US Approves H200 Chip Sales to 10 Chinese Firms; NVDA Gains 20% in Seven Days

In a significant reversal of months of export uncertainty, the US government approved Nvidia to sell its H200 chip to 10 Chinese companies. The approval came as CEO Jensen Huang attended a state banquet for President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, sending a powerful signal that the acrimonious US-China tech competition may be entering a phase of pragmatic coexistence.

The move triggered a 20% rally in Nvidia shares over a single week, with the stock nearing a $6 trillion market value as of May 14. Traders interpreted the approval as a watershed moment: China, the world's second-largest economy and a critical consumer of AI chips, would no longer be completely cut off from the latest-generation silicon. This reduces execution risk for Nvidia's growth forecasts and addresses a key regulatory overhang that had weighed on the stock since export controls tightened in late 2023.

The geopolitical framing is equally important. For months, the US-China relationship had been defined by escalating tensions: tariffs, technology restrictions, and competing supply chains. The Trump-Xi summit and the parallel approval of H200 exports suggest a shift toward negotiated coexistence. Energy markets, commodity prices and currency valuations had been volatile in anticipation of an intensified trade war. The news provides relief to risk assets broadly, though it could pressure energy stocks if markets begin to price in a reduction in near-term geopolitical premium.

The deal does include constraints: the 10 approved companies represent a curated subset of China's AI ecosystem, and the H200 is not Nvidia's latest flagship. But it is a crack in the wall. If the pattern holds, further approvals could follow, unlocking additional revenue for Nvidia and other semiconductor suppliers while signaling that bilateral tech competition will be managed rather than conducted through absolute restrictions.