked Chinese tech companies for their views on Nvidia’s Blackwell line of processors.
It was reported earlier this week that China’s customs authorities told customs agents this week that Nvidia’s H200 AI chips were not allowed to enter the country. Other media reports indicated that the Chinese government has told some local companies that H200 AI accelerators could be bought under special circumstances, citing examples such as university research or development labs. However, the missive from the government officials was also vague, as they told the companies to buy the products if it was “necessary,” but did not specify what “necessary” meant.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said earlier this month that he did not believe the Chinese government will make a formal declaration that it has allowed Chinese companies to import the chipmaker’s H200 GPUs. Instead, the proof would come through purchase orders.
President Donald Trump approved the sale of some advanced AI chips in December 2025, including Nvidia’s H200 GPUs, to China. The H200 is the predecessor to its current flagship Blackwell chips and the upcoming Vera Rubin.
The Trump administration formally approved the sale of H200, Nvidia’s second-most powerful AI chips, to China, earlier this week.
Nvidia’s CFO Colette Kress told analysts during a meeting at CES 2026 in Las Vegas that license applications for the H200 had been filed, and the government is deciding what it wants to do with them. Huang had described the demand for the chips as strong.
Alibaba (BABA), Tencent (TCEHY) and ByteDance (BDNCE) have all sought or discussed purchasing Nvidia’s H200 chips for their respective needs.