Kanzhun Ltd [BZ] Filings

20-F 1 bz-20231231x20f.htm FORM 20-F

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 20-F

(Mark One)



☐	REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR 12(g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934


☒	ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.


☐	TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934


☐	SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of event requiring this shell company report

For the transition period from to

Commission file number:001-40460

KANZHUN LIMITED

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

N/A

(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)

Cayman Islands

(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

18/F, GrandyVic Building

Taiyanggong Middle Road

Chaoyang District, Beijing 100020

People’s Republic of China

(Address of principal executive offices)

Yu Zhang, Chief Financial Officer

Telephone: +86 10-8462-8340

Email: ir@kanzhun.com

18/F, GrandyVic Building

Taiyanggong Middle Road

Chaoyang District, Beijing 100020

People’s Republic of China

(Name, Telephone, Email and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:


Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
American depositary shares (each ADS represents two of our Class A ordinary shares, par value US$0.0001 per share)	BZ	Nasdaq Global Select Market
Class A ordinary shares, par value US$0.0001 per share*		Nasdaq Global Select Market
Class A ordinary shares, par value US$0.0001 per share	2076	The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited

*☐	Not for trading, but only in connection with the listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market of American depositary shares.

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

(Title of Class)

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act:

None

(Title of Class)

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report.

740,172,377 Class A ordinary shares (excluding the Class A ordinary shares issued to the Depositary for bulk-issuance of ADSs reserved for future issuances upon the exercise or vesting of awards granted under the share incentive plans and excluding the Class A ordinary shares underlying the ADSs repurchased by the Company pursuant to its share repurchase program) and 139,630,401 Class B ordinary shares, par value US$0.0001 per share, are outstanding as of December 31, 2023.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. ☒ Yes ☐ No

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. ☐ Yes ☒ No

Note – Checking the box above will not relieve any registrant required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 from their obligations under those Sections.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. ☒ Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). ☒ Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.



Large accelerated filer ☒	Accelerated filer ☐	Non-accelerated filer ☐	Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

† The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive- based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:


U.S. GAAP ☒	International Financial Reporting Standards as issued	Other ☐
	by the International Accounting Standards Board ☐

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. ☐ Item 17 ☐ Item 18

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). ☐ Yes ☒ No

(APPLICABLE ONLY TO ISSUERS INVOLVED IN BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed all documents and reports required to be filed by Sections 12, 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 subsequent to the distribution of securities under a plan confirmed by a court. ☐ Yes ☐ No

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TABLE OF CONTENTS


		Page
INTRODUCTION		1
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION		3
PART I		4
Item 1.	Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisers	4
Item 2.	Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable	4
Item 3.	Key Information	4
Item 4.	Information on the Company	63
Item 4A.	Unresolved Staff Comments	104
Item 5.	Operating and Financial Review and Prospects	104
Item 6.	Directors, Senior Management and Employees	114
Item 7.	Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions	125
Item 8.	Financial Information	126
Item 9.	The Offer and Listing	127
Item 10.	Additional Information	127
Item 11.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk	143
Item 12.	Description of Securities Other than Equity Securities	144
PART II		149
Item 13.	Defaults, Dividend Arrearages and Delinquencies	149
Item 14.	Material Modifications to the Rights of Security Holders and Use of Proceeds	149
Item 15.	Controls and Procedures	149
Item 16A.	Audit Committee Financial Expert	150
Item 16B.	Code of Ethics	150
Item 16C.	Principal Accountant Fees and Services	151
Item 16D.	Exemptions from the Listing Standards for Audit Committees	151
Item 16E.	Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers	151
Item 16F.	Change in Registrant’s Certifying Accountant	152
Item 16G.	Corporate Governance	152
Item 16H.	Mine Safety Disclosure	152
Item 16I.	Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions That Prevent Inspections	152
Item 16J.	Insider Trading Policies	152
Item 16K.	Cybersecurity	153
PART III		154
Item 17.	Financial Statements	154
Item 18.	Financial Statements	154
Item 19.	Exhibits	154
SIGNATURES		157

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INTRODUCTION

Except where the context otherwise requires and for purposes of this annual report only:

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“ADRs” are to the American depositary receipts that may evidence the ADSs;

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“ADSs” are to the American depositary shares, each of which represents two Class A ordinary shares;

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“AI” are to artificial intelligence;

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“blue-collar workers” are to people who perform manual or service-related work, whether in the secondary sector such as manufacturing or construction, or in the tertiary sector such as accommodation or catering or the local life service industry;

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“Boss” are to executives or middle-level managers of large enterprises and owners of SMEs and micro businesses;

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“Class A ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares, par value US$0.0001 per share;

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“Class B ordinary shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares, par value US$0.0001 per share;

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“DAU” are to the number of verified user accounts, including both job seekers and enterprise users, that logged on to our BOSS Zhipin mobile app in a given day at least once;

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“enterprise users” are to Bosses and recruiting professionals;

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“gold-collar users” are to people who perform professional, desk, managerial, or administrative work with an annual salary above RMB250,000;

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“HK$” and “Hong Kong dollars” are to the legal currency of Hong Kong;

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“Hong Kong Listing Rules” are to the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, as amended, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time;

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“Hong Kong Stock Exchange” are to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited;

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“Kanzhun,” “we,” “us,” “our company” and “our” are to KANZHUN LIMITED, our Cayman Islands holding company and its subsidiaries, and in the context of describing our operations and consolidated financial information, the VIE in mainland China, including but not limited to Beijing Huapin Borui Network Technology Co., Ltd.;

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“key accounts” are to paid enterprise customers who contributed RMB50,000 or more of revenues to us in a twelve-month period ended on the end of a given period;

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“Main Board” are to the stock market (excluding the option market) operated by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which is independent from and operated in parallel with the Growth Enterprise Market of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange;

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“MAU” are to the number of verified user accounts, including both job seekers and enterprise users, that logged on to our BOSS Zhipin mobile app in a given month at least once;

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“mid-sized accounts” are to paid enterprise customers who contributed between RMB5,000 and RMB50,000 of revenues to us a twelve-month period ended on the end of a given period;

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“our WFOE,” “the WFOE” are to Beijing Glorywolf Co., Ltd. from May 2014 to December 2023 and Beijing Highland Wolf Technology Co., Ltd. from January 2024 to the date of this annual report;

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“online recruitment platform” are to our mobile applications, mini programs and websites;

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“paid enterprise customers” in a given period are to enterprise users and company accounts from which we recognize revenues for our online recruitment services in that period;

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“RMB” and “Renminbi” are to the legal currency of mainland China;

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“shares” or “ordinary shares” are to our Class A and Class B ordinary shares, par value US$0.0001 per share;

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“SMEs” are to small and medium-sized enterprises;

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“US$,” “U.S. dollars,” “$,” and “dollars” are to the legal currency of the United States;

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“white-collar users” are to people who perform professional, desk, managerial, or administrative work with an annual salary equal or below RMB250,000; and

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“VIE” are to variable interest entity, and “the VIE” are to Beijing Huapin Borui Network Technology Co., Ltd.

Our reporting currency is the Renminbi. This annual report also contains translations of certain foreign currency amounts into U.S. dollars for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise stated, all translations of Renminbi into U.S. dollars were made at RMB7.0999 to US$1.00, the exchange rate set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board on December 29, 2023. We make no representation that the Renminbi or U.S. dollars amounts referred to in this annual report could have been or could be converted into U.S. dollars or Renminbi, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all.

Due to rounding, numbers presented throughout this annual report may not add up precisely to the totals provided and percentages may not precisely reflect the absolute figures.

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FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This annual report on Form 20-F contains forward-looking statements that reflect our current expectations and views of future events. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigations Reform Act of 1995.

You can identify some of these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “is/are likely to,” “potential,” “continue” or other similar expressions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. These forward-looking statements include statements relating to:

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our mission, goals and strategies;

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our future business development, financial condition and results of operations;

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the expected growth of the online recruitment service industry in China;

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our expectations regarding the prospects of our business model and demand for and market acceptance of our services;

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our expectations regarding maintaining and strengthening our relationships with users, business partners and other stakeholders;

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competition in our industry;

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government policies and regulations relating to our industry;

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general economic and business conditions globally and in China;

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assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing;

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the outcome of any current and future litigation or legal or administrative proceedings; and

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other factors described under “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors.”

You should read thoroughly this annual report and the documents that we refer to in this annual report and have filed as exhibits to this annual report completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from and worse than what we expect. Other sections of this annual report discuss factors which could adversely impact our business and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for our management to predict all risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made in this annual report relate only to events or information as of the date on which the statements are made in this annual report. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

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PART I

Item 1.Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisers

Not applicable.

Item 2.Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable

Not applicable.

Item 3.Key Information

Our Holding Company Structure and Contractual Arrangements with the VIE

KANZHUN LIMITED is not a Chinese operating company, but rather a Cayman Islands holding company with no equity ownership in the VIE. Our Cayman Islands holding company does not conduct business operations directly. We conduct our operations in mainland China through (i) our subsidiaries incorporated in mainland China, or mainland China subsidiaries, and (ii) the VIE with which we have maintained contractual arrangements and its subsidiaries in mainland China. Laws and regulations of mainland China impose certain restrictions or prohibitions on foreign ownership of companies that engage in certain value-added telecommunication services, internet audio-visual program services, radio and television program services and certain other businesses. Accordingly, we operate these businesses in mainland China through the VIE and its subsidiaries, and rely on contractual arrangements among our mainland China subsidiaries, the VIE and its nominee shareholders to direct the activities of the VIE. The VIE is consolidated for accounting purposes, but are not entities in which our Cayman Islands holding company, or our investors, own equity. Substantially all of our revenues for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023 were contributed by the VIE. As used in this annual report, “we,” “us,” “our company,” “our,” or “Kanzhun” refers to KANZHUN LIMITED, its subsidiaries, and, in the context of describing our operations and consolidated financial information, the VIE in mainland China, Beijing Huapin Borui Network Technology Co., Ltd. Investors in our ADSs are not purchasing equity interest in the VIE in mainland China, but instead are purchasing equity interest in a holding company incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

A series of contractual agreements, including an exclusive technology and service co-operation agreement, an equity pledge agreement, an exclusive purchase option agreement, spousal consents and powers of attorney, have been entered into by and among our WFOE, the VIE and its respective shareholders. These contractual arrangements enable us to:

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receive substantially all of the economic benefits that could potentially be significant to the VIE in consideration for the services provided by our subsidiaries;

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direct the activities of the VIE;

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receive the pledge right over the equity interests in the VIE as the pledgee; and

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hold an exclusive option to purchase all or part of the equity interests in the VIE when and to the extent permitted by laws in mainland China.

Despite the lack of legal majority ownership, our Cayman Island holding company is considered the primary beneficiary of the VIE and consolidates the VIE and its subsidiaries as required by Accounting Standards Codification topic 810, Consolidation. Accordingly, we treat the VIE as our consolidated entities under U.S. GAAP and we consolidate the financial results of the VIE in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP. For more details of these contractual arrangements, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Organizational Structure—Contractual Arrangements with the VIE and Its Shareholders.”

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However, the contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over the VIE and we may incur substantial costs to enforce the terms of the arrangements. Uncertainties in the PRC legal system may limit our ability, as a Cayman Islands holding company, to enforce these contractual arrangements. Meanwhile, there are very few precedents as to whether contractual arrangements would be judged to direct the activities of the VIE through the contractual arrangements, or how contractual arrangements in the context of a VIE should be interpreted or enforced by the courts of mainland China. Should legal actions become necessary, we cannot guarantee that the court will rule in favor of the enforceability of the VIE contractual arrangements. In the event we are unable to enforce these contractual arrangements, or if we suffer significant delay or other obstacles in the process of enforcing these contractual arrangements, we may not be able to direct the activities of the VIE, and our ability to conduct our business may be materially adversely affected. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Corporate Structure—The contractual arrangements with the VIE and its shareholders may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing operational control.”

