20-F 1 f20f2021_wimihologram.htm ANNUAL REPORT

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

________________________________________

FORM 20-F

________________________________________

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

OR

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

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

OR

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

OR

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 001-39257

________________________________________

WiMi Hologram Cloud Inc.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

________________________________________

Not Applicable
(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)

Cayman Islands
(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

Room#2002, Building A, Wentley Center, 1st West Dawang Road,
Chaoyang District, Beijing
The People’s Republic of China, 100020
(Address of principal executive offices)

________________________________________

Shuo Shi, Chief Executive and Operations Officer
sean@wimiar.com
Room#2002, Building A, Wentley Center, 1
st West Dawang Road,
Chaoyang District, Beijing
The People’s Republic of China, 100020
Tel: +86
-10-5338-4913
(Name, Telephone, E-mail 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 Class B ordinary shares, par 
value US$0.0001 per share

 

WIMI

 

NASDAQ Global Market

Class B ordinary shares, par value
US$0.0001 per share*

       

____________

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

 

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

None

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

None

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: As of December 31, 2021, there were (i) 20,115,570 Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding, par value US$0.0001 per share, and (ii) 153,300,513 Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding, par value US$0.0001 per share.

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

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 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, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated filer and large accelerated filer” 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. Yes No

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 by the International Accounting Standards Board

 

Other

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

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

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

iii

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

 

iv

PART I

 

1

ITEM 1. IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS

 

1

ITEM 2. OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE

 

1

ITEM 3. KEY INFORMATION

 

1

A. Reserved

 

6

B. Capitalization and Indebtedness

 

6

C. Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

 

6

D. Risk Factors

 

6

ITEM 4. INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY

 

47

A. History and Development of our Company

 

47

B. Business Overview

 

49

C. Organizational Structure

 

70

D. Property, Plant and equipment

 

73

ITEM 4A. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

 

73

ITEM 5. OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS

 

74

A. Operating Results

 

74

B. Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

94

C. Research and Development, Patents and Licenses, etc.

 

98

D. Trend information

 

98

E. Critical Accounting Estimates

 

98

ITEM 6. DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES

 

99

A. Directors, Senior Management and Employees

 

99

B. Compensation

 

100

C. Board Practices

 

101

D. Employees

 

105

E. Share Ownership

 

106

ITEM 7. MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

 

107

A. Major Shareholders

 

107

B. Related Party Transactions

 

107

C. Interests of Experts and Counsel

 

108

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

 

108

A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information

 

108

B. Significant Changes

 

109

ITEM 9. THE OFFER AND LISTING

 

109

A. Offer and listing details

 

109

B. Plan of Distribution

 

109

C. Markets

 

109

D. Selling Shareholders

 

109

E. Dilution

 

109

F. Expenses of the Issue

 

109

ITEM 10. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 

109

A. Share Capital

 

109

B. Memorandum and Articles of Association

 

109

C. Material Contracts

 

110

D. Exchange Controls

 

110

E. Taxation

 

110

F. Dividends and Paying Agents

 

115

i

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ii

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This annual report on Form 20-F contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements. 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.

You can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “likely to” or other similar expressions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategies and financial needs. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:

•        our growth strategies;

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

•        our ability to retain, grow and engage our user base and expand our product offering;

•        expected changes in our revenues, content-related costs and operating margins;

•        our ability to retain key personnel and attract new talent;

•        competition landscape in China’s holographic AR industry;

•        general economic, political, demographic and business conditions in China and globally; and

•        the regulatory environment in which we operate.

We would like to caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and you should read these statements in conjunction with the risk factors disclosed in “Item 3. Key Information — 3.D. Risk Factors.” Other sections of this annual report include additional factors which could adversely impact our business and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. New risk factors and uncertainties emerge from time to time and it is not possible for our management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties, 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. We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements except as required under applicable law. You should read this annual report and the documents that we reference in this annual report completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect.

You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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INTRODUCTORY NOTE

Except where the context otherwise indicates and for the purpose of this annual report only:

•        “ADSs” refer to the American depositary shares, each representing two Class B ordinary shares;

•        “AR” refers to augmented reality, a technology that enhances the real world through the use of sensory information (visual, audio, or otherwise), which is added to the actual view of the real world;

•        “China” or “PRC” refers to the People’s Republic of China, excluding, for the purpose of this annual report only, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau;

•        “CPM” refers to cost per thousand impressions, a term used in traditional online advertising and marketing related to web traffic that measures the cost or expense incurred for every thousand potential customers who view the advertisement;

•        “GAAP” refers to the generally accepted accounting principles in the United States;

•        “HK$”, “HKD” or “Hong Kong dollars” refer to the legal currency of the Hong Kong SAR;

•        “ordinary shares” refer to ordinary shares consisted of our Class A ordinary shares, par value US$0.0001 per share, and Class B ordinary shares, par value US$0.0001 per share;

•        “RMB” or “Renminbi” refers to the legal currency of the People’s Republic of China;

•        “US$”, “dollars”, “USD” or “U.S. dollars” refer to the legal currency of the United States;

•        “View” refers to the number of times an advertisement is fetched (each time an advertisement is fetched, it is counted as one impression or one view or one impression); and

•        “WIMI”, “WiMi Cayman”, “we”, “us”, “our company”, “the company”, “our”, or similar terms used in this annual report refer to WiMi Hologram Cloud Inc., a Cayman Islands exempted company, including its wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries and, in the context of describing our operations and consolidated financial information, its VIEs and their subsidiaries.

Our reporting currency is the Renminbi. This annual report on Form 20-F also contains translations of certain foreign currency amounts into U.S. dollars for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise stated, all translations from Renminbi to U.S. dollars were made at RMB 6.3757 to US$1.00, representing the mid-point reference rate set by People’s Bank of China on December 31, 2021. We make no representation that the Renminbi or U.S. dollar 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. The PRC government imposes control over its foreign currency reserves in part through direct regulation of the conversion of Renminbi into foreign exchange and through restrictions on foreign trade.

iv

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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 Our Consolidated VIEs and Their Respective Shareholders

We are not an operating company in China, but a Cayman Islands holding company with no equity ownership in the VIEs. We conduct our operations in China through our PRC subsidiaries and our VIEs with which we have maintained contractual arrangements and their subsidiaries in China. PRC laws and regulations impose certain restrictions or prohibitions on foreign ownership of companies that engage in internet and other related businesses. Accordingly, we operate these businesses in China through our VIEs, and rely on contractual arrangements among our PRC subsidiaries, our VIEs and their shareholders to control the business operations of our VIEs. Revenues contributed by our VIEs and their subsidiaries accounted for 100.0%, 44.0% and 21.7% of our total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively. As used in this annual report, “we,” “us,” “our company,” “the Company” or “our” refers to WiMi Hologram Cloud Inc., a Cayman Islands company, its subsidiaries, and, in the context of describing its operations and consolidated financial information, its consolidated affiliated entities in China. Investors of our ADSs are not purchasing equity interest in our operating entities in China but instead are purchasing equity interest in a Cayman Islands holding company.

A series of contractual agreements, including power of attorney, equity interest pledge agreement, exclusive business cooperation agreement, exclusive share purchase option agreement, exclusive asset purchase agreement and spousal consent letters, have been entered into by and among our PRC subsidiaries, our VIEs and their respective shareholders. Terms contained in each set of contractual arrangements with our PRC subsidiaries, our VIEs and their respective shareholders are substantially similar. For more details of these contractual arrangements, see “Item 4. Information on the Company — C. Organizational Structure — Contractual Arrangements with Our VIEs and Their Respective Shareholders.”

The contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over our consolidated VIEs and we may incur substantial costs to enforce the terms of the arrangements. See “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Our Corporate Structure — We rely on contractual arrangements with our VIEs and their respective shareholders for our operations in China, which may not be as effective in providing operational control as direct ownership” and “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Our Corporate Structure — Our shareholders or the shareholders of our VIEs may have potential conflicts of interest with us, which may materially and adversely affect our business.”

Our corporate structure is subject to risks associated with our contractual arrangements with our VIEs. Investors may never directly hold equity interests in our VIEs. If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating our business do not comply with PRC laws and regulations, 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, our PRC subsidiaries, our VIEs, 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 our VIEs and, consequently, significantly affect the financial performance of our VIEs and our Company as a whole.

There are also substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current and future PRC laws, regulations and rules regarding the status of the rights of our Cayman Islands holding company with respect to its contractual arrangements with our VIEs and their respective shareholders. It is uncertain whether any new PRC laws or regulations relating to variable interest entity structures will be adopted or if adopted, what they would provide. If we or any of our VIEs is found to be in violation of any existing or future PRC

1

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laws or regulations, or fail to obtain or maintain any of the required permits or approvals, the relevant PRC regulatory authorities would have broad discretion to take action in dealing with such violations or failures. See “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Our Corporate Structure — If the PRC government finds that the agreements establishing the structure for operating our businesses in China do not comply with PRC regulations on foreign investment in internet and other related businesses, or if these regulations or their interpretation change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations,” and “— Substantial uncertainties exist with respect to the enactment timetable, interpretation and implementation of PRC Foreign Investment Law and how it may impact the viability of our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business operations.”

We face various legal and operational risks and uncertainties associated with being based in or having our operations primarily in China and the complex and evolving PRC laws and regulations. For example, we face risks associated with regulatory approvals on offerings conducted overseas by and foreign investment in China-based issuers, the use of our VIEs, anti-monopoly regulatory actions, and oversight on cybersecurity and data privacy. Our auditor is not subject to the determinations announced by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) on December 16, 2021. However, in the event the PRC authorities would further strengthen regulations over auditing work of Chinese companies listed on the U.S. stock exchanges, which would prohibit our current auditor to perform work in China, then we would need to change our auditor and the audit workpapers prepared by our new auditor may not be inspected by the PCAOB without the approval of the PRC authorities, in which case the PCAOB may not be able to fully evaluate the audit or the auditors’ quality control procedures. These risks could result in a material adverse change in our operations and the value of our ADSs, significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors, or cause the value of such securities to significantly decline. For a detailed description of risks related to doing business in China, “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Doing Business in China.”

PRC government’s significant 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 be of little or no value. For more details, see “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Doing Business in China — Because substantially all of our operations are in China, our business is subject to the complex and rapidly evolving laws and regulations there. The Chinese government may exercise significant oversight and discretion over the conduct of our business and may intervene in or influence our operations at any time, which could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our ADSs.”

Risks and uncertainties arising from the legal system in China, 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 ADSs. 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 limit the legal protections available to you and us.”

Permission Required from the PRC Authorities for Our Operations

We conduct our business primarily through our subsidiaries, our VIEs and their subsidiaries in China. Our operations in China are governed by PRC laws and regulations. As of the date of this annual report, our consolidated affiliated Chinese entities have obtained the requisite licenses and permits from the PRC government authorities that are material for the business operations of our holding company, our subsidiaries and our VIEs in China. However, given the uncertainties of interpretation and implementation of relevant laws and regulations and the enforcement practice by government authorities, we cannot assure you that we have obtained all the permits or licenses required for conducting our business in China. We may be required to obtain additional licenses, permits, filings or approvals for our functions and services in the future. For more detailed information, see “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry — We may be adversely affected by the complexity, uncertainties and changes in PRC licensing and regulation of internet businesses.”

In connection with our previous issuance of securities to foreign investors, under current PRC laws, regulations and regulatory rules, as of the date of this annual report, we, our PRC subsidiaries and our VIEs, (i) are not required to obtain permissions from the CSRC, (ii) are not required to go through cybersecurity review by the Cyberspace Administration of China, or the CAC, and (iii) have not received or were denied such requisite permissions by any PRC authority.

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However, the PRC government has recently indicated an intent to exert more oversight and control over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China-based issuers. For more detailed information, see “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Doing Business in China — We are subject to extensive and evolving legal system in the PRC, non-compliance with which, or changes in which, may materially and adversely affect our business and prospects, and may result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our ADSs or could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of our ADSs to significantly decline or be worthless.”

Selected Financial Data

The following selected consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income (loss) data for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021, selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021, and selected consolidated cash flow data for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report.

The selected consolidated financial data should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes and “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” included elsewhere in this annual report. The consolidated financial statements are prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of our results for any future periods.

The following table presents our selected consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss) for the years indicated.

Selected Consolidated Statements of
Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss):

 

For the Years Ended December 31,

2019

 

2020

 

2021

 

2021

   

RMB

 

RMB

 

RMB

 

USD

Operating revenues

 

319,181,424

 

 

766,013,586

 

 

933,791,519

 

 

146,461,019

 

Cost of revenues

 

(146,167,843

)

 

(596,578,700

)

 

(684,223,832

)

 

(107,317,445

)

Gross profit

 

173,013,581

 

 

169,434,886

 

 

249,567,687

 

 

39,143,574

 

Operating expenses

 

(60,162,041

)

 

(322,851,417

)

 

(513,223,836

)

 

(80,496,863

)

Income (loss) from operations

 

112,851,540

 

 

(153,416,531

)

 

(263,656,149

)

 

(41,353,289

)

Other (expenses) income, net

 

(7,517,988

)

 

11,363,289

 

 

8,426,463

 

 

1,321,653

 

(Provision for) benefit of income taxes

 

(3,129,080

)

 

(2,904,681

)

 

835,222

 

 

131,000

 

Net income (loss)

 

102,204,472

 

 

(144,957,923

)

 

(254,394,464

)

 

(39,900,636

)

Less: Net income attributable to non-controlling interests

 

 

 

6,209,945

 

 

(18,421,285

)

 

(2,889,296

)

Net income (loss) attributable to WiMi Hologram Cloud, Inc.

