Nvidia CEO shines in China – but trade war fears still lurk beneath surface

On his third trip to China in a year, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang – head of the world’s most valuable company – was on a full-blown charm offensive.

As a guest of honour at the China International Supply Chain Expo, Huang’s visit underscored the recent thaw in Sino-US relations. Upon arrival, he announced Washington had cleared the way for Nvidia to export the H20 – a made-for-China AI chip less powerful than its gold-standard acceleration model, which was banned for export to the country in April.

At the opening ceremony for the expo’s third edition, Huang even swapped his signature leather jacket for a traditional Chinese tang suit, delivering part of his speech in rusty Mandarin. Offstage, he took endless media interviews, praised Chinese technology companies and AI models and posed for selfie requests, all with great patience.

His charisma and optimism were on display after China and the US agreed on a framework in trade negotiations and pushed ahead with approvals for certain technology and rare earth exports.

Led by Nvidia, US firms were the largest overseas contingent at the expo – with participation up 15 per cent compared to the previous edition.

But beneath the surface of the buoyant atmosphere, the threat of supply chain disruptions – and a broader decoupling – had not dissipated.

South China Morning Post