NVIDIA, the export of H200 GPU to China imminent... US export license 'countdown begins'

NVIDIA Graphics Processor (GPU) H200 has entered the final stage of the U.S. government export approval process for official sales in the Chinese market. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang personally announced this news at CES 2026 held in Las Vegas on the 6th local time.

CEO Jensen Huang stated, “We are coordinating with the U.S. government on the final export license details,” and emphasized that since the H200 is already being mass-produced on local production lines, once approved, it is ready for immediate sale in China. However, he avoided specifying the exact timing of the export approval. In the context of the U.S. government restricting exports to China due to the strategic importance of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, this statement is interpreted as a signal that policy and technological enterprise coordination has entered a certain finalization stage.

Over the past few years, Chinese GPU exports have been troubled by U.S. government restrictions on semiconductor exports to China. Especially for NVIDIA, a core manufacturer of AI training and high-performance computing chips, domestic demand in China is very high. Jensen Huang also said, “Chinese customers’ demand is very high,” and pointed out that actual purchase orders better reflect market demand than official statements from the Chinese government.

At this year’s CES, NVIDIA showcased the next-generation GPU architecture product “Vera Rubin,” emphasizing that it is much more advanced technologically than the previous generation. Based on this, there are predictions that the H200 will eventually be replaced by models with better performance. However, the H200 itself currently remains competitive and is expected to maintain influence in major markets in the short term.

Jensen Huang also stated that due to increasing demand for data center products, sales forecasts may be raised. He judged that the previously proposed goal of reaching $500 billion (approximately 700 trillion Korean won) by 2026 could be further increased due to the expansion of AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and the evolution of open-source foundational models. Additionally, he explained that price increases have also contributed to sales growth. However, no specific forecast figures were disclosed.

NVIDIA continues to seek some degree of entry possibility amid restrictions on exports to China. This stance demonstrates how private enterprises are seeking a balance between the global industrial division structure and political regulation. If the export approval proceeds as expected, combined with the growth in domestic AI training demand in China, it could positively impact NVIDIA’s performance expansion and market share maintenance. In the future, as the U.S. adjusts its export control policies toward China, the global semiconductor industry landscape may also change.