 

102,204,472

 

 

(151,167,868

)

 

(235,973,179

)

 

(37,011,340

)

Other comprehensive income (loss)

 

1,589,076

 

 

(38,876,201

)

 

(19,852,192

)

 

(3,113,727

)

Less: Comprehensive income attributable to non-controlling interests

 

 

 

5,865,631

 

 

(18,737,271

)

 

(2,938,857

)

Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to WiMi Hologram Cloud, Inc.

 

103,793,548

 

 

(189,699,755

)

 

(255,509,385

)

 

(40,075,507

)

WEIGHTED AVERAGE NUMBER OF ORDINARY SHARES

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

Basic

 

100,000,000

 

 

129,439,604

 

 

167,057,820

 

 

167,057,820

 

Diluted

 

108,611,133

 

 

129,439,604

 

 

167,057,820

 

 

167,057,820

 

EARNINGS (LOSS) PER SHARE

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

Basic

 

1.02

 

 

(1.17

)

 

(1.41

)

 

(0.22

)

Diluted

 

0.94

 

 

(1.17

)

 

(1.41

)

 

(0.22

)

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Non-GAAP Financial Data:(1)

 

For the Years Ended December 31,

2019

 

2020

 

2021

 

2021

   

RMB

 

RMB

 

RMB

 

USD

Non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to WiMi Hologram Cloud, Inc.

 

102,204,472

 

47,527,547

 

(89,887,141

)

 

(14,098,396

)

NON-GAAP WEIGHTED AVERAGE NUMBER OF ORDINARY SHARES

           

 

   

 

Basic

 

100,000,000

 

129,439,604

 

167,057,820

 

 

167,057,820

 

Diluted(2)

 

108,611,133

 

129,453,166

 

167,057,820

 

 

167,057,820

 

NON-GAAP EARNINGS (LOSS) PER SHARE

           

 

   

 

Basic

 

1.02

 

0.37

 

(1.41

)

 

(0.22

)

Diluted

 

0.94

 

0.37

 

(1.41

)

 

(0.22

)

____________

(1)      See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures”.

(2)      The dilutive effect was due to 45,000 shares of unvested stock based compensation.

The following table presents our selected consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2020 and 2021.

 

As of December 31,

Selected Consolidated Balance Sheet Data:

 

2020

 

2021

 

2021

   

RMB

 

RMB

 

USD

Current assets

 

616,425,842

 

907,819,648

 

142,387,447

Other assets

 

555,995,843

 

597,209,049

 

93,669,564

Total assets

 

1,172,421,685

 

1,505,028,697

 

236,057,011

Total liabilities

 

163,369,762

 

165,564,432

 

25,968,038

Total WiMi Hologram Cloud, Inc. shareholders’ equity

 

997,246,189

 

1,264,063,507

 

198,262,702

Non-controlling interests

 

11,805,734

 

75,400,758

 

11,826,271

Total shareholders’ equity

 

1,009,051,923

 

1,339,464,265

 

210,088,973

The following table presents our selected consolidated cash flow data for the years indicated.

 

For the Years Ended December 31

Selected Consolidated Cash Flow Data:

 

2019

 

2020

 

2021

 

2021

   

RMB

 

RMB

 

RMB

 

USD

Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities

 

143,955,544

 

 

(66,960,681

)

 

58,160,519

 

 

9,122,213

 

Net cash used in investing activities

 

(126,479,892

)

 

(228,129,543

)

 

(237,668,762

)

 

(37,277,281

)

Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities

 

(40,974,000

)

 

562,639,786

 

 

579,414,993

 

 

90,878,648

 

Effect of exchange rate on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

 

599,384

 

 

(28,489,442

)

 

(15,668,701

)

 

(2,457,562

)

Net change in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

 

(22,898,964

)

 

239,060,120

 

 

384,238,049

 

 

60,266,018

 

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of year

 

151,947,942

 

 

129,048,978

 

 

368,109,098

 

 

57,736,264

 

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of year

 

129,048,978

 

 

368,109,098

 

 

752,347,147

 

 

118,002,282

 

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In evaluating our business, we consider and use the following non-GAAP financial measures as supplemental measures to review and assess our operating performance of non-GAAP net income (loss). The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

We define non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to us as net income (loss) before stock compensation expenses, goodwill impairment loss, impairment loss from long-lived assets, impairment loss from other assets and loss from deconsolidation of subsidiaries.

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Although stock compensation is an important aspect of the compensation of our employees and goodwill impairment loss, impairment loss from long-lived assets and impairment loss from other assets are important aspects of our operating results of 2021, we exclude them from non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to us primarily because they are non-cash expenses and are partially discretionary in nature, which is not necessarily indicative of our ongoing business performance. We believe that it is useful to exclude stock compensation expenses for investors to better understand the long-term underlying performance of our core operations and to facilitate comparison of our results to our prior periods and to our peer companies.

We present these non-GAAP financial measures because they are used by our management to evaluate our operating performance and formulate our business plans. These non-GAAP financial measures enable our management to assess our operating results without considering the impact of non-cash charges of stock compensation expenses.

These non-GAAP financial measures are not defined under U.S. GAAP and are not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools. One of the key limitations of using these non-GAAP financial measures is that they do not reflect all items of income and expense that affect our operations. Stock compensation expenses have been and may continue to be incurred in our business and are not reflected in the presentation of non-GAAP net income (loss). Further, these non-GAAP financial measures may differ from the non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies, including our peer companies, so their utility for comparison purposes may be limited.

We compensate for these limitations by reconciling our non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures, which should be considered when evaluating our performance. We encourage you to review our financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure.

The following tables reconcile our non-GAAP net income attributable to us to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which are net loss (income) attributable to our ordinary shareholders.

Reconciliation of Net Income (Loss) Attributable to WiMi Hologram Cloud, Inc. to Non-GAAP Net Income Attributable to WiMi Hologram Cloud, Inc.:

 



For the Years Ended December 31,

2019

 

2020

 

2021

 

2021

   

RMB

 

RMB

 

RMB

 

USD

Net income (loss) attributable to WiMi Hologram Cloud, Inc.

 

102,204,472

 

(151,167,868

)

 

(235,973,179

)

 

(37,011,337

)

Stock compensation expenses

 

 

191,418,458

 

 

10,582,557

 

 

1,659,827

 

Goodwill impairment loss

 

 

7,276,957

 

 

131,194,659

 

 

20,577,295

 

Impairment loss from long-lived assets

 

 

 

 

4,308,822

 

 

675,819

 

Non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to WiMi Hologram Cloud, Inc.

 

102,204,472

 

47,527,547

 

 

(89,887,141

)

 

(14,098,396

)

WEIGHTED AVERAGE NUMBER OF ORDINARY SHARES

       

 

   

 

   

 

Basic

 

100,000,000

 

129,439,604

 

 

167,057,820

 

 

167,057,820

 

Diluted

 

108,611,133

 

129,439,604

 

 

167,057,820

 

 

167,057,820

 

EARNINGS (LOSS) PER SHARE

       

 

   

 

   

 

Basic

 

1.02

 

(1.17

)

 

(1.41

)

 

(0.22

)

Diluted

 

0.94

 

(1.17

)

 

(1.41

)

 

(0.22

)

NON-GAAP WEIGHTED AVERAGE NUMBER OF ORDINARY SHARES

       

 

   

 

   

 

Basic

 

100,000,000

 

129,439,604

 

 

167,057,820

 

 

167,057,820

 

Diluted(1)

 

108,611,133

 

129,453,166

 

 

167,057,820

 

 

167,057,820

 

NON-GAAP EARNINGS (LOSS) PER SHARE

       

 

   

 

   

 

Basic

 

1.02

 

0.37

 

 

(0.54

)

 

(0.08

)

Diluted

 

0.94

 

0.37

 

 

(0.54

)

 

(0.08

)

____________

(1)      The dilutive effect was due to 45,000 shares of unvested stock based compensation.

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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

Investment in our ADSs involves significant risks. Below is a summary of material risks we face, organized under relevant headings.

Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry

•        We operate in a relatively new and rapidly evolving market and our competitive position and results of operations could be harmed if we do not compete effectively.

•        We are a relatively young company, and we may not be able to sustain our rapid growth, effectively manage our growth or implement our business strategies.

•        If we fail to keep up with industry trends or technological developments, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

•        We require a significant amount of capital to fund our research and development investments. If we cannot obtain sufficient capital on favorable terms or at all, our business, financial condition and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

•        If existing or new customers are less willing to cooperate with us, our revenues and profits may be adversely affected.

•        If we fail to successfully compete with other advertising platforms, media companies, AR or traditional advertisement producers, our revenues and profits may be adversely affected.

Risks Relating to Our Corporate Structure

•        We are a Cayman Islands holding company with no equity ownership in our VIEs. We conduct our operations in China through our PRC subsidiaries and our VIEs with which we have maintained contractual arrangements and their subsidiaries in China. Investors thus are not purchasing the right to convert shares into direct equity interest in our operating entities in China but instead are purchasing the right to convert shares into 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 PRC laws and regulations, 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, our PRC subsidiaries, our VIEs, 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 our VIEs and, consequently, significantly affect the financial performance of our VIEs and our Company as a whole. For a detailed description of the risks associated with our corporate structure, please refer to risks disclosed under “Item D. Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Our Corporate Structure.”

Risks Relating to Doing Business in China

•        The PRC government’s significant 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.

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For more details, see “Item D. Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Doing Business in China — Because substantially all of our operations are in China, our business is subject to the complex and rapidly evolving laws and regulations there. The Chinese government may exercise significant oversight and discretion over the conduct of our business and may intervene in or influence our operations at any time, which could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our ADSs.”

•        Risks and uncertainties arising from the legal system in China, 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 ADSs. For more details, see “Item D. Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Doing Business in China — Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws and regulations could limit the legal protections available to you and us.”

•        Our ADSs may be delisted and our ADSs and shares prohibited from trading under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCAA, if the PCAOB is unable to inspect or fully investigate certain auditors.

•        We are subject to extensive and evolving legal system in the PRC, non-compliance with which, or changes in which, may materially and adversely affect our business and prospects, and may result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our ADSs or could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of our ADSs to significantly decline or be worthless.

Risks Relating to the ADSs

•        The market price for our ADSs have fluctuated and may be volatile.

•        The sale or availability for sale of substantial amounts of our ADSs could adversely affect their market price.

•        You may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through U.S. courts may be limited, because we are incorporated under Cayman Islands law.

•        You may not receive dividends or other distributions on our ordinary shares and you may not receive any value for them, if it is illegal or impractical to make them available to you.

Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry

We operate in a relatively new and rapidly evolving market.

We offer AR-based holographic services and products to cater to our customers’ needs, focusing on providing an innovative, immersive and interactive holographic AR experience for our customers and end users. We also engage in the provision of central processing algorithm services and computer chip products to enterprise customers and the sales of comprehensive solutions for central processing algorithms and related services with software and hardware integration. Our holographic AR business primarily depends on the continuing development and growth of the holographic AR industry in China. Growth of the holographic AR industry in China is affected by numerous factors, including but not limited to, technological innovations, user experience, development of internet and internet-based services, regulatory environment, and macroeconomic environment. The markets for our products and services are relatively new and rapidly developing and are subject to significant challenges. In addition, our continued growth depends, in part, on our ability to respond to changes in the holographic AR industry, including rapid technological evolution, continued shifts in customer demands, introductions of new products and services and emergence of new industry standards and practices. Developing and integrating new content, products, services or infrastructure could be expensive and time-consuming, and these efforts may not yield the benefits we expect to achieve.

In addition, as the holographic AR industry in China is relatively young, there are few proven methods of projecting customer demand or available industry standards on which we can rely. Some of our current monetization methods are also in a relatively preliminary stage. We cannot assure you that our attempts to monetize our current offerings will continue to be successful, profitable or accepted, and therefore the profit potential of our business is

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difficult to gauge. Our growth prospects should be considered in light of the risks and uncertainties that fast-growing early-stage companies with limited operating history in an evolving industry may encounter, including, among others, risks and uncertainties regarding our ability to:

•        continue to develop new software and related solutions that are appealing to end users;

•        enrich our holographic AR content portfolio;

•        maintain stable relationships with other key participants in the holographic AR value chain;

•        expand our products and services into more use cases; and

•        expand into new geographic markets with high growth potential.

We believe that the application demand for holographic 3D vision in the semiconductor industry is growing rapidly and represents promising market potentials. We began to develop our semiconductor business and explore the relevant applications of holographic 3D vision in the semiconductor industry and the provision of computer chip products and the sales of comprehensive solutions for central processing algorithms to enterprise customers in July 2020. If the demand for our services and products is not sustained, does not increase, if companies in the semiconductor industry expand too aggressively in light of the increase in demand, or if we cannot take appropriate or effective actions in a timely manner during any industry-wide downturns, such as reducing our costs to sufficiently offset declines in demand for our services, our results of operations for our semiconductor business may be adversely affected.

Addressing these risks and uncertainties will require significant capital expenditures and allocation of valuable management and employee resources. We cannot assure you that we will succeed in any of these aspects or that the holographic AR industry in China will continue to grow at a rapid pace. If we fail to successfully address any of the above risks and uncertainties, the size of our user base, our revenue and profits may decline.

Our competitive position and results of operations could be harmed if we do not compete effectively.

