By The South Asia Times

BEIJING - China on Thursday reiterated its opposition to US restrictions on advanced semiconductor exports, following reports that Northwestern Polytechnical University had procured several Nvidia H200 artificial intelligence chips despite Washington's export controls.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing's position on US chip exports to China remained consistent, accusing Washington of using national security concerns to justify restrictions on Chinese institutions., according to Global Times.

"We firmly oppose the US side's overstretching of the concept of national security, setting up discriminatory lists of various kinds, and unjustifiably suppressing Chinese institutions," Mao said at a regular press briefing.

Her remarks came in response to reports that the Chinese university had obtained several H200 chips manufactured by US technology company Nvidia, raising questions about the effectiveness of Washington's restrictions on exports of advanced AI processors to China.

The reported purchase has drawn attention because Northwestern Polytechnical University is included on the US Commerce Department's Entity List, which restricts its access to American technology and requires special export licences.

The university, based in Xi'an, is known for research in aerospace engineering, missiles, satellites and other defence-related fields. Washington added it to the trade blacklist in 2001 over alleged involvement in missile-proliferation activities and tightened restrictions in 2019.

According to a Reuters investigation published on Wednesday, the university purchased two H200 processors in October for 874,700 yuan (approximately $123,000) through a Chinese domestic supplier. Procurement records also showed that university departments had obtained access to computing servers containing H200 and other Nvidia processors through rental agreements.

Reuters said it could not establish where the processors originated or where the rented servers were physically located. The reported purchases therefore raise questions about enforcement of US export controls, but do not by themselves establish that Nvidia directly supplied the university in violation of US law.

The controversy highlights the challenges Washington faces in restricting China's access to advanced computing technology through third-party suppliers and domestic cloud-computing services.

The United States has introduced successive restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductors to China, arguing that access to powerful computing technology could strengthen Beijing's military capabilities and accelerate the development of artificial intelligence systems for defence and intelligence applications.

In January 2026, the US Commerce Department revised its licensing policy to allow applications for exports of Nvidia H200 and certain comparable advanced processors to China to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, subject to security and compliance requirements.

However, the revised policy did not remove separate restrictions on organisations listed on the Entity List, including Northwestern Polytechnical University.

The restrictions have become a major point of contention between Washington and Beijing as both countries compete for leadership in artificial intelligence, advanced computing and semiconductor manufacturing.

China has repeatedly criticised US technology restrictions as discriminatory measures designed to contain its technological development, while Washington maintains that export controls are necessary to protect national security.

The latest dispute underscores the growing difficulty of separating commercial technology trade from national security considerations in the increasingly competitive US-China relationship.