US export curbs on high-end GPUs have not put much of a brake on China’s AI industry. TrendForce’s latest supply chain survey says China is speeding up the buildout of its homegrown AI supply chain, and the supply of high-end AI chips is moving away from dependence on imported GPUs toward a two-track setup: domestic GPUs plus self-developed ASICs.
The report says domestic options will make up nearly 90% of China’s high-end AI chip market by 2026. This year, the Chinese government has pushed hard for the use of domestic AI chips, with policies that give priority support to high-potential local manufacturers so they can sharply grow their share of the high-end AI server market. And at the same time, the domestic ecosystem is maturing step by step in key areas such as advanced process nodes, advanced packaging, and thermal management.
TrendForce says that as the push for domestic substitution picks up speed, Chinese chip makers including Huawei Ascend, Cambricon, and Hygon should keep benefiting, creating structural growth openings for the wider supply chain.