The markets for our products and services are characterized by intense competition, new industry standards, limited barriers to entry, disruptive technology developments, short product life cycles, customer price sensitivity and frequent product introductions (including alternatives with limited functionality available at lower costs or free of charge). Any of these factors could create downward pressure on pricing and profitability and could adversely affect our ability to attract new customers. Our future success will depend on our continued ability to enhance our existing products and services, introduce new products and services in a timely and cost-effective manner, meet changing customer expectations and needs, extend our core technology into new applications, and anticipate emerging standards, business models, software delivery methods and other technological developments. Furthermore, we are a small-size company as compared to some of the well-established enterprises that could potentially enter the holographic AR market and semiconductor industry. Some of our current and potential competitors enjoy competitive advantages such as greater financial, technical, sales, marketing and other resources, broader brand awareness, and access to larger customer bases. As a result of these advantages, potential and current customers might select the products and services of our competitors, causing a loss of our market share.

We are a relatively young company, and we may not be able to sustain our rapid growth, effectively manage our growth or implement our business strategies.

We have a limited operating history. Our holographic AR business was launched in 2015 and our semiconductor business was launched in July 2020. Although we have experienced significant growth since our business was launched, our historical growth rate may not be indicative of our future performance. We may not be able to achieve similar results or grow at the same rate as we had in the past. As our business and the holographic AR market and the semiconductor industry in China continue to develop, we may need to adjust our product and service offerings or modify our business model. These adjustments may not achieve expected results and may have a material and adverse impact on our financial conditions and results of operations.

In addition, our rapid growth and expansion have placed, and continue to place, a significant strain on our management and resources. This level of significant growth may not be sustainable or achievable at all in the future. We believe that our continued growth will depend on many factors, including our ability to develop new

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sources of revenues, diversify monetization methods, attract and retain customers, continue developing innovative hologram-related technologies, increase brand awareness, expand into new market segments, and adjust to the rapidly changing regulatory environment in China. We cannot assure you 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.

If we fail to keep up with industry trends or technological developments, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

The holographic AR industry and semiconductor industry are rapidly evolving and subject to continuous technological changes. Our success depends on our ability to continue to develop and implement services and solutions that anticipate and respond to rapid and continuing changes in technology and industry developments and offerings to serve the evolving needs of our customers. Our growth strategy is focused on responding to these types of developments by driving innovation that will enable us to expand our business into new growth areas. If we do not sufficiently invest in new technology and industry developments, or evolve and expand our business at sufficient speed and scale, or if we do not make the right strategic investments to respond to these developments and successfully drive innovation, our services and solutions, our results of operations, and our ability to develop and maintain a competitive advantage and continue to grow could be negatively affected. In addition, we operate in a quickly evolving environment, in which there currently are, and we expect will continue to be, new technology entrants. New services or technologies offered by competitors or new entrants may make our offerings less differentiated or less competitive, when compared to other alternatives, which may adversely affect our results of operations. Technological innovations may also require substantial capital expenditures in product development as well as in modification of products, services or infrastructure. We cannot assure you that we can obtain financing to cover such expenditure. Failure to adapt our products and services to such changes in an effective and timely manner could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We incurred net loss in 2021, and we may not be able to maintain profitability in the future.

We incurred net loss in 2021. We had net income from continuing operations of RMB 89.2 million and RMB 102.2 million in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and had net loss from continuing operations of RMB 145.0 million in 2020 and RMB 254.4 million (USD 39.9 million) in 2021. We have made significant investments in research and development expenses to develop and expand our business. We expect to continue to invest significantly in research and development to further develop and expand our business, and these investments may not result in an increase in revenue or positive cash flow from operating activities on a timely basis, or at all.

We may not maintain profitability, or we may incur substantial losses for a number of reasons, including the lack of demand for our products and services, increasing competition, challenging macro-economic environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we may incur unforeseen expenses, or encounter difficulties, complications and delays in generating revenue or achieving profitability. If we are unable to achieve profitability, we may have to reduce the scale of our operations, which may impact our business growth and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, our continuous operation depends on our capability to improve operating cash flows as well as our capacity to obtain sufficient external equity or debt financing. If we do not succeed in doing so, we may have to limit the scale of our operations, which may limit our business growth and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

If we cannot continue to develop, acquire, market and offer new products and services or enhancements to existing products and services that meet customer requirements, our operating results could suffer.

The process of developing and acquiring new technology products and services and enhancing existing offerings is complex, costly and uncertain. If we fail to anticipate customers’ rapidly changing needs and expectations, our market share and results of operations could suffer. We must make long-term investments, develop, acquire or obtain appropriate intellectual property and commit significant resources before knowing whether our predictions will accurately reflect customer demand for our products and services. If we misjudge customer needs in the future, our new products and services may not succeed and our revenues and earnings may be harmed. Additionally, any delay in the development, acquisition, marketing or launch of a new offering or enhancement to an existing offering could result in customer attrition or impede our ability to attract new customers, causing a decline in our revenue or earnings.

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We make significant investments in new products and services that may not achieve expected returns.

We have made and will continue to make significant investments in research, development, and marketing for existing products, services, and technologies, including holographic AR advertising solutions, mobile payment middleware, integrated holographic AR software, other AR-based holographic offerings, holographic 3D vision-related semiconductor application solutions, and central processing algorithms and related services, as well as new technology or new applications of existing technology. Investments in new technology are speculative. Commercial success depends on many factors, including but not limited to, innovativeness, developer support, and effective distribution and marketing. If customers do not perceive our latest offerings as providing significant new functionality or other value, they may reduce their purchases of our services or products, unfavorably affecting our revenue and profits. We may not achieve significant revenue from new product, service or distribution channel investments, or new applications of existing new product, service or distribution channel investments, for several years, if at all. New products and services may not be profitable, and even if they are profitable, operating margins for some new products and businesses may not be as high as the margins we have experienced historically. Furthermore, developing new technologies is complex and can require long development and testing periods. Significant delays in new releases or significant problems in creating new products or offering new services could adversely affect our revenue and profits.

We cannot guarantee our monetization strategies will be successfully implemented or generate sustainable revenues and profit.

Our monetization model is evolving. We generate our revenues from holographic AR advertising services, payment middleware licensing, semiconductor products and related accessories, and central processing algorithms and related services with software and hardware integration, including customized central processing units, or CPUs, based on customers’ specific demands. We plan to further increase revenue contribution from our other hologram-related monetization methods and semiconductor product offerings. If our strategic initiatives do not enhance our monetization ability or enable us to develop new approaches to monetization, we may not be able to maintain or increase our revenues or profits or recover any associated costs. In addition, we may in the future introduce new services to further diversify our revenue streams, including services with which we have little or no prior development or operating experience. If these new or enhanced services fail to engage customers, we may fail to attract or retain users or to generate sufficient revenues or profits to justify our investments, and our business and operating results may suffer as a result.

Our results of operations could materially suffer if we are not able to obtain sufficient pricing to enable us to meet our profitability expectations.

If we are not able to obtain sufficient pricing for our services and solutions, our revenues and profitability could materially suffer. The rates we are able to charge for our services and solutions are affected by a number of factors, including:

•        general economic and political conditions;

•        the competitive environment in our industry;

•        our customers’ desire to reduce their costs; and

•        our ability to accurately estimate, attain and sustain contract revenues, margins and cash flows over the full contract period.

In addition, our profitability with respect to our services and solutions for new technologies may be different when compared to the profitability of our current business, due to factors such as the use of alternative pricing, the mix of work and the number of service providers, among others.

The competitive environment in our industry affects our ability to obtain favorable pricing in a number of ways, any of which could have a material negative impact on our results of operations. The less we are able to differentiate our services and solutions and/or clearly convey the value of our services and solutions, the more risk we have that they will be seen as commodities, with price being the driving factor in selecting a service provider. In addition, the introduction of new services or products by competitors could reduce our ability to obtain favorable pricing for the services or products we offer. Competitors may be willing, at times, to price contracts lower than

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us in an effort to enter new markets or increase market share. Further, if competitors develop and implement methodologies that yield greater efficiency and productivity, they may be better positioned to offer services similar to ours at lower prices.

We require a significant amount of capital to fund our research and development investments. If we cannot obtain sufficient capital on favorable terms or at all, our business, financial condition and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

Operating our holographic AR business and semiconductor business requires significant, continuous investment in acquiring, maintaining and upgrading contents and technologies. Historically, we have financed our operations primarily with net cash generated from operating activities, financial support from our shareholders and equity financings and loans from third parties. As part of our growth strategy, we plan to continue to invest substantial capital in our research and development activities in the future, which may require us to obtain additional equity or debt financing. Our ability to obtain additional financing in the future is subject to a number of uncertainties, including but not limited to those relating to:

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

•        general market conditions for financing activities; and

•        macro-economic and other conditions in China and elsewhere.

Although we expect to rely increasingly on net cash provided by operating activities and financing through capital markets for our liquidity needs as our business continues to grow and after we become a public company, we cannot assure you that we will be successful in our efforts to diversify our sources of liquidity. If we raise additional funds through future issuances of equity or convertible debt securities, our existing shareholders could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences and privileges superior to those of holders of our ordinary shares. Any debt financing that we secure in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, including the ability to pay dividends. This may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital to fund our research and pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. If we cannot obtain sufficient capital to meet our capital needs, we may not be able to implement our growth strategies, and our business, financial condition and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

If we fail to attract, retain and engage appropriately skilled personnel, including senior management and technology professionals, our business may be harmed.

Our future success depends on our retention of highly skilled executives and employees. Competition for well-qualified and skilled employees is intense, and our future success also depends on our continuing ability to attract, develop, motivate and retain highly qualified and skilled employees, including, in particular, software engineers, artificial intelligence scientists and AR technology professionals. Our continued ability to compete effectively depends on our ability to attract new employees and to retain and motivate existing employees. All of our senior management and key personnel are employees at will and, as a result, any of these employees could leave with little or no prior notice. If any member of our senior management team or other key employees leave our company, our ability to successfully operate our business and execute our business strategy could be adversely affected. In particular, such individuals are free to compete with us in the event that they leave. Furthermore, under PRC law, certain of our employees may have ownership rights to our intellectual property, which rights would continue in the event they left our company. We may also have to incur significant costs in identifying, hiring, training and retaining replacements of departing employees.

If existing or new customers are less willing to cooperate with us, our revenues and profits may be adversely affected.

We offer holographic AR advertising solutions primarily through contracts entered into with advertisers or third-party advertising agencies and middleware services primarily through contracts entered into with app developers and content providers. We offer semiconductor products and accessories, and design software for central processing units, and offer comprehensive solutions for central processing algorithms and related services with software and hardware integration to manufacturers of electronic products and internet information infrastructure

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service providers. We promote our products and services directly through our experienced and creative sales and marketing team by making direct office visits, attending conferences and industry exhibitions, and through word-of-mouth referral. Our ability to retain existing customers or attract new customers depends on many factors, some of which are out of our control, including:

•        Our ability to innovate and rapidly respond to customer needs;

•        The competitiveness of our pricing and payment terms for our customers, which may, in turn, be constrained by our capital and financial resources;

•        Sufficient capital support;

•        Our ability to acquire complementary technologies, products and businesses to enhance the features and functionality of our applications; and

•        Brand awareness and reputation.

We cannot assure you that we will be able to continue retain these customers or attract new customers. If we fail to retain and enhance our business relationships with new and existing customers, our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

If we fail to successfully compete with other advertising platforms, media companies, AR or traditional advertisement producers, our revenues and profits may be adversely affected.

Revenue generated from our advertising business is affected by the online advertising industry in China and advertisers’ allocation of budgets to Internet advertising and promotion in general, and specifically with respect to online holographic AR advertising. Companies that decide to advertise or promote online may utilize more established methods or channels for online advertising and promotion, such as key words advertising on established Chinese search engines, over in-video holographic AR advertising. In addition, we compete with media companies, AR or traditional advertisement producers. If the holographic AR advertising market size does not increase from current levels, if we are unable to capture and retain a sufficient share of that market, or if we are unable to compete effectively with our competitors, our ability to maintain or increase our current level of advertisement revenue and our profitability and prospects could be adversely affected.

Our products and software are highly technical and may contain undetected software bugs or vulnerabilities, which could manifest in ways that could seriously harm our reputation and our business.

Our products and software are highly technical and complex. Our software or any of our products may contain undetected software bugs, hardware errors, and other vulnerabilities. These bugs and errors can manifest in any number of ways in our products, including through diminished performance, security vulnerabilities, malfunctions, or even permanently disabled products. We have a practice of regularly updating our products and some errors in our products may be discovered only after a product has been used by users, and may in some cases be detected only under certain circumstances or after extended use. Any errors, bugs or other vulnerabilities discovered in our code or backend after release could damage our reputation, drive away users, allow third parties to manipulate or exploit our software, lower revenue and expose us to claims for damages, any of which could seriously harm our business.

Our business could be materially harmed by the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The ongoing spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has developed rapidly in many parts of the world. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 as a pandemic. The pandemic has resulted in quarantines, travel restrictions, and the temporary closure of stores and business facilities in China for the first few months in 2020. In addition, the Omicron variant and the Delta variant of COVID-19 began to spread rapidly over the world in 2021 and affected our business, as well as our customers and suppliers and because substantially all of our business operations and our workforce are concentrated in China, our business, results of operations, and financial condition have been adversely affected for the first half of 2020. Our business and results of operations

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have been resumed to normal level in the second half of 2020. The resurgence of COVID-19 variant has caused further impact to our operations. Potential impact to our future results of operations will also depend on future developments and new information that may emerge regarding the duration and severity of the COVID-19 and the actions taken by government authorities and other entities to contain the COVID-19 or mitigate its impact, almost all of which are beyond our control.

The impacts of COVID-19 on our business, financial condition, and results of operations include, but are not limited to, the following:

•        We temporally closed our offices and implemented work from home policy in February 2020, as required by relevant PRC regulatory authorities. Since March 16, 2020, our offices have reopened and have been fully operational. We did not experience any closure required by PRC regulatory authorities due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. Our office in the PRC was again closed for one week in first quarter of 2022.