There are also substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current and future laws of mainland China, regulations and rules regarding the status of the rights of our Cayman Islands holding company with respect to its contractual arrangements with the VIE and its nominee shareholders. It is uncertain whether any new laws or regulations of mainland China relating to variable interest entity structures will be adopted or if adopted, what they would provide. If we or the VIE is found to be in violation of any existing or future laws or regulations of mainland China, or fail to obtain or maintain any of the required permits, approvals, or filings, the PRC regulatory authorities would have broad discretion to take action in dealing with such violations or failures. If the PRC government deems that our contractual arrangements with the VIE do not comply with PRC regulatory restrictions on foreign investment in the relevant industries, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations change or are interpreted differently in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations. Our Cayman Islands holding company, our mainland China subsidiaries and the VIE, and investors of our company face uncertainty about potential future actions by the PRC government that could affect the enforceability of the contractual arrangements with the VIE and, consequently, significantly affect the financial performance of the VIE and our company as a whole. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Corporate Structure—If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating some of our operations in mainland China do not comply with laws and regulations of mainland China relating to the relevant industries, or if these laws and regulations or the interpretation of existing laws and regulations change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations,” and “—Our current corporate structure and business operations may be substantially affected by the Foreign Investment Law.”

We face various risks and uncertainties related to doing business in China. Our business operations are primarily conducted in mainland China, and we are subject to complex and evolving laws and regulations of mainland China. For example, we face risks associated with regulatory approvals on overseas offerings conducted by and foreign investment in China-based issuers, the use of the VIE, anti-monopoly regulatory actions, and oversight on cybersecurity and data privacy. For a detailed description of risks related to doing business in China, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Doing Business in China.”

PRC government’s authority in regulating our operations and its oversight and control over offerings conducted overseas by, and foreign investment in, China-based issuers could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors. Implementation of industry-wide regulations in this nature may cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or become worthless. For more details, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Doing Business in China—The PRC government’s oversight and discretion over our business operations could result in a material adverse change in our operations and the value of our Class A ordinary shares and/or ADSs.”

Risks and uncertainties arising from the PRC legal system, including risks and uncertainties regarding the enforcement of laws and quickly evolving rules and regulations in China, could result in a material adverse change in our operations and the value of our securities. For more details, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws and regulations could adversely affect us.”

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Permissions Required from the PRC Authorities for Our Operations

We conduct our business primarily through our subsidiaries and the VIE in China. Our operations in China are governed by laws and regulations of mainland China. As of the date of this annual report, our mainland China subsidiaries, the VIE and its subsidiaries have obtained the requisite licenses and permits from the PRC government authorities that are material for the business operations of our holding company, the VIE in mainland China, including, among others, the Value-added Telecommunications Business Operation License for information services via internet, or ICP License, Human Resource Services License, and other permits required for operating our business. We are required to but have not obtained a License for Online Transmission of Audio-Visual Programs for providing internet audio-visual program services through our online recruitment platform, including certain live streaming recruitment services, short videos relating to job hunting and recruitment, in-app streaming interview and career development related video courses. We do not consider such services to be material to our business and the revenues generated through the provision of such services account for an insignificant portion of our total revenues. We are not eligible to apply for a license under the current regulatory regime, because we are not a wholly state-owned or state-controlled entity as required for this license under laws of mainland China. For more detailed information, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry—Any lack of or failure to maintain requisite approvals, licenses or permits applicable to our business may have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations, and compliance with applicable laws or regulations may require us to obtain additional approvals or licenses or change our business model.” Given the uncertainties of interpretation and implementation of the laws and regulations and the enforcement practices of the government authorities, we may be required to obtain additional licenses, permits, filings or approvals for the functions and services of our platform in the future.

Furthermore, the PRC government has promulgated regulations and rules in recent years to exert more oversight and control over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China-based issuers. Accordingly, there have been certain new or draft laws, regulations in relation to cybersecurity and data privacy, offerings conducted overseas by, and foreign investment in, China-based issuers. For more detailed information, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations Relating to Overseas Securities Offerings,” and “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations Relating to Information Security and Censorship.” According to these laws and regulations, if enacted as currently proposed as applicable to such new or draft laws, regulations, we may be required to fulfill filing, reporting procedures and obtain approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, or the CSRC, in connection with follow-on offering and other equivalent overseas offing activities in an overseas market, and may be required to go through cybersecurity review by the Cyberspace Administration of China, or the CAC, in respect of our data processing activities. If these laws and regulations are enacted as currently proposed and we fail to obtain the approval or complete other filing procedures required for any future overseas offering or listing, we may face sanctions by the CSRC or other PRC regulatory authorities, which may include fines and penalties on our operations in mainland China, limitations on our operating privileges in mainland China, restrictions on or prohibition of the payments or remittance of dividends by our subsidiaries in mainland China, restrictions on or delays to our future financing transactions offshore, or other actions that could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation and prospects, as well as the trading price of our ADSs. For more detailed information, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Doing Business in China— The approval of or filing and reporting with the CSRC or other PRC government authorities may be required in connection with our overseas offerings under laws of mainland China, and, if required, we cannot predict whether or for how long we will be able to obtain such approval or complete such filing and reporting procedures,” and “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry—Our business is subject to complex and evolving laws and regulations in mainland China. Many of these laws and regulations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation, and could result in claims, changes to our business practices, monetary penalties, increased cost of operations, or declines in user growth or engagement, or otherwise harm our business.”

Pursuant to an announcement posted by the CAC on July 5, 2021 relating to the cybersecurity review, our BOSS Zhipin app was required to suspend new user registration to cooperate with the cybersecurity review and prevent the expansion of risks. As approved by the Cybersecurity Review Office of the CAC, we have recommenced new user registration on our BOSS Zhipin app, effective from June 29, 2022. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry—Our business is subject to complex and evolving laws and regulations in mainland China on data protection and cybersecurity. Any failure or perceived failure to comply with these laws and regulations could result in penalties, claims, changes to our business practices, negative publicity, legal proceedings, increased cost of operations, or declines in user growth or engagement, or otherwise harm our business.”

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The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act

Pursuant to the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCAA, as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, if the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, determines that we have filed audit reports issued by a registered public accounting firm that has not been subject to inspections by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB, for two consecutive years, the SEC will prohibit our shares or the ADSs from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over-the-counter trading market in the United States. On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a report to notify the SEC of its determination that the PCAOB was unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong, including our auditor. In May 2022, the SEC conclusively listed us as a Commission-Identified Issuer under the HFCAA following the filing of our annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB issued a report that vacated its December 16, 2021 determination and removed mainland China and Hong Kong from the list of jurisdictions where it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms. For this reason, we were not identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer under the HFCAA after we filed our annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 and do not expect to be identified so after we file this annual report on Form 20-F. Each year, the PCAOB will determine whether it can inspect and investigate completely audit firms in mainland China and Hong Kong, among other jurisdictions. If the PCAOB determines in the future that it no longer has full access to inspect and investigate completely accounting firms in mainland China and Hong Kong and we use an accounting firm headquartered in one of these jurisdictions to issue an audit report on our financial statements filed with the SEC, we would be identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer following the filing of the annual report on Form 20-F for the relevant fiscal year. There can be no assurance that we would not be identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer for any future fiscal year, and if we were so identified for two consecutive years, we would become subject to the prohibition on trading under the HFCAA. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—The PCAOB had historically been unable to inspect our auditor in relation to their audit work performed for our financial statements and the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of our auditor in the past has deprived our investors with the benefits of such inspections,” and “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Our ADSs may be prohibited from trading in the United States under the HFCAA in the future if the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely auditors located in China. The delisting of the ADSs, or the threat of their being delisted, may materially and adversely affect the value of your investment.”

Cash and Asset Flows through Our Organization

KANZHUN LIMITED transfers cash to its wholly-owned Hong Kong subsidiary, by making capital contributions or providing loans, and the Hong Kong subsidiary transfer cash to the subsidiaries in mainland China by making capital contributions or providing loans to them. Because KANZHUN LIMITED and its subsidiary direct the activities of the VIE through contractual arrangements, they are not able to make direct capital contributions to the VIE and its subsidiaries. However, they may transfer cash to the VIE by loans or by making payment to the VIE for inter-group transactions.

For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, KANZHUN LIMITED provided capital contributions of RMB74.1 million, RMB39.4 million and RMB7.1 million (US$1.0 million), respectively, to its subsidiaries; and the Hong Kong subsidiary provided capital contributions of RMB38.8 million, RMB19.7 million and RMB0.7 million (US$0.1 million), respectively, to its subsidiaries in mainland China. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, KANZHUN LIMITED provided loan financing of RMB16.5 million, RMB633.5 million and RMB9.7 billion (US$1.4 billion), respectively, to its subsidiaries. The WFOE did not provide any loan financing to the VIE in 2021, 2022 or 2023. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, the VIE repaid loan financing of RMB335.0 million, RMB35.1 million and nil, respectively, to the WFOE and the Hong Kong subsidiary; and the WFOE repaid loan financing of RMB16.0 million, nil and nil, respectively, to the Hong Kong subsidiary.

The VIE may also transfer cash to our WFOE by paying service fees according to the exclusive technology and service cooperation agreement between our WFOE and the VIE. The VIE did not pay any service fees to our WFOE in 2021, 2022 or 2023.

For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, no assets other than cash were transferred through our organization.

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For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, no dividends or distributions were made to KANZHUN LIMITED by our subsidiaries. Under laws and regulations of mainland China, our mainland China subsidiaries and the VIE are subject to certain restrictions with respect to paying dividends or otherwise transferring any of their net assets to us. Remittance of dividends by a wholly foreign-owned enterprise out of China is also subject to examination by the banks designated by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE. The amounts restricted include the paid-in capital and the statutory reserve funds of our mainland China subsidiaries and the VIE, totaling RMB943.8 million (US$132.9 million) as of December 31, 2023. Furthermore, cash transfers from our mainland China subsidiaries to entities outside of mainland China are subject to PRC government control of currency conversion. Shortages in the availability of foreign currency may temporarily delay the ability of our mainland China subsidiaries and the VIE to remit sufficient foreign currency to pay dividends or other payments to us, or otherwise satisfy their foreign currency denominated obligations. For risks relating to the fund flows of our operations in mainland China, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Doing Business in China—We may rely on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our mainland China subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have, and any limitation on the ability of our mainland China subsidiaries to make payments to us could have a material and adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business.”

In November 2023, our board of directors approved a special cash dividend in the amount of US$0.09 per Class A ordinary share, or US$0.18 per ADS. The aggregate amount of the dividend was approximately US$79.2 million. Our board of directors may declare, and our company may pay, dividends after taking into account the results of operations, financial condition, cash flow, operating and capital expenditure requirements, future business development strategies and estimates and other factors as they may deem relevant. See “Item 8. Financial Information—A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information—Dividend Policy.” For the Cayman Islands, PRC and U.S. federal income tax considerations applicable to an investment in our ADSs or Class A ordinary shares, see “Item 10. Additional Information—E. Taxation.”

For purposes of illustration, the following discussion reflects the hypothetical taxes that might be required to be paid within mainland China, assuming that: (i) we have taxable earnings, and (ii) we determine to pay a dividend in the future:


	Tax calculation⁽¹⁾
Hypothetical pre-tax earnings⁽²⁾	100.0	%
Tax on earnings at statutory rate of 25%⁽³⁾	(25.0)	%
Net earnings available for distribution	75.0	%
Withholding tax at standard rate of 10%⁽⁴⁾	(7.5)	%
Net distribution to Parent/Shareholders	67.5	%

Notes:

(1)	For purposes of this example, the tax calculation has been simplified.

(2)

The hypothetical pre-tax earnings are assumed to equal taxable income in mainland China, without considering timing differences. Under the terms of contractual agreements with the VIE, our WFOE may charge the VIE for services provided to the VIE. These service fees shall be recognized as expenses of the VIE, with a corresponding amount recorded as service income by our WFOE and eliminated in consolidation. For income tax purposes, our WFOE and the VIE file income tax returns on a separate company basis and the above service fees are tax neutral.

(3)

The VIE qualifies for a 15% preferential income tax rate in mainland China. However, such rate is subject to qualification, is temporary in nature, and may not be available in a future period when distributions are paid. For purposes of this hypothetical example, the table above reflects a maximum tax scenario under which the full statutory rate would be effective.

(4)

The PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law imposes a withholding income tax of 10% on dividends distributed by a foreign invested enterprise, or FIE, to its immediate holding company outside of mainland China. A lower withholding income tax rate of 5% is applied if the FIE’s immediate holding company is registered in Hong Kong or other jurisdictions that have a tax treaty arrangement with mainland China, subject to a qualification review at the time of the distribution. For purposes of this hypothetical example, the table above assumes a maximum tax scenario under which the full withholding tax would be applied.

