Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said the US’s reversal of restrictions on sales of chips to China followed recent trade negotiations with Beijing over rare earths. President Donald Trump curbed exports of Nvidia’s H2O artificial intelligence chips to China in April as part of an escalation of his trade war with Beijing.

Washington has been concerned China could use Nvidia’s chips to get a jump on the U.S. in high-tech fields, particularly when it comes to artificial intelligence.

Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang says the technology giant has won approval from the Trump administration to sell its advanced H20 computer chips used for artificial intelligence to China

The rate, which slightly exceeded the 5.1 per cent average estimate from analysts polled by Reuters, positions Beijing to hit its full-year target of about 5 per cent. It shows how China has been able to keep growth on track through exports and investment even as it struggles with weak demand at home.

China ended the first half of the year with a record trade surplus of about $586 billion after exports to the US began to stabilize, with factories riding out the tariff rollercoaster that upended global commerce.

BEIJING—China’s exports grew at a faster clip in June, topping market expectations as trade tensions with the U.S. eased following a round of bilateral talks. Outbound shipments rose 5.8% in June from a year earlier,