•        Due to the nature of our business, the impact of the aforementioned closures on our operational capabilities was not significant, as most of our work force continued working offsite during the closures in February 2020 and first quarter of 2022.

•        For the year ended December 31, 2021, our customers were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and reduced their budgets for online advertising and marketing and COVID-19 has also caused supply chain shortage. As a result, our operating units Kuxuanyou, Skystar and Fe-da Electronics recorded goodwill impairment charges of approximately RMB 131.2 million (USD 20.6 million), impairment of long-lived assets of approximately RMB 4.3 million (USD 0.7 million) and other assets of approximately RMB 11.1 million (USD 1.7 million) which are mainly impairment of inventory and contract costs due to lower profit projections.

•        Our customers requested additional time to pay us or failed to pay us on time which required us to record additional allowances. We made additional RMB 128.4 million (USD 20.1 million) reserve for allowance for the year ended December 31, 2021. We have closely monitored our collections throughout 2020 and 2021 and will continue to monitor collections from 2022 and beyond.

While many of the restrictions on movement within China have been relaxed as of the date of this annual report, there is great uncertainty as to the future progress of the pandemic. Relaxation of restrictions on economic and social life may lead to new cases, which may lead to re-imposition of restrictions. Consequently, the continuance of COVID-19 pandemic may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations in the future. The extent to which this pandemic impacts our results of operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and unpredictable, including new outbreaks of COVID-19, the severity of the virus infection, the success or failure of efforts to contain or treat the cases, such as the availability of effective vaccines or cure, among others, and future actions we or the authorities may take in response to these developments.

Our failure to protect our intellectual property rights may undermine our competitive position.

We believe that our patents, copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual property are essential to our success. Please see Item 4.B. “Business Overview — Intellectual Property” for more details. We depend to a large extent on our ability to develop and maintain the intellectual property rights relating to AR technology, our hologram contents, and semiconductor products and software designs. We have devoted considerable time and energy to the development and improvement of our software, middleware, websites, and our IPs.

We rely primarily on a combination of patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets laws, and contractual restrictions for the protection of the intellectual property used in our business. Nevertheless, these provide only limited protection and the actions we take to protect our intellectual property rights may not be adequate. Our trade secrets may become known or be independently discovered by our competitors. We may have no or limited rights to stop others’ use of our information. Moreover, to the extent that our employees or third parties with whom we do business use intellectual property owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights to such intellectual property. Furthermore, it is often difficult to maintain and enforce intellectual property rights in China. Statutory laws and regulations are subject to judicial interpretation and enforcement, and may not be applied

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consistently due to the lack of clear guidance on statutory interpretation. Contractual restrictions may be breached by counterparties, and there may not be adequate remedies available to us for any such breach. Accordingly, we may not be able to effectively protect our intellectual property rights or to enforce our contractual rights in China. Preventing any unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly and the steps we take may be inadequate to prevent the misappropriation of our intellectual property. In the event that we resort to litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, such litigation could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our managerial and financial resources. We can provide no assurance that we will prevail in such litigation. Any failure in protecting or enforcing our intellectual property rights could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may not be able to protect our source code from copying if there is an unauthorized disclosure.

Source code, the detailed program commands for our middleware and software programs, is critical to our business. Although we license portions of our application and operating system source code to several licensees, we take significant measures to protect the secrecy of large portions of our source code. If our source code leaks, we might lose future trade secret protection for that code. It may then become easier for third parties to compete with our products by copying functionality, which could adversely affect our revenue and operating margins.

As our patents may expire and may not be extended, our patent rights may be contested, circumvented, invalidated or limited in scope, our patent rights may not protect us effectively. In particular, we may not be able to prevent others from developing or exploiting competing technologies, which could have a material and adverse effect on our business operations, financial condition and results of operations.

In China, the validity period of utility model patent rights or design patent rights is ten years and not extendable. As of December 31, 2021, we had 233 registered patents, 25 patents applications pending in China and no additional patent applications under the patent cooperation treaty. For our pending application, we cannot assure you that we will be granted patents pursuant to our pending applications. Even if our patent applications succeed, it is still uncertain whether these patents will be contested, circumvented or invalidated in the future. In addition, the rights granted under any issued patents may not provide us with sufficient protection or competitive advantages. The claims under any pending patents that issue from our patent applications may not be broad enough to prevent others from developing technologies that are similar to or that achieve results similar to ours. It is also possible that the intellectual property rights of others will bar us from licensing and from exploiting any patents that issue from our pending applications. Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications owned by others exist in the fields in which we have developed and are developing our technology. These patents and patent applications might have priority over our patent applications and could subject our patent applications to invalidation. Finally, in addition to those who may claim priority, any of our existing or pending patents may also be challenged by others on the basis that they are otherwise invalid or unenforceable.

Our services or solutions could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or we might lose our ability to utilize the intellectual property of others.

We cannot be sure that our services and solutions do not infringe on the intellectual property rights of third parties, and these third parties could claim that we or our customers are infringing upon their intellectual property rights. These claims could harm our reputation, cause us to incur substantial costs or prevent us from offering some services or solutions in the future. Any related proceedings could require us to expend significant resources over an extended period of time. Any claims or litigation in this area could be time-consuming and costly, damage our reputation and/or require us to incur additional costs to obtain the right to continue to offer a service or solution to our customers. If we cannot secure this right at all or on reasonable terms, or we cannot substitute alternative technology, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected. The risk of infringement claims against us may increase as we expand our industry software solutions.

In the operation of our AR holographic ads business, we do not enter into any agreements directly with the copyright owners of the videos in which ads are placed using our software. Consequently, there is no assurance that we will not be affected by disputes between platform operators, on the one hand, and copyright owners of such videos, on the other hand.

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Additionally, in recent years, individuals and firms have purchased intellectual property assets in order to assert claims of infringement against technology providers and customers that use such technology. Any such action naming us or our customers could be costly to defend or lead to an expensive settlement or judgment against us. Moreover, such an action could result in an injunction being ordered against our customers or our own services or operations, causing further damages.

In addition, we rely on third-party software in providing some of our services and solutions. If we lose our ability to continue using such software for any reason, including in the event that the software is found to infringe the rights of others, we will need to obtain substitute software or seek alternative means of obtaining the technology necessary to continue to provide such services and solutions. Our inability to replace such software, or to replace such software in a timely or cost-effective manner, could materially adversely affect our results of operations.

Third parties may register trademarks or domain names or purchase internet search engine keywords that are similar to our trademarks, brands or websites, or misappropriate our data and copy our platform, all of which could cause confusion to our users, divert online customers away from our products and services or harm our reputation.

Competitors and other third parties may purchase (i) trademarks that are similar to our trademarks and (ii) keywords that are confusingly similar to our brands or websites in internet search engine advertising programs and in the header and text of the resulting sponsored links or advertisements in order to divert potential customers from us to their websites. Preventing such unauthorized use is inherently difficult. If we are unable to prevent such unauthorized use, competitors and other third parties may continue to drive potential online customers away from our platform to competing, irrelevant or potentially offensive platform, which could harm our reputation and cause us to lose revenue.

Our business is highly dependent on the proper functioning and improvement of our information technology systems and infrastructure. Our business and operating results may be harmed by service disruptions, or by our failure to timely and effectively scale up and adjust our existing technology and infrastructure.

Our business depends on the continuous and reliable operation of our information technology (“IT”) systems. Our IT systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption as a result of fires, floods, earthquakes, power losses, telecommunications failures, undetected errors in software, computer viruses, hacking and other attempts to harm our IT systems. Disruptions, failures, unscheduled service interruptions or a decrease in connection speeds could damage our reputation and cause our customers and end-users to migrate to our competitors’ platforms. If we experience frequent or constant service disruptions, whether caused by failures of our own IT systems or those of third-party service providers, our user experience may be negatively affected, which in turn may have a material and adverse effect on our reputation and business. We may not be successful in minimizing the frequency or duration of service interruptions. As the number of our end-users increases and more user data are generated on our platform, we may be required to expand and adjust our technology and infrastructure to continue to reliably store and process content.

Our operations depend on the performance of the Internet infrastructure and fixed telecommunications networks in China, which may experience unexpected system failure, interruption, inadequacy or security breaches.

Almost all access to the Internet in China is maintained through state-owned telecommunication operators under the administrative control and regulatory supervision of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, or the MIIT. Moreover, we primarily rely on a limited number of telecommunication service providers to provide us with data communications capacity through local telecommunications lines and Internet data centers to host our servers. We have limited access to alternative networks or services in the event of disruptions, failures or other problems with China’s Internet infrastructure or the fixed telecommunications networks provided by telecommunication service providers. Web traffic in China has experienced significant growth during the past few years. Effective bandwidth and server storage at Internet data centers in large cities such as Beijing are scarce. With the expansion of our business, we may be required to upgrade our technology and infrastructure to keep up

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with the increasing traffic on our platform. We cannot assure you that the Internet infrastructure and the fixed telecommunications networks in China will be able to support the demands associated with the continued growth in Internet usage. If we cannot increase our capacity to deliver our online services, we may not be able to expand customer base, and the adoption of our services may be hindered, which could adversely impact our business and profitability.

In addition, we have no control over the costs of the services provided by telecommunication service providers. If the prices we pay for telecommunications and Internet services rise significantly, our results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, if Internet access fees or other charges to Internet users increase, some users may be prevented from accessing the mobile Internet and thus cause the growth of mobile Internet users to decelerate. Such deceleration may adversely affect our ability to continue to expand our user base.

We use third-party services and technologies in connection with our business, and any disruption to the provision of these services and technologies to us could result in adverse publicity and a slowdown in the growth of our users, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business partially depends on services provided by, and relationships with, various third parties. Some third-party software we use in our operations is currently publicly available and free of charge. If the owner of any such software decides to charge users or no longer makes the software publicly available, we may need to incur significant costs to obtain licensing, find replacement software or develop it on our own. If we are unable to obtain licensing, find or develop replacement software at a reasonable cost, or at all, our business and operations may be adversely affected.

We exercise no control over the third parties with whom we have business arrangements. If such third parties increase their prices, fail to provide their services effectively, terminate their service or agreements or discontinue their relationships with us, we could suffer service interruptions, reduced revenues or increased costs, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we are unable to collect our receivables or unbilled services, our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected.

Our business depends on our ability to successfully and timely obtain payment from our customers of the amounts they owe us for work performed. We evaluate the financial condition of our customers and usually bill and collect on 30 to 60 day cycles. We have established allowances for losses of receivables and unbilled services. Actual losses on balances could differ from those that we currently anticipate, and, as a result, we might need to adjust our allowances. We might not accurately assess the creditworthiness of our customers. Macroeconomic conditions could also result in financial difficulties for our customers, including bankruptcy and insolvency. This could cause customers to delay payments to us, request modifications to their payment arrangements that could increase our receivables balance, or default on their payment obligations to us. Recovery of customer financing and timely collection of balances also depend on our ability to complete our contractual commitments and bill and collect our contracted revenues. If we are unable to meet our contractual requirements, we might experience delays in collection of and/or be unable to collect our customer balances, and if this occurs, our results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected. In addition, if we experience an increase in the time to bill and collect for our services, our cash flows could be adversely affected.

Our business depends on the market recognition of our brand, and if we are unable to maintain and enhance brand recognition, or promote or maintain our brand in a cost-effective manner, our business, financial conditions and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We believe that maintaining and enhancing our brand is of significant importance to the success of our business. A well-recognized brand is important to attract customers, especially in this novel and evolving market. We promote our brand though marketing team and word-of-mouth referrals. Successful promotion of our brand will depend on the effectiveness of our marketing efforts and amount of word-of-mouth referrals we received from satisfied customers. We may incur extra expenses in promoting our brand. However, our brand promotion activities and marketing efforts may not yield increased revenues, and even if they do, any increased revenues may not offset the expenses we incurred in promoting our brand. Since we operate in a highly competitive industry, our brand recognition directly affects our ability to maintain our market position. If we fail to successfully promote and

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maintain our brand, or if we incur extra expenses in an unsuccessful attempt to promote and maintain our brand, we may fail to attract enough new customers or retain our existing customers, and our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Our AR holographic business’s success depends on the interoperability of our products and services with next-generation AR hardware.

The success of our AR holographic business and our AR products depends upon the cooperation of AR hardware manufactures to ensure interoperability with our products and offer compatible products and services to end users. To the extent that hardware manufactures perceive that their products and services compete with ours, they may have an incentive to withhold their cooperation, decline to share access or sell to us their proprietary application programming interfaces (“APIs”), protocols or formats, or engage in practices to actively limit the functionality, compatibility and certification of our products. If any of the foregoing occurs, our product development efforts may be delayed or foreclosed and it may be difficult and more costly for us to achieve functionality and service levels that would make our services attractive to end users, any of which could negatively impact our business and operating results.

Future litigation could have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

From time to time, we have been, and may in the future be, subject to lawsuits brought by our competitors, individuals, or other entities against us, in matters relating to intellectual property rights, contractual disputes and competition claims. The outcomes of actions we institute may not be successful or favorable to us. Lawsuits against us may also generate negative publicity that significantly harms our reputation, which may adversely affect our user base. In addition to the related costs, managing and defending litigation and related indemnity obligations can significantly divert our management’s attention from operating our business. We may also need to pay damages or settle lawsuits with a substantial amount of cash. While we do not believe that any currently pending proceedings are likely to have a material adverse effect on us, if there were adverse determinations in legal proceedings against us, we could be required to pay substantial monetary damages or adjust our business practices, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Negative media coverage could adversely affect our business.

