Northwestern Polytechnical University, a Chinese institution on the U.S. Commerce Department’s Entity List, ordered two Nvidia H200 141G PCIe AI accelerator cards for 874,700 yuan, or about $123,000, according to an October 21 procurement notice published by its School of Management. The award names Shaanxi Bosuan Network Technology as the supplier rather than Nvidia.
The purchase is notable because the U.S. Commerce Department has kept Northwestern Polytechnical on its Entity List since 2001. The Bureau of Industry and Security says the university has worked closely with the People’s Liberation Army on military capabilities. The listing imposes licensing requirements on exports of items subject to U.S. export rules and carries a presumption of denial.
Reuters reviewed 26 procurement and corporate records and reported that the university also rented computing capacity from Chinese suppliers through five contracts, including access to servers containing H200, A100 and A800 chips. Other Chinese universities and research institutions also purchased restricted Nvidia hardware or rented access to computing services powered by it. The records provide limited information about where the chips originated or where rented servers were located.
Washington began allowing some H200 exports to China on a case-by-case basis in January, but separate restrictions on Entity List organisations remain in place. The development follows the U.S. policy change that allowed some Nvidia H200 chip sales to China with a 25% fee. The procurement notice does not establish whether the two cards were delivered or where they originated, and it does not show a direct sale from Nvidia.
Northwestern Polytechnical, Nvidia and the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
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