U.S. Approves Nvidia H200 Chip Purchases by 10 Chinese Companies

May 15, 2026 – In a major development reported exclusively by Reuters on May 14, the U.S. government has granted export licenses allowing approximately ten Chinese companies to purchase NVIDIA’s flagship AI chip, the H200. The approval came as NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang joined a U.S. delegation visiting China, raising hopes for a breakthrough in the long-standing high-end chip sales standoff.

The approved list includes leading Chinese internet and technology giants such as Alibaba, ByteDance, Tencent, and JD.com, along with distribution partners including Lenovo and Foxconn. Under the licensing terms, each qualified customer may purchase up to 75,000 H200 chips, either directly from NVIDIA or through authorized distributors.

However, it is worth noting that no actual chip deliveries have been completed so far, and the related transactions remain pending.

NVIDIA H200: A Chip That Demands Liquid Cooling

The NVIDIA H200 is the latest generation AI accelerator based on the Hopper architecture. Equipped with 141GB of HBM3e high-bandwidth memory and delivering 4.8 TB/s memory bandwidth, the H200 significantly outperforms its predecessor, the H100, making it ideal for training trillion-parameter large language models and complex scientific simulations.

Critically, the H200 has a thermal design power (TDP) of up to 700W, with peak power draw potentially exceeding that figure under heavy workloads. Traditional air cooling is no longer sufficient for large-scale H200 deployments. This has made liquid cooling an essential requirement – a shift that NVIDIA itself has fully embraced in its reference designs for H200-based systems.

Liquid Cooling Industry Poised for Takeoff

The H200’s entry into the Chinese market marks a major turning point for the domestic liquid cooling industry.

Explosive market growth
Industry analysts have designated 2025 as the “first year of liquid cooling explosion” for servers. As H200 adoption accelerates, AI servers will quickly transition to high-power rack configurations like NVL72, where single-rack power can exceed 120kW – a scenario where liquid cooling becomes indispensable. The global liquid cooling market surpassed US $50billionin2025with80$billioninwith3.39 billion in 2025, growing at an extraordinary 48% compound annual growth rate through 2029.

Policy and efficiency drivers
China’s requirement that new data centers achieve a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) below 1.3 by 2025 has further accelerated the shift. While traditional air cooling typically results in PUE above 1.5, liquid cooling can lower PUE to 1.2 or even below 1.1, delivering substantial energy savings.

Lian Li: Complete Liquid Cooling Solutions Fully Compatible with NVIDIA H200

Lian Li, a global leader in liquid cooling technology, has developed a comprehensive portfolio of liquid cooling products that are fully compatible with the NVIDIA H200. From chip-level cooling to full-scale data center infrastructure, Lian Li delivers end-to-end solutions tailored for high-density AI compute.

Coolant Distribution Units (CDU)
Lian Li offers a full series of liquid CDUs, including rack-mounted models (4U65kW, 6U130kW) for IDC and HPC environments, as well as cabinet-scale CDUs ranging from 500kW to 2000kW for large data centers. The 4U6kW hybrid air-liquid CDU features precision temperature control with ±0.5°C accuracy and rapid thermal response, capable of preventing GPU thermal runaway within seconds. It achieves a PUE as low as ~1.15 and supports NVIDIA H100/H200, Intel Xeon 6 series, AMD EPYC 9005 series, and leading server platforms.

Cold Plates and Server Liquid Cooling Racks
Designed specifically for the high heat flux of the H200, Lian Li’s cold plates and server liquid cooling racks incorporate optimized fluid channel designs and advanced thermal interface materials. These solutions ensure stable GPU temperatures even under prolonged, high-intensity workloads, maximizing both performance and hardware lifespan.

Containerized Data Center Solutions
Lian Li’s innovative 20/40-ft liquid-cooled container data center is purpose-built for NVIDIA systems, offering full compatibility with the entire NVIDIA server lineup, including GB300, GB200, B300, B200, H100, and H200. This pre-fabricated, modular solution enables rapid deployment and flexible scaling, making it an ideal choice for edge computing scenarios and fast-track business launches.

Global Certifications – Quality You Can Trust
All Lian Li liquid cooling products are certified to international standards including RoHS, CE, and UL, reflecting the company’s unwavering commitment to quality, safety, and environmental responsibility. Trusted by customers worldwide, Lian Li continues to drive innovation and lead the green liquid cooling revolution in the AI computing era.

Looking Forward: Unlocking AI Potential with Liquid Cooling

With the U.S. approval unlocking H200 procurement for major Chinese enterprises, the country’s AI infrastructure upgrade is set to accelerate. Every H200 chip deployed will drive demand for corresponding liquid cooling systems – from CDUs to cold plates to rack-level thermal management.

Lian Li stands ready to support this transformation with its proven, fully compatible liquid cooling solutions. As the AI industry moves into a new phase of high-performance computing, Lian Li is committed to delivering the thermal foundation that makes it all possible – sustainably, reliably, and at scale.

For more information about Lian Li’s liquid cooling solutions for NVIDIA H200 and other high-power AI accelerators, please contact our sales team or visit our official website.

FAQ About NVIDIA H200：

1. What are the key upgrades of the NVIDIA H200 chip compared to its predecessor, the H100? Why is liquid cooling a mandatory requirement?

The H200 features 141GB of HBM3e high-bandwidth memory with a bandwidth of 4.8TB/s. Its Thermal Design Power (TDP) has increased to 700W, with instantaneous power consumption reaching even higher levels under heavy workloads. Traditional air cooling is no longer sufficient to meet its thermal management requirements; consequently, liquid cooling—which can lower the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) to below 1.2—has become an essential solution for large-scale deployments.

2. Specifically, which scenarios involving the H200 can Lian Li ’s liquid cooling solutions accommodate? What authoritative certifications have they obtained?

Lian Li offers a full-stack range of liquid cooling products, spanning from the chip level to the data center level. These include GPU cold plates, 4U/6U rack-mounted CDUs, 500–2000kW cabinet-style CDUs, liquid-cooled server cabinets, and 20/40-foot prefabricated liquid-cooled containerized data centers. These solutions are fully compatible with the H200, as well as NVIDIA’s entire server lineup—including models such as the GB300 and B200. Our products have obtained various international certifications—including RoHS, CE, and UL—and are widely recognized for their quality and reliability.

3. Have the 10 Chinese companies currently approved to purchase the H200 chips actually received them yet? 

How much growth is the liquid cooling market expected to experience as a result?As of now, none of the approved orders have resulted in the actual delivery of any chips; consequently, related collaborations remain at a standstill. However, once the current restrictions are lifted, the high power density of the H200 is expected to directly trigger a surge in the adoption rate of liquid cooling technologies. It is projected that by 2026, the size of China's liquid cooling market could exceed $4 billion. As a vendor deeply specialized in adapting to these advanced technologies, Lian Li will continue to lead the innovation in green, liquid-cooled computing power.