(Yicai) Jan. 17 -- After visiting Shenzhen, Jensen Huang, chief executive of American chip giant Nvidia, plans to travel to Shanghai and Beijing in the coming days before heading to Taipei, Yicai learned.

Huang arrived in Shenzhen on Jan. 15 to attend the annual meeting of Nvidia's Shenzhen branch. When asked about his itinerary in Shenzhen, Huang said, "I am here to celebrate the Chinese New Year with my colleagues." He declined to comment on questions about the Biden administration's new chip export restrictions. "We are solely focused on serving our customers."

On Jan. 13, the Biden administration announced new restrictions on the export of American-developed computer chips powering artificial intelligence systems. The global export framework establishes three tiers of countries. While no new restrictions apply to countries and regions such as Australia, Japan, South Korea, and China's Taiwan, a second tier including China's mainland and Russia will face new restrictions on sales of the most powerful "closed" AI models—those whose underlying architectures are not publicly released.

After concluding his Shenzhen visit, Huang yesterday attended the inauguration ceremony of a new plant owned by Siliconware Precision Industries, a key supplier based in Taiwan's Taichung.

Huang has frequently emphasized the Chinese market's importance. According to the company's financial report for the quarter ended last October, Nvidia recorded profits of USD5.4 billion in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong. Throughout 2024, the company hired hundreds of new employees in China, expanding its workforce there to around 3,600 people.

Driven by the AI boom, Nvidia's shares [NASDAQ: NVDA] have surged nearly 140 percent over the past year, with its market capitalization reaching around USD3.2 trillion. Last year, Nvidia's valuation occasionally surpassed Apple's, making it temporarily the world's most valuable company.

Recent reports indicate that nearly four-fifths of Nvidia's global workforce have become millionaires, with half of them owning assets worth USD25 million or more.

Editor: Emmi Laine