Do US remarks about downgraded chip exports prompt Chinese purchase restrictions?
Core argument: China's Cyberspace Administration, National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology sought ways to restrict Chinese tech groups from buying Nvidia's H20 chips, according to people with knowledge of the regulatory decision-making.
According to people with knowledge of the regulatory action, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) moved in response to comments made by Lutnick last month. “We don’t sell them our best stuff, not our second-best stuff, not even our third-best,” Lutnick told CNBC on July 15, the day after the Trump administration lifted export controls, implemented in April, on H20 sales. “You want to sell the Chinese enough that their developers get addicted to the American technology stack, that’s the thinking,” he added. Some of China’s senior leaders found the comments “insulting”, leading the policymakers to seek ways to restrict Chinese tech groups from buying the processors, according to two people with knowledge of the latest regulatory decision-making.


