On Nov. 5, 2026, Reuters reported that about 600,000 Nvidia H200 AI chips were stored in Hong Kong awaiting shipment to mainland China, citing two people familiar with the matter. The same account said China had allowed limited H200 entries in recent months but had not approved large-volume imports as of that report.
The key distinction is scale: limited H200 entries are not the same as approval for bulk imports.
What the reported stockpile represents
The reported 600,000 chips were in Hong Kong on a mainland-bound route. Reuters also said several major Chinese internet companies had each received about 10,000 H200s in recent months. The figure describes AI accelerators, not consumer gaming graphics cards on Hong Kong store shelves.
This update follows NeoTeo’s earlier coverage of H200 shipments reportedly reaching ByteDance and Tencent.
A first-batch report and bulk approval describe different scales
In a video published Jan. 28, Reuters reported that China had approved a first batch of H200 imports. Its Nov. 5 account later described limited entries while saying large-volume imports remained unapproved. A first-batch approval and authorization for bulk imports are separate milestones.
U.S. export permission is a separate step
U.S. authorization governs China-bound H200 sales from the export side; China’s import decisions govern entry into the mainland. A Reuters video published Jan. 14 reported formal U.S. permission for China-bound sales, a separate regulatory step from Chinese import approval. (Reuters report on U.S. H200 export permission)