Negative publicity about us and our business, shareholders, affiliates, directors, officers, and other employees, as well as the industry in which we operate, can harm our operations. Negative publicity concerning these parties could be related to a wide variety of matters, including:

•        alleged misconduct or other improper activities committed by our shareholders, affiliates, directors, officers and other employees;

•        false or malicious allegations or rumors about us or our shareholders, affiliates, directors, officers, and other employees;

•        user complaints about the quality of our products and services;

•        copyright or patent infringements involving us and contents offered on our platforms; and

•        governmental and regulatory investigations or penalties resulting from our failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations.

In addition to traditional media, there has been an increasing use of social media platforms and similar devices in China, including instant messaging applications, social media websites and other forms of internet-based communications that provide individuals with access to a broad audience of users and other interested persons. The availability of information on instant messaging applications and social media platforms is virtually immediate as is its impact without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction. The opportunity for dissemination of information, including inaccurate information, is seemingly limitless and readily available. Information concerning our company, shareholders, directors, officers and employees may be posted on such platforms at any time. The risks associated with any such negative publicity or incorrect information cannot be completely eliminated or mitigated and may materially harm our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

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If we fail to implement and maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may be unable to accurately report our results of operations, meet our reporting obligations or prevent fraud, and investor confidence and the market price of our ADSs may be materially and adversely affected.

We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act of 1934, or Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of and the rules and regulations of the Nasdaq Stock Market. We are not required to include an attestation report on internal control over financial reporting issued by our independent registered public accounting firm in this annual report, since we are an emerging growth company as defined under the JOBS Act. However, in the course of auditing our consolidated financial statements included in this annual report, we and our independent registered public accounting firm identified the following material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. As defined in standards established by the PCAOB, a “material weakness” is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The first material weakness is that we did not maintain an effective control environment. Specifically, we lacked sufficient resources regarding financial reporting and accounting personnel with understanding of U.S. GAAP, in particular, to address complex U.S. GAAP technical accounting issues, related disclosures in accordance with U.S. GAAP and financial reporting requirements set forth by the SEC. In addition, we have identified eight material weaknesses in information technology general control (“ITGC”) in the areas of: (1) third party vendor management, (2) data backup and disaster recovery, (3) user account management, (4) segregation of duties and monitoring privileged accounts, (5) access to systems and data/monitoring, (6) password management, (7) vulnerability assessment and patch assessment and (8) program change and security patch management.

We have already taken some steps and have continued to implement measures to remediate the material weaknesses identified, including but not limited to, requiring our staff to participate in trainings and seminars provided by professional service firms on a regular basis to gain knowledge on regular accounting and SEC reporting updates, and) providing internal training to our accounting staff on U.S. GAAP. For IT related weakness, we will (1) obtain third party service organization reports to ensure controls are properly functioned by services providers; (2) enhance our data backup procedures and monitoring; (3)enhance user account management; (4) enhance segregation of duties and remove system developer from managing accounts; (5) enhanced procedures and monitoring in system access (6) require more complicated passwords and increase frequency in changing passwords; (7) will hire third party security provider to assist the Company in the area of risk and vulnerability assessment and (8) enable third party software audit trail. However, we cannot assure you that we will not identify additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in the future. In addition, if we are unable to meet the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, our ADSs may not be able to remain listed on the NASDAQ Global Market.

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires that we include a report of management on our internal control over financial reporting in our annual report on Form 20-F. Our management concluded that as of December 31, 2021, our internal control over financial reporting was not effective due to material weaknesses identified above. Once we cease to be an “emerging growth company” as such term is defined under the JOBS Act, our independent registered public accounting firm must attest to and report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Even if our management concludes that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, our independent registered public accounting firm, after conducting its own independent testing, may issue a report that is qualified if it is not satisfied with our internal controls or the level at which our controls are documented, designed, operated or reviewed, or if it interprets the relevant requirements differently from us. In addition, as we are a public company, our reporting obligations may place a significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources and systems for the foreseeable future. We may be unable to timely complete our evaluation testing and any required remediation.

During the course of documenting and testing our internal control procedures, in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes- Oxley Act of 2002, we may identify other weaknesses and deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, if we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, as these standards are modified, supplemented or amended from time to time, we may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting. If we fail to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment, we could suffer material misstatements in our financial statements and fail to meet our reporting obligations, which would likely cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information. This could in turn limit our access to capital markets, harm

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our results of operations and lead to a decline in the trading price of our shares. Additionally, ineffective internal control over financial reporting could expose us to increased risk of fraud or misuse of corporate assets and subject us to potential delisting from the stock exchange on which we list, regulatory investigations and civil or criminal sanctions. We may also be required to restate our financial statements from prior periods.

Future strategic alliances or acquisitions may have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may enter into strategic alliances, including joint ventures or minority equity investments, with various third parties to further our business purpose from time to time. These alliances could subject us to a number of risks, including risks associated with sharing proprietary information, non-performance by the third party and increased expenses in establishing new strategic alliances, any of which may materially and adversely affect our business. We may have limited ability to monitor or control the actions of these third parties and, to the extent any of these strategic third parties suffer negative publicity or harm to their reputation from events relating to their business, we may also suffer negative publicity or harm to our reputation by virtue of our association with any such third party.

On September 27, 2020, our then wholly-owned subsidiary, VIYI Technology Inc., which was later renamed as VIYI Algorithm Inc., or VIYI, entered into an acquisition framework agreement with FE-DA Electronics Company Private Limited, or FE-DA, and its original shareholder, to acquire the entire equity interests of FE-DA. FE-DA is a provider of Internet of Things solutions based in Singapore, and primarily engages in the central processing algorithm integrated circuit (“CPA-IC”) solution business in Southeast Asia. On June 10, 2021, our wholly-owned subsidiary, VIYI Algorithm Inc., or VIYI, entered into a definitive merger agreement with Venus Acquisition Corporation, a Cayman Islands exempted company and a publicly traded special purpose acquisition corporation (“Venus”) (the “Merger Agreement”). Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, a newly created merger subsidiary of Venus will be merged with and into VIYI with VIYI being the surviving entity and becoming Venus’ wholly owned subsidiary. Upon closing of the transaction, Venus will change its name to MicroAlgo Inc. and continue as a Cayman Islands exempted company. The proposed merger is expected to be completed once all the closing conditions are met. In addition, we may continue to seek acquisition opportunities, as appropriate, to extend our holographic content production and software development capabilities, and evaluate potential target companies with strong software engineering and middleware development capabilities and leading patent-protected hologram technologies. Acquisitions or expansions may not be successfully completed and we may not be able to find or consummate suitable acquisition or expansion alternatives. If we successfully complete any acquisition or expansion, we may raise financing, either in the capital markets or in the form of bank financing, to cover all or part of the purchase price, which will lead to changes to our capital structure and may restrict us in other ways. In addition, to the extent we fund these business initiatives through the issuance of equity or convertible debt securities, the ownership interest of our shareholders could be diluted.

Acquisitions and expansions involve numerous risks, including potential difficulties in retaining and assimilating personnel, risks and difficulties associated with integrating the operations and culture of acquired businesses, diversions of management attention and other resources, lack of experience and industry and market knowledge of the new businesses, risks and difficulties associated with complying with laws and regulations related to the acquisitions and acquired businesses, and failure to properly identify problems with acquisition targets through the due diligence process. In addition, acquisitions and expansions may significantly stretch our capital, personnel and management resources and, as a result, we may fail to manage our growth effectively. Any new acquisition or expansion plans may also result in our assumption of debts and other liabilities, assumption of potential legal liabilities in respect of the new businesses, and incurrence of impairment charges related to goodwill and other intangible assets, any of which could harm our businesses, financial condition and results of operations. In particular, if any new businesses we acquire fail to perform as we expected, we may be required to recognize a significant impairment charge, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. There may also be established players in these sectors and markets that enjoy significant market share, and it may be difficult for us to win market share from them. Furthermore, some of the overseas markets that we target may have high barriers of entry for foreign players. There can be no assurance that our acquisition or expansion plans will be successful.

In addition, when appropriate opportunities arise, we may acquire additional assets, products, technologies or businesses that are complementary to our existing business. In addition to possible shareholders’ approval, we may also have to obtain approvals and licenses from relevant government authorities for the acquisitions and to comply

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with any applicable PRC laws and regulations, which could result in increased delay and costs, and may derail our business strategy if we fail to do so. Furthermore, past and future acquisitions and the subsequent integration of new assets and businesses require significant attention from our management and could result in a diversion of resources from our existing business, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our business operations. Acquired assets or businesses may not generate the financial results we expect. Acquisitions could result in the use of substantial amounts of cash, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the occurrence of significant goodwill impairment charges, amortization expenses for other intangible assets and exposure to potential unknown liabilities of the acquired business. Moreover, the costs of identifying and consummating acquisitions may be significant. Furthermore, our equity investees may generate significant losses, a portion of which will be shared by us in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Any such negative developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, results of operations and financial condition.

We have limited business insurance coverage.

Insurance companies in China offer limited business insurance products. We do not have any business liability or disruption insurance coverage for our operations in China. Any business disruption may result in our incurring substantial costs and the diversion of our resources, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We have adopted an equity incentive plan and have granted share-based awards under our equity incentive plan, which will result in increased stock compensation expenses.

We adopted our 2020 Equity Incentive Plan, or the 2020 Plan, in July 2020 for purposes of granting stock-based compensation awards to employees, directors, officers, and consultants to incentivize their performance and align their interests with ours. Under our 2020 Plan, we are authorized to grant restricted Class B ordinary shares, options to purchase Class B ordinary shares of our company and restricted share units to receive Class B ordinary shares. The maximum number of Class B ordinary shares which may be issued pursuant to all awards under the 2020 Plan is 17,500,000. As of the date of this annual report, we have issued 17,500,000 Class B ordinary shares, of which we granted an aggregate of 16,758,240 restricted Class B ordinary shares to our directors, officers, key employees and advisors, among which 15,993,240 Class B ordinary shares were fully vested in October and December 2020, and 765,000 restricted Class B ordinary shares are to be vested over a three-year period. The remaining 741,760 Class B ordinary shares are held in trust designated by the administrator of the 2020 Plan.

We believe the grant of share incentive awards is of significant importance to our ability to attract and retain employees, and we may continue to grant share incentive awards to employees in the future. As a result, we will incur expenses associated with stock-based compensation, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.

We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the SEC, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in, and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.

Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.

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If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating our businesses in China do not comply with PRC regulations relating to the relevant industries, or if these regulations or their interpretation change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations.

Foreign ownership of the telecommunication business and certain other businesses in China is extensively regulated and subject to numerous restrictions. Pursuant to the Special Administrative Measures for Access of Foreign Investment (Negative List) (2021 Edition), or the Negative List, and Administrative Provisions on Foreign-Invested Telecommunications Enterprises (Revised in 2016), foreign investors are generally not allowed to own more than 50% of the equity interests in a commercial internet content provider or other value-added telecommunication service provider other than operating e-commerce, and the major foreign investor in a value-added telecommunication service provider in China must have experience in providing value-added telecommunications services overseas and maintain a good track record in accordance with the Negative List, Administrative Provisions on Foreign-Invested Telecommunications Enterprises (Revised in 2016) and other applicable laws and regulations. In addition, foreign investors are prohibited from investing in companies engaged in online operating business, internet audio-visual programs business, internet culture business and radio and television program production business.

We are a Cayman Islands company and our PRC subsidiaries are currently considered foreign-invested enterprises. Accordingly, none of our PRC subsidiaries are eligible to operate internet content services, online culture activities or other businesses which foreign-owned companies are prohibited or restricted from conducting in the PRC. To ensure strict compliance with the PRC laws and regulations, we conduct such business activities through our VIEs and their subsidiaries. Our subsidiaries in the PRC have entered into a series of contractual arrangements with our VIEs and their respective shareholders, in order for us to (i) exercise effective control over our VIEs, (ii) receive substantially all of the economic benefits of our VIEs, and (iii) have an exclusive option to purchase the equity interests in our VIEs. As a result of these contractual arrangements, we have control over and are the primary beneficiary of our VIEs and hence consolidate their financial results as our VIEs under U.S. GAAP. See “Item 4. Information on the Company- 4.C. Organization Structure” for details.

If the PRC government finds that our contractual arrangements do not comply with its restrictions on foreign investment in the telecommunication business and certain other businesses, or if the PRC government otherwise finds that we, our VIE, or any of its subsidiaries is in violation of PRC laws or regulations or lacks the necessary permits or licenses to operate our business, the relevant PRC regulatory authorities, including the MIIT and the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (“MOFCOM”), would have broad discretion in dealing with such violations or failures, including:

•        revoking the business licenses and/or operating licenses of such entities;

•        discontinuing or placing restrictions or onerous conditions on our operation through any transactions between our PRC subsidiaries and our VIEs;

•        imposing fines, confiscating the income from our PRC subsidiaries or our VIEs, or imposing other requirements with which we or our VIEs may not be able to comply;

•        requiring us to restructure our ownership structure or operations, including terminating the contractual arrangements with our VIEs and deregistering the equity pledges of our VIEs, which in turn would affect our ability to consolidate, derive economic interests from, or exert effective control over our VIEs; or

•        restricting or prohibiting our use of the proceeds we receive from our offshore financing activities to finance our business and operations in China.

Any of these events could cause significant disruption to our business operations and severely damage our reputation, which would in turn materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. If occurrence of any of these events results in our inability to direct the activities of our VIEs that most significantly impacts their economic performance and/or our failure to receive the economic benefits from our VIEs, we may not be able to consolidate the entities in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP and our ADSs may decline in value or become worthless.