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The table above has been prepared under the assumption that all profits of the VIE will be distributed as fees to our WFOE under tax neutral contractual arrangements. If, in the future, the accumulated earnings of the VIE exceed the service fees paid to our subsidiary in mainland China (or if the current and contemplated fee structure between the intercompany entities is determined to be non-substantive and disallowed by Chinese tax authorities), the VIE could make a non-deductible transfer to our subsidiary in mainland China for the amounts of the stranded cash in the VIE. This would result in such transfer being non-deductible expenses for the VIE but still taxable income for the subsidiary in mainland China. Our management believes that there is only a remote possibility that this scenario would happen.

Financial Information Related to the VIE

The following table presents our condensed consolidating schedule of financial information for our holding company, KANZHUN LIMITED, the WFOE that is the primary beneficiary of the VIE, the VIE and VIE’s subsidiaries, and other subsidiaries as of the dates presented:

Selected Condensed Consolidating Statements of Operations Data


	For the Year Ended December 31, 2023
			Primary	VIE
	KANZHUN	Other	Beneficiary	and VIE’s		Consolidated
	LIMITED	Subsidiaries	of VIE	Subsidiaries	Eliminations	Total

	(in RMB thousands)
Third-party revenues	—	129,127	—	5,822,901	—	5,952,028
Inter-company revenues⁽¹⁾	—	62,780	—	44,982	(107,762)	—
Third-party operating cost and expenses	(62,291)	(251,034)	(2,241)	(5,090,876)	—	(5,406,442)
Inter-company operating cost and expenses⁽¹⁾	—	(44,982)	—	(62,780)	107,762	—
Other operating income, net	—	812	231	34,342	—	35,385
(Loss)/Income from operations	(62,291)	(103,297)	(2,010)	748,569	—	580,971
Other non-operating income, net	268,481	289,739	13,383	71,007	(1,792)	640,818
Share of income from subsidiaries and VIE⁽²⁾	893,037	708,013	697,047	—	(2,298,097)	—
Income before income tax expenses	1,099,227	894,455	708,420	819,576	(2,299,889)	1,221,789
Income tax benefit/(expenses)	—	374	(407)	(122,538)	—	(122,571)
Net income	1,099,227	894,829	708,013	697,038	(2,299,889)	1,099,218


	For the Year Ended December 31, 2022
			Primary	VIE
	KANZHUN	Other	Beneficiary	and VIE’s		Consolidated
	LIMITED	Subsidiaries	of VIE	Subsidiaries	Eliminations	Total

	(in RMB thousands)
Third-party revenues	—	12,931	—	4,498,131	—	4,511,062
Inter-company revenues⁽¹⁾	—	33,956	—	—	(33,956)	—
Third-party operating cost and expenses	(79,956)	(188,218)	(2,020)	(4,387,982)	—	(4,658,176)
Inter-company operating cost and expenses⁽¹⁾	—	—	—	(33,956)	33,956	—
Other operating (loss)/income, net	—	(656)	—	18,251	—	17,595
(Loss)/Income from operations	(79,956)	(141,987)	(2,020)	94,444	—	(129,519)
Other non-operating income, net	188,421	14,683	13,945	32,706	(3,240)	246,515
Share of (loss)/income from subsidiaries and VIE⁽²⁾	(1,220)	132,486	117,298	—	(248,564)	—
Income before income tax expenses	107,245	5,182	129,223	127,150	(251,804)	116,996
Income tax benefit/(expenses)	—	101	—	(9,852)	—	(9,751)
Net income	107,245	5,283	129,223	117,298	(251,804)	107,245

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	For the Year Ended December 31, 2021
			Primary	VIE
	KANZHUN	Other	Beneficiary	and VIE’s		Consolidated
	LIMITED	Subsidiaries	of VIE	Subsidiaries	Eliminations	Total

	(in RMB thousands)
Third-party revenues	—	—	—	4,259,128	—	4,259,128
Inter-company revenues⁽¹⁾	—	143	—	—	(143)	—
Third-party operating cost and expenses	(1,537,533)	(93,123)	(1,289)	(3,678,480)	—	(5,310,425)
Inter-company operating cost and expenses⁽¹⁾	—	—	—	(143)	143	—
Other operating income, net	—	9	29	14,939	—	14,977
(Loss)/Income from operations	(1,537,533)	(92,971)	(1,260)	595,444	—	(1,036,320)
Other non-operating income/(loss), net	5,011	(829)	5,375	15,216	—	24,773
Share of income from subsidiaries and VIE⁽²⁾	461,448	555,248	551,133	—	(1,567,829)	—
(Loss)/Income before income tax expenses	(1,071,074)	461,448	555,248	610,660	(1,567,829)	(1,011,547)
Income tax expenses	—	—	—	(59,527)	—	(59,527)
Net (loss)/income	(1,071,074)	461,448	555,248	551,133	(1,567,829)	(1,071,074)

Selected Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets Data


	As of December 31, 2023
			Primary	VIE
	KANZHUN	Other	Beneficiary	and VIE’s		Consolidated
	LIMITED	Subsidiaries	of VIE	Subsidiaries	Eliminations	Total

	(in RMB thousands)
Cash and cash equivalents	760,071	219,045	349,875	1,143,968	—	2,472,959
Time deposits	710,330	5,928,093	72,938	211,442	—	6,922,803
Short-term investments	731,805	91,634	10,483	2,679,963	—	3,513,885
Accounts receivable, net	—	13,036	—	3,691	—	16,727
Amounts due from Group companies⁽³⁾	6,952,437	68,702	11,369	200,970	(7,233,478)	—
Amounts due from related parties	—	29	—	3,937	—	3,966
Prepayments and other current assets	18,528	6,075	2,408	415,686	—	442,697
Investments in subsidiaries and VIE⁽²⁾	2,179,517	2,888,791	2,479,473	—	(7,547,781)	—
Property, equipment and software, net	—	132,263	93	1,661,132	—	1,793,488
Intangible assets, net	—	7,816	—	277	—	8,093
Goodwill	—	5,690	—	—	—	5,690
Right-of-use assets, net	—	22,556	—	260,056	—	282,612
Long-term investments	2,323,540	—	—	149,588	—	2,473,128
Other non-current assets	—	—	—	4,000	—	4,000
Total assets	13,676,228	9,383,730	2,926,639	6,734,710	(14,781,259)	17,940,048
Accounts payable	—	554	17	628,645	—	629,216
Deferred revenue	—	144,493	—	2,649,582	—	2,794,075
Other payables and accrued liabilities	115,280	39,798	587	623,381	—	779,046
Amounts due to Group companies⁽³⁾	131,746	6,995,928	36,838	68,966	(7,233,478)	—
Operating lease liabilities, current	—	8,912	—	146,102	—	155,014
Operating lease liabilities, non-current	—	12,964	—	112,115	—	125,079
Deferred tax liabilities	—	1,564	406	26,455	—	28,425
Total liabilities	247,026	7,204,213	37,848	4,255,246	(7,233,478)	4,510,855
Total shareholders’ equity⁽²⁾	13,429,202	2,179,517	2,888,791	2,479,464	(7,547,781)	13,429,193
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	13,676,228	9,383,730	2,926,639	6,734,710	(14,781,259)	17,940,048

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	As of December 31, 2022
			Primary	VIE
	KANZHUN	Other	Beneficiary	and VIE’s		Consolidated
	LIMITED	Subsidiaries	of VIE	Subsidiaries	Eliminations	Total

	(in RMB thousands)
Cash and cash equivalents	8,234,173	179,392	318,016	1,020,243	—	9,751,824
Time deposits	—	707,912	85,130	—	—	793,042
Short-term investments	1,410,618	—	10,186	1,244,243	—	2,665,047
Accounts receivable, net	—	7,609	—	2,253	—	9,862
Amounts due from Group companies⁽³⁾	1,851,752	20,949	14,667	136,757	(2,024,125)	—
Amounts due from related parties	—	—	—	5,714	—	5,714
Prepayments and other current assets	62,256	2,231	7,378	528,908	—	600,773
Investments in subsidiaries and VIE⁽²⁾	222,915	1,179,283	781,250	—	(2,183,448)	—
Property, equipment and software, net	—	2,358	100	688,578	—	691,036
Intangible assets, net	—	9,883	—	368	—	10,251
Goodwill	—	5,690	—	—	—	5,690
Right-of-use assets, net	—	7,715	—	281,913	—	289,628
Other non-current assets	—	—	—	4,000	—	4,000
Total assets	11,781,714	2,123,022	1,216,727	3,912,977	(4,207,573)	14,826,867
Accounts payable	—	69	17	185,211	—	185,297
Deferred revenue	—	2,323	—	2,058,569	—	2,060,892
Other payables and accrued liabilities	40,588	16,116	589	576,189	—	633,482
Amounts due to Group companies⁽³⁾	100,363	1,872,048	36,838	14,876	(2,024,125)	—
Operating lease liabilities, current	—	5,079	—	146,359	—	151,438
Operating lease liabilities, non-current	—	2,495	—	141,096	—	143,591
Deferred tax liabilities	—	1,977	—	9,427	—	11,404
Total liabilities	140,951	1,900,107	37,444	3,131,727	(2,024,125)	3,186,104
Total shareholders’ equity⁽²⁾	11,640,763	222,915	1,179,283	781,250	(2,183,448)	11,640,763
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	11,781,714	2,123,022	1,216,727	3,912,977	(4,207,573)	14,826,867

Selected Condensed Consolidating Cash Flows Data


	For the Year Ended December 31, 2023
			Primary	VIE and
	KANZHUN	Other	Beneficiary	VIE’s		Consolidated
	LIMITED	Subsidiaries	of VIE	Subsidiaries	Eliminations	Total

	(in RMB thousands)
Net cash provided by operating activities with third parties	9,873	300,164	13,210	2,723,762	—	3,047,009
Net cash provided by operating activities with Group companies⁽¹⁾	—	5,853	—	(5,853)	—	—
Net cash provided by operating activities	9,873	306,017	13,210	2,717,909	—	3,047,009
Investments in subsidiaries⁽²⁾	(7,073)	—	—	—	7,073	—
Loans to Group companies⁽³⁾	(9,667,616)	—	—	(6,250)	9,673,866	—
Proceeds from repayments of loans to Group companies⁽³⁾	4,955,876	—	4,450	—	(4,960,326)	—
Other investing activities with third parties	(2,311,881)	(5,054,055)	15,225	(2,587,934)	—	(9,938,645)
Net cash (used in)/provided by investing activities	(7,030,694)	(5,054,055)	19,675	(2,594,184)	4,720,613	(9,938,645)
Capital contribution from Group companies⁽²⁾	—	7,073	—	—	(7,073)	—
Loans from Group companies⁽³⁾	—	9,673,866	—	—	(9,673,866)	—
Repayments of loans from Group companies⁽³⁾	—	(4,960,326)	—	—	4,960,326	—
Other financing activities with third parties	(417,022)	—	—	—	—	(417,022)
Net cash (used in)/provided by financing activities	(417,022)	4,720,613	—	—	(4,720,613)	(417,022)

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	For the Year Ended December 31, 2022
			Primary	VIE and
	KANZHUN	Other	Beneficiary	VIE’s		Consolidated
	LIMITED	Subsidiaries	of VIE	Subsidiaries	Eliminations	Total

	(in RMB thousands)
Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities with third parties	208,862	(113,736)	(6,833)	914,749	—	1,003,042
Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities with Group companies⁽¹⁾	—	21,671	—	(21,671)	—	—
Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities	208,862	(92,065)	(6,833)	893,078	—	1,003,042
Investments in subsidiaries⁽²⁾	(39,392)	—	—	—	39,392	—
Loans to Group companies⁽³⁾	(633,490)	—	(4,450)	—	637,940	—
Proceeds from repayments of loans to Group companies⁽³⁾	—	35,144	—	—	(35,144)	—
Other investing activities with third parties	(1,365,740)	(673,476)	(74,823)	(702,542)	—	(2,816,581)
Net cash used in investing activities	(2,038,622)	(638,332)	(79,273)	(702,542)	642,188	(2,816,581)
Capital contribution from Group companies⁽²⁾	—	39,392	—	—	(39,392)	—
Loans from Group companies⁽³⁾	—	637,940	—	—	(637,940)	—
Repayments of loans from Group companies⁽³⁾	—	—	—	(35,144)	35,144	—
Other financing activities with third parties	(669,232)	—	—	—	—	(669,232)
Net cash (used in)/provided by financing activities	(669,232)	677,332	—	(35,144)	(642,188)	(669,232)


	For the Year Ended December 31, 2021
			Primary	VIE and
	KANZHUN	Other	Beneficiary	VIE’s		Consolidated
	LIMITED	Subsidiaries	of VIE	Subsidiaries	Eliminations	Total

	(in RMB thousands)
Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities with third parties⁽⁴⁾	5,644	(81,135)	(232)	1,717,104	—	1,641,381
Investments in subsidiaries⁽²⁾	(74,131)	—	(10)	—	74,141	—
Loans to Group companies⁽³⁾	(16,486)	—	—	—	16,486	—
Proceeds from repayments of loans to Group companies⁽³⁾	—	96,000	255,000	—	(351,000)	—
Other investing activities with third parties	—	(649)	(10,000)	(591,213)	—	(601,862)
Net cash (used in)/provided by investing activities	(90,617)	95,351	244,990	(591,213)	(260,373)	(601,862)
Capital contribution from Group companies⁽²⁾	—	74,131	—	10	(74,141)	—
Loans from Group companies⁽³⁾	—	16,486	—	—	(16,486)	—
Repayments of loans from Group companies⁽³⁾	—	—	(16,000)	(335,000)	351,000	—
Other financing activities with third parties	6,540,512	—	—	(109,249)	—	6,431,263
Net cash provided by/(used in) financing activities	6,540,512	90,617	(16,000)	(444,239)	260,373	6,431,263

Notes:

(1)	It represents the elimination of inter-company service fees charged/received. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, the primary beneficiary of the VIE did not charge any service fees according to the exclusive technology and service co-operation agreement.

