Import substitution strategy in China’s semiconductor industry

China’s State Internet Information Office banned Chinese technology companies from purchasing Nvidia chips for AI computations. This occurs amid strengthening strategy to develop domestic industry to compete with the US.

The regulator demanded ByteDance, Alibaba and other companies cease testing and procurement of RTX Pro 6000D accelerators. Which Nvidia developed specifically for the Chinese market. Although some companies had planned to order tens of thousands of these accelerators and already begun testing them with Nvidia server suppliers.

This ban goes beyond previous recommendations focused on the H20 graphics processor. The decision was made after Chinese regulators determined that domestic chips achieved performance comparable to Nvidia models for China.

Beijing is pressuring technology companies, demanding they stimulate the domestic semiconductor industry. And reduce dependence on Nvidia to compete with the US in artificial intelligence. Regulators held meetings with Huawei, Cambricon, Alibaba and Baidu to compare their products with Nvidia chips. All confirmed that Chinese AI chips achieved comparable or superior levels.