Reportedly almost 600,000 Nvidia H200 chips are stranded in Hong Kong because Chinese government import approvals are stalled, and large-volume shipments remain blocked.

Approximately 600,000 Nvidia H200 chips destined for mainland China are currently being held in Hong Kong, awaiting import approval from the Chinese government.

Despite this, according to a report from Reuters, small quantities of chips have been shipped via intermediaries and indirect routes. Sources cited by the outlet claim "several major Chinese Internet companies" have each obtained 10,000 H200 GPUs in the past several months.

Former US President Joe Biden had banned the export of Nvidia H200 chips to China. The Trump administration reversed that decision in December 2025 and formalized the approval in January 2026. The regulation came with a number of new provisions that had not been previously announced, including a 25 percent export tariff on the hardware. Nvidia is not permitted to export chips to China more powerful than the H200.

The less powerful RTX Pro 5500 workstation graphics card is cleared for shipping to China. However, Bloomberg reported that Chinese AI developers expect to receive only one percent of the chips they have ordered in the coming months. The low shipment volume is due to capacity constraints, as Nvidia is currently ramping up production. Should export controls remain unchanged, Chinese hyperscalers estimate they could receive around 700,000 RTX Pro 5500 units by the end of 2027.

In March, Wally Liaw, co-founder of server maker Supermicro, was arrested on charges of violating US export-control laws by allegedly working to smuggle $2.5 billion worth of Nvidia GPU servers into China. The company has denied wrongdoing, and Liaw has pleaded not guilty.