Nvidia chief Jensen Huang to join board at prestigious Beijing university

{"text":[[{"start":10.75,"text":"Jensen Huang has agreed to join the advisory board of a prestigious Chinese university that counts Apple’s Tim Cook as chair, as the Nvidia chief pushes to maintain ties with Beijing."}],[{"start":22.55,"text":"Huang, who accompanied US President Donald Trump on his recent visit to China, has accepted an invitation from Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management (SEM) to join its advisory board, according to two people with knowledge of the matter."}],[{"start":39.05,"text":"Beijing-based Tsinghua is China’s top science- and engineering-focused university and counts Chinese President Xi Jinping as an alumnus. The SEM board’s stated goals include helping the business school strengthen its international ties and shaping long-term strategy."}],[{"start":57.849999999999994,"text":"In addition to Cook, the 65-member board includes US tech leaders Elon Musk, Michael Dell, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, as well as finance executives such as JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon, BlackRock’s Larry Fink and Citigroup’s Jane Fraser."}],[{"start":76.25,"text":"Huang’s move, which has not yet been formally announced, suggests he wants to maintain links to China’s academic and corporate circles despite Nvidia’s advanced chips remaining barred from the country."}],[{"start":88,"text":"The world’s largest chipmaker has been largely shut out of China since last April, when the US banned the export of its China-specific chip, H20, which was made to meet earlier export rules."}],[{"start":99.5,"text":"Earlier this year, Washington approved limited sales of Nvidia’s more powerful H200 chips to selected Chinese customers, but Beijing restricted the imports to protect its domestic semiconductor industry."}],[{"start":112.05,"text":"Huang said last week that the US export controls meant Nvidia had “largely conceded” the Chinese market to domestic competitors such as Huawei, even as the chipmaker posted stellar quarterly results."}],[{"start":124.8,"text":"While China once accounted for a fifth of Nvidia’s global revenue, Huang told investors to “expect nothing” regarding approvals to sell advanced chips in the country in the near term."}],[{"start":136.2,"text":"“We would be more than delighted to serve the market,” Huang told CNBC last week. “We have a lot of customers there, we have a lot of partners there, and we’ve been there for 30 years.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":147.14999999999998,"text":"The SEM board, which was established in 2000 by former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, is one of the few elite forums still bringing together US and Chinese corporate and academic leaders in an era of deepening decoupling."}],[{"start":160.84999999999997,"text":"Zhu partnered with Henry Paulson, then chief executive of Goldman Sachs who served as the founding chair of the SEM board, to recruit its first cohort of global business leaders."}],[{"start":171.24999999999997,"text":"SEM board members usually meet annually in Beijing, creating a back channel between Chinese policymakers and global business leaders."}],[{"start":179.84999999999997,"text":"In 2025, China’s vice-premier He Lifeng met 23 board members ahead of the annual meeting. Former vice-president Wang Qishan has also met board members and hosted welcome dinners for members in previous years."}],[{"start":193.14999999999998,"text":"Apple chief Cook currently chairs the board and has held the position since 2019. Chinese tech leaders including Alibaba’s Jack Ma, Tencent’s Pony Ma and Baidu’s Robin Li are also members, according to a list updated last October."}],[{"start":208.79999999999998,"text":"Other members include executives from a variety of the world’s largest companies such as Coca-Cola, Siemens, General Motors, BP and Tata."}],[{"start":218.2,"text":"According to the school’s website, the SEM board members give regular lectures to students in addition to holding annual meetings."}],[{"start":226.1,"text":"The closest western comparison is Harvard Business School’s board of dean’s advisers, which also counts western financial and tech elites as members."}],[{"start":235.45,"text":"Nvidia did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Tsinghua University declined to comment. "}],[{"start":250.8,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1779949965_2161.mp3"}