Beijing has urged local companies to avoid using Nvidia Corp.’s H20 processors, particularly for government-related purposes, complicating the chipmaker’s return to China after the Trump administration reversed an effective US ban on such sales.

Nvidia struck a surprising deal after convincing the president that H20 chips aren’t a national security risk. But whether the reversal is good or bad depends on who you ask.

Nvidia’s artificial-intelligence chips have been at the center of U.S.-China trade negotiations for months, yet it appears China is discouraging its companies from buying one of them: the H20s. Why? Sales of the chips to Chinese companies helped get China to agree to reboot its exports to the U.