Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang Jen-hsun, made his first visit to China in four years to participate in the company’s annual meetings amidst challenges in the mainland market. This visit comes as the US chip giant faces mounting difficulties due to Washington’s efforts to tighten export regulations.
During the past week, the Taiwan-born American entrepreneur visited Nvidia’s offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. He was featured on stage at the annual meetings, as reported by Chinese media outlets. Huang, 60, was seen in online video clips dressed in a floral-patterned vest and engaging in the traditional northern Chinese folk dance, Yangge.
The purpose of Huang’s visit to China, as stated by an Nvidia spokesperson to the South China Morning Post, was to “celebrate the new year with employees.” However, further details of his trip were not disclosed.
This trip marked the first time in over four years that the billionaire founder visited China, amid the heightened technological rivalry and increased tensions between the US and China. In his last public appearance in China in December 2019, Huang discussed the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in various sectors such as automotive, video gaming, and healthcare.
While Huang had reportedly planned a visit to Shanghai in June last year to meet with executives from Chinese tech companies like Tencent Holdings, ByteDance, and Xiaomi, the trip was eventually canceled. The recent visit comes at a challenging time for Nvidia in the Chinese market, following the US government’s stricter export restrictions on chips.
Nvidia anticipates a significant decline in sales to China and other restricted destinations due to the new regulations. The company is now working on developing new products tailored for the Chinese market to comply with the rules. Huang emphasized the importance of finding a balance between business opportunities and national security concerns.
Despite the challenges, Nvidia is collaborating closely with the US government to ensure compliance with regulations. While the Commerce Secretary, Gina Raimondo, acknowledged the potential for selling AI chips to China for commercial use, restrictions on the sale of advanced semiconductors to Chinese firms remain in place.
