Nvidia Chief Holds Rare Meeting with Chinese Official to Reaffirm Commitment to Collaboration
By Liu Peilin and Denise Jia
Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, met with the head of China’s trade promotion agency in Beijing on Thursday, reaffirming the company’s commitment to the Chinese market despite escalating U.S. export restrictions on AI chips.
Huang’s meeting with Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), marked a rare meeting between the top executive of the U.S. chip giant and Chinese authorities. The meeting was held at the invitation of the CCPIT.
“China is an extremely important market for Nvidia,” Huang said, according to Chinese state media. He added that Nvidia remains committed to collaborating with Chinese partners and will continue to optimize its product offerings to comply with export regulations.
When asked about the impact of the indefinite U.S. export controls on Nvidia’s H20 chip, Huang acknowledged the significant blow to the company’s business. “Nvidia and the Chinese market have grown together and benefited each other,” he said. “We will continue to serve China unwaveringly.”
The H20 chip, launched in early 2024 specifically for the Chinese market after the 2023 round of U.S. export restrictions, is currently the primary artificial intelligence (AI) chip that Nvidia is allowed to sell in China under existing regulations. Despite being less advanced than its new Blackwell-based counterparts, the H20 outperforms most domestic AI chips in China and offers full access to Nvidia’s software ecosystem — making it highly sought after by major Chinese tech companies.
According to Bloomberg Intelligence, a complete U.S. ban on H20 chip exports to China could slash Nvidia’s market share in China’s data center sector to low single digits and reduce its annual revenue by between $14 billion and $18 billion.
Financial reports show the impact is already taking effect. Nvidia’s China revenue from China fell from between 20% and 25% to single digits by the fourth quarter of 2023 and has remained low. In its February 2025 earnings call, Huang noted that data center revenue tied to China has halved since the export controls were introduced.
Although Nvidia’s China revenue rose nearly 70% year-over-year to $17.1 billion by the end of its fiscal year on January 26, its share of total revenue fell to 13%, making China the company’s fourth-largest market. Meanwhile, revenue from Singapore more than tripled to $23.7 billion, overtaking China and Taiwan to become Nvidia’s second-largest market after the United States.
While Huang has frequently visited China for internal events and client meetings, this was his first publicly reported engagement with a government-affiliated organization in recent years. Notably, Huang set aside his signature leather jacket look and wore a suit to the event — a rare change in appearance.
Huang’s latest trip to China came as the U.S. government escalates its restrictions on AI chip exports. On April 9, Washington informed Nvidia that shipments of H20 chips to mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao would require a special license. Just days later, on April 14, the restriction was extended indefinitely.
Previously, industry watchers speculated that Nvidia might be granted exemptions in exchange for major U.S. investments. NPR, the U.S. broadcaster, reported that Huang’s attendance at a private Mar-a-Lago dinner on April 4 helped sway the Trump administration’s decision to pause further bans, with Huang promising massive investment in U.S.-based AI infrastructure.
Nvidia has since announced partnerships with Foxconn and Wistron to build AI server factories in Houston and Dallas, with production expected to begin within 12 to 15 months. Over the next four years, Nvidia plans to manufacture up to $500-billion-worth of AI infrastructure in the U.S.
Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com)
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