China's efforts to restrict the use of NVIDIA's Blackwell GPUs have not stopped domestic tech firms from acquiring these highly sought-after chips through illicit channels. The banned GPUs, which include powerful AI-focused models like the DGX B300 and RTX 6000 PRO Blackwell, are commanding premiums of up to twice their original price on China’s black market.
The surge in demand follows the U.S. government's decision to bar exports of the Blackwell series to China due to their cutting-edge performance capabilities. Meanwhile, China has banned these same chips domestically to promote homegrown AI chip alternatives from firms such as Huawei. Despite these restrictions, Chinese companies remain drawn to NVIDIA's hardware, driving a flourishing underground trade.
The NVIDIA DGX B300 AI server platform, which includes eight Blackwell GPUs and advanced Intel Xeon processors with over two terabytes of GPU memory, now sells for roughly 8 million RMB (approximately $1.1 million) on the black market—double its official Chinese price and nearly triple its U.S. retail price of $400,000. Similarly, the RTX 6000 PRO Blackwell graphics card has jumped from its U.S. market price of around $13,250 to nearly $20,000 (130,000 RMB) in China, appealing to smaller AI startups that require high-memory GPUs unavailable in official alternatives.
U.S. restrictions focus on preventing sales of Blackwell models including the GB200, GB300, RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell, and the RTX 5090. While older NVIDIA GPUs like the H200 have seen some easing in export controls, their reduced performance fails to satisfy the growing AI demands of Chinese firms, sustaining interest in Blackwell hardware despite enforcement efforts. Traders report an expanding Chinese customer base acquiring a broad range of NVIDIA devices, including some gaming-focused processors, underscoring the persistence of black market supply chains despite crackdowns.