Reuters reported on November 5, 2026, that about 600,000 Nvidia H200 AI chips were in Hong Kong awaiting shipment to mainland China, citing two anonymous sources. In the same report, Reuters said Beijing had not approved large-scale imports, although limited shipments had reached the mainland.
What the Hong Kong inventory report says
The estimate describes chips waiting in Hong Kong for shipment into mainland China. Reuters also reported that several large Chinese internet companies had each received about 10,000 H200s, according to one source. The shipments were limited; the report did not describe a broad flow of chips into the country.
Approval, orders and production are separate steps
Reports from earlier in 2026 describe different stages in the H200 supply chain. Reuters reported on January 28 that China had approved a first import batch of several hundred thousand chips, mainly allocated to three large internet companies. On March 17, at Nvidia’s GTC conference, Jensen Huang said the company had orders from many Chinese companies and was cleared to resume H200 production, according to an account published by Outlook Business the next day.
| Date of report or remarks | Reported development | Supply-chain stage |
| January 28, 2026 | Reuters reported approval of a first batch of several hundred thousand H200s, mainly for three large internet companies. | Import authorization |
| March 17, 2026 | Jensen Huang said Nvidia had orders from many Chinese companies and was cleared to resume H200 production, according to Outlook Business. | Orders and production |
| November 5, 2026 | Reuters reported an estimate of about 600,000 H200s in Hong Kong awaiting shipment to mainland China. | Inventory awaiting shipment |
An import approval, a purchase order and a production restart each describe a different step. The January approval and March remarks do not establish that the chips in those accounts entered mainland China. NeoTeo’s earlier H200 coverage provides related context; this article focuses on the later report of inventory in Hong Kong.
An import approval, a purchase order and a production restart are separate steps; shipment is another.
H200s are AI processors, not gaming-card inventory
The H200 is an AI processor used for model training. Reuters described it as particularly useful when paired with Nvidia software. The Hong Kong story concerns this data-center hardware, not consumer graphics cards or gaming-card discounts.
