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AllAfrica
19-07-2025
- Business
- AllAfrica
Chinese worry Nvidia H20 chips are poisoned wine for AI industry
The relaxation of the United States' export controls for Nvidia's H20 chips won brief applause in China – while raising longer-term concerns about whether Chinese firms will over-rely on foreign artificial intelligence chips. During a trip to China on July 15, Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang said in a press conference that the company will resume H20 chip sales to China, now that the US government has indicated it will soon grant export licenses. 'I hope to get more advanced chips into China than the H20,' Huang said. 'Technology is always moving on. Today, Hopper's terrific, but some years from now, we will have more and more and better and better technology, and I think it's sensible that whatever we're allowed to sell in China will continue to get better and better over time as well,' he said. He also took the opportunity to praise Huawei's achievements in making AI chips. However, some Chinese commentators viewed the development as unfavorable for China's chip-making sector. 'This is not a simple lifting of the export restrictions, but a carefully designed measure for the United States to maintain its technological blockade against China,' a Guangdong-based columnist says in an article. 'The H20's FP16 computing power is only 15% of H100, while its NVLink bandwidth is reduced from 900GB/s to 400GB/s. The chip's transformer engine (TE) is completely deleted,' he says. 'Such a design ensures the chip's AI inference ability and reduces its AI training capability, perfectly implementing the United States' strategy of blocking high-end chips, but not mid-end ones, to China.' 'By limiting the key performance of H20, the US can maintain its blockade of high-end computing power while handing Chinese companies a glass of 'poisoned wine,'' he says. In Chinese idiom, a person who 'drinks poisonous liquor to quench thirst' knows that it will kill him, in the long run, but he can't do anything to change the situation. Applied to Chinese technology companies, this means that the domestic chipmakers can benefit from foreign AI chips in the short term but will miss an opportunity to grow and establish an ecosystem. An AI firm needs tens of thousands of Nvidia's high-end chips, such as A100 or H100, to train a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT. Once an LLM is developed, the company can use slower graphics processing units for inference tasks. In an article published by a columnist using the pseudonym 'Silicon Rabbit' says that Nvidia's Huang made a subtle and cunning move to help the US curb China's chip sector. 'Imagine that someone sold you a Ferrari with a powerful V12 engine, but downgraded its gas pipe, gearbox and wheels. This car can run normally on straight roads, but it faces limitations when continuously speeding up or making sharp turns,' he says, attributing the metaphor to an unnamed senior software engineer who had participated in the Hopper architecture's performance optimization project. He says that the computing power of a single H20 chip is far below that of the H100, while a reduced interconnect bandwidth means a significant reduction in AI training capability. 'AI training is similar to having tens of thousands of people work together, which requires fast information exchanges,' he says. 'A low interconnect bandwidth means that people communicate slowly, resulting in a low thinking efficiency.' He says that the H20 chip cannot be used to train trillion-parameter LLMs. 'The H20 generously offers 96 gigabytes of the third-generation high bandwidth memory (HBM3) – higher than the H100's 80GB HBM3e. However, the H20's memory bandwidth is only 4.0 terabytes per second (TB/s), lower than the H100's 4.8 TB/s,' he says. 'It is like someone giving you a bigger table to read more books, but making it harder for you to take books from the shelves.' The writer says the relaxation of the export rules for the H20 is aimed at permitting the US to control the pace of China's AI development precisely. Reuters, citing sources familiar with the situation, reported that Chinese internet giants, including ByteDance and Tencent, are submitting applications for the H20 chip. ByteDance denied the report. Tencent did not respond to Reuters' request for comment. On April 9, 2025, according to Nvidia, the US government informed the company that a license is required for exporting its H20 products into the Chinese market. The new curb was a part of Washington's countermeasures after China retaliated against the Trump administration's reciprocal tariffs. In announcing results for the three months ended April 27, Nvidia said sales of H20 products were US$4.6 billion before the new export licensing requirements took effect. It said it could not ship an additional $2.5 billion of H20 revenue. After US and Chinese officials held meetings in London on June 9, both sides agreed to de-escalate the trade war. Beijing decided to ease export controls on niche metals to the US. In return, the US would allow Chinese firms to use its chip-making software and export parts for China's C919 flight engines. And now, the US will enable Nvidia to ship the H20 chips to China. A Guangdong-based columnist says Nvidia's H20 chips will enjoy an advantage in the Chinese market, although Huawei's Ascend 910B chips perform better in many aspects of AI training. He says Nvidia's CUDA platform is more advanced than Huawei's MindSpore framework, making customers reluctant to use non-Nvidia chips. For example, he says that Alibaba prefers to use the H20 chips to migrate its existing AI system, while the Ascend 910B chips may target state-owned enterprises. A Beijing-based writer expects Nvidia's CUDA platform to continue enjoying an 80% market share in China, as it would be expensive for companies to switch to new platforms. On July 18, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said the US should abandon its 'zero-sum mentality' and further remove a series of trade restrictions targeting Chinese companies that the ministry considered unreasonable. The spokesperson stated that in May, the US unveiled export control measures targeting Huawei's Ascend chips, tightened restrictions on Chinese chip products following unfounded accusations, and intervened in fair market competition with administrative measures. The spokesperson urged the US to work with China to correct erroneous practices through equal consultation. Meanwhile, the Trump administration increased its efforts to prevent China from obtaining Nvidia's high-end chips. It urged Malaysia and Thailand to curb transhipments of Nvidia's AI chips to China. On July 14, the Malaysian government announced that export, transshipment or transit of high-performance AI chips of US origin will require a trade permit. Companies must notify the government at least 30 days before shipping Nvidia's high-end chips elsewhere. Read: US plans to tighten AI chip export rules for Malaysia, Thailand