(2)	It represents the elimination of investments in subsidiaries and the VIE.

(3)	It represents the elimination of inter-company balances and loan financing.

(4)	For the year ended December 31, 2021, there were no inter-company operating cash flows.

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A.	[Reserved]

B.	Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

C.	Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

D.	Risk Factors

Summary of Risk Factors

Our business is subject to a number of risks, including risks that may prevent us from achieving our business objectives or may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and prospects. These risks are discussed more fully below and include, but are not limited to, risks related to:

Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry

●

If we fail to implement new technologies, develop and provide innovative features and services, respond to evolving user preferences, enhance user friendliness of our online recruitment platform, or optimize our technology systems, we may not be able to improve user experience, which may have a material and adverse effect on our user growth and retention, business, financial condition and results of operations.

●

Our business depends on the continued success of our brands, and if we fail to maintain and enhance the recognition of our brands cost-effectively, or the recognition of our brands is adversely affected by any negative publicity concerning us or our directors, management, shareholders or business partners, our reputation and operating results may be harmed.

●

We face significant competition in China’s dynamic online recruitment service market, and potential market entries by established players from other industries may make competition even more fierce. Our market share, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected if we are unable to compete effectively.

●

If our technology capabilities fail to yield satisfactory results or fail to improve, our online recruitment platform may not be able to effectively match our job seekers with suitable enterprise users or to optimally recommend services for our users, and our user growth, retention, results of operations and business prospects may suffer consequently.

●

A slowdown or adverse development in the Chinese or global economy may lower the hiring willingness and budget of our current and potential enterprise users, adversely affecting the demand for our services and our business in general.

●

Our users may engage in intentional or negligent misconduct or other improper activities on our online recruitment platform or otherwise misuse our online recruitment platform, which may damage our brand image and reputation, our business and our results of operations.

●

Because we store and process data, some of which contains sensitive personal information, we face concerns over the collection, improper use or disclosure of personal information, which could deter current and potential users from using our services, damage our reputation, result in legal liability, bring regulatory scrutiny, and in turn materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

●

Our business is subject to complex and evolving laws and regulations in mainland China on data protection and cybersecurity. Any failure or perceived failure to comply with these laws and regulations could result in penalties, claims, changes to our business practices, negative publicity, legal proceedings, increased cost of operations, or declines in user growth or engagement, or otherwise harm our business.

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Risks Relating to Our Corporate Structure

●

We are a Cayman Islands holding company with no equity ownership in the VIE and we conduct our operations in mainland China primarily through the VIE, with which we have maintained contractual arrangements. Investors in our ADSs thus are not purchasing equity interest in the VIE in mainland China but instead are purchasing equity interest in a Cayman Islands holding company. If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating our business do not comply with laws and regulations of mainland China, or if these regulations or their interpretations change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations. Our holding company, the VIE and investors of our company face uncertainty about potential future actions by the PRC government that could affect the enforceability of the contractual arrangements with the VIE and, consequently, significantly affect the financial performance of the VIE and our company as a whole.

●

The contractual arrangements with the VIE and its shareholders may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing operational control.

●

Any failure by the VIE or its shareholders to perform their obligations under our contractual arrangements with them would have a material and adverse effect on our business.

Risks Relating to Doing Business in China

●

Changes in China’s economic, political or social conditions or government policies could have a material and adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

●

Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws and regulations could adversely affect us.

●

The PRC government’s oversight and discretion over our business operations could result in a material adverse change in our operations and the value of our Class A ordinary shares and/or ADSs.

●

The approval of or filing and reporting with the CSRC or other PRC government authorities may be required in connection with our overseas offerings under laws of mainland China, and, if required, we cannot predict whether or for how long we will be able to obtain such approval or complete such filing and reporting procedures.

●

The PCAOB had historically been unable to inspect our auditor in relation to their audit work performed for our financial statements and the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of our auditor in the past has deprived our investors with the benefits of such inspections.

●

Our ADSs may be prohibited from trading in the United States under the HFCAA in the future if the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely auditors located in China. The delisting of the ADSs, or the threat of their being delisted, may materially and adversely affect the value of your investment.

Risks Relating to Our Shares and Our ADSs

●

The trading price of the ADSs has been and may be, and the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares can be, volatile, which could result in substantial losses to investors.

●

Our dual-class voting structure will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could discourage others from pursuing any change of control transactions that holders of our Class A ordinary shares or ADSs may view as beneficial.

●

The dual-class structure of our ordinary shares may adversely affect the trading market for our Class A ordinary shares and/or ADSs.

●

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, or if they adversely change their recommendations regarding the Class A ordinary shares and/or ADSs, the market price for our Class A ordinary shares and ADSs and trading volume could decline.

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Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry

Our success depends upon our ability to attract and retain job seekers and enterprise users. Our ability to retain and attract job seekers largely depends on the number of job postings and employers on our online recruitment platform. Our ability to retain and attract enterprise users primarily depends on the number of the job seekers using our online recruitment platform. To encourage more enterprise users and job seekers to come and stay on our online recruitment platform, improving user experience for both is a must.

An important way to improve user experience and attract more users is to introduce innovative services and features that are useful for users and that encourage more frequent use of our online recruitment platform. To develop, support and maintain such innovative services and features often requires implementation of new technologies, and we intend to continue to devote resources to the development of additional technologies and services. However, implementation of new technologies in our system may take a long time and may involve technical challenges and large amounts of capital and personnel resources. We may not be able to effectively integrate new technologies on a timely basis, or at all, which may decrease user satisfaction with our services. Such technologies, even if integrated, may not function as expected or may be unable to attract and retain a substantial number of users to use our online recruitment platform. Any failure to keep pace with rapid technological changes may cause our user retention to suffer.

In addition, we must also continue to respond promptly to evolving user preferences, enhance the user friendliness of our online recruitment platform, optimize our mobile applications, and otherwise continue to improve our technology systems, all of which may require us to incur substantial costs and expenses. For example, as part of our efforts to meet evolving user preferences, we have established a dedicated team to develop services uniquely designed to meet the needs of blue-collar job seekers. If such costs and expenses fail to effectively translate into improved user experience or user growth, we may not be successful in retaining and attracting our users.

We cannot assure you that our efforts to improve user experience and increase user base will always be successful. We also cannot predict whether our new products, service and features will be well received by users consistently, or whether we will be successful in implementing new technologies in a cost-effective manner, enhancing user friendliness of our online recruitment platform, and otherwise improving our technology systems. If we cannot improve user experience, we may not be able to retain or attract users, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We believe that maintaining and enhancing our brands is important to the success of our business. Well-recognized brands are critical to increasing the number and the level of engagement of our users. Since we operate in a competitive industry, brand maintenance and enhancement also directly affect our ability to maintain our market position. We have continued to exercise strict quality control on our online recruitment platform to ensure that our brand image is not tarnished by substandard services. We have also conducted and will continue to conduct various marketing and brand promotion activities both online and offline to enhance our brands, to guide public perception of our brands, services, and ultimately to distinguish our online recruitment platform from those of our competitors. We have historically spent significantly on these marketing and promotional activities, with our sales and marketing expenses accounting for 45.6%, 44.4% and 33.5% of our revenues in the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively, and we may need to increase such sales and marketing expenses in the future to continue to maintain and enhance brand awareness and brand loyalty, to retain and attract users as well as to promote our online recruitment platform. However, there can be no assurance that these sales and marketing activities will be successful or that we will be able to achieve the brand promotion effect we expect from them. If we cannot properly manage our sales and marketing expenses or if our sales and marketing activities underperform our expectations, our financial condition, results of operations and business prospects will be damaged as a result.

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Moreover, any negative publicity relating to our company, our services or our directors, management, shareholders or business partners, regardless of its veracity, could harm our brands and the perception of our brands in the market. As our business expands and grows, we may be exposed to heightened public scrutiny in markets where we already operate as well as in new markets where we may operate. We could become a target for regulatory or public scrutiny in the future and scrutiny and public exposure could severely damage our reputation as well as our business and prospects.

Furthermore, our brand names and our business may be harmed by aggressive marketing and communication strategies by competitors and third parties. We may be subject to government or regulatory investigation or third-party claims as a result and we may be required to spend significant time and incur substantial costs to react to and address these consequences. There is no assurance that we will be able to effectively refute allegations within a reasonable period of time, or at all. Additionally, public allegations, directly or indirectly, against us or our directors, management, shareholders or business partners, may be posted online by anyone on an anonymous basis. The availability of information on social media platforms is virtually immediate, as is its impact. Social media platforms may not necessarily filter or check the accuracy of information before publishing them, and we may be afforded little or no time to respond. As a result, our reputation may be materially and adversely affected, our ability to attract and retain users and maintain our market share may suffer, and our financial conditions may deteriorate.

The online recruitment service market in China is competitive and rapidly evolving. We face constant pressure to attract and retain users, expand the market for our services and incorporate new capabilities and technologies. Our online recruitment platform competes with other major dedicated job search platforms and niche market players that focus on certain industry verticals, such as technology, or user segments, such as job seekers for high-end positions. Other large internet companies and classified advertisement platforms have also entered the market for online recruitment services. In addition, we face competition from professional networking platforms and existing participants in the offline recruitment industry who may develop online recruitment services and products.

Many of our competitors or potential competitors have long operating histories, international strategic partners, local government sponsorship, or a larger user base, and they may have greater financial, management, technological development, sales, marketing and other resources than we do. They may also be able to adopt our business model and intensify their competition with us. As a result, we may experience reduced margins, loss of market share or less use of our services and products by job seekers and enterprise users. Existing or future competitors could develop or offer services and products which provide significant performance, price, creative, technological or other advantages over the counterparts we offer. If we are unable to compete effectively with current or future competitors as a result of these or other factors, our market share, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

One of the core strengths of our online recruitment platform is our ability to provide accurate and tailored two-sided recommendations to enterprise users and job seekers. This ability is largely dependent on our technology capabilities. Our technology capabilities such as our capabilities in big data analytics, therefore, are crucial to us continuing to retain and attract users to our online recruitment platform. Our users will continue to compare this core strength of our online recruitment platform against those of the platforms run by our competitors, and may switch to a competitor platform if our online recruitment platform underperforms their expectations. In addition, managing some of the other important aspects of our operations, such as sales and marketing activities, also requires us to make decisions informed by our technology, including data analytics. Any failure to improve our technology capabilities and any failure of our technology capabilities to produce satisfactory results may materially and adversely affect our user retention, financial condition and results of operations.

