ZTE unit licensed to buy Nvidia’s H200 AI chips

A unit of Chinese telecoms equipment maker ZTE Corp has received U.S. government approval to purchase Nvidia's ↘ 0.92% advanced H200 artificial intelligence chips, according to documents and sources reported by Reuters on Monday, marking a new development in the tangled web of U.S.-China chip trade.

Licensed Buyers Revealed

ZTE Kangxun Telecom and server maker Maginfra have been permitted to buy Nvidia's H200 chips, while Zhuhai Hengqin Yunxiang Zhisheng, a unit of Kingsoft, received a license for AMD's Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ↘ 3.29% chips, according to the Reuters report. The approvals add to a group of roughly 10 Chinese entities — including Alibaba ↘ 1.68%, Tencent, ByteDance, and JD.com ↗ 0.33% — that the U.S. Commerce Department had previously cleared to purchase up to 75,000 H200 chips each.cnbc+5

The disclosure of ZTE's inclusion is notable given the company's fraught history with U.S. regulators; it was nearly shut down in 2018 after violating U.S. sanctions on Iran and North Korea before reaching a settlement.

A Complex Policy Landscape

The road from U.S. license approval to actual chip delivery has been anything but straightforward. The Trump administration formally authorized H200 exports to China in January 2026 under conditions requiring third-party testing, U.S. supply certification, and a prohibition on military use. A 25% fee on sales flows to the U.S. government under a deal brokered between President Trump and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.thomasnet+3

As of late April, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing that China had "not bought any as of today," noting that Beijing had been withholding approval to prioritize domestic chip suppliers. But the landscape shifted in recent weeks. China began giving its top AI companies, including Alibaba, ByteDance, and DeepSeek, permission to purchase limited quantities of H200 chips, according to a report from The Information on July 8, with total approved volumes expected to be fewer than 200,000 units.reuters+3

Shipments and Tensions Ahead

The latest licenses come as global demand for advanced AI chips continues to surge and Chinese firms face what industry sources describe as a severe shortage of high-end training chips. Beijing's willingness to allow selective purchases reflects a pragmatic calculation: while China's long-term goal remains chip self-reliance, officials appear ready to make exceptions to avoid undermining the competitiveness of its AI industry in the near term.fullstackevolved+1

The U.S. also moved in late May to close a loophole that had allowed chips to reach Chinese subsidiaries operating outside China, such as in Malaysia, underscoring the complexity of enforcing controls across global supply chains.reuters+1