Bangkok Post
18-07-2025
- Bangkok Post
Chinese police investigating 5 missing teens issue further warnings about telecoms crime
Chinese police are investigating at least five cases of missing teenagers believed to have been caught up in scam centres, including some who have lost contact with their families after travelling to Myanmar. Police in Hefei, the capital of Anhui province in central China, issued a notice on Wednesday, confirming the disappearance of an 18-year-old high school student who had travelled to a city in Yunnan, a southwestern province on the border with Myanmar. According to his parents, the student left school to look for a job in Hefei in April. He told his parents where he was working but in late June his mother could not find him at the address. He was reported last seen near a restaurant in Jinghong, Yunnan, after coming out of Xishuangbanna airport on June 5, having flown from Nanjing. Jinghong police said they had no further information about him. In the past month, many teenagers aged 18 or 19 who set out to travel or work during the summer holiday reportedly travelled to Yunnan without their families' knowledge, and then lost contact in the border area. According to Elephant News, an official news outlet in Henan province, a mother in Hubei urgently sought help on Tuesday, saying that her high school student son and two of his classmates had lost contact after going to Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture on June 24, and that they were suspected to be in Myanmar, where telecoms-related crime is rampant. Hubei police confirmed the case, saying the three students arrived in Xishuangbanna prefecture on June 25 and lost contact with their families and friends two days later. Their last message was sent from abroad, police said. The mother in Hubei said her son had previously met a "buddy" on the internet who had invited the three to go to Yunnan with him, saying he was "delivering rhino horns". A special team was set up by Hubei's Huangzhou police force to move quickly to Yunnan to investigate, the police report said. Another family lost track of their high school graduate son, surnamed Peng, in Shaanxi province on July 4, according to the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald. Peng sent a message to his girlfriend saying that he was in Myanmar and, after she sent him news related to online fraud in the country, he messaged that he "had not been scammed". According to Peng's mother, she and some of Peng's friends managed to dial his number, but the person who answered the phone was not Peng and claimed to be from Myanmar and working in the compounds there. "We're a rural family and we are at our wits' end," Peng's mother said. She told reporters she had received several calls from people claiming to be connected to Myanmar's military, saying they could help rescue her son for 200,000 yuan (900,000 baht). Huangzhou police in Hubei warned students to be wary of offer for high-paying part-time jobs and invitations from netizens. The Guangdong-based Yangcheng Evening News quoted border officials at Guangzhou Baiyun airport as saying that parents must better guide, educate and supervise their children. Police say they are continuing to investigate the cases. Teenage students are not the only victims of rapidly growing telecoms fraud. On July 4, the Chinese embassy in Thailand said it had rescued a Chinese model who had accepted a job offer in Thailand from his former employer but was then tricked into going to Myanmar. The number of people being lured, kidnapped and trafficked to compounds in Southeast Asian countries, including Myanmar, has continued to rise in recent years, despite repeated public awareness campaigns. In January, the case of kidnapped Chinese actor Wang Xing drew public attention to international gangs involved in telecoms crime. Wang was lured to Thailand by a fake agent on the pretext of work on a film shoot. He was rescued after his girlfriend sounded the alarm about his disappearance. Since the beginning of this year, relevant government departments from China, Myanmar and Thailand have worked together to launch a fierce offensive against telecommunications and internet fraud crimes in the Myawaddy area, arresting and repatriating more than 5,400 Chinese nationals involved in fraud, according to the Ministry of Public Security. On July 4, the second ministerial meeting on jointly combating telecommunications and internet fraud crimes between China, Myanmar and Thailand was held in Myanmar's capital Nya Pyi Taw. They all agreed to deepen cooperation to safeguard the rights and interests of their people.
Bloomberg
21-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Chinese Exporters Rush to Meet US Import Demand
The US-China trade truce last week sparked an immediate revival along one of the world's most important trade routes, and Guangdong-based supply chain manager Chen Lei was at the forefront. Located in China's manufacturing hub, Chen suddenly found himself fielding calls from US customers who had just a month ago canceled orders, according to Bloomberg News reporting today from the region. They now wanted those requests filled and sent immediately, trying to beat the 90-day window as the two largest economies continue negotiations.
