Nvidia’s H200 chips pile up in Hong Kong as Beijing withholds approval

Roughly 600,000 of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips are reportedly sitting in Hong Kong. They are a short trip from mainland China, and they are going nowhere.

According to Reuters, citing two people familiar with the matter, the H200 processors are stuck because Beijing has not approved large-scale imports. Chinese tech companies want the hardware. Their government, for now, does not.

A stockpile with nowhere to go

The scale of the backlog had not been reported before, according to Reuters. The figure of about 600,000 chips is a big number for a product that sits near the top of Nvidia’s AI lineup.

The H200 is among Nvidia’s most capable processors for artificial intelligence work. Chinese internet companies rely on this kind of silicon to build their own AI systems, particularly large language models.

Chinese authorities have reportedly halted customs clearance for the H200. The result is an odd standoff where the chips are cleared to leave one side but cannot enter the other.

As of July, only a very small number of H200 chips had reached China, according to the research findings.

Washington opened the door, Beijing kept it shut

The situation is unusual because the US side has loosened its stance. The US Bureau of Industry and Security now reviews H200 export applications on a case-by-case basis, subject to specific criteria.

Those criteria come with strings. Exporters must certify that sales to China will not reduce the semiconductor capacity available to US customers.

That condition could cap shipments at 50% of equivalent US end-use shipments.

Why Beijing is saying no to chips it needs

China’s reluctance reflects a longer-term strategy. Authorities are increasingly prioritizing domestic AI-chip development to reduce reliance on US suppliers, according to the research findings.

Approving the imports would help Chinese companies build AI faster in the near term. It would also keep those companies tied to an American vendor that Washington can regulate at will.

Blocking the imports pushes local firms toward homegrown alternatives.

What this means for Nvidia and Chinese tech firms

For Nvidia, the stockpile is a reminder that market access can be lost at either end of a trade route. Export approval from Washington is only half the equation if the receiving government declines to let the product in.

The 600,000-chip backlog also raises a practical question about inventory. Hardware stored in Hong Kong does not generate revenue until it ships, and the reported freeze offers no clear timeline for when that might happen.

The 50% shipment condition on the US side adds another ceiling. Even if Beijing relents, the volume Nvidia can send may be constrained by how much it ships to American customers.