Bloomberg ties 32 export-restricted Nvidia B300 servers to a state-backed Chinese lease for Hongjing
Semi-Tech Leasing Group, a state-backed Chinese lessor, financed 32 Asus servers with restricted Nvidia B300 chips for Hongjing Technology, Bloomberg reports. Hongjing's filings confirm the Semi-Tech leases, so a lender sits on the path from manufacturer to operator.
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What happened
- Over the past year Semi-Tech funded Hongjing's purchase of more than 700 servers, Bloomberg reported on October 1.
- In a July 31 filing, Hongjing said it guaranteed 58.09 million yuan owed by its subsidiary Shenzhen Hongjing Zongheng under a sale-and-leaseback contract with Semi-Tech.
- Semi-Tech was founded in Shanghai in 2015 with backing from China's national semiconductor investment fund, and its shareholders include local state-owned entities.
- Nvidia told Bloomberg it was investigating with its equipment-manufacturing partners, and Asus said it complies with international export-control rules.
Why it matters
- What it limits constraint Any finding on whether US controls held for these servers will have to come from shipping and operator records at Asus and Nvidia's other partners, because a financing record cannot prove delivery.
- What's now possible capability Lease capital lets Hongjing grow from smart-city work into a compute business without paying the full hardware cost upfront.
- Who's exposed exposure Semi-Tech and its state-linked shareholders are now connected, through Bloomberg's reporting, to server purchases tied to restricted Nvidia systems.
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Sale-and-leaseback runs in a fixed order. The operator acquires the equipment, then leases it back from the financier and pays the cost down over time [16]. The lease contract names the planned equipment and the parties to it [12]. In this case, according to Bloomberg, the documents were specific enough to identify the server vendor and the chip [5]. US export controls restrict that Nvidia hardware from sale to China [9].
The program is large next to the business it funds. Bloomberg says Glory View, the English name Hongjing uses [13], secured more than 3 billion yuan through the leases, which began in mid-2025 [3]. Hongjing's 2025 revenue was 1.18 billion yuan, about 904 million of it from computing services [14]. Lease money is therefore at least 2.5 times a year of sales [21]. Compute is about 77% of revenue at a company that started out on government and urban-technology projects [20][19]. Runtimewire, which summarised Bloomberg's report, cautions that these are financing figures and should not be read as equity or as cash for general spending [7].
The restricted systems are a small share of that fleet. Thirty-two servers out of more than 700 is under 5% [22]. The filed record covers less still. Hongjing's July 31 guarantee of 58.09 million yuan is under 2% of the program Bloomberg described [23], and Runtimewire warns against matching that contract to the B300 order [17].
For this record to show the controls failing, it would have to place B300 systems with Hongjing in China and show who runs them. The disclosed documents do not establish delivery, the systems' present location, or a violation of export-control law [6].
In my view, the lease paperwork is why this hardware is visible at all. Bloomberg's account of the B300 contract rests on financing documents [5]. Hongjing's link to Semi-Tech is on file as a guarantee the listed parent gave for its subsidiary's lease [15].
What to watch
- Whether Nvidia's investigation with its manufacturing partners traces the 32 Asus B300 servers to a delivery point and an operator.
- Any Hongjing filing that ties a specific Semi-Tech contract to the B300 order or accounts for more of the 3 billion yuan program.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives60
- Confidence58
Perspective Coverage
4 publishers- Builder
- Builder 11%
- Operator
- Operator 39%
- Investor
- Investor 50%
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Bloomberg reported that one Semi-Tech Leasing Group contract with Glory View Technology covered 32 Asus servers equipped with Nvidia B300 Blackwell chips.
- [2]
Bloomberg reported on October 1 that Semi-Tech Leasing Group funded Glory View Technology's acquisition of more than 700 servers over the past year.
- [3]
Bloomberg's account says the sale-and-leaseback agreements began in mid-2025 and that Glory View secured more than 3 billion yuan through the program.
- [4]
Semi-Tech says it was founded in Shanghai in 2015 with backing from China's national semiconductor investment fund and industry participants; its current shareholders include local state-owned entities, semiconductor companies and investment firms.
- [5]
Bloomberg reported that the documents identified Asus servers and Nvidia B300 chips.
- [6]
The disclosed documents do not establish that every server was delivered, where the B300 systems are now, or that a violation of export-control law occurred.
- [7]
The lease amounts are financing figures, not equity raised or a valuation, and should not be read as money available for general corporate spending.
- [8]
Bloomberg's reporting puts Semi-Tech's financing network behind server purchases linked to the restricted Nvidia systems.
- [9]
US export controls restrict the Nvidia hardware involved from sale to China.
- [10]
Nvidia told Bloomberg it was investigating with equipment-manufacturing partners.
- [11]
Asus said it complies with international export-control rules.
- [12]
A financing record can identify the planned equipment and the parties to a contract; by itself it cannot prove delivery, the chips' present location, or who ultimately operated them.
- [13]
Glory View Technology is the English name used by listed Hongjing Technology, ticker 301396.
- [14]
Computing services accounted for about 904 million yuan of Hongjing's 1.18 billion yuan in 2025 revenue, according to its 2025 annual report.
- [15]
In a July 31 disclosure, Hongjing said it guaranteed 58.09 million yuan of obligations under a sale-and-leaseback contract between Semi-Tech and its controlled subsidiary, Shenzhen Hongjing Zongheng.
- [16]
In sale-and-leaseback financing, a company acquires equipment and then leases it back, spreading the cost over time.
- [17]
The July 31 filing does not identify the guaranteed contract as the one covering the 32 B300-equipped servers, so the two figures should not be combined.
- [18]
Financing and leasing can help operators acquire computing capacity without paying the full hardware cost upfront.
- [19]
Hongjing started out serving government and urban-technology projects and reports the rest of its revenue primarily as smart-city business.
- [20]
Computing services were about 77% of Hongjing's 2025 revenue.
- [21]
The more than 3 billion yuan of lease financing is at least about 2.5 times Hongjing's 2025 revenue.
- [22]
The 32 B300-equipped servers are under 5% of the more than 700 servers Semi-Tech funded.
- [23]
The 58.09 million yuan guarantee in Hongjing's July 31 filing is under 2% of the more than 3 billion yuan program Bloomberg described.
Sources
3 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- cryptobriefing.comChinese state-backed lender financed servers packed with restricted Nvidia chips
1 article · October 1, 2026
- finance.yahoo.comChinese state firm financed restricted Nvidia Blackwell chip purchases
1 article · October 2, 2026
- qz.comA Chinese state-backed firm financed purchases of restricted Nvidia AI chips, filings show
1 article · October 2, 2026
- runtimewire.comChina's state-backed lessor financed 700 servers for Hongjing, including 32 with Nvidia B300s
1 article · October 1, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Sale-and-leaseback financing
- AI chip export controls and indigenous substitution
- China AI compute infrastructure
Entities
- Hongjing Technology
- Asustek Computer
- Bloomberg
- Nvidia
- China's national semiconductor fund
- Shenzhen Hongjing Zongheng
- Nvidia B300
- Semi-Tech Leasing Group
- China Mobile