Business Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
China-US trade soars as exporters race to hit trade truce window
[HONG KONG] A temporary trade truce between the world's two largest economies has sparked a knee-jerk bounce across China's ports and factory floors. In the week beginning May 12, when the US and China agreed to sharply reduce tariffs for 90 days, bookings on freighters headed from China to US shores more than doubled from the prior week to about 228,000 TEUs, or twenty-foot equivalent units, data from container-tracking platform Vizion and data provider Dun & Bradstreet shows. Prices for space on ships across the Pacific into the US also rose, with spot rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles jumping about 16 per cent – the biggest increase for the route this year – to US$3,136 per forty-foot equivalent unit for the week ending May 15, according to the Drewry World Container Index. The global composite index also rose the most this year. And the demand was not just by sea: The number of international air cargo flights rose almost 18 per cent, according to data released by China's Ministry of Transport. The surge is likely a wave of front-loading as the trade truce opens a window to avoid steep US tariffs, said Jayendu Krishna, a director at Drewry Maritime Services. It's also an important buying season for the holidays – it takes about a month for items to arrive stateside and retailers are rapidly running through inventory they have had on hand awaiting some trade certainty. 'The current surge in bookings is likely to lead to supply chain disruptions for the next two to three months, unless there is another tariff shock from Trump,' Krishna said. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Bookings on ships are due to be filled by factories like supply-chain manager Chen Lei's, which makes various types of home appliance products from coffee machines and toasters to irons and humidifiers. The Guangdong-based manufacturer where Chen works counts Royal Philips and Walmart among clients, and has received a flurry of requests from the US to resume production on orders that were put on hold in April. 'Machines in the factories are working non-stop now,' said Chen. '90 days is too short. Production, shipping – we can't wait a single minute.' AP Moller-Maersk, a major container liner that's also one of the largest on the trans-Pacific route, added capacity again after seeing an increase in bookings when the truce was announced, a spokesperson said. Even with the boost in activity from earlier weeks, the overall level of shipments remains in-line with this time last year. That shows many retailers are either not ordering to the same extent, waiting for more certainty, or maybe have already stocked up earlier this year. Liners were also bringing unused capacity already on these routes back online, with the share of voided sailings down to 13 per cent as at May 26, compared to 25 per cent a week before, data from HSBC and Flexport show. A flurry of trade figures from across Asia this week show the chaos that Trump's policies have wrought this year. In South Korea, the value of exports fell 2.4 per cent in the first 20 days of May from the prior year, with outbound shipments to the US down about 15 per cent. Japanese exports rose only 2 per cent in April – the weakest growth in seven months, data out on Wednesday (May 21) showed. BLOOMBERG
Straits Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
China-US trade soars as exporters race to hit tariff truce window
In the week beginning May 12, bookings on freighters headed from China to US more than doubled from prior week. PHOTO: AFP BEIJING - A temporary trade truce between the world's two largest economies has sparked a knee-jerk bounce across China's ports and factory floors. In the week beginning May 12, when the United States and China agreed to sharply reduce tariffs for 90 days, bookings on freighters headed from China to US shores more than doubled from the prior week to about 228,000 TEUs, or twenty-foot equivalent units, data from container-tracking platform Vizion and data provider Dun & Bradstreet shows. Prices for space on ships across the Pacific into the US also rose, with spot rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles jumping about 16 per cent – the biggest increase for the route this year – to US$3,136 per forty-foot equivalent unit for the week ending May 15, according to the Drewry World Container Index. The global composite index also rose the most this year. And the demand wasn't just by sea: The number of international air cargo flights rose almost 18 per cent, according to data released by China's Ministry of Transport. The surge is likely a wave of front-loading as the trade truce opens a window to avoid steep US tariffs, said Jayendu Krishna, a director at Drewry Maritime Services. It's also an important buying season for the holidays – it takes about a month for items to arrive stateside and retailers are rapidly running through inventory they've had on hand awaiting some trade certainty. 'The current surge in bookings is likely to lead to supply chain disruptions for the next two to three months, unless there is another tariff shock from Mr Trump,' Mr Krishna said. Bookings on ships are due to be filled by factories like supply-chain manager Chen Lei's, which makes various types of home appliance products from coffee machines and toasters to irons and humidifiers. The Guangdong-based manufacturer where Chen works counts Royal Philips and Walmart among clients, and has received a flurry of requests from the US to resume production on orders that were put on hold in April. 'Machines in the factories are working non-stop now,' said Mr Chen, '90 days is too short. Production, shipping - we can't wait a single minute.' A.P. Moller-Maersk, a major container liner that's also one of the largest on the trans-Pacific route, added capacity again after seeing an increase in bookings when the truce was announced, a spokesman said. Even with the boost in activity from earlier weeks, the overall level of shipments remains in-line with this time in 2024. That shows many retailers are either not ordering to the same extent, waiting for more certainty, or maybe have already stocked up earlier this year. Liners were also bringing unused capacity already on these routes back online, with the share of voided sailings down to 13 per cent as of May 26, compared to 25 per cent a week before, data from HSBC and Flexport show. A flurry of trade figures from across Asia this week show the chaos that Mr Trump's policies have wrought this year. In South Korea, the value of exports fell 2.4 per cent in the first 20 days of May from the prior year, with outbound shipments to the US down about 15 per cent. Japanese exports rose only 2 per cent in April – the weakest growth in seven months, data out on May 21 showed. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
