Trump-Xi Summit Lifts China Tech Hopes as Nvidia H200 Sales Reportedly Cleared
CNBC reported Thursday that this week’s high-profile meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping has reignited optimism around Chinese equities, with the AI sector drawing particular attention after reports that Washington cleared Nvidia H200 chip sales to several major Chinese technology companies.
Summit Acts as a Market Catalyst
Analysts at Goldman Sachs said the discussions were expected to centre on trade mechanics, semiconductor restrictions, and rare earth export policy. The bank anticipated China would commit to purchasing more American farm goods, energy, and aircraft in return for a pause on further tariff escalation. Goldman stopped short of predicting a sweeping agreement but said the summit could still serve as a near-term spark for Chinese yuan strength and broader equity gains.
Dong Chen, chief investment officer at Bank J Safra Sarasin, told CNBC that Chinese stocks had underperformed their U.S. technology peers for months amid the global AI spending boom. The mere fact that both leaders agreed to meet was itself a constructive signal for markets, he added.
Nvidia Access Is the Critical Variable
Jiong Shao, China internet analyst at Barclays, told CNBC that the central battleground between the two nations is artificial intelligence, and that compute access remains the defining constraint. Chinese firms have been locked out of the most advanced Nvidia hardware by U.S. export controls, leaving them structurally disadvantaged in the global AI race.
Shao noted that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang joined Trump in Beijing, a detail investors found significant. Shortly after the two leaders met, Reuters reported that Washington had approved H200 sales to roughly ten Chinese firms, including Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and JD.com, citing three people with direct knowledge of the decision.
Background: Chinese Tech Has Lagged the AI Boom
The Hang Seng Tech Index entered Thursday down more than 7% for the year, even as U.S. technology benchmarks surged on AI-driven earnings. The broader Hang Seng Index gained just over 3% in the same period, while the mainland CSI 300 rose nearly 7%. Those numbers trail sharp rallies recorded across Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Recent quarterly results from Alibaba and Tencent suggested cloud and AI-related revenues were beginning to accelerate. Shao told CNBC that China’s internet giants may simply lag their American counterparts by a few quarters on capital expenditure cycles, rather than being structurally excluded from the AI upswing.
Markets Show Cautious Optimism
Thursday’s session saw the Hang Seng Tech Index rise around 0.5% and the broader Hang Seng add roughly 0.3%. Analysts cautioned that weak corporate earnings across the wider Chinese market could cap any sustained rally, even if diplomatic momentum continues to build after the summit.
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