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The global macroeconomic environment still faces numerous challenges. The Federal Reserve and other central banks outside of China have raised interest rates. The Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Hamas-Israel conflict and the attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have heightened geopolitical tensions across the world. The impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on Ukraine food exports has contributed to increases in food prices and thus to inflation more generally. There have also been concerns about the relationship between China and other countries which may potentially have economic effects. In particular, there is significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the United States and China with respect to a wide range of issues including trade policies, treaties, government regulations and tariffs. Economic conditions in China are sensitive to global economic conditions, as well as changes in domestic economic and political policies and the expected or perceived overall economic growth rate in China. In addition, China’s economy is still recovering from the post-COVID impact. Substantially all of our operations are conducted in mainland China, and the vast majority of our revenues are generated from providing services to enterprise customers operating in mainland China. In an environment of slower economic growth or recession, employers may take actions such as hiring fewer employees, engaging in hiring freezes, reducing hiring budgets or the number of hiring headcount, and curtailing spending on online recruitment services and other human resource related services. Therefore, any severe or prolonged slowdown in the global or Chinese economy may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, turbulence in the international markets could adversely affect our ability to access capital markets to meet liquidity needs.

Heightened tensions in international relations, particularly between the United States and China, may adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Recently there have been heightened tensions in international relations, particularly between the United States and China. These tensions have affected both diplomatic and economic ties between the two countries. Heightened tensions could reduce levels of trade, investments, technological exchanges, and other economic activities between the two major economies. The existing tensions and any further deterioration in the relationship between the United States and China may have a negative impact on the general, economic, political, and social conditions in both countries and, given our reliance on the Chinese market, adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our online recruitment platform has instant messaging functions that allow users to communicate with each other and engage in job application activities. We adopt a comprehensive suite of registration procedures to verify the identity of our job seekers and enterprise users. Job seekers are required to complete our mobile phone verification process by providing personal and professional information such as name, education background, employment status, recent employment, work experience, position desired, and salary expectation. Since we have limited control over the real-time and offline behavior of our users, it is still possible for our online recruitment platform to be misused by our users for inappropriate or illegal purposes.

We may be required by governmental authorities to report certain misbehaviors for further investigation if such misbehaviors are subject to regulatory investigation or other governmental proceedings. Despite our detection and filtering efforts, we may not be able to identify every incident of inappropriate content or illegal or fraudulent activities, prevent all such content from being further disseminated or prohibit such activities from occurring. We may not be able to filter all the content generated by our users as it appears, especially in the context of instant messaging between job seekers and enterprise users. Therefore, our users may engage in illegal, obscene or incendiary conversations or engage in unethical or illegal activities via our online recruitment platform.

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If user misconduct and misuse of our online recruitment platform for inappropriate or illegal purposes occur on our online recruitment platform, claims may be brought against us for torts, defamation, libel, negligence, copyright, patent or trademark infringement. In response to allegations of illegal or inappropriate activities conducted through our online recruitment platform, governmental authorities may intervene and hold us liable for non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations and subject us to administrative penalties or other sanctions, such as requiring us to restrict or discontinue some or all of our features and services. In addition, our users may suffer or allege to have suffered physical, financial or emotional harm caused by contacts initiated on our online recruitment platform. Our business and public perception of our brands may be materially and adversely affected if we do face civil lawsuits or other liabilities initiated by such affected users. Defending any actions brought by such affected users could be costly and require significant time and attention of our management and other resources, which would materially and adversely affect our business.

We are exposed to potential legal liabilities associated with the recruitment process, which may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We are exposed to potential claims associated with the recruitment process, including claims by enterprise users seeking to hold us liable for recommending a job seeker who subsequently proves to be unsuitable for the position filled, claims by current or previous employers alleging breach of employment contracts, claims by job seekers against us alleging our failure to maintain the confidentiality of their personal information and employment searches or alleging discrimination or other violations of employment law or other laws or regulations by our enterprise users, and claims by either employers or their employees alleging the failure of our services to comply with laws or regulations relating to employment, data privacy or other related matters. We do not maintain insurance coverage for liabilities arising from claims by employers, employees, candidates or third parties. Any such claims, regardless of merit, may force us to participate in time-consuming, costly litigation or investigation, divert significant management and staff attention, and damage our reputation and brand names.

If our job seekers’ or employers’ profiles are out-of-date, inaccurate, fraudulent or lack credible information, we may not be able to effectively create value for our users, which could materially and adversely impact our reputation and business prospects.

We adopt a suite of registration procedures to verify the identity of our job seekers and enterprise users, and we also have ongoing risk assessment procedures for enterprise users. Our intelligence system detects suspicious user input that may undermine the integrity of the community and will then require such users to go through additional authentication procedures. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Vigorous User Verification & AI Powered Risk Assessment” for further details. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to remove all the job seekers and enterprise users that submit out-of-date, inaccurate, fraudulent or otherwise untrustworthy profile or job post information to our database. If we are not able to effectively filter out these job seekers and enterprise users, our users that submit legitimate and accurate profile information may be misled or even defrauded by them, wasting their time and resources in the recruitment process, and our reputation and business prospects will also be materially and adversely impacted as a result. We might also be ordered to make rectifications or even be subject to confiscation of illegal gains and a fine in an amount of up to RMB30,000 if we fail to review the authenticity and legality of the materials provided by the employers in accordance with the laws of mainland China. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulations—Regulations Relating to Talent Intermediary Services” for further details.

If we fail to attract more enterprise users to our online recruitment platform, or if enterprise customers decide to purchase less of our online recruitment services for any reason, our revenues may stagnate or decline and our business and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

In 2021, 2022 and 2023, approximately 99% of our revenues were generated from enterprise customers. Enterprise customers are by far the most important source of revenue for us, and attracting more enterprise users to our online recruitment platform is therefore of critical importance to us. Due to their contribution to our revenues and ability to spend, large businesses with sufficient funds would benefit us most as a revenue source, and we need to invest in developing and promoting services that meet their needs. Additionally, SMEs can also be a source of enterprise user growth for us, as they have historically been underserved and usually lack direct access to a scaled user base and effective means to recruit widely. In order to expand our market reach to more small and mid-sized businesses, especially in less developed cities, we provide free or lower-fee services or subscription packages to them so they can take advantage of our online recruitment platform. We, however, cannot assure you that our efforts will convince more enterprise users to use our online recruitment platform. There is also no guarantee that our existing enterprise customers will continue to pay for our online recruitment services at the same frequency or price going forward, as competition or alternative means of job hunting may put pressure on the demand and pricing for our online recruitment services. If we are not successful in expanding our enterprise user base or improving our monetization of enterprise customers, our revenues may stagnate or decline and our business and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

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We are subject to the laws, regulations, guidelines and national standards relating to the protection of personal information in mainland China, which covers areas such as the collection, storage, use, transmission, sharing or other aspects of data processing of such personal information. For example, the PRC Personal Information Protection Law took effect on November 1, 2021. This law consolidates rules with respect to personal information rights and privacy protection and specifies the protection requirements for processing personal information and rules for processing sensitive personal information. As uncertainties remain regarding the interpretation and implementation of this law, we cannot assure that we will comply with it in all respects, or that regulatory authorities will not order us to rectify or terminate our current practice of collecting and processing personal information. We and our directly responsible supervisors may also become subject to fines and other penalties which may have a material adverse effect on our business, operations and financial condition. The Rules on the Scope of Necessary Personal Information for Common Types of Mobile Internet Applications, which were jointly promulgated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, or the MIIT, the CAC, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Administration for Market Regulation, or the SAMR, on March 12, 2021 and became effective on May 1, 2021, specifies that the scope of necessary personal information for job hunting and recruitment applications includes mobile phone numbers of registered users and resume provided by job seekers.

The PRC Cyber Security Law, which became effective on June 1, 2017, created mainland China’s first national-level data protection framework for “network operators.” It requires, among other things, that network operators take security measures to protect the network from unauthorized interference, damage and unauthorized access and prevent data from being divulged, stolen or tampered with. Network operators are also required to collect and use personal information in compliance with the principles of legitimacy, properness and necessity, and strictly within the scope of authorization by the personal information subject unless otherwise prescribed by laws or regulations. We may need to invest significant capital, managerial and human resources to comply with legal requirements, enhance information security and address any issues caused by security failures. See also “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulations—Regulations Relating to Information Security and Censorship” and “Item 4. Information on the Company—Business Overview—Regulations—Regulations Relating to Privacy Protection.” Any concerns or claims about our practices with regard to the collection, storage, use, transmission, sharing or other aspects of data processing of personal information or other privacy-related matters, even if ungrounded, could damage our reputation and results of operations.

Any system failure or compromise of our security that results in the unauthorized access to or release of personal or private information, such as data, photo or messaging history of our users could significantly limit the adoption of our services, as well as harm our reputation and brands, result in litigation against us, liquidated and other damages, regulatory investigations and penalties, and we could be subject to material liability. We expect to continue expending significant resources to protect against security breaches. The risk that these types of events could seriously harm our business is likely to increase as we expand the scope of the services we offer and as we increase the size of our user base.

Moreover, we could be required to disclose certain personal information to (i) PRC governmental authorities for the purpose of, among other things, safeguarding national security, investigating crimes, investigating infringement of information network communication rights, and cooperating with the supervision and inspection of telecommunication regulatory authorities, or (ii) certain entities or individuals for the purpose of enforcing the judgments or rulings made by judicial authorities. Disclosing personal information under such circumstances may cause our users to lose trust in our ability to safeguard their privacy. Failure to comply with these requirements could subject us to administrative penalties or other regulatory or enforcement actions.

Regulatory authorities in mainland China have enhanced data protection and cybersecurity regulatory requirements. These laws continue to develop, and the PRC government may adopt other rules and restrictions in the future. Different PRC regulatory bodies, including the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the MIIT, the CAC, the Ministry of Public Security and the SAMR, have enforced data privacy and protections laws and regulations with varying standards and applications, which may create difficulties in ensuring full compliance and increase our operating cost. Non-compliance could result in penalties or other significant legal liabilities.

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Numerous regulations, guidelines and other measures have been and are expected to be adopted under the PRC Cyber Security Law. For example, the PRC government promulgated the Cybersecurity Review Measures in April 2020, which became effective in June 2020. Under these measures, critical information infrastructure operators must pass a cybersecurity review when purchasing network products and services which affect or may affect national security. On December 28, 2021, the CAC, together with certain other PRC governmental authorities, jointly released the revised Cybersecurity Review Measures, which took effect on February 15, 2022. Pursuant to the revised Cybersecurity Review Measures, critical information infrastructure operators procuring network products and services and online platform operators conducting data processing activities that affect or may affect national security shall conduct a cybersecurity review according to these measures. If a critical information infrastructure operator anticipates that its procurement of network products and services affect or may affect national security after the network products and services being put into use, it shall apply for cybersecurity review to the Cybersecurity Review Office of the CAC. In addition, online platform operators possessing personal information of more than one million users seeking to be listed on a foreign stock exchange must apply for a cybersecurity review. The revised Cybersecurity Review Measures also provide that the Cybersecurity Review Office of the CAC may initiate cybersecurity review against the operators if the authorities believe that the network products, network services or data processing activities of such operators affect or may affect national security. The revised Cybersecurity Review Measures set out certain risk factors which would be the focus in assessing the national security risk during a cybersecurity review. Pursuant to an announcement posted by the CAC on July 5, 2021 relating to the cybersecurity review, our BOSS Zhipin app was required to suspend new user registration to cooperate with the cybersecurity review and prevent the expansion of risks. As approved by the Cybersecurity Review Office of the CAC, we have recommenced new user registration on our BOSS Zhipin app, effective from June 29, 2022.

On July 30, 2021, the PRC State Council promulgated the Regulations on Security Protection of Critical Information Infrastructure, which became effective on September 1, 2021. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulations—Regulations Relating to Information Security and Censorship” for further details. As of the date of this annual report, no detailed implementation rules have been issued by the governmental authorities. However, as these regulations were relatively new and the governmental authorities may further formulate detailed rules or explanations with respect to the interpretation and implementation of this regulation. As of the date of this annual report, we have not been informed by any governmental authority that we are a critical information infrastructure operator.

In mainland China, the internet information is regulated from a national security standpoint. According to the PRC National Security Law, institutions and mechanisms for national security review and administration will be established to conduct national security review on key technologies and network information technology products and services that affect or may affect national security. The PRC Data Security Law, took effect in September 2021 and provides for a security review procedure for the data processing activities that affect or may affect national security. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulations—Regulations Relating to Information Security and Censorship” for further details. It is not clear under the PRC Data Security Law what constitutes “important data” or “state critical data.” If we are deemed to collect “important data” or “state critical data,” we may need to adopt internal reforms in order to comply with the PRC Data Security Law, which may increase the cost of operations, or decline the user growth or engagement, or otherwise harm our business.

