US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Shenzhen, China, next week for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The visit comes as Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s outgoing chief executive and one of President Trump’s closest allies in Silicon Valley, faces intense scrutiny over his relationship with Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive whom U.S. authorities suspect is working for Chinese intelligence. China denies the allegations.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
Nvidia announced Thursday that Huang will step down as CEO.
Huang accompanied President Trump on his visit to Beijing in May.
His presence was important for Nvidia, which has struggled to get approval to sell its H200 AI chip in China. Currently, his status in the next delegation is in doubt.
So, because of President Trump’s close relationship with Mr. Hwang, is there a possibility that the administration will take a harder line toward China? Here’s what you need to know:
How did Mr. Hwang shape the thaw in the US-China conflict?
As Nvidia’s founder and CEO, Huang pushed the U.S. government to ease restrictions on sales of advanced chips to China, arguing that broader use of U.S. technology would help the U.S. government take the lead in AI development.
In December 2025, President Trump approved the sale of NVIDIA’s second most powerful chip, the H200, to China, with 25% of the proceeds going to the US government.
He did so despite opposition from China hawks in both parties.
Huang was a late and surprising addition to President Trump’s delegation to Beijing in May, hoping to revive sales that had stagnated in the 2000s. Despite President Trump’s decision to permit sales, shipments were slow due to delays in the Chinese government’s import approval aimed at supporting domestic semiconductor manufacturers.
No breakthrough was announced.
President Trump has supported Hwang through his recent personal scandal, calling him an “honorable man.”
Will the Nvidia scandal prompt President Trump to take a tougher stance on China?
Not right away.
Huang’s removal from Nvidia’s board and the resulting scandal are unlikely to have a major impact on U.S.-China relations, which Singapore-based geopolitical analyst Steve Okun told Al Jazeera is “stalemate at best.”
Rather, if the United States continues to impose restrictions on the sale of AI products to China, there will be much more potential for tensions between the two countries over the diversion and proliferation of AI, or how products are traded, both formally and informally, around the world.
Gabriel Wildow, a managing director at advisory firm Teneo, told Al Jazeera earlier this week that Trump “sees no indication that he intends to disrupt the current U.S.-China relationship.”
But he warned that the president “could face new pressure from Congress and hawkish voices within his administration.”
Carsten Holz, an expert on China economics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said Trump “does not seem to have a coherent China policy, so it is difficult to predict his position at the upcoming Shenzhen meeting.”
Huang’s personal circumstances have “little bearing” on China-US relations, he told Al Jazeera.
Where does the pressure to be tougher on China come from?
Most will come from Congress, with majorities in both chambers set to shift to Democrats in January.
Lian Jie Hsu, chief analyst at technology research group Omdia, said the US’s tough stance on AI and China is not just Trump’s, calling it “one of the rare domestic political agreements across the aisle.”
“I’m going to do everything I can to protect my contributions and my legacy on this issue,” Trump said.
On Wednesday, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons asked Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Chief of Staff Stephen Miller to preserve all records related to Nvidia’s chip exports to China.
“This incident raises serious concerns about the federal government’s ability to effectively enforce export controls and protect national security,” the senators wrote.
News website Axios reported that Lutnick thwarted a planned crackdown on a company suspected of leaking Nvidia chips to China.
Meanwhile, a Chinese university connected to the country’s defense establishment purchased Nvidia H200 chips through a third party in September and October, according to procurement notices seen by AFP.
How did China react?
The Chinese government denies the spying allegations and accuses the US government of using the spying allegations as a cover to impose strict regulations and semiconductor export restrictions on China.
“The US side should stop fabricating such ‘spy’ stories as an excuse to impose a technological blockade,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Thursday.
However, Mao also said that China was ready to cooperate with the United States to implement the agreement reached by the two leaders.
Omdia’s Su said China “has no interest in not engaging with President Trump given its significant interest in Nvidia’s graphics processing equipment.”
Chinese chipmakers also could benefit from improved access to U.S. technology.
Shares of leading Chinese graphics processor makers Moore Thread, MetaX and Cambricon rose nearly 10% on Thursday.
What happens after Shenzhen?
Holtz, the China economics expert, pointed out that it is “not new information” that advanced Nvidia chips are being used in data centers in Singapore to serve customers in mainland China.
Still, Okun expects the pressure to increase next year.
He said Congress could pass a remote access security law aimed at blocking Chinese companies from accessing advanced chips through the cloud.
He added that the Commerce Department could impose export controls on MegaSpeed or require licenses for advanced chips it sends to countries such as Singapore or Malaysia.
That would likely strain U.S.-China relations in 2027, he said, adding, “But that’s not going to happen next week.”
