About 600,000 Nvidia H200 chips sit in Hong Kong because Beijing has not approved large-scale imports, Reuters reports

About 600,000 of Nvidia's H200 AI chips are being stored in Hong Kong because Beijing has not approved their import into mainland China in large numbers, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters' own site was blocked here; its report was read as republished by The Manila Times, and The Next Web gives the same account.

Reuters says the stockpile reflects Beijing's reluctance to depend more on US technology at a time when Chinese firms need more computing power. Some chips have got through: several major Chinese internet companies have each received about 10,000 H200s in the past few months, Reuters reported.

Scarcity has pushed prices up. By the end of October an eight-card H200 server was offered in mainland China for more than 6 million yuan, about $900,000 and roughly three times the price a year earlier, Reuters reported. Servers with Nvidia's newer Blackwell chips, which fall under US export controls, were offered for more than 20 million yuan each.

The Next Web says Nvidia did not respond to Reuters. It follows the Financial Times report that Nvidia had told its cloud clients to sell at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies, which the Switchboard ran on 4 November.

• Reported About 600,000 H200 chips are stored in Hong Kong awaiting approval for large-scale import into the mainland, Reuters reported. Reuters, via The Manila Times
• Reported Several major Chinese internet companies have each received about 10,000 H200s in recent months, Reuters reported. Reuters, via The Manila Times
• Reported By end-October an eight-card H200 server cost more than 6 million yuan in mainland China, roughly triple a year earlier, Reuters reported, according to The Next Web. The Next Web