Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang charms China – but trade war fears still lurk beneath surface
As a guest of honour at the China International Supply Chain Expo, Huang's visit underscored the recent thaw in Sino-US relations. Upon arrival, he announced Washington had cleared the way for Nvidia to export the H20 – a made-for-China AI chip less powerful than its gold-standard acceleration model, which was banned for export to the country in April.
At the opening ceremony for the expo's third edition, Huang even swapped his signature leather jacket for a traditional Chinese tang suit, delivering part of his speech in rusty Mandarin. Offstage, he took endless media interviews,
praised Chinese technology companies and AI models and posed for selfie requests, all with great patience.
His charisma and optimism were on display after China and the US agreed on a framework in trade negotiations and pushed ahead with approvals for certain technology and rare earth exports.
Led by Nvidia, US firms were the largest overseas contingent at the expo – with participation up 15 per cent compared to the previous edition.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
4 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
As China's public bus companies bleed cash and lose riders, are rides for pets the answer?
With public bus companies across China struggling to keep the wheels going round and round amid rising financial pressures and declining ridership, some are embracing innovative and unorthodox measures – such as repurposing their idle fleet for delivery services, or allowing pets as passengers. Zhengzhou Public Transport Group, which serves the capital city of Henan province, is among the latest to adopt an emerging 'bus-plus-logistics' business model, having announced a partnership with courier giant SF Express earlier this month. The two companies will explore leveraging idle bus capacity, such as during off-peak hours or when vehicles are unused out at night, to fulfil urgent intracity deliveries, according to a statement by SF Express. The initiative comes as the Zhengzhou Public Transport Group faces mounting financial woes. In 2024, its year-on-year revenue fell by 8.38 per cent, while its operating losses deepened by 286 per cent – from 3.03 million yuan in 2023 to 11.7 million in 2024 – according to financial data provider Wind. And it is not the only bus company under financial strain. Bus ridership has been decreasing across China in recent years, driven by a shift towards alternatives such as undergrounds, bike-sharing and ride-hailing services. Official data showed that China's public bus and trolleybus passenger volume stood at 38.67 billion in 2024. That was only slightly more than half of all passenger trips recorded in 2019 – a level that had already been on the decline.
South China Morning Post
4 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
How China's latest mega-dam threatens to undermine thaw in ties with India
Donald Trump's approach to international relations has placed China on the defensive, but by also alienating key US allies and partners, it may have created an unexpected opening for Beijing. Since the US president unveiled his tariff plans in April, Beijing has significantly ramped up efforts to improve ties with Europe, Southeast Asia, and even its most formidable regional rivals – Japan and India. In a sign of deepening detente between the Himalayan neighbours, India's external affairs minister S. Jaishankar visited Beijing last week for the first time since a deadly clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020. During the visit, Jaishankar, a former ambassador to both China and the United States, met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and Vice-President Han Zheng, along with President Xi Jinping as part of a group meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. The trip was widely seen as paving the way for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the SCO summit in Tianjin at the end of August. According to state news agency Xinhua, Xi said he hoped to 'chart the course of the organisation together' with the nine other members of the SCO.
South China Morning Post
4 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
China's drone warfare exercise, warning over spy souvenirs: SCMP daily highlights
Catch up on some of SCMP's biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing China has staged a warfare demonstration using a full spectrum of uncrewed systems, underscoring its role as a leading global drone supplier, according to a state media report. GDP growth is on pace to meet leadership's goal for China, but a stubborn property slump, trade complications and deflationary pressure persist. Key rings, backpack charms, necklaces and earrings are among the items that might contain hidden spy functions, according to China's Ministry of State Security. Photo: Shutterstock China's top anti-spy agency has advised citizens travelling abroad to be cautious while accepting souvenirs that could have surveillance capabilities.
