China clears H200 chips, soybean buys ahead of Xi-Trump meet
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- China is preparing to allow Alibaba, ByteDance and other major tech firms to import up to 200,000 Nvidia H200 AI chips, though a PCPop.com columnist says the final quota will fall short of that number — less than half of what domestic firms applied for earlier this year.
- Trump said a meeting with Xi Jinping could take place around September 24, coinciding with the UN General Assembly session in New York; Xi has attended the assembly only once since taking office in 2012.
- Cofco has booked at least six cargoes of American soybeans for September–October shipment, and the USDA disclosed Beijing purchased 472,000 metric tons in a single sale — the largest daily volume shipped to China since November 2025.
- Beijing released Pastor Kim Myeongil, who led China's largest evangelical underground church before his October arrest, and sent him to the US at Trump's request; Trump also raised the case of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, whom Beijing has not freed.
- The US Commerce Department moved on May 31 to close a loophole that had allowed Nvidia's advanced AI chips to reach China through overseas units in Singapore and Malaysia, now requiring export licenses for entities ultimately headquartered in China.
- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned Secretary of State Marco Rubio on June 30 that the Taiwan issue affects the broader relationship, a remark tied to a proposed $14 billion US arms package to Taiwan including HIMARS, Javelins, ATACMS and Altius loitering munitions.
- Washington and Beijing are discussing a proposed trade mechanism under which each side would identify about $30 billion in non-sensitive goods eligible for reduced tariffs, building on a June 25 agreement to set up a trade council covering agricultural products.
Why it matters: The H200 chip approval and the 472,000-ton soybean purchase — the biggest single-day China buy since November 2025 — give Trump tangible wins to showcase at a potential September 24 summit, while the $30 billion non-sensitive trade mechanism offers a concrete vehicle for de-escalation. Beijing, however, is extracting movement on chip export controls and has not budged on Jimmy Lai or Taiwan, meaning the thaw is tactical, not structural.
