(Yicai) April 18 -- On a second trip to China this year, Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said the country is a very important market for the US chip giant and it hopes to continue cooperation with China, China Central Television News reported.

Huang, who is also president and co-founder of California-based Nvidia, met in Beijing with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, according to reports by CCTV News and Xinhua News Agency.

His visit came in the wake of the Trump administration imposing fresh export controls on Nvidia’s chips. On April 15, the company said it had received official notice that it would need a permit to export its H20 artificial intelligence chips to China. Nvidia expects to take a USD5.5 billion hit as a result.

Huang acknowledged the new restriction’s significant impact on Nvidia during his meeting with Ren, adding that the world is now in an AI race, with countries striving to adopt and advance their capabilities.

Nvidia's share price [NASDAQ: NVDA] has fallen 9.6 percent since April 15. US stock markets are close today to observe the Good Friday holiday. The shares closed 2.9 percent down at USD101.42 each in New York yesterday.

"Most people have realized the significant software capabilities and dynamics of the Chinese people because of our interactions, working and serving Chinese companies," Huang noted. “We're gonna continue to make significant efforts to optimize our products that are compliant with regulations and continue to serve the Chinese market.”

AI is making big impacts in different areas, according to Huang. “For example, almost all Nvidia employees today use AI to assist in software programming.”

"We use AI in doing research, for designing chips, and for supply chain management," he pointed out. “And so AI is already making a very significant impact in many industries. But this is just the beginning, as every industry will be impacted.”

The Chinese market is very important to Nvidia, as the company has greatly benefited from China over the past 30 years, Xinhua reported Huang as saying after meeting Ren.

Huang last visited China in January to attend the annual meeting of the company's Shenzhen branch, meet with its research and development team in Shanghai, and join in the Chinese New Year celebrations. He also visited Taichung and Taipei.

"We meet regularly with government leaders to discuss our products and technologies," Nvidia told Yicai about Huang's latest trip to China.

Nvidia has nearly 4,000 employees in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, having grown about 60 percent in the past few years. The company's annual turnover rate of Chinese employees is only 0.9 percent, lower than its global average of 2 percent and the 20 percent at some other big tech companies.

Editor: Futura Costaglione