A Reuters review has identified more than $3 billion in Chinese computing projects built around Nvidia's restricted processors. The finding sits against Nvidia's statement that US export controls have effectively shut it out of China's AI data-centre market.

What the review found

The report, by Eduardo Baptista and published Nov. 13, describes the findings this way:

  • The review examined more than 150 Chinese procurement notices, investment plans, construction contracts and corporate disclosures.
  • The projects and equipment agreements have a combined reported value above 23 billion yuan ($3.2 billion).
  • They reach beyond the largest tech firms into local government-backed ventures, universities and regional computing centres.
  • The projects were designed around restricted Nvidia H100, H200 and H800 processors, from large regional computing hubs to retrofitted commercial sites.
  • Some facilities are already operational or under construction.

The total mixes planned investments, signed contracts and completed installations. It also covers buildings, power systems and other infrastructure, so it is not spending on Nvidia chips alone.

What the review could not establish

It is unclear whether processors ever arrived at one example, a facility in northwestern Gansu province expected to install thousands of Nvidia chips before year-end.

The report also draws a line on the data. Nvidia's quarterly filing of Aug. 26 says that as of the end of its second fiscal quarter it was "effectively foreclosed from competing in China's data center computing/compute market", while an IDC report cited in October put Nvidia at 34% of Chinese AI-accelerator shipments in the first half of 2026. The two figures measure different things and do not show how the restricted hardware identified reached Chinese users.

The projects have also not been linked to Megaspeed or to the allegations involving Huang.

Responses

Nvidia and China's commerce ministry did not immediately respond to the request for comment. The text we read mentions no US Commerce Department response. We did not contact anyone ourselves.

Sunny Cheung, an analyst at the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation, said the findings reinforce his view: "Washington must stop focusing solely on who buys the chips on the surface and start examining who ultimately uses the computing power—and for what purpose."

Why it matters

The review shows Chinese customers continuing to plan purchases around restricted Nvidia hardware, which is a separate question from Nvidia's own ability to sell directly in China. For background, see our Oct. 13 report on million-GPU RTX 5090 China supply and our report on Huang's resignation as CEO.

What we checked

We read the report through Investing.com's syndicated copy, because the original page blocked our reader. We read the Nvidia 10-Q passage quoted above on SEC EDGAR. We did not see the underlying Chinese procurement notices or filings, and we did not contact the outlet, Nvidia or the Chinese ministry. Every figure above comes from that report and is unverified by us.