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Substantial uncertainties exist with respect to the enactment timetable, interpretation and implementation of PRC Foreign Investment Law and how it may impact the viability of our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business operations.

In March 2019, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the PRC passed the Foreign Investment Law of the People’s Republic of China (“Foreign Investment Law”). Among other things, the Foreign Investment Law defines the “foreign investment” as the investment activities in China conducted by foreign individuals, enterprises and other organizations (collectively, the “Foreign Investors”) in a direct or indirectly manner, including any of the following circumstances: (1) the foreign investor establishes a foreign-invested enterprise within the territory of China, independently or jointly with any other investor; (2) the foreign investor acquires shares, equities, property shares or any other similar rights and interests of an enterprise within the territory of China; (3) the foreign investor makes investment to initiate a new project within the territory of China, independently or jointly with any other investor; and (4) the foreign investor makes investment in any other way stipulated by laws, administrative regulations or provisions of the State Council. The Foreign Investment Law leaves uncertainty with respect to whether Foreign Investors control PRC onshore variable interest entities via contractual arrangements will be recognized as “foreign investment”. PRC governmental authorities will administrate foreign investment by applying the principal of pre-entry national treatment together with a “negative list” (the “Negative List”, which shall be promulgated by or promulgated with approval by the State Counsel), to be specific, Foreign Investors are prohibited from making any investments in the fields which are catalogued into prohibited industries for foreign investment based on the Negative List, while Foreign Investors are allowed to make investments in the restricted industries provided that all the requirements and conditions as set forth in the Negative List have been satisfied; when Foreign Investors make investments in the fields other than those included in the Negative List, the national treatment principle shall apply. Besides, certain approval and/or filing requirements shall be fulfilled in accordance with applicable foreign investment laws and regulations.

The internet content service and online culture activities that we conduct through our VIEs are subject to Special Management Measures for the Market Entry of Foreign Investment (Negative List) (2021 Version) (the “2021 Negative List”) issued by MOFCOM and the National Development and Reform Commission. It is unclear whether any new “negative list” to be issued under the Foreign Investment Law will be different from the 2021 Negative List. If our control over our VIEs through contractual arrangements are deemed as foreign investment in the future, and any business of our VIEs is restricted or prohibited from foreign investment under the “negative list” effective at the time, we may be deemed to be in violation of the Foreign Investment Law, the contractual arrangements that allow us to have control over our VIEs may be deemed as invalid and illegal, and we may be required to unwind such contractual arrangements and/or restructure our business operations, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our business operation.

We rely on contractual arrangements with our VIEs and their respective shareholders for our operations in China, which may not be as effective in providing operational control as direct ownership.

We have relied and expect to continue to rely on contractual arrangements with our VIEs, and their respective shareholders, and certain of their subsidiaries to operate our business in China. These contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over our VIEs. For example, our VIEs and their respective shareholders could breach their contractual arrangements with us by, among other things, failing to conduct their operations in an acceptable manner or taking other actions that are detrimental to our interests. The revenues contributed by our VIEs and their subsidiaries constituted a significant part of our revenues in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

If we had direct ownership of our VIEs, we would be able to exercise our rights as a shareholder to effect changes in the board of directors of our VIEs, which in turn could implement changes, subject to any applicable fiduciary obligations, at the management and operational level. However, under the current contractual arrangements, we rely on the performance by our VIEs and their respective shareholders of their respective obligations under the contracts to exercise control over our VIEs. The shareholders of our VIEs may not act in the best interests of our company or may not perform their obligations under these contracts. Such risks exist throughout the period in which we intend to operate certain portion of our business through the contractual arrangements with our VIEs. If any dispute relating to these contracts remains unresolved, we will have to enforce our rights under these

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contracts through arbitration, litigation or other legal proceedings and therefore will be subject to uncertainties in the PRC legal system. Therefore, our contractual arrangements with our VIEs may not be as effective in controlling our business operations as direct ownership.

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

If our VIEs or their shareholders fail to perform their respective obligations under the contractual arrangements, we may have to incur substantial costs and expend additional resources to enforce such arrangements. We may also have to rely on legal remedies under PRC law, including seeking specific performance or injunctive relief, and claiming damages, which we cannot assure will be effective under PRC law. For example, if the shareholders of our VIEs refuse to transfer its equity interest in our VIEs to our PRC subsidiaries or their designees after we exercise the purchase option pursuant to these contractual arrangements, or if they otherwise act in bad faith or otherwise fail to fulfill their contractual obligations, we may have to take legal actions to compel them to perform their contractual obligations. In addition, if any third parties claim any interest in such shareholders’ equity interests in our VIEs, our ability to exercise shareholders’ rights or foreclose the share pledge according to the contractual arrangements may be impaired. If these or other disputes between the shareholders of our VIEs and third parties were to impair our control over our VIEs, our ability to consolidate the financial results of our VIEs would be affected, which would in turn result in a material adverse effect on our business, operations and financial condition.

Our shareholders or the shareholders of our VIEs may have potential conflicts of interest with us, which may materially and adversely affect our business.

The shareholders of our VIEs may have actual or potential conflicts of interest with us. These shareholders may breach, or cause our VIEs to breach, or refuse to renew, the existing contractual arrangements we have with them and our VIEs, which would have a material and adverse effect on our ability to effectively control our VIEs and receive economic benefits from them. For example, the shareholders may be able to cause our agreements with our VIEs to be performed in a manner adverse to us by, among other things, failing to remit payments due under the contractual arrangements to us on a timely basis. We cannot assure you that when conflicts of interest arise any or all of these shareholders will act in the best interests of our company or such conflicts will be resolved in our favor. Currently, we do not have any arrangements to address potential conflicts of interest between these shareholders and our company. If we cannot resolve any conflict of interest or dispute between us and these shareholders, we would have to rely on legal proceedings, which could result in disruption of our business and subject us to substantial uncertainty as to the outcome of any such legal proceedings.

All the agreements under our contractual arrangements with our VIEs and their equity owners are governed by PRC law and provide for the resolution of disputes through arbitration in China. Accordingly, these contracts would be interpreted in accordance with PRC law, and any disputes would be resolved in accordance with PRC legal procedures.

All the agreements under our contractual arrangements with our VIEs and their equity owners are governed by PRC law and provide for the resolution of disputes through arbitration in China. Accordingly, these contracts would be interpreted in accordance with PRC law and any disputes would be resolved in accordance with PRC legal procedures. The legal system in the PRC is not as developed as in some other jurisdictions, such as the United States. As a result, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. Meanwhile, there are very few precedents and little formal guidance as to how contractual arrangements in the context of a VIE should be interpreted or enforced under PRC law. There remain significant uncertainties regarding the ultimate outcome of such arbitration should legal action become necessary. In addition, under PRC law, rulings by arbitrators are final, parties cannot appeal the arbitration results in courts, and if the losing parties fail to carry out the arbitration awards within a prescribed time limit, the prevailing parties may only enforce the arbitration awards in PRC courts through arbitration award recognition proceedings, which would require additional expenses and delay. 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 exert effective control over our VIEs, and our ability to conduct our business may be negatively affected.

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We may lose the ability to use and enjoy assets held by our VIEs and their subsidiaries that are important to our business if our VIEs and their subsidiaries declare bankruptcy or become subject to a dissolution or liquidation proceeding.

As part of our contractual arrangements with our VIEs, they hold certain assets that are material to the operations of certain portion of our business. If our any of our VIE goes bankrupt and all or part of its assets become subject to liens or rights of third-party creditors, we may be unable to continue some or all of our business activities, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Under the contractual arrangements, our VIEs may not, in any manner, sell, transfer, mortgage or dispose of their assets or legal or beneficial interests in the business without our prior consent. If any of our VIEs undergoes a voluntary or involuntary liquidation proceeding, the independent third-party creditors may claim rights to some or all of these assets, thereby hindering our ability to operate our business, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations

Contractual arrangements we have entered into with our VIEs may be subject to scrutiny by the PRC tax authorities. A finding that we owe additional taxes could negatively affect our financial condition and the value of your investment.

Under applicable PRC laws and regulations, arrangements and transactions among related parties may be subject to audit or challenge by the PRC tax authorities within ten years after the taxable year when the transactions are conducted. We could face material and adverse tax consequences if the PRC tax authorities determine that the contractual arrangements between us and our VIEs were not entered into on an arm’s-length basis in such a way as to result in an impermissible reduction in taxes under applicable PRC laws, rules and regulations, and adjust the income of our VIEs in the form of a transfer pricing adjustment. A transfer pricing adjustment could, among other things, result in a reduction of expense deductions recorded by our VIEs for PRC tax purposes, which could in turn increase its tax liabilities without reducing our PRC subsidiaries tax expenses. In addition, the PRC tax authorities may impose late payment fees and other penalties on our VIEs for the adjusted but unpaid taxes according to the applicable regulations. Our financial position could be materially and adversely affected if our VIEs’ tax liabilities increase or if it is required to pay late payment fees and other penalties.

If the chops of our PRC subsidiaries, our VIEs and their respective subsidiaries, are not kept safely, are stolen or are used by unauthorized persons or for unauthorized purposes, the corporate governance of these entities could be severely and adversely compromised.

In China, a company chop or seal serves as the legal representation of the company towards third parties even when unaccompanied by a signature. Each legally registered company in China is required to maintain a company chop, which must be registered with the local Public Security Bureau. In addition to this mandatory company chop, companies may have several other chops which can be used for specific purposes. The chops of our PRC subsidiaries and VIEs are generally held securely by personnel designated or approved by us in accordance with our internal control procedures. To the extent those chops are not kept safely, are stolen or are used by unauthorized persons or for unauthorized purposes, the corporate governance of these entities could be severely and adversely compromised and those corporate entities may be bound to abide by the terms of any documents so chopped, even if they were chopped by an individual who lacked the requisite power and authority to do so. In addition, if the chops are misused by unauthorized persons, we could experience disruption to our normal business operations. We may have to take corporate or legal action, which could involve significant time and resources to resolve while distracting management from our operations.

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

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

The majority of our revenues are sourced from China. Accordingly, our results of operations, financial condition and prospects are influenced by economic, political and legal developments in China. Economic reforms begun in the late 1970s have resulted in significant economic growth. However, any economic reform policies or measures in China may from time to time be modified or revised. China’s economy differs from the economies

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of most developed countries in many respects, including with respect to the amount of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources. Although the Chinese government has implemented measures emphasizing the utilization of market forces for economic reform, the reduction of state ownership of productive assets and the establishment of improved corporate governance in business enterprises, a substantial portion of productive assets in China is still owned by the government. In addition, the Chinese government continues to play a significant role in regulating industry development by imposing industrial policies. The Chinese government also exercises significant control over China’s economic growth through allocating resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy, and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies.

While the PRC economy has experienced significant growth in the past 30 years, growth has been uneven across different regions and among different economic sectors. The Chinese government has implemented measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of the resources. Some of these measures may benefit the overall Chinese economy, but may have a negative effect on us. For example, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations.

Although the PRC economy has grown significantly in the past decade, that growth may not continue, as evidenced by the slowing of the growth of the PRC economy since 2012. Any adverse changes in economic conditions in China, in the policies of the PRC government or in the laws and regulations in China could have a material adverse effect on the overall economic growth of China. Such developments could adversely affect our business and operating results, lead to reduction in demand for our services and adversely affect our competitive position.

A severe or prolonged downturn in the PRC or global economy and political tensions between the United States and China could materially and adversely affect our business and our financial condition.

The global macroeconomic environment is facing challenges, including the end of quantitative easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the economic slowdown in the Eurozone since 2014 and uncertainties over the impact of Brexit. The Chinese economy has shown slower growth compared to the previous decade since 2012 and the trend may continue. There is considerable uncertainty over the long-term effects of the expansionary monetary and fiscal policies adopted by the central banks and financial authorities of some of the world’s leading economies, including the United States and China. There have been concerns over unrest and terrorist threats in the Middle East, Europe and Africa, which have resulted in market volatility.

If we plan to expand our business internationally and do business cross-border in the future, any unfavorable government policies on international trade, such as capital controls or tariffs, may affect the demand for our products and services, impact our competitive position, or prevent us from being able to conduct business in certain countries. If any new tariffs, legislation, or regulations are implemented, or if existing trade agreements are renegotiated, such changes could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In particular, there have been heightened tensions in international economic relations between the United States and China. The U.S. government has recently imposed, and has recently proposed to impose additional, new, or higher tariffs on certain products imported from China to penalize China for what the U.S. government characterizes as unfair trade practices. China has responded by imposing, and proposing to impose additional, new, or higher tariffs on certain products imported from the United States. Following mutual retaliatory actions for months, on January 15, 2020, the United States and China entered into the Economic and Trade Agreement Between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China as a phase one trade deal, effective on February 14, 2020. Although the direct impact of the current international trade tension, and any escalation of such tension, on the AR industry in China is uncertain, the negative impact on general, economic, political and social conditions may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Furthermore, as part of a continued regulatory focus in the United States on access to audit and other information currently protected by national law, in particular China’s, on December 18, 2020, U.S. President Donald J. Trump signed the HFCAA into law, which requires the SEC to propose rules within 90 days after its enactment to prohibit securities of any registrant from being listed on any of the U.S. securities exchanges or traded “over the counter” if the auditor of the registrant’s financial statements is not subject to PCAOB inspection for three consecutive years after the law becomes effective. The HFCAA and any proposed SEC rules may have a material and adverse impact on the stock performance of China-based companies listed in the United States.

