China's $3 billion-plus pipeline of Nvidia-powered AI data centres

Beijing: A Reuters review has identified more than $3 billion in Chinese computing projects built around Nvidia's restricted processors, even as the American chipmaker has said US export controls have effectively shut it out of the AI data-centre market in the world's second-biggest economy.

The examination shows projects stretching from China's wealthy coastal technology hubs to remote western provinces, and underscores how deeply Nvidia's technology remains embedded in China's AI expansion.

The findings come a day after Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang, a vocal advocate of easing export restrictions, resigned as chief executive over a scandal.


Huang's departure could deepen vulnerabilities for Chinese companiesexposed to potential delays and supply disruptions as US curbs tighten.

Below are details of projects the Reuters review identified:

BILLIONS AT STAKE

A proposed 6.2 billion yuan ($873 million) AI computing centre in coastal Fujian province, in Xianyou county, seeks commercial partners and specifies Nvidia H100 chips for a facility intended to support large-scale AI development.

In northwestern Shaanxi province, state-owned engineering group Sinomach said a subsidiary won a contract as part of a project for a 3 billion yuan computing centre specifying Nvidia H100 and H200 processors.

In northeastern Jilin province, an April government prospectus describes another 2.26 billion yuan project combining Nvidia H100 processors with Chinese-developed chips. The developer expects bank loans to finance about 80% of the investment.

In Inner Mongolia, a 1.5 billion-yuan development proposes installing 625 Nvidia H200 servers. Chinese industry reporting in June said construction had begun on two buildings in its first phase.

These plans highlight developers' reliance on US processors vulnerable to trade restrictions. Tighter curbs risk construction delays, inflated costs, or forced redesigns around domestic alternatives.

FROM SHOPPING CENTRE TO AI HUB

Other projects have advanced further.

In northwestern Gansu province, a local company awarded a 1.16 billion yuan construction contract in July for a computing centre that plans to install approximately 3,072 Nvidia processors, according to tender documents specifying H100 and H200 hardware.

The contract went to a consortium led by a subsidiary of state-owned Shaanxi Construction Engineering. The documents do not establish whether the processors have been delivered.

Other Chinese facilities are already using restricted Nvidia hardware.

In eastern Jiangsu province, the Wuxi municipal government said in March 2025 that a computing cluster using Nvidia H800 processors had entered operation.

In Fujian, Shanghai-listed Damingcheng disclosed in June that a computing venture had built an H800 cluster. It had signed a computing-services agreement originally worth 759 million yuan, although the contract ended early.

Smaller purchases show demand extending to research institutions. Shenzhen University awarded a contract for three H100 processors in September, while US-blacklisted Northwestern Polytechnical University bought two H200 chips the following month, Reuters reported separately.