In addition, on November 14, 2021, the CAC published draft Regulations on the Administration of Network Data Security (solicitation for comment) for public comments. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulations—Regulations Relating to Information Security and Censorship” for further details. As of the date of this annual report, this draft has not been formally adopted. Substantial uncertainties exist with respect to the enactment timetable, final content, interpretation and implementation. In general, compliance with the existing laws and regulations of mainland China and additional laws and regulations related to data security and personal information protection that PRC regulatory bodies may enact in the future may be costly and result in additional expenses to us, and subject us to negative publicity.

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On July 7, 2022, the CAC issued the Measures for the Security Assessment of Cross-border Transfer of Data, which became effective on September 1, 2022. These measures require the data processor providing data overseas and falling certain circumstances to apply for the security assessment of cross-border data transfer with the local provincial-level counterparts of the national cybersecurity authority. On March 22, 2024, the CAC issued the Provisions on Promoting and Regulating Cross-border Data Flows, which became effective on the same day. Pursuant to the provisions, if the data have not been informed or publicly announced as important data by relevant departments or regions, data processors are not required to apply for the security assessment for cross-border provision of the data as important data. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulations—Regulations Relating to Information Security and Censorship” for further details. As of the date of this annual report, the exact scope of “important data” under the current regulatory regime remains unclear, and the applicability of certain circumstances are still subject to further interpretation by relevant government authorities. The PRC government authorities may have discretion in the interpretation and enforcement of the applicable laws. Therefore, it is uncertain whether we would be required to report any security assessment for cross-border data transfers to the CAC.

While we take measures to comply with applicable cybersecurity and data privacy and protection laws and regulations, we cannot guarantee the effectiveness of the measures undertaken by us and our business partners. The activities of third parties such as our customers and business partners are beyond our control. It also remains uncertain whether the future regulatory changes would impose additional restrictions on companies like us. If any of our business partners violate the laws or regulations, or fails to fully comply with the service agreements with us, or if any of our employees fails to comply with our internal control measures and misuses the information, we may be subject to legal liabilities. Any failure or perceived failure to comply with all applicable cybersecurity and data privacy and protection laws and regulations, or any failure or perceived failure of our business partners to do so, or any failure or perceived failure of our employees to comply with our internal control measures, may prevent us from using or providing certain network products or services, result in government enforcement actions and investigations, fines and other penalties such as suspension of our related business, closure of our apps and suspension of new downloads of our apps, as well as subjecting us to negative publicity and legal proceedings or regulatory actions and discouraging current and potential users and customers from using our services, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

In addition, regulatory authorities around the world have adopted or are considering a number of legislative and regulatory proposals concerning data protection. These legislative and regulatory proposals, if adopted, and the uncertain interpretations and application thereof could, in addition to the possibility of fines, result in an order requiring that we change our data practices and policies, which could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations. The European Union General Data Protection Regulation which came into effect on May 25, 2018, includes operational requirements for companies that receive or process personal data of residents of the European Economic Area. This regulation establishes new requirements applicable to the processing of personal data, affords new data protection rights to individuals and imposes penalties for serious data breaches. Individuals also have a right to compensation under the regulation for financial or non-financial losses. Although we do not conduct any business in the European Economic Area, in the event that residents of the European Economic Area access our platform and input protected information, we may become subject to provisions of this regulation.

We recorded net loss historically. We may not be able to sustain and manage our growth, control our costs and expenses, implement our business strategies or achieve profitability in the future. Any new product or service we may launch and any new market sectors we may enter will come with additional risks.

We have experienced rapid growth in our business and operations since our inception in 2014, which places significant demands on our management, operational and financial resources. We generated net losses of RMB1.1 billion in 2021. We recorded net income of RMB107.2 million and RMB1.1 billion (US$154.8 million) in 2022 and 2023. Given our limited operating history, the net losses we incurred historically and the rapidly evolving market where we compete, we may encounter difficulties as we establish, expand or enhance our operations, feature and service development, sales and marketing efforts, technology and general and administrative capabilities. We may also not be able to sustain our historical levels of growth in the future. We believe that our continued growth and our ability to achieve profitability will depend on many factors, including our ability to further improve our user experience and broaden the spectrum of our service offerings, to further increase our presence in different user groups, especially blue-collar users, to continue to invest in technologies and deepen our data insights, and to explore other potential sectors in the human resource service market and achieve full coverage of users’ career lifecycle. There can be no assurance that we will achieve any of the above, and our failure to do so may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

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Particularly, our efforts to expand our user base in diverse industries and regions, diversify product and service offerings, develop new technology capability, and explore other sectors in human resource service market will require significant resource investments from us, and such efforts may not be successful. Expansion into new product and service offerings or other sectors in the human resource service market may be subject to risks such as:

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limited brand recognition (compared with our established services or market sectors);

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costs incurred in product and service development and marketing;

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costs incurred due to investment in technology;

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lack of experience and expertise in connection with the new product and service or market vertical;

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adjustment to the preferences and customs of a different group of users;

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compliance with potential new regulations and policies;

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difficulties in managing upsized operations and maintaining operational efficiency; and

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competition with new competitors, including those with a more established local presence.

The occurrence of any of these risks could negatively affect our business in new markets and consequently our business and operating results.

We expect our costs and expenses to continue to increase in the future as we expand our user base, broaden our service offerings, invest in new technologies and develop and implement new products, services and features that may entail more complexity. We expect to continue to invest in our infrastructure in order to provide our services more rapidly and reliably to users. Continued growth could strain our ability to maintain reliable service levels for our users, develop and improve our operational, financial, legal and management controls, and enhance our reporting systems and procedures. If we are unable to generate adequate revenues and to manage our costs and expenses, we may continue to incur significant net losses in the future and may not be able to achieve or subsequently maintain profitability. If we fail to achieve the necessary level of efficiency in our operation as it grows, our business, operating results and financial condition could be harmed.

Content posted or displayed on or linked to our online recruitment platform may be found objectionable by PRC regulatory authorities and may subject us to penalties and other negative consequences.

The PRC government has adopted laws and regulations governing internet and wireless access and the distribution of information over the internet and wireless telecommunications networks. Under these laws and regulations, internet content providers and internet publishers are prohibited from posting or displaying over the internet or wireless networks content that, among other things, violates the principle of the PRC constitution, laws and regulations, impairs the national dignity of China or the public interest, or is obscene, superstitious, fraudulent or defamatory. Furthermore, internet content providers are also prohibited from displaying content that may be deemed by the government authorities as instigating ethnical hatred and harming ethnical unity, harming the national religious policy, “socially destabilizing” or leaking “state secrets” of the PRC. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in the revocation of licenses to provide internet content or other approvals, licenses or permits, the closure of the concerned platforms and reputational harm. The operator may also be held liable for any censored information displayed on or linked to their platform. The liabilities and penalties resulting from such non-compliance may materially and adversely damage our business and results of operations.

On December 15, 2019, the CAC, released the Provisions on Ecological Governance of Network Information Content, which came into force on March 1, 2020. These provisions, which govern the distribution of information over the internet and wireless telecommunications networks, classify the network information into three categories, namely the “encouraged information,” the “illegal information” and the “undesirable information.” While illegal information is strictly prohibited from distribution, the internet content providers are required to take measures to prevent and resist the production and distribution of undesirable information. The provisions further clarify the duties owed by the internet content providers, such as obligations to improve the systems for user registration, account management, information release review, follow-up comments review, website ecological management, real-time inspection, emergency response and disposal mechanism for cyber rumor and black industry chain information.

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We have designed and implemented procedures to monitor content on our online recruitment platform. However, it may not be possible to determine in all cases the types of content that could result in our liability as a distributor of such content, and we may not be able to capture all violating content in time, especially in instant messaging. If any of the content posted or displayed on our online recruitment platform is deemed by the PRC government to violate any content restrictions, we may not be able to continue to display such content and could become subject to penalties, including confiscation of income, fines, suspension of business and revocation of required licenses, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

PRC regulatory authorities may also conduct various reviews and inspections on our business operations, especially those related to content distribution, from time to time. If any non-compliance incidents in our business operations are identified, we may be required to take certain rectification measures in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, or we may be subject to other regulatory actions such as administrative penalties. It may be difficult to determine the type of content or actions that may result in liability to us and, if we are found to be liable, we may be prevented from operating our business in mainland China. Moreover, complying with the regulatory requirements may result in limitation to our scope of services, reduction in user engagement or loss of users, diversion of our management team’s attention and increased operational costs and expenses. The costs of compliance with these regulations may continue to increase as a result of more content being made available by an increasing number of users of our online recruitment platform, which may adversely affect our results of operations.

Any lack of or failure to maintain requisite approvals, licenses or permits applicable to our business may have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations, and compliance with applicable laws or regulations may require us to obtain additional approvals or licenses or change our business model.

Our business is subject to supervision and regulation by various governmental authorities in mainland China. These governmental authorities include the CAC, the Ministry of Commerce, the MIIT, the SAMR, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Radio and Television Administration, and their corresponding local regulatory authorities. These governmental authorities promulgate and enforce laws and regulations that cover a variety of business activities that relating to our operations, such as provision of internet information, among other things. These regulations in general regulate the entry into, the permitted scope of, and the approvals, licenses and permits for, these business activities.

We provide services through our online recruitment platform, including certain live streaming recruitment services, short videos relating to job hunting and recruitment, in-app streaming interview and career development-related video courses, which may be considered as internet audio-visual program services. An internet audio-visual program service provider shall obtain the License for Online Transmission of Audio-Visual Programs, or the Audio-Visual License. According to the applicable laws of mainland China, only companies wholly state-owned or state-controlled are eligible to obtain the Audio-Visual License. As advised by our PRC legal counsel, based on a consultation with the Media Integration Development Division of Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau in July 2022, a company that is not eligible for the Audio-Visual License for providing internet audio-visual program services is allowed to apply for the registration and filing with the National Internet Audio-Visual Platforms Information Registration Management System, when its number of daily active users and program inspectors, personnel within a company that is responsible for reviewing and vetting the content of the internet audio-visual program, reach the respective threshold. As of the date of this annual report, we have not obtained the Audio-Visual License, as we are not a state-owned company or state-controlled company, and we have not completed the filing with the National Internet Audio-Visual Platforms Information Registration Management System, as the number of the daily active users and the number of program inspectors of the internet audio-visual program services on our platform are both below the specific thresholds. We may be subject to penalties or investigations in the future, in which case we may be involved in legal proceedings, have any illegal gains confiscated, have our relevant business suspended, or face other penalties. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview— Regulations Relating to Online Transmission of Audio-Visual Programs” for more details.

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We have obtained a value-added telecommunication service license concerning the internet information service, or ICP license, for provision of internet information services. The ICP license is essential to the operation of our existing and future business and is subject to regular government review or renewal. However, we cannot assure you that we can successfully renew our ICP license in a timely manner or at all as required by laws of mainland China to operate our online recruitment platform. Due to the evolving nature of the interpretation and application of the laws and regulations applicable to our industry in mainland China, we cannot assure you that the permitted scope and other aspects of our ICP license are sufficient as legally required to conduct all of our present business. The regulatory authorities may determine that the scope of our ICP license is not broad enough to carry on all of our businesses and require that we expand the scope of our ICP license. As certain prerequisites must be met in order to expand the scope of our ICP license to include certain types of services as stipulated in the Classification Catalogue of Telecommunications Services, we may not be able to meet such requirement and expand the scope of our ICP license. We may be subject to penalties or investigations due to the limitation of the scope of our ICP license in the future, in which case we may be involved in legal proceedings, have any illegal gains confiscated, have our relevant business suspended, or face other penalties.

We may be required to apply for and obtain additional licenses, permits or approvals, make additional registrations, update our registrations or expand the scope of our permits and approvals, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to meet these requirements timely, or at all, in the future. As we expand our business scope and explore different business initiatives, the business measures we have adopted or may adopt in the future may be challenged under laws and regulations of mainland China. For instance, while we believe we are not subject to any online game virtual currency laws and regulations for certain virtual tokens we offer in our mobile applications, the PRC government authorities may take a view contrary to ours. As a result, we may be required to obtain additional approvals or licenses and change certain aspects of our business to ensure compliance with existing and future online game virtual currency laws and regulations. If we fail to timely obtain, maintain or renew all the required licenses or permits or make all the necessary filings or change aspects of our business, we may be subject to various penalties or other regulatory actions, such as confiscation of revenues from the unlicensed activities, the imposition of fines and the discontinuation or restriction of our operations. Any such regulatory actions may disrupt our operations and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business is subject to complex and evolving laws and regulations in mainland China. Many of these laws and regulations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation, and could result in claims, changes to our business practices, monetary penalties, increased cost of operations, or declines in user growth or engagement, or otherwise harm our business.

