Signalling near term availability, Nvidia plans to fulfil Chinese orders from existing stock totalling up to 40,000 to 80,000 H200 chips.
NVIDIA aims to begin shipping its H200 artificial intelligence chips to China before the Lunar New Year holiday in mid February, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The US chipmaker plans to meet initial demand using existing inventory, with shipments expected to total between 5,000 and 10,000 chip modules, equivalent to about 40,000 to 80,000 H200 chips, two of the sources said. NVIDIA has also indicated it intends to expand production capacity, with orders for new capacity opening in the second quarter of 2026, a third source added.
However, the plans remain uncertain as Beijing has yet to approve any H200 purchases, and the timeline could change depending on government decisions. One source said the entire process was contingent on regulatory clearance, noting that nothing was confirmed without official approval.
NVIDIA said it continuously manages its supply chain and that licensed sales of H200 chips to authorised Chinese customers would not affect its ability to supply US clients. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The proposed shipments would mark the first deliveries of H200 chips to China since US President Donald Trump said Washington would allow such sales subject to a 25% fee. The decision represents a significant policy shift from the previous US administration, which had banned advanced AI chip exports to China on national security grounds.
Despite being part of NVIDIA’s older Hopper line, the H200 remains widely used in AI applications, particularly as newer Blackwell chips face tight supply.
