NVIDIA H200 Chips Approved for 10 Chinese Companies Amid Trump-Xi Summit

The Trump administration greenlit NVIDIA H200 sales to China during a high-profile summit with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, reversing months of export restrictions and signaling a potential thaw in U.S.-China technology tensions. The approval applies to 10 named Chinese companies and marks one of the most concrete moves toward trade normalization since Trump took office. Jensen Huang, NVIDIA's CEO, attended the summit's state banquet alongside Elon Musk, Tim Cook, and other technology leaders, underscoring the strategic importance of the moment.

Market reaction was immediate and broad. NVIDIA shares rose sharply on the news, with the stock hitting new all-time highs and the company's market capitalization approaching the $5.5 trillion level. Broadcom, ARM Holdings, and other semiconductor suppliers also rallied in sympathy, as traders repositioned for an accelerated capex cycle across Chinese AI infrastructure. The H200 is NVIDIA's most advanced AI training chip, and unrestricted access to Chinese buyers could represent hundreds of billions in addressable revenue over the next few years.

The implications extend beyond semiconductors. Chinese cloud providers and AI labs have been starved of leading-edge chips; approval lifts a structural constraint on their ability to compete with U.S. counterparts. However, the move also signals that geopolitical risk is subsiding at least in the near term, which de-risks the entire mega-cap technology sector and supports the "AI capex acceleration" narrative that has driven the S&P 500 to record highs. Some traders view this as a potential peak in policy uncertainty around China tech trade.

Scepticism remains around durability. Critics note that approvals can be rescinded and that formal restrictions on advanced chips remain in place for most Chinese entities. If the summit yields no concrete investment deals or if trade tensions flare again, the goodwill could evaporate quickly, pressuring semiconductor stocks that are already priced for rapid Chinese adoption.