The gap suggests export-controlled AI compute reaches China through intermediaries, which affects estimates of China's available compute and the effectiveness of chip controls.
Key takeaways · AI-distilled
Both countries report similar unit counts, about 36,700 declared by Malaysia and 35,500 recorded by China, but disagree on value: about $17,000 per server leaving Malaysia versus $106,000 arriving in China.
The flow began a few months after the October 2023 US ban on Nvidia A800/H800 exports to China and collapsed within weeks of Malaysia's July 2025 rule requiring 30 days' notice and a permit to export or transship US-origin AI chips.
China's recorded average price per Malaysian-origin server jumped from under $1,000 through 2023 to about $84,500 in Q2 2024 and $152,600 in Q1 2025, then fell to about $13,000 by Q4 2025.
The server code HS 847150 covers AI and non-AI servers alike, so Epoch's evidence is the price level: values this high fit AI servers and match known cases of AI servers declared as ordinary servers.
