The Financial Times (FT) reported on the 20th (local time) that China has even blocked imports of Nvidia's gaming chips. It tightened export controls even during U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to China.
According to the report, the item newly added by China to the customs clearance ban list is Nvidia's gaming-only chip, the RTX 5090D V2. The chip is a China-only product that Nvidia built with reduced performance to comply with U.S. restrictions on semiconductor exports to China. It was developed with demand from Chinese gamers and 3D animation producers in mind, but China's AI developers, who have struggled to secure advanced artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors, are also known to have purchased the product.
China's move to block imports of even Nvidia's lower-spec products appears to stem from its principle of nurturing its domestic semiconductor industry. China is actively supporting domestic semiconductor corporations such as Huawei and Cambricon while pursuing a strategy to reduce reliance on U.S. technology.
President Trump expected the visit to China to serve as an opportunity to boost exports of U.S. goods. The Trump administration allowed the export to China of the H200, an upgraded version of the H100 that Nvidia released at the end of 2023, late last year, but the Chinese government has banned domestic corporations from purchasing it.
As Chinese corporations expand adoption of Chinese-made products in place of Nvidia, Huawei's AI Semiconductor sales are expected to rise at least 60% this year. U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley projected that by 2030, China's AI Semiconductor market will reach $67 billion (about 100 trillion won). Of that, 86% is expected to be supplied by Chinese companies.