ZTE’s telecom subsidiary ZTE Kangxun Telecom and server maker Maginfra just got the green light from Washington to buy Nvidia’s H200 AI chips. A Kingsoft subsidiary also received approval for AMD’s competing hardware on the same day. For an industry that’s been watching the US-China chip war like a slow-motion car crash, this feels like someone tapping the brakes.
The licenses, reported by Reuters on July 14, represent a meaningful expansion of which Chinese companies can actually get their hands on advanced American semiconductors. Until now, the approved buyer list skewed heavily toward China’s largest internet companies. Adding a telecom equipment maker and a server manufacturer to that list suggests the Commerce Department is widening the aperture, even if just slightly.
Small shipments, big symbolism
US Under Secretary of Commerce Jeffrey Kessler confirmed that shipments of H200 chips to China and Hong Kong have already begun. Those shipments are described as “very small” in quantity.
The H200 is an older-generation Nvidia chip that still falls under US export control requirements for sales to China. Nvidia and AMD shares both climbed following the announcement.
