Nvidia continues to advertise partnerships with Chinese firms partly owned by the Chinese Communist Party, including sanctioned companies like ZTE, despite US restrictions on selling its advanced AI chips to China. While Nvidia complies with export controls by selling slower chip versions and working only with approved partners, Chinese firms have circumvented bans, leading to significant revenue declines and ongoing concerns over national security and chip sales enforcement.
Nvidia, the American chipmaking giant, has been advertising partnerships with firms partly owned by the Chinese Communist Party, despite facing US restrictions on selling its advanced AI chips to China. Forbes revealed that Nvidia’s website lists 129 Chinese partners, categorized into registered, preferred, and elite tiers, with companies like ZTE, Beijing Advanced Digital Technology AdTech Limited, and Sino Info Co. Limited featured as elite partners. These partnerships focus on networking and compute capabilities. ZTE, in particular, is a telecom company partly owned by the Chinese government and has been under US sanctions due to its ties to the Chinese military and past violations of US sanctions on Iran.
ZTE has a controversial history, having pleaded guilty in 2017 to violating US sanctions and misleading regulators. The FCC has designated ZTE as a national security threat, banning sales of new ZTE products in the US and currently investigating the company for potential evasion of this ban. Despite these restrictions, Nvidia continues to list ZTE as an elite partner, indicating a deep level of collaboration. Other elite partners like Beijing AdTech serve sanctioned firms, including Huawei, while Sino Info is linked to a state-owned entity that monitors Chinese citizens’ financial and employment data.
Nvidia clarified that current US laws do not prevent it from partnering with these Chinese firms, although they restrict the sale of specific advanced chips. Nvidia spokesperson Patrick Rutherford stated that the company complies with government restrictions and only works with approved partners for commercial, non-military uses. Nvidia has sold a slower version of its AI chip, the H100, to Chinese firms for years, developed partly due to US export controls. However, the most advanced chips remain blocked from sale, and the US government has imposed conditions on resumed sales, including a revenue-sharing agreement.
Despite export controls, Chinese firms have found ways to circumvent US bans through subsidiaries and rental agreements to obtain Nvidia chips. Recently, four men, including a CEO of a company claiming to be an Nvidia cloud partner, were indicted for illegally selling Nvidia chips to Chinese companies. The Chinese military has also attempted to acquire Nvidia chips despite legal prohibitions. Nvidia’s chips remain in high demand, making the company the most valuable globally, with China accounting for 13% of its revenue, or $17 billion, in the last financial year.
However, Nvidia’s revenue from China has significantly declined following export restrictions. Since the April ban on exports was lifted, Nvidia reported only $50 million in H100 sales to China. Its Q3 2025 revenues from China dropped to $3 billion, a 63% decrease from $8 billion in Q3 2024. The White House recently urged legislators to oppose a bill that would require Nvidia and other chipmakers to prioritize American customers over foreign adversaries. For more detailed coverage, Forbes’ Emily Baker White provides an in-depth analysis of this complex issue.