About 600,000 of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips are stored in Hong Kong awaiting shipment to mainland China, Reuters reported on November 5, because Beijing has yet to approve large-scale imports — even as Chinese tech firms scramble for the computing power. Why it matters: Washington has cleared the sales and Chinese buyers want the chips, so the bottleneck in this leg of the AI chip trade now sits in Beijing, not Washington.
November 5, 2026
What happened
Reuters, citing two people familiar with the matter, reported that the stockpile of H200 chips in Hong Kong — a figure that had not previously been reported — reflects Beijing’s reluctance to increase China’s reliance on US technology. At the same time, Chinese companies need Nvidia’s advanced computing power to meet surging AI demand.
Some chips have moved. Three people told Reuters that China has allowed some H200s to enter the country in recent months, and one said several major Chinese internet companies have each obtained about 10,000 H200 chips in the past few months. Small quantities have also been shipped via intermediaries and indirect routes. But large-volume imports into mainland China have not been approved, the people said. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment, and neither did Nvidia or Alibaba, ByteDance, DeepSeek and Tencent.
Scarcity is showing up in prices
The H200 is not Nvidia’s newest AI processor, but Reuters notes it has capabilities Chinese alternatives have yet to match, particularly for training AI models and when combined with Nvidia’s software. With authorised supply constrained, buyers have turned to intermediaries and indirect routes, and unofficial prices have climbed: an eight-card H200 server was offered for more than 6 million yuan (about $900,000) in mainland China by the end of October, roughly three times its price a year earlier, one person said. Servers using Nvidia’s newer Blackwell chips, which fall under US export controls, were offered for more than 20 million yuan apiece.
The policy picture
The H200 sits in the middle of the wider US-China technology tension. The United States barred exports of the chip to China before President Donald Trump’s administration gave Nvidia permission last year to sell it to approved Chinese customers, a shift that followed US-China trade negotiations. Beijing has since imposed its own constraints, reflecting concerns about dependence on US technology. The Information reported in July that Chinese officials had told companies including Alibaba, ByteDance and DeepSeek they could receive permission to buy limited quantities of H200s for training, that total approvals could amount to fewer than 200,000 chips, and that Beijing wanted firms to prioritise Chinese processors for inference. Reuters also reported last month that ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent had ordered more than 3 million of Nvidia’s less powerful, export-compliant RTX Pro 5500 cards, with a combined sticker price exceeding $35 billion — a sign of how much demand is being routed around the constrained top end.
Why it matters
For anyone watching AI compute supply, this is the unusual case where both governments are, in different ways, holding the same door half-shut. US permission to sell is no longer the binding constraint for the H200; Beijing’s import approval is. A 600,000-chip stockpile sitting in Hong Kong is inventory that cannot reach the training clusters it was bought for, while unofficial mainland prices at three times last year’s level show what that delay costs buyers. If Beijing approves large-volume imports, a large amount of ready stock could move quickly. If it does not, expect more demand to leak into compliant lower-end cards, intermediaries, and remote-access arrangements overseas.
Frequently asked questions
How many Nvidia H200 chips are stored in Hong Kong?
About 600,000, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters. The figure had not previously been reported.
Why hasn’t China let the chips in at scale?
Reuters reports Beijing has yet to approve large-volume imports and links the delay to reluctance to increase reliance on US technology. Chinese regulators did not respond to requests for comment, so no official reason has been stated.
Are any H200 chips reaching mainland China?
Yes, in smaller quantities. Reuters reports several major Chinese internet companies have each obtained about 10,000 H200 chips in recent months, and that small quantities have moved via intermediaries and indirect routes.
What has the stockpile done to prices?
An eight-card H200 server was offered for more than 6 million yuan (about $900,000) in mainland China by the end of October — about three times its price a year earlier, according to one person familiar with the matter cited by Reuters.
Sources: Reuters (November 5, 2026).