China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) is evaluating whether to allow domestic tech giants Alibaba and ByteDance to purchase Nvidia's newly introduced RTX PRO 5500 professional graphics card. The move comes as Nvidia (NVDA) shares ended Friday trading at $225.07, ahead of Wall Street's opening session.
MIIT Probes Demand for RTX PRO 5500 Workstation Chips
According to a report from The Information, the MIIT inquired about the volume and specific intent of RTX PRO 5500 purchases requested by Alibaba and ByteDance. The workstation card—featuring 84 GB of memory and drawing up to 600 watts—is marketed for AI agents, AI inference, and simulation. Because it operates as a high-end desktop workstation component rather than enterprise data-center hardware, the card sits outside current U.S. export curbs.
Chinese artificial intelligence firms currently face computing hardware shortfalls for their chatbots and agents. However, neither Beijing, Alibaba, nor ByteDance have publicly confirmed the plan. Any prospective sales would provide additive revenue beyond Nvidia's projected $108 billion forecast for the current quarter, which assumes zero revenue from Chinese data-center chips.
U.S.-China Trade Dynamics and Domestic Competition
The report lands shortly after President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington. Following the summit, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer noted that national security export controls were taken "off the table," according to the Korea Times. This diplomatic backdrop comes amid ongoing global discussions surrounding emerging AI infrastructure regulation.
Despite potential renewed access for Nvidia, local Chinese hardware manufacturers retain a dominant stronghold. Analysts report that Huawei and Cambricon control nearly 80% of China's AI server market, while local rivals expand further, as demonstrated by Enflame's Shanghai debut this month.
The policy shift follows a September 2025 headline when Beijing instructed domestic firms to stop purchasing Nvidia's RTX Pro 6000D, causing NVDA stock to drop 2.6% in a single day. At the time, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang remarked, "I think that we could only be in service of a market if the country wants us to be."
Market Outlook and Key Takeaways
Wall Street sentiment surrounding Nvidia remains heavily bullish. All 31 analysts tracked by TipRanks rate NVDA stock as a Buy, boasting an average price target of $324.32.
Key Takeaways:
- MIIT Assessment: China's MIIT asked Alibaba and ByteDance to quantify demand for Nvidia's 84 GB, 600-watt RTX PRO 5500 workstation cards.
- Excluded Revenue: Nvidia's $108 billion quarterly outlook assumes no Chinese data-center chip revenue, making any workstation sales purely additive.
- Market Share: Local competitors Huawei and Cambricon hold nearly 80% of China's AI server market.
- Analyst Consensus: All 31 TipRanks analysts rate NVDA a Buy with a $324.32 average target.
Why It Matters
While the RTX PRO 5500 does not replace high-margin enterprise data-center GPUs, re-entering China's tech ecosystem through workstation hardware gives Nvidia a crucial foothold in the rapidly growing sector for AI agents and automated tools. If approved, these sales demonstrate how chip manufacturers can navigate trade restrictions by supplying high-performance developer hardware without breaching official export limits. Investors will be monitoring whether Beijing eventually extends approvals to broader hardware lines or if domestic market leads by Huawei and Cambricon restrict Nvidia's long-term upside.