We are subject to a variety of laws and regulations that involve matters important to or may otherwise impact our business, including, among others, provision of value-added telecommunications services, talent intermediary services, information security and censorship, foreign exchange and taxation. See also “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulations.” The introduction of new services may subject us to additional laws, regulations, or other government scrutiny.

These laws and regulations are continually evolving and may change significantly. As a result, the application, interpretation, and enforcement of these laws and regulations are often uncertain, particularly in the rapidly evolving industry in which we operate. In addition, these laws and regulations may be interpreted and applied inconsistently by different agencies or authorities, and inconsistently with our current policies and practices. These laws and regulations may also be costly to comply with, and such compliance or any associated inquiries or investigations or any other government actions may

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delay or impede our development of new services,

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result in negative publicity, increase our operating costs,

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require significant management time and attention, and

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subject us to remedies, administrative penalties and even criminal liabilities that may harm our business, including fines assessed for our current or historical operations, or demands or orders that we modify or cease existing business practices.

For example, in recent years, the PRC government authorities have released a series of laws and regulations related to generative artificial intelligence, algorithmic recommendation and deep synthesis technologies. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulations—Regulations Relating to Generative AI.” Such regulations are relatively new, and the competent government authorities of mainland China may introduce additional or more detailed laws and regulations regarding our provision and use of artificial intelligence and related technologies. This could subject us to additional compliance measures and changes to our operations and processes, resulting in increased compliance costs.

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The promulgation of new laws or regulations, or the new interpretation of existing laws and regulations, in each case that restrict or otherwise unfavorably impact the ability or manner in which we provide our services could require us to change certain aspects of our business to ensure compliance, which could decrease demand for our services, reduce revenues, increase costs, require us to obtain more licenses, permits, approvals or certificates, or subject us to additional liabilities. To the extent any new or more stringent measures are required to be implemented, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

If user traffic to our online recruitment platform stagnates or declines for any reason, our operating and financial prospects may be harmed.

Our ability to attract and maintain user traffic to our online recruitment platform is important for our continuing growth. If user traffic to our online recruitment platform stagnates or declines for any reason, our business and results of operations may be harmed. We depend to a significant degree on various app stores, internet search engines and portals to direct user traffic to our mobile applications. However, the amount of user traffic directed to our mobile applications is not entirely within our control. If our competitors have better relationships with app stores or social media platforms, greater online presence or news coverage, or more search engine optimization efforts, their mobile applications and websites may receive more directed user traffic or higher search result page rankings than ours. App stores could recommend mobile applications from our competitors more prominently than they do ours, social media platforms may direct more attention to products and services from our competitors, and internet search engines could revise their methodologies in a way that adversely affects the placement of our platform within the search results. Any such changes could decrease user traffic to our mobile applications and websites and adversely affect the growth of our user base, which may in turn harm our business and operating results.

We may need additional capital, and we may be unable to obtain such capital in a timely manner or on acceptable terms, or at all.

To pursue our business objectives and respond to business opportunities, challenges or unforeseen circumstances, including to improve our brand awareness, develop new services or further improve existing services, expand into new markets and acquire complementary businesses and technologies, we may require additional capital from time to time. However, additional funds may not be available when we need them on reasonable terms, or at all. Our ability to obtain additional capital is subject to a variety of uncertainties, including:

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our market position and competitiveness in the industry where we operate;

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our future profitability, overall financial condition, results of operations and cash flows;

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general market conditions for capital raising activities by online recruitment services companies in China; and

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economic, political and other conditions in China.

If we are unable to obtain additional capital in a timely manner or on acceptable terms, or at all, our ability to continue to pursue our business objectives and respond to business opportunities, challenges or unforeseen circumstances could be significantly limited, and our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, our future capital needs and other business reasons could require us to sell additional equity or debt securities or obtain a credit facility. The sale of additional equity or equity-linked securities could dilute our shareholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased debt service obligations and could result in operating and financing covenants that would restrict our operations or our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders.

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We face risks associated with the misconduct of our employees, business partners and their employees and other related personnel, and we may be subject to allegations, harassing or other detrimental conduct by third parties and other forms of negative publicity, which could harm our reputation and cause us to lose market share and users.

We rely on our employees to maintain and operate our business and have implemented internal policies to guide the actions of our employees. However, we do not have full control over every action of our employees, and any misbehavior of our employees could materially and adversely affect our reputation and business. For example, if our employees download pirated software to their work computers or perform other unauthorized actions on our technology systems, we may be exposed to security breaches. Despite the security measures we have implemented, our systems and procedures and those of our business partners may be vulnerable to security breaches, acts of vandalism, software viruses, misplaced or lost data, programming or human errors or other similar events caused by our employees, our business partners and their employees and other related personnel, which may disrupt our delivery of services or expose the identities and confidential information of our users and personnel. If an actual or perceived breach of our security occurs, the market perception of the effectiveness of our security measures could be harmed, we may lose current and potential users, and we may be exposed to legal and financial risks, including those from legal claims, regulatory fines and penalties, which in turn could adversely affect our business, reputation and results of operations.

With respect to employees, we could also in the future face a wide variety of claims, including discrimination (for example, based on gender, age, race or religious affiliation), sexual harassment, privacy, labor and employment claims. Often these cases raise complex factual and legal issues, and the result of any such claims are inherently unpredictable. Claims against us, whether meritorious or not, could require significant amounts of management time and corporate resources to defend, could result in significant media coverage and negative publicity, and could be harmful to our reputation and our brands. If any of these claims were to be determined adversely to us, or if we were to enter settlement arrangements, we could be exposed to monetary damages or be forced to change the way in which we operate our business, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We also work with our business partners in our business operation, and their performance affects the image of our brands. However, we do not directly supervise them in providing services to us or our users. Although we generally select business partners with strong reputation and track record, we may not be able to successfully monitor, maintain and improve the quality of their services. In the event of any unsatisfactory performance by our business partners and/or their employees, our business operation may be negatively impacted and our users may experience disruptions in services or decline in service quality, which may materially and adversely affect our reputation, our ability to retain and expand our user base, and our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Adverse developments affecting the financial services industry, such as actual events or concerns involving liquidity, defaults or non-performance by financial institutions or transactional counterparties, could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We maintain cash balances at third-party financial institutions in mainland China, Hong Kong and the United States. Concentrating a significant portion of our assets as cash in financial institutions exposes us to adverse conditions in the financial or credit markets, which could affect our access to invested cash or cash equivalents, as well as our overall liquidity and financial performance. Although our cash and cash equivalents are held in our operating accounts with or managed by reputable financial institutions, our access to cash in amounts adequate to finance or capitalize our current and projected future business operations could be impaired by factors that affect us, the financial institutions with which we have banking relationships, or the financial services industry or economy in general. These factors could include, among others, events such as liquidity constraints or failures, the ability to perform obligations under various types of financial, credit or liquidity agreements or arrangements, disruptions or instability in the financial services industry or financial markets, or concerns or negative expectations about the prospects for companies in the financial services industry. To date, we have not experienced any losses on cash or deposits held in our operating accounts. However, we can provide no assurances that our access to cash held in operating accounts or our invested cash and cash equivalents will not be impacted by adverse conditions in the financial markets or the negative performance of financial institutions.

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Our online recruitment platform depends on effective interoperation with mobile and computer operating systems, hardware, networks, regulations, and standards that we do not control. Changes in our online recruitment platform or to those operating systems, hardware, networks, regulations, or standards may seriously harm our user retention, growth, and engagement. Our business depends on our ability to maintain and scale our technology infrastructure. Any service disruption in our services could damage our reputation, result in a potential loss of users and decrease in user engagement, and seriously harm our business.

Our online recruitment platform, especially its mobile applications, must remain interoperable with popular operating systems, such as iOS and Android, and related hardware. We have no control over these operating systems or hardware, and any changes to these systems or hardware that degrade the functionality of our services, or give preferential treatment to competitive online platforms, could seriously harm usage of our online recruitment platform. When we introduce new services in the future it may take time to optimize such services to function with these operating systems and hardware, thereby impacting the popularity of such services.

To deliver high quality services through our online recruitment platform, it is crucial that our online recruitment platform works well with a range of mobile technologies, systems, networks, regulations and standards that we do not control. In particular, any future changes to iOS or Android operating systems may impact the accessibility, speed, functionality and other performance aspects of our online recruitment platform.

Our business and the continuing performance, reliability and availability of our technology systems and online recruitment platform also depend on the performance and reliability of China’s internet, mobile, and other infrastructures that are not under our control. Disruptions in internet infrastructure or the failure of telecommunications network operators to provide us with the bandwidth needed to provide our services may interfere with the speed and availability of our services on our online recruitment platform. If our online recruitment platform is unavailable when users attempt to access them, or if our online recruitment platform does not respond as quickly as users expect, users may not return to use our online recruitment platform as often in the future, or at all, and may use our competitors’ products or services instead. In addition, we have no control over the costs of the services provided by China’s telecommunications operators. If mobile internet access fees or other charges to internet users increase, user traffic may decrease, which may in turn cause our revenues to significantly decrease.

We have been and may in the future be subject to legal proceedings during the course of our business operations. Our directors, management, shareholders and employees also have been and may in the future be subject to legal proceedings, which could adversely affect our reputation and results of operations.

From time to time, we are subject to allegations, and may be party to legal claims and regulatory proceedings, relating to our business operations and business partners. Such allegations, claims and proceedings may be brought by third parties, including users, employees, business partners, governmental or regulatory bodies, competitors or other third parties, and may include class actions. These allegations, claims and proceedings may concern issues relating to, among others, labor disputes, and contract disputes. The outcome of litigation, particularly class action lawsuits, is difficult to assess or quantify. Plaintiffs in these types of lawsuits may seek recovery of very large or indeterminate amounts, and the magnitude of the potential loss relating to such lawsuits may remain unknown for substantial periods of time. We may incur significant expenses related to such proceedings, which may negatively affect our operating results if changes to our business operations are required. There may also be negative publicity associated with litigation that could decrease user acceptance of our online recruitment services, regardless of whether the allegations are valid or whether we are ultimately found liable. In addition, our directors, management, shareholders and employees may from time to time be subject to litigation, regulatory investigations, proceedings and/or negative publicity or otherwise face potential liability and expense in relation to commercial, labor, employment, securities or other matters, which could adversely affect our reputation and results of operations. As a result, litigation may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

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We and certain of our officers and directors have been named as defendants in a putative securities class action filed on July 12, 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, captioned Bell v. Kanzhun Limited et al, No. 2:21-cv-13543. On March 4, 2022, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint, purportedly brought on behalf of a class of persons who allegedly suffered damages as a result of their trading in our securities between June 11, 2021 and July 2, 2021. The action alleges that we made false and misleading statements regarding our business, operations and compliance practices in violation of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. Briefing on our motion to dismiss was completed in July 2022. In September 2022, with the aid of a mediator, the parties reached a tentative agreement in principle to settle the case. On November 10, 2022, the court granted preliminary approval of the parties’ settlement agreement, pursuant to which, without any admission or finding of any wrongdoing on the part of any of the defendants, the parties agreed that, in consideration of Kanzhun’s payment of US$2.25 million, all actual and potential claims and causes of action that have been or could have been alleged against Kanzhun and the individual defendants (including the individuals mentioned above) are resolved and discharged and precluded from being raised again in any future action. On April 5, 2023, after holding a fairness hearing, the court granted final approval of the settlement and terminated the case.

Our operating metrics are subject to inherent challenges in measurement, and real or perceived inaccuracies in those metrics may materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.

We regularly review operating metrics, such as the number of our paid enterprise customers and our MAU, to evaluate growth trends, measure our performance and make strategic decisions. These metrics are calculated using internal company data and have not been validated by an independent third party. While these numbers are based on what we believe to be reasonable estimates for the applicable period of measurement, there are inherent challenges in measuring usage and user engagement across our large user base. Errors or inaccuracies in our metrics could result in incorrect business decisions and inefficiencies. For example, if a significant understatement or overstatement of the number of users were to occur, we may expend resources to implement unnecessary business measures or fail to take required actions to attract a sufficient number of users to satisfy our growth strategies.