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In addition, the recent market panics over the global outbreak of COVID-19 materially and negatively affected the global financial markets in March 2020, which may cause potential slowdown of the global economy. 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. Any severe or prolonged slowdown in the global or Chinese economy and the political tensions between the United States and China may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

The recent joint statement by the SEC and PCAOB, proposed rule changes submitted by Nasdaq, and the HFCAA all call for additional and more stringent criteria to be applied to emerging market companies, including companies based in China, upon assessing the qualification of their auditors, especially the non-U.S. auditors who are not inspected by the PCAOB.

On April 21, 2020, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton and PCAOB Chairman William D. Duhnke III, along with other senior SEC staff, released a joint statement highlighting the risks associated with investing in companies based in or have substantial operations in emerging markets including China. The joint statement emphasized the risks associated with lack of access for the PCAOB to inspect auditors and audit work papers in China and higher risks of fraud in emerging markets.

On May 18, 2020, Nasdaq filed three proposals with the SEC to (i) apply minimum offering size requirement for companies primarily operating in “Restrictive Market”, (ii) adopt a new requirement relating to the qualification of management or board of director for Restrictive Market companies, and (iii) apply additional and more stringent criteria to an applicant or listed company based on the qualifications of the company’s auditors.

On May 20, 2020, the U.S. Senate passed the HFCAA requiring a foreign company to certify it is not owned or controlled by a foreign government if the PCAOB is unable to audit specified reports because the company uses a foreign auditor not subject to PCAOB inspection. If the PCAOB is unable to inspect the company’s auditors for three consecutive years, the issuer’s securities are prohibited to trade on a national exchange. On December 2, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the HFCAA. On December 18, 2020, the HFCAA was signed into law. On December 2, 2021, the SEC adopted final amendments implementing congressionally mandated submission and disclosure requirements of the HFCAA. On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. The bill, if enacted, would shorten the three-consecutive-year compliance period under the HFCAA to two consecutive years. As a result, the time period before our ADSs may be prohibited from trading or delisted will be reduced.

The lack of access to the PCAOB inspection in China prevents the PCAOB from fully evaluating audits and quality control procedures of the auditors based in China. As a result, the investors may be deprived of the benefits of such PCAOB inspections. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of auditors in China makes it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of these accounting firms’ audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of China that are subject to the PCAOB inspections.

Our auditor, the independent registered public accounting firm that issues the audit report included elsewhere in this report, as an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the PCAOB, is subject to laws in the United States pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess our auditor’s compliance with the applicable professional standards. Our auditor is headquartered in Manhattan, New York, and has been inspected by the PCAOB on a regular basis with the last inspection in June 2018. Therefore, it is not subject to the determinations announced by the PCAOB on December 16, 2021. However, in the event the PRC authorities would further strengthen regulations over auditing work of Chinese companies listed on the U.S. stock exchanges, which would prohibit our current auditor to perform work in China, then we would need to change our auditor and the audit workpapers prepared by our new auditor may not be inspected by the PCAOB without the approval of the PRC authorities, in which case the PCAOB may not be able to fully evaluate the audit or the auditors’ quality control procedures. Furthermore, due to the recent developments in connection with the implementation of the HFCAA, we cannot assure you whether the SEC, Nasdaq or other regulatory authorities would apply additional and more stringent criteria to us after considering the effectiveness of our auditor’s audit procedures and quality control procedures, adequacy of personnel and training, or sufficiency of resources, geographic reach or experience as it relates to the audit of our financial statements. The requirement in the HFCAA that the PCAOB be permitted to inspect the issuer’s public accounting firm within three years, may result in our delisting in the future if the PCAOB is unable to inspect our accounting firm at such future time.

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As of April 12, 2022, 23 China-based companies have been identified by SEC and were given 15 business days to submit opinion. The identification occurred after these companies have filed their annual reports to the SEC and subsequently, share prices of them plunged. As such, it is possible that we will be identified by SEC and the value of our ADSs may be materially adversely affected.

Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws and regulations could limit the legal protections available to you and us.

The PRC legal system is a civil law system based on written statutes. Unlike the common law system, prior court decisions under the civil law system may be cited for reference but have limited precedential value. Since these laws and regulations are relatively new and the PRC legal system continues to rapidly evolve, the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules are not always uniform and enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules involves uncertainties. For example, the enforcement of laws and rules and regulations in China can change quickly with little advance notice and there are risks that the Chinese government may intervene or influence our operations at any time, or may exert more control over offerings conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China-based issuers, which could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our ADSs.

In 1979, the PRC government began to promulgate a comprehensive system of laws and regulations governing economic matters in general. The overall effect of legislation over the past three decades has significantly enhanced the protections afforded to various forms of foreign investments in China. However, China has not developed a fully integrated legal system, and recently enacted laws and regulations may not sufficiently cover all aspects of economic activities in China. In particular, the interpretation and enforcement of these laws and regulations involve uncertainties. Specifically, rules and regulations in China can change quickly with little advance notice.

From time to time, we may have to resort to administrative and court proceedings to enforce our legal rights. However, since PRC administrative and court authorities have significant discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory and contractual terms, it may be more difficult to evaluate the outcome of administrative and court proceedings and the level of legal protection we enjoy than in more developed legal systems. Furthermore, the PRC legal system is based in part on government policies and internal rules (some of which are not published in a timely manner or at all) that may have retroactive effect. As a result, we may not be aware of our violation of these policies and rules until sometime after the violation. Such uncertainties, including uncertainty over the scope and effect of our contractual, property (including intellectual property) and procedural rights, could materially and adversely affect our business and impede our ability to continue our operations.

We are subject to extensive and evolving legal system in the PRC, non-compliance with which, or changes in which, may materially and adversely affect our business and prospects, and may result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our ADSs or could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of our ADSs to significantly decline or be worthless.

PRC companies are subject to various PRC laws, regulations and government policies and the relevant laws, regulations and policies continue to evolve. Recently, the PRC government is enhancing supervision over companies seeking listings overseas and some specific business or activities such as the use of variable interest entities and data security or anti-monopoly. The PRC government may adopt new measures that may affect our and the VIEs’ operations or may exert more oversight and control over offerings conducted outside of China and foreign investment in China-based companies, and we may be subject to challenges brought by these new laws, regulations and policies. However, since these laws, regulations and policies are relatively new and the PRC legal system continues to rapidly evolve, the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules are not always uniform and enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules involve uncertainties. Furthermore, as we may be subject to additional, yet undetermined, laws and regulations, compliance may require us to obtain additional permits and licenses, complete or update registrations with relevant regulatory authorities, adjust our business operations, as well as allocate additional resources to monitor developments in the relevant regulatory environment. However, under the stringent regulatory environment, it may take much more time for the relevant regulatory authorities to approve new applications for permits and licenses, and complete or update registrations and we cannot assure you that we will be able to comply with these laws and regulations in a timely manner or at all. The failure to comply with these laws and regulations may delay, or possibly prevent, us to conduct business, accept foreign investments, or be listed overseas.

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Recently, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council jointly issued the Opinions on Severe and Lawful Crackdown on Illegal Securities Activities, which was available to the public on July 6, 2021. These opinions emphasized the need to strengthen the administration over illegal securities activities and the supervision on overseas listings by China-based companies. These opinions proposed to take effective measures, such as promoting the construction of relevant regulatory systems, to deal with the risks and incidents facing China-based overseas-listed companies and the demand for cybersecurity and data privacy protection. On December 24, 2021, CSRC published both the Provisions of the State Council on the Administration of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Enterprises (Draft for Comments) and the Administrative Measures for the Filing of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Enterprises (Draft for Comments), requiring that for any “indirect offering and listing” of Chinese operating enterprises, the issuer shall designate a Chinese operating entity to complete the filing with and report relevant information to CSRC. As of the date of this report, both CSRC rules are still in draft form and have not come into effect. Upon finalization of the rules and their coming into effect, we could be required to pass the filing with CSRC in order to pursue our future follow-on offerings. We thus cannot assure you that we will remain fully compliant with all new regulatory requirements of these opinions or any future implementation rules on a timely basis, or at all.

The occurrence of any of these events may materially and adversely affect our business and prospects and may result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our ADSs or could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to continue to offer securities to investors. In addition, if any of changes causes us unable to direct the activities of the VIEs or lose the right to receive its economic benefits, we may not be able to consolidate the VIEs into our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which could cause the value of our ADSs to significantly decline or become worthless.

Because substantially all of our operations are in China, our business is subject to the complex and rapidly evolving laws and regulations there. The Chinese government may exercise significant oversight and discretion over the conduct of our business and may intervene in or influence our operations at any time, which could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our ADSs.

As a business operating in China, we are subject to the laws and regulations of the PRC, which can be complex and evolve rapidly. The PRC government has the power to exercise significant oversight and discretion over the conduct of our business, and the regulations to which we are subject may change rapidly and with little notice to us or our shareholders. As a result, the application, interpretation, and enforcement of new and existing laws and regulations in the PRC are often uncertain. 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. New laws, regulations, and other government directives in the PRC may also be costly to comply with, and such compliance or any associated inquiries or investigations or any other government actions may:

•        Delay or impede our development,

•        Result in negative publicity or increase our operating costs,

•        Require significant management time and attention, and

•        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 even cease our business practices.

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 conduct our business and could require us to change certain aspects of our business to ensure compliance, which could decrease demand for our products or 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 as well as materially decrease the value of our ADSs.

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If we fail to obtain or maintain the required licenses and approvals or if we fail to comply with laws and regulations applicable to our industry, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

The Internet industry in China is highly regulated, which requires certain licenses, permits, filings and approvals to conduct and develop business. Currently, we have obtained business performance permit, telecom value-added service license and network culture operation license business performance permit.

Due to the uncertainties of interpretation and implementation of existing and future laws and regulations, the licenses we held may not be sufficient to meet regulatory requirements, which may restrain our ability to expand our business scope and may subject us to fines or other regulatory actions by relevant regulators if our practice is deemed as violating relevant laws and regulations. As we further develop and expand our business scope, we may need to obtain additional qualifications, permits, approvals or licenses. Moreover, we may be required to obtain additional licenses or approvals if the PRC government adopts more stringent policies or regulations for our industry.

As the Internet industry in China is still at a relatively early stage of development, new laws and regulations may be adopted from time to time to address new issues that come to the authorities’ attention. Considerable uncertainties still exist with respect to the interpretation and implementation of existing and future laws and regulations governing our business activities. We cannot assure you that we will not be found in violation of any future laws and regulations or any of the laws or regulations currently in effect due to changes in the relevant authorities’ interpretation of these laws and regulations.

In accordance with the Notice on Adjusting the Scope and Standardizing the Examination and Approval Process of Network Culture Operation License (“Notice”) of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, dated May 14, 2019, any network culture operation licenses whose business scope contains online-games related activities remains valid, although such licenses may not be renewed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism upon expiration thereof. It is not clear yet whether new licenses could be issued by an alternative governmental authority. As a result, there is risk that we may not have a valid license to conduct online-gaming activities after the expiration of such license.

As of the date of this annual report, we have not received any material penalties from the relevant government authorities for our past business operations. We cannot assure you, however, that the government authorities will not do so in the future. In addition, we may be required to obtain additional license or permits, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to timely obtain or maintain all the required licenses or permits or make all the necessary filings in the future. If we fail to obtain, hold or maintain any of the required licenses or permits or make the necessary filings on time or at all, we may be subject to various penalties, such as confiscation of the net revenues that were generated through the unlicensed activities, the imposition of fines and the discontinuation or restriction of our operations. Any such penalties may disrupt our business operations and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may be materially and adversely affected by the complexity, uncertainties and changes in PRC regulation of the Internet industry and companies.

The PRC government extensively regulates the Internet industry, including foreign ownership of, and the licensing and permit requirements pertaining to, companies in the Internet industry. These Internet-related laws and regulations are relatively new and evolving, and their interpretation and enforcement involve significant uncertainty. As a result, in certain circumstances it may be difficult to determine what actions or omissions may be deemed to be in violations of applicable laws and regulations. Issues, risks and uncertainties relating to PRC regulations of the Internet business include, but are not limited to, the following:

•        There are uncertainties relating to the regulation of the Internet business in China, including evolving licensing practices and the requirement for real-name registrations. Permits, licenses or operations at some of our subsidiaries and PRC variable interest entity levels may be subject to challenge, we may not be able to timely obtain or maintain all the required licenses or approvals, permits, or to complete filing, registration or other formalities necessary for our present or future operations, and we may not be able to renew certain permits or licenses or renew certain filing or registration or other formalities. See “Item 3.D. Risk Factors — If we fail to obtain or maintain the required licenses and approvals or if we fail to comply with laws and regulations applicable to our industry, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected” and “Item 4.B. Business Overview-Regulation.”

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•        The evolving PRC regulatory system for the Internet industry may lead to the establishment of new regulatory agencies. For example, in May 2011, the State Council announced the establishment of a new department, the State Internet Information Office. The primary role of this new agency is to facilitate the policy-making and legislative development in this field to direct and coordinate with the relevant departments in connection with online content administration and to deal with cross-ministry regulatory matters in relation to the Internet industry. We are unable to determine what policies this new agency or any new agencies to be established in the future may have or how they may interpret existing laws, regulations and policies and how they may affect us. Further, new laws, regulations or policies may be promulgated or announced that will regulate Internet activities, including online video and online advertising businesses. If these new laws, regulations or policies are promulgated, additional licenses may be required for our operations. If our operations do not comply with these new regulations after they become effective, or if we fail to obtain any licenses required under these new laws and regulations, we could be subject to penalties.

The interpretation and application of existing PRC laws, regulations and policies and possible new laws, regulations or policies relating to the Internet industry have created substantial uncertainties regarding the legality of existing and future foreign investments in, and the businesses and activities of, Internet businesses in China, including our business. There are also risks that we may be found to violate the existing or future laws and regulations given the uncertainty and complexity of China’s regulation of Internet business.

