Vietnam Insider – In a decisive move to reduce reliance on U.S. technology and accelerate the growth of its domestic semiconductor industry, China’s Cyberspace Administration (CAC) has ordered major technology companies, including Alibaba and ByteDance, to halt all purchases and testing of Nvidia’s AI chips.
According to the Financial Times, several Chinese firms had planned to order tens of thousands of Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000D chips—designed specifically for mainland China—and had already begun testing and product validation with Nvidia’s server partners. However, following CAC’s directive this week, companies were instructed to suspend all related activities.
The scope of the ban goes far beyond earlier restrictions, which had only targeted Nvidia’s H20 chip, another model designed for China as a workaround to U.S. export controls.
Beijing’s decision follows its assessment that domestic AI processors have now reached, or even surpassed, the performance levels of Nvidia chips still permitted for sale in China.
A senior executive at a leading Chinese tech group said:
“The message is now crystal clear. Previously, there was hope that if geopolitical tensions eased, Nvidia’s supply chain could resume. But that expectation is gone. All resources are now focused on building a self-sustained domestic chip ecosystem.”
The sweeping ban underscores Beijing’s escalating pressure on domestic firms to prioritize homegrown semiconductor products as part of its long-term strategy to compete with the U.S. in the global AI race.
Nvidia had already redesigned several product lines—including the H20 and RTX Pro 6000D—to comply with Washington’s export restrictions on advanced semiconductors introduced under President Joe Biden. The RTX Pro 6000D, unveiled during CEO Jensen Huang’s visit to Beijing in July, has now also been blocked from the Chinese market.
Chinese regulators recently convened domestic chipmakers such as Huawei and Cambricon, along with tech giants like Alibaba and Baidu, to evaluate the performance of locally developed AI processors against Nvidia’s China-specific chips. The conclusion: local chips are now at or above the performance threshold of Nvidia’s remaining exportable products. This milestone is viewed as strategically significant, giving Beijing more leverage to take tougher measures.
According to FT, Chinese semiconductor firms are aiming to triple AI chip production next year to meet surging domestic demand and hedge against Western technology restrictions.
“Senior leadership now believes domestic chip supply will be sufficient to meet demand without relying on Nvidia,” one industry source said.
Speaking in London, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang expressed hope of discussing the company’s future operations in China during his upcoming meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, who is on a state visit to the United Kingdom.
Before the ban, Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000D chips were intended for use in areas such as industrial automation and large-scale AI model training. They were also the last major Nvidia product permitted for mass sales in China, one of the company’s most important markets.
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