Prices of Nvidia’s restricted AI chips have more than doubled on China’s black market over the past six months, the Financial Times reported. The surge illustrates how U.S. export controls have generated a significant scarcity premium while failing to entirely restrict Chinese access to these advanced computing products.
The DGX B300 server, which contains eight B300 GPUs, has risen to over 8 million yuan (approximately $1.1 million) in China’s underground market, up from about 4 million yuan late last year. In the United States, the same system retails for around $550,000, highlighting the pricing disparity created by the black market.
China’s customs authorities began blocking imports of Nvidia’s H200 chips in January, with officials declaring that the processors were “not permitted” to enter the country. Concurrently, Beijing has urged domestic companies to refrain from purchasing these restricted chips unless strictly necessary, allowing exceptions only for university research.
In late May, the U.S. Commerce Department closed a loophole that had allowed restricted Rubin and Blackwell chips, as well as AMD’s MI350x, to be delivered to Chinese firms through offshore subsidiaries. The Bureau of Industry and Security clarified that licensing requirements now apply to all entities based in China, regardless of their actual location.
Despite government efforts to shift demand to domestic alternatives from companies like Huawei, Chinese enterprises continue to pursue Nvidia hardware. The crackdown on grey-market smuggling intensified following the arrest of a Supermicro co-founder earlier this year, significantly reducing supply while demand persists.
In April, it was reported that monthly rental prices for B300 servers in China reached as high as 190,000 yuan, illustrating the compute scarcity that Chinese AI firms are facing.
Nvidia’s shares fell more than 4% on Tuesday to around $200, contributing to a roughly 3% decline over the past month. This drop coincided with a wider technology selloff linked to rising Federal Reserve rate hike expectations and ongoing concerns about Nvidia’s black-market report and its revenue prospects in China.
Despite having U.S. government approval for export licenses, Nvidia has not generated significant revenue from H200 sales to China. The company acknowledged in May that it remains uncertain whether any imports will ultimately be permitted.
