Was Trump's visit ineffective? China blocks even Nvidia's 'gaming chips'

Was Trump's visit ineffective? China blocks even Nvidia's 'gaming chips'

China blocked the import of Nvidia's gaming chips during U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to China, the Financial Times (FT) reported on the 20th (local time).

The item newly added to China's customs clearance ban list is Nvidia's gaming-specific chip, the RTX 5090D V2.

This chip is a China-exclusive product manufactured by Nvidia with reduced performance to comply with the U.S. government's semiconductor export regulations to China.

Although initially developed to meet the demand of Chinese gamers and 3D animation creators, it is known that Chinese AI developers, who have found it difficult to secure advanced artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors, have also been purchasing this product.

The Chinese government's move to block the import of even Nvidia's lower-spec products appears to be due to its principle of fostering its domestic semiconductor industry.

China is actively supporting domestic semiconductor companies such as Huawei and Cambricon, pursuing a strategy to reduce its dependence on U.S. technology.

From President Trump's perspective, who had hoped this visit to China would be an opportunity to boost exports of American goods, a completely different situation unfolded.

The Trump administration allowed Nvidia to export the H200, an upgraded version of the H100 announced in late 2023, to China late last year, but the Chinese government has banned its domestic companies from purchasing it.

Regarding this, President Trump said, "It's because China wants to develop its own technology."

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, also accompanied President Trump on his visit to China, showing his determination to penetrate the Chinese market, but had to return empty-handed.

In an interview with CNBC on the same day, CEO Huang said regarding the prospects of exporting H200 chips to China, "I don't have any expectations."

He added, "Because we withdrew from China, the local semiconductor company ecosystem is doing well," and "Huawei had a record year and is expected to achieve amazing results next year."

As Chinese companies increasingly adopt Chinese-made products instead of Nvidia, Huawei's AI semiconductor sales are expected to increase by at least 60% this year.

U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley projected that the size of the Chinese AI semiconductor market will reach $67 billion (approximately 100 trillion won) by 2030.

Of this, 86% is expected to be supplied by Chinese companies.