{"slug": "game-changer-why-china-is-finally-letting-its-ai-firms-buy-the-nvidia-h200", "title": "Game-changer? Why China is finally letting its AI firms buy the Nvidia H200", "summary": "China is allowing select AI firms, including Alibaba and ByteDance, to buy limited numbers of Nvidia's H200 chips, temporarily easing a training bottleneck while maintaining a focus on tech self-sufficiency, analysts say.", "body_md": "# Game-changer? Why China is finally letting its AI firms buy the Nvidia H200\n\nBeijing aims to ‘temporarily ease the training bottleneck’ in China’s AI industry, but it remains focused on tech self-sufficiency, analysts say\n\nFor months, the United States and China have been locked in an unusual stand-off over cutting-edge chips – the building blocks of the artificial intelligence industry.\n\n[has deliberately restricted](https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3354296/nvidias-h200-sales-prospects-china-remain-uncertain-despite-huang-visit?module=inline&pgtype=article)Chinese firms from purchasing them as it pursues a tech self-sufficiency drive.\n\nNow, however, China’s stance is beginning to change, as the government plans to let selected companies – including Alibaba Group Holding – buy limited numbers of the device, a source with knowledge of the matter told the South China Morning Post.\n\n[develop their own market-leading devices](https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3348168/chinas-tech-self-sufficiency-drive-reaches-new-milestone-powerful-risc-v-chips?module=inline&pgtype=article), according to analysts.\n\nBesides Alibaba, the Chinese government has also informed ByteDance – the maker of TikTok – and leading AI start-up DeepSeek of the coming approvals, though companies will have to explain why they need to buy the Nvidia product rather than a locally made alternative, The Information reported on Wednesday.\n\nChina may allow H200 imports because domestic chips are unlikely to fill the country’s computing-power gap in the near term, said Shi Shenchang, a lawyer focusing on export controls at Shanghai-based Co-Effort Law Firm.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/game-changer-why-china-is-finally-letting-its-ai-firms-buy-the-nvidia-h200", "canonical_source": "https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3360027/game-changer-why-china-finally-letting-its-ai-firms-buy-nvidia-h200?utm_source=rss_feed", "published_at": "2026-07-09 14:12:16+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-09 14:17:14.695462+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-chips", "ai-policy", "ai-infrastructure"], "entities": ["Nvidia", "Alibaba Group Holding", "ByteDance", "DeepSeek", "H200", "Co-Effort Law Firm", "Shi Shenchang"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/game-changer-why-china-is-finally-letting-its-ai-firms-buy-the-nvidia-h200", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/game-changer-why-china-is-finally-letting-its-ai-firms-buy-the-nvidia-h200.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/game-changer-why-china-is-finally-letting-its-ai-firms-buy-the-nvidia-h200.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/game-changer-why-china-is-finally-letting-its-ai-firms-buy-the-nvidia-h200.jsonld"}}