Our measures of operating metrics may differ from estimates published or adopted by third parties, including but not limited to business partners, market and investment research organizations (including short-selling research firms), investors and media, or from similarly titled metrics used by our competitors or other companies in the same or related industries due to differences in methodology and assumptions. If these third parties do not perceive our operating metrics to be accurate representations of operations, or if we discover material inaccuracies in our operating metrics, our brand value and reputation may be materially harmed, our users and business partners may be less willing to allocate their resources or spending to us, and we may face lawsuits or disputes in relation to the inaccuracies. As a result, our business and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.

Computer and mobile malware, viruses, hacking and phishing attacks, spamming and improper or illegal use of our online recruitment platform may affect user experience, which could reduce our ability to attract users and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Computer and mobile malware, viruses, hacking and phishing attacks have become more prevalent in our industry, have occurred on our online recruitment platform in the past, and may occur again in the future. Although it is difficult to determine what, if any, direct harm may result from an interruption or attack, any failure to maintain performance, reliability, security and availability of our online recruitment platform and technology infrastructure to the satisfaction of our users may seriously harm our reputation and our ability to retain existing users and attract new users.

In addition, spammers may use our online recruitment platform to send targeted and untargeted spam messages to users, which may affect user experience. In spamming activities, spammers typically create multiple user accounts for the purpose of sending spam messages. Although we attempt to identify and delete accounts created for spamming purposes, we may not be able to effectively eliminate all spam messages from our online recruitment platform in a timely fashion. Our actions to combat spam may also require diversion of significant time and focus of our technology team from improving our online recruitment platform. As a result, our users may use our online recruitment platform less or stop using them altogether, which may result in continuing operational costs to us.

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Pursuant to the PRC Data Security Law, entities carrying out data processing activities shall establish a sound data security management system, organize data security education and training, and take corresponding technical measures and other necessary measures to ensure data security, in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations. Risk-monitoring shall be strengthened when carrying out data processing activities, and remedial measures shall be taken immediately upon discovery of any data security defect or bug, disposal measures shall be taken immediately upon occurrence of any data security incident, users shall be timely notified in accordance with the relevant provisions and reports shall be made to the competent authorities. Failure to fulfill the aforementioned obligations may subject us to rectification orders, warnings, fines, suspension of our business or our operations as a whole for rectification, or revocation of our business permit or business license.

If the software used in our online recruitment platform and technology systems contains undetected programming errors or vulnerabilities, our business could be adversely affected.

Our online recruitment platform and technology systems rely on software, including software developed or maintained internally and/or by third parties. In addition, our online recruitment platform and technology systems depend on the ability of such software to store and process large amount of data. The software on which we rely in the past has contained, and may now or in the future contain, undetected programming errors, bugs, or vulnerabilities. Some errors may only be discovered after the code has been released for external or internal use. Errors, vulnerabilities, or other design defects within the software on which we rely may result in a negative experience for users using our online recruitment platform, delay introductions of new features or enhancements, result in errors or compromise our ability to protect the data of our users and/or our intellectual property or lead to reductions in our ability to provide some or all of our services. In addition, any errors, bugs, vulnerabilities, or defects discovered in the software on which we rely, and any associated degradations or interruptions of service, could result in harm to our reputation and loss of users, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operation results.

Our online recruitment platform and technology systems contain open source software, which may pose particular risk to our proprietary software and online recruitment platform features and functionalities in a manner that negatively affect our business.

We use open source software in our online recruitment platform and technology systems and will continue to use open source software in the future. To handle risks in this regard, we have set up an internal system that monitors any change in the source code of any open source software we use in our operation, made risk management plan for open source software, and increasingly invested in developing our proprietary software. Despite these risk management efforts, open source software licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to provide our services through the various features and functionalities of our online recruitment platform. Additionally, we may face claims from third parties claiming ownership of, or demanding release of, the open source software or derivative works that we developed using such software. These claims could result in litigation and could require us to make our software source code freely available, purchase a costly license or cease offering the implicated services unless and until we can re-engineer them to avoid infringement. This re-engineering process could require significant additional technology and development resources, and we may not be able to complete it successfully.

We are dependent on app stores to distribute our mobile applications.

We offer our online recruitment services through our online recruitment platform, an important component of which is our mobile applications. Our mobile applications are offered via app stores operated by third parties, such as Apple’s App Store and various Android app stores, which could suspend or terminate our users’ access to our mobile applications, increase access costs or change the terms of access in a way that makes our mobile applications less desirable or harder to access. As such, the promotion, distribution and operation of our mobile applications are subject to such distribution platforms’ standard terms and policies for application developers, which are subject to the interpretation of, and frequent changes by, these distribution channels. If Apple’s App Store or any Android app stores interpret or change their standard terms and conditions in a manner that is detrimental to us, or terminate their existing relationship with us, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. In the future, it is possible that compliance requirements of app stores may cause us to suspend our mobile applications from such stores. As a result, our ability to expand our user base may be hindered if potential users experience difficulties in or are barred from accessing our mobile applications. Any such incident may adversely affect our brands and reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to risks relating to third-party online payment platforms.

Currently, we collect payments for our services through third-party online payment systems. In all these online payment transactions, secured transmission of confidential information such as our users’ credit card numbers and personal information over public networks is essential to maintaining users’ trust and confidence on our online recruitment platform.

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We do not have control over the security measures of our third-party online payment vendors. Any security breaches of the online payment systems that we use could expose us to litigation and possible liability for failing to secure confidential user information and could, among other things, damage our reputation and the perceived security of all of the online payment systems that we use. If a well-publicized internet or mobile network security breach were to occur, users may become reluctant to pay for our services even if the publicized breach did not involve payment systems or methods used by us. In addition, billing software errors could damage user confidence in these online payment systems. If any of the above were to occur and damage our reputation or the perceived security of the online payment systems we use, we may lose users and users may be discouraged from purchasing our services, which may have a material adverse effect on our business.

In addition, there are currently only a limited number of reputable third-party online payment systems in mainland China. If any of these major payment systems decides to cease to provide services to us, or significantly increase the percentage they charge us for using their payment systems for our services, our results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Our results of operations are subject to fluctuations due to seasonality.

We experience fluctuations in our revenue streams which affect our ability to predict quarterly results. For example, in the first quarters, recruitment activities generally slow down before the Chinese New Year. As a result, our revenues may vary materially from quarter to quarter and quarterly results may not be comparable to the corresponding periods of prior years. Such uncertainty makes it difficult for us to predict revenues for a particular quarter. Further, our quarterly sales and marketing expenses are generally the highest in the first quarter of every year as we increase our sales and branding activities during the Chinese New Year season. Therefore, actual results may differ significantly from our targets or estimated quarterly results, which could cause the price of our Class A ordinary shares and/or ADSs to fall.

We may not be able to adequately protect our intellectual property, which could cause us to be less competitive, and third-party infringements of our intellectual property rights may adversely affect our business.

We believe that our patents, copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual property are essential to our success. We have devoted considerable time and energy to the development and improvement of our online recruitment platform and our technology system infrastructure.

We rely on a combination of patent, copyright and trademarks laws, trade secrets protection and other contractual restrictions for the protection of the intellectual property used in our business. Effective intellectual property protection may not be available or may not be sought, and contractual disputes may affect the use of the intellectual property governed by private contract. Although our contracts with users and business partners typically prohibit the unauthorized use of our brands, images and other intellectual property rights, there can be no assurance that they will always comply with these terms. These agreements may not effectively prevent the unauthorized use of our intellectual properties or disclosure of confidential information and may not provide an adequate remedy for such unauthorized use or disclosure of personal information. Although we enter into confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements with our employees, and we also have in place various internal rules and polices that require compliance from our employees, these agreements could be breached, the internal rules and policies could be violated, we may be involved in disputes in respect of these agreements and internal rules and policies for which we may not have adequate remedies, and our proprietary technology, know-how or other intellectual property could otherwise become known to third parties. In addition, third parties may independently discover trade secrets and proprietary information, limiting our ability to assert any trade secret rights against such parties.

While we actively take steps to protect our proprietary rights, such steps may not be adequate to prevent the infringement or misappropriation of our intellectual property. As of the date of this annual report, we had not registered certain trademarks for certain services we provide in connection with our operation. We also cannot assure our registered trademarks have covered an adequate scope of our existing and future business operations and as of the date of this annual report, we were in the process of registering certain trademarks that are necessary based on the current scope of our business. However, there can be no assurance that any of our trademark applications will ultimately proceed to registration or will result in registration with adequate scope for our business, particularly if such requested trademarks are found to conflict with the registered trademarks owned by third parties, including our competitors. Some of our pending applications or registrations may be successfully challenged or invalidated by others. If our trademark applications are not successful, we may have to use different marks for affected services, or seek to enter into arrangements with any third parties who may have prior registrations, applications or rights, which might not be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.

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It is often difficult to maintain and enforce intellectual property rights in mainland China. Statutory laws and regulations are subject to judicial interpretation and their enforcement may lack consistency. Accordingly, we may not be able to effectively protect our intellectual property rights or to enforce our related contractual rights in mainland China. Preventing any unauthorized use of our proprietary technology, trademarks and other intellectual property is difficult and expensive, and litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights. Future litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources, and could disrupt our business, as well as materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We have been and may be in the future subject to intellectual property infringement claims or other allegations by third parties, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and prospects.

We have ever been and may in the future be subject to intellectual property infringement claims or other allegations by third party owners or right holders of patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and content for services we provide or for information or content displayed on, retrieved from or linked to, recorded, stored or made accessible on our online recruitment platform, or otherwise distributed to our users, including in connection with the music, movies and videos played, recorded, stored or made accessible on our online recruitment platform during user profile display or advertisement display, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and prospects.

Generally, companies in the internet-related industries are frequently involved in litigation based on allegations of infringement of intellectual property rights, unfair competition, invasion of privacy, defamation and other violations of other parties’ rights. The validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property rights in internet-related industries, particularly in mainland China, are uncertain and still evolving. As we face increasing competition and as litigation becomes a more common method for resolving commercial disputes in mainland China, we face a higher risk of being the subject of intellectual property infringement claims or other legal proceedings.

We allow users to upload text, pictures, audio, video and other content to our online recruitment platform and users to download, share, link to and otherwise access other content on our online recruitment platform. Under the laws and regulations of mainland China, online service providers, which provide storage space for users to upload works or links to other services or content, could be held liable for copyright infringement under various circumstances, including situations where the online service provider knows or should reasonably have known that the content uploaded or linked to on its platform infringes upon the copyright of others and the online service provider failed to take necessary actions to prevent such infringement. We have procedures implemented to reduce the likelihood that content might be used without proper licenses or third-party consents. However, these procedures may not be effective in preventing the unauthorized posting or distribution of copyrighted content, and we may be considered failing to take necessary actions against such infringement. Therefore, we may face liability for copyright or trademark infringement, defamation, unfair competition, libel, negligence, and other claims based on the nature and content of the materials that are delivered, shared or otherwise accessed through our online recruitment platform.

Defending claims is costly and can impose a significant burden on our management and employees, and there can be no assurance that favorable final outcomes will be obtained in all cases. Such claims, even if they do not result in liability, may harm our reputation. Any resulting liability or expenses, or changes required to be made to our online recruitment platform to reduce the risk of future liability, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and prospects.

Our advertising content may subject us to penalties and other administrative actions.

Under PRC advertising laws and regulations, we are obligated to monitor our advertising content to ensure that such content is true and accurate and in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Violation of these laws and regulations may subject us to penalties, including fines, confiscation of our advertising income, orders to cease dissemination of the advertisements and orders to publish an announcement correcting the misleading information. In circumstances involving serious violations by us, PRC governmental authorities may force us to terminate our advertising operations or revoke our licenses. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulations—Regulations Relating to Advertisement.”

While we have made significant efforts to ensure that our advertisements are in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations of mainland China, we cannot assure you that all the content contained in such advertisements is true and accurate as required by the advertising laws and regulations, especially given the uncertainty in the interpretation of these laws and regulations of mainland China. If we are found to be in violation of applicable PRC advertising laws and regulations, we may be subject to penalties and our reputation may be harmed, which may negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

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Kanzhun Ltd [BZ] Filings
20-F	[2024-04-29]
20-F	[2023-04-27]
20-F	[2022-04-28]
F-1	[2021-05-21]