The Chinese authorities have sent recommendations to several companies regarding the restriction of certain semiconductors, including H20 chips from Nvidia, the export of which was recently permitted to the PRC. These recommendations apply to both state-owned enterprises and private companies associated with them.
This is reported by Finway
H20 Chips: Restrictions and Features of Export Policy
The H20 chip is the most powerful model from Nvidia that has been allowed for export to China according to a decision by the U.S. authorities. In early 2025, information emerged about preparations for a ban on the supply of H20 by the White House to limit the development of artificial intelligence in the PRC. However, in April, the U.S. president abandoned this idea after reaching agreements with Nvidia regarding investments in AI infrastructure development in the United States.
Despite this, export restrictions remained in place, leading to significant financial losses for Nvidia in the first and second quarters of 2025. In August, it was reported that the export of chips would resume, but under new conditions: Nvidia and AMD are required to contribute up to 15% of their revenues from chip sales in China to the U.S. budget.
China’s Position and Market Reaction
The authorities in the PRC accuse Nvidia of creating backdoors in the H20 chips, which allegedly allow for remote monitoring and disabling of equipment. These suspicions were one of the arguments for sending official recommendations to refrain from using H20. At the same time, these letters do not constitute a direct ban, as there remains high demand for these semiconductors in the Asian market.
In addition to H20, the documents mention AMD, although the MI308 model is not subject to restrictions. Official Beijing is encouraging local companies to switch to domestically produced semiconductors.
“The quality of chips from domestic manufacturers is significantly improving, but they may not be as versatile for the specific workloads that the Chinese AI industry aims to focus on.”
According to the Financial Times, some companies are already planning to reduce their purchases of H20, heeding the authorities’ recommendations.