Semiconductor Stocks Experience Sharp Intraday Decline; NVIDIA CEO's Surprise Visit to China Fuels H200 Supply Speculation

Semiconductor stocks experienced a sharp intraday decline, with losses narrowing slightly before the midday break. At the time of writing, ASMPT (00522) was down 4.66% to HK$173.8; HUA HONG SEMI (01347) fell 2.62% to HK$126.4; and SMIC (00981) dropped 1.75% to HK$72.85.

The market movement follows reports that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang unexpectedly changed his itinerary to join U.S. President Trump's delegation visiting China. According to the reports, Huang, as a last-minute addition, boarded the presidential aircraft Air Force One on May 13th to commence the trip.

Jensen Huang's visit has sparked market speculation about a potential improvement in the supply of NVIDIA's H200 chips to China. Soochow Securities noted that Huang has long lobbied the U.S. government to relax export controls on AI chips to China. Last year, he successfully pushed for White House approval to sell the H200 chips. Therefore, his presence on this trip carries significant signaling importance that cannot be ignored.

However, the brokerage also stated that, overall, the trend toward domestic computing power substitution in China remains irreversible.