Our business generates and processes a large amount of data, and we are required to comply with PRC laws and regulations relating to cyber security. These laws and regulations could create unexpected costs, subject us to enforcement actions for compliance failures, or restrict portions of our business or cause us to change our data practices or business model.

Our business generates and processes a large quantity of data. We face risks inherent in handling and protecting large volume of data. In particular, we face a number of challenges relating to data we collect through our game distribution platform and integrated holographic AR software offering, including:

•        protecting the data in and hosted on our system, including against attacks on our system by outside parties or fraudulent behavior or improper use by our employees;

•        addressing concerns related to privacy and sharing, safety, security and other factors; and

•        complying with applicable laws, rules and regulations relating to the collection, use, storage, transfer, disclosure and security of personal information, including any requests from regulatory and government authorities relating to this data.

Governments around the world, including the PRC government, have enacted or are considering legislation related to online businesses. There may be an increase in legislation and regulation related to the collection and use of anonymous internet user data and unique device identifiers, such as IP address or mobile unique device identifiers, and other data protection and privacy regulation. The PRC regulatory and enforcement regime with regard to data security and data protection is evolving. We may be required by Chinese governmental authorities to share personal information and data that we collect to comply with PRC laws relating to cybersecurity. All these laws and regulations may result in additional expenses to us and any non-compliance may subject us to negative publicity which could harm our reputation and negatively affect the trading price of our ADSs. There are also uncertainties with respect to how these laws will be implemented in practice. PRC regulators have been increasingly focused on regulation in the areas of data security and data protection. We expect that these areas will receive greater attention and focus from regulators, as well as attract continued or greater public scrutiny and attention going forward, which could increase our compliance costs and subject us to heightened risks and challenges associated with data security and protection. If we are unable to manage these risks, we could become subject to penalties, fines, suspension of business and revocation of required licenses, and our reputation and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, regulatory authorities around the world have recently 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, which could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

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We may be liable for improper use or appropriation of personal information provided directly or indirectly by our customers or end users.

We may become subject to a variety of laws and regulations in the PRC regarding privacy, data security, cybersecurity, and data protection. These laws and regulations are continuously evolving and developing. The scope and interpretation of the laws that are or may be applicable to us are often uncertain and may be conflicting, particularly with respect to foreign laws. In particular, there are numerous laws and regulations regarding privacy and the collection, sharing, use, processing, disclosure, and protection of personal information and other user data. Such laws and regulations often vary in scope, may be subject to differing interpretations, and may be inconsistent among different jurisdictions.

We expect to obtain information about various aspects of our operations as well as regarding our employees and third parties. The integrity and protection of our customers, employees and company data is critical to our business. Our customers, end users and employees expect that we will adequately protect their personal information. We are required by applicable laws to keep strictly confidential the personal information that we collect, and to take adequate security measures to safeguard such information.

The PRC Criminal Law, as amended by its Amendment 7 (effective on February 28, 2009) and Amendment 9 (effective on November 1, 2015), prohibits institutions, companies and their employees from selling or otherwise illegally disclosing a citizen’s personal information obtained during the course of performing duties or providing services or obtaining such information through theft or other illegal ways. On November 7, 2016, the Standing Committee of the PRC National People’s Congress issued the Cyber Security Law of the PRC, or Cyber Security Law, which became effective on June 1, 2017. Pursuant to the Cyber Security Law, network operators must not, without users’ consent, collect their personal information, and may only collect users’ personal information necessary to provide their services. Providers are also obliged to provide security maintenance for their products and services and shall comply with provisions regarding the protection of personal information as stipulated under the relevant laws and regulations.

The Civil Code of the PRC (issued by the PRC National People’s Congress on May 28, 2020 and effective from January 1, 2021) provides main legal basis for privacy and personal information infringement claims under the Chinese civil laws. PRC regulators, including the Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”), MIIT, and the Ministry of Public Security have been increasingly focused on regulation in the areas of data security and data protection.

The PRC regulatory requirements regarding cybersecurity are constantly evolving. For instance, various regulatory bodies in China, including the CAC, the Ministry of Public Security and the SAMR, have enforced data privacy and protection laws and regulations with varying and evolving standards and interpretations. In April 2020, the Chinese government promulgated Cybersecurity Review Measures, which came into effect on June 1, 2020. According to the Cybersecurity Review Measures, operators of critical information infrastructure must pass a cybersecurity review when purchasing network products and services which do or may affect national security.

In November 2016, the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress passed China’s first Cybersecurity Law (“CSL”), which became effective in June 2017. The CSL is the first PRC law that systematically lays out the regulatory requirements on cybersecurity and data protection, subjecting many previously under-regulated or unregulated activities in cyberspace to government scrutiny. The legal consequences of violation of the CSL include penalties of warning, confiscation of illegal income, suspension of related business, winding up for rectification, shutting down the websites, and revocation of business license or relevant permits. In April 2020, the CAC and certain other PRC regulatory authorities promulgated the Cybersecurity Review Measures, which became effective in June 2020. Pursuant to the Cybersecurity Review Measures, operators of critical information infrastructure must pass a cybersecurity review when purchasing network products and services which do or may affect national security. On July 10, 2021, the CAC issued a revised draft of the Measures for Cybersecurity Review for public comments (“Draft Measures”), which required that, in addition to “operator of critical information infrastructure,” any “data processor” carrying out data processing activities that affect or may affect national security should also be subject to cybersecurity review, and further elaborated the factors to be considered when assessing the national security risks of the relevant activities, including, among others, (i) the risk of core data, important data or a large amount of personal information being stolen, leaked, destroyed, and illegally used or exited the country; and (ii) the risk of critical information infrastructure, core data, important data or a large amount of personal information being affected, controlled, or maliciously used by foreign governments after listing abroad. The CAC has said that under the proposed

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rules companies holding data on more than 1,000,000 users must now apply for cybersecurity approval when seeking listings in other nations because of the risk that such data and personal information could be “affected, controlled, and maliciously exploited by foreign governments.” The cybersecurity review will also investigate the potential national security risks from overseas IPOs. We do not know what regulations will be adopted or how such regulations will affect we and our listing on Nasdaq. In the event that the Cyberspace Administration of China determines that we are subject to these regulations, we may be required to delist from Nasdaq and we may be subject to fines and penalties.

On June 10, 2021, the Standing Committee of the NPC promulgated the PRC Data Security Law, which took effect on September 1, 2021. The Data Security Law also sets forth the data security protection obligations for entities and individuals handling personal data, including that no entity or individual may acquire such data by stealing or other illegal means, and the collection and use of such data should not exceed the necessary limits. The costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, CSL and any other cybersecurity and related laws may limit the use and adoption of our products and services and could have an adverse impact on our business.

Further, if the enacted version of the Measures for Cybersecurity Review mandates clearance of cybersecurity review and other specific actions to be completed by companies like us, we face uncertainties as to whether such clearance can be timely obtained, or at all.

After the new PRC Data Security Law was enacted in September, we are not subject to the cybersecurity review by the CAC, given that: (i) our products and services are offered not directly to individual users but through our business customers; (ii) we do not possess a large amount of personal information in our business operations; and (iii) data processed in our business does not have a bearing on national security and thus may not be classified as core or important data by the authorities. However, there remains uncertainty as to how the Draft Measures will be interpreted or implemented and whether the PRC regulatory agencies, including the CAC, may adopt new laws, regulations, rules, or detailed implementation and interpretation related to the Draft Measures. If any such new laws, regulations, rules, or implementation and interpretation comes into effect, we will take all reasonable measures and actions to comply and to minimize the adverse effect of such laws on us.

On August 20, 2021, the Standing Committee of the NPC approved the Personal Information Protection Law (“PIPL”), which became effective on November 1, 2021. The PIPL regulates collection of personal identifiable information and seeks to address the issue of algorithmic discrimination. Companies in violation of the PIPL may be subject to warnings and admonishments, forced corrections, confiscation of corresponding income, suspension of related services, and fines. We mainly interact with corporate clients and has limited interactions with individual end-users, which means our potential access or exposure to end-users’ personal identifiable information is limited. However, in the event we inadvertently access or become exposed to end-users’ personal identifiable information, through our corporate clients’ end-user-facing applications which access or store end users’ personal identifiable information, then we may face heightened exposure to the PIPL.

We cannot assure you that PRC regulatory agencies, including the CAC, would take the same view as we do, and there is no assurance that we can fully or timely comply with such laws. In the event that we are subject to any mandatory cybersecurity review and other specific actions required by the CAC, we face uncertainty as to whether any clearance or other required actions can be timely completed, or at all. Given such uncertainty, we may be further required to suspend our relevant business, shut down our website, or face other penalties, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Under the PRC enterprise income tax law, we may be classified as a “PRC resident enterprise”, which could result in unfavorable tax consequences to us and our shareholders and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and the value of your investment.

Under the PRC enterprise income tax law that became effective on January 1, 2008, an enterprise established outside the PRC with “de facto management bodies” within the PRC is considered a “resident enterprise” for PRC enterprise income tax purposes and is generally subject to a uniform 25% enterprise income tax rate on its worldwide income. On April 22, 2009, the State Administration of Taxation, or the SAT, issued the Notice Regarding the Determination of Chinese-Controlled Overseas Incorporated Enterprises as PRC Tax Resident Enterprise on the Basis of De Facto Management Bodies, or SAT Circular 82, which provides certain specific criteria for determining whether the “de facto management body” of a PRC-controlled enterprise that is incorporated offshore is located in

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China. Further to SAT Circular 82, on August 3, 2011, the SAT issued the Administrative Measures of Enterprise Income Tax of Chinese-Controlled Offshore Incorporated Resident Enterprises (Trial), or SAT Bulletin 45, which became effective on September 1, 2011, to provide more guidance on the implementation of SAT Circular 82.

According to SAT Circular 82, an offshore incorporated enterprise controlled by a PRC enterprise or a PRC enterprise group will be considered a PRC tax resident enterprise by virtue of having its “de facto management body” in China and will be subject to PRC enterprise income tax on its worldwide income only if all of the following conditions are met: (a) the senior management and core management departments in charge of its daily operations function have their presence mainly in the PRC; (b) its financial and human resources decisions are subject to determination or approval by persons or bodies in the PRC; (c) its major assets, accounting books, company seals, and minutes and files of its board and shareholders’ meetings are located or kept in the PRC; and (d) not less than half of the enterprise’s directors or senior management with voting rights habitually reside in the PRC. SAT Bulletin 45 further clarifies the resident status determination, post-determination administration as well as competent tax authorities.

Although SAT Circular 82 and SAT Bulletin 45 only apply to offshore incorporated enterprises controlled by PRC enterprises or PRC enterprise group instead of those controlled by PRC individuals or foreigners, the determination criteria set forth therein may reflect SAT’s general position on how the term “de facto management body” could be applied in determining the tax resident status of offshore enterprises, regardless of whether they are controlled by PRC enterprises, individuals or foreigners.

We believe none of our entities outside of China is a PRC resident enterprise for PRC tax purposes even if the standards for “de facto management body” prescribed in the SAT Circular 82 are applicable to us. However, the tax resident status of an enterprise is subject to determination by the PRC tax authorities and uncertainties remain with respect to the interpretation of the term “de facto management body.” If the PRC tax authorities determine that our company or any of our subsidiaries outside of China is a PRC resident enterprise for enterprise income tax purposes, we may be subject to PRC enterprise income on our worldwide income at the rate of 25%, which could materially reduce our net income. In addition, we will also be subject to PRC enterprise income tax reporting obligations.

Although dividends paid by one PRC tax resident to another PRC tax resident should qualify as “tax-exempt income” under the enterprise income tax law, we cannot assure you that dividends by our PRC subsidiaries to our Cayman Islands holding company will not be subject to a 10% withholding tax, as the PRC foreign exchange control authorities, which enforce the withholding tax on dividends, and the PRC tax authorities have not yet issued guidance with respect to the processing of outbound remittances to entities that are treated as resident enterprises for PRC enterprise income tax purposes.

Non-PRC resident ADS holders may also be subject to PRC withholding tax on dividends paid by us and PRC tax on gains realized on the sale or other disposition of ADSs or Class B ordinary shares, if such income is sourced from within the PRC. The tax would be imposed at the rate of 10% in the case of non-PRC resident enterprise holders and 20% in the case of non-PRC resident individual holders. In the case of dividends, we would be required to withhold the tax at source. Any PRC tax liability may be reduced under applicable tax treaties or similar arrangements. Although our holding company is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, it remains unclear whether dividends received and gains realized by our non-PRC resident ADS holders will be regarded as income from sources within the PRC if we are classified as a PRC resident enterprise. Any such tax will reduce the returns on your investment in our ADSs.

We cannot assure you that the PRC tax authorities will not, at their discretion, adjust any capital gains and impose tax return filing and withholding or tax payment obligations with respect to any internal restructuring, and our PRC subsidiaries may be requested to assist in the filing. Any PRC tax imposed on a transfer of our shares not through a public stock exchange, or any adjustment of such gains would cause us to incur additional costs and may have a negative impact on the value of your investment in our company.

We may not be able to obtain certain benefits under relevant tax treaty on dividends paid by our PRC subsidiaries to us through our Hong Kong subsidiaries.

We are an exempted limited liability company, used as holding company, incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands and as such rely on dividends and other distributions on equity from our PRC subsidiaries, as paid to us through our Hong Kong subsidiaries, to satisfy part of our liquidity requirements. Pursuant to the PRC

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Enterprise Income Tax Law, a withholding tax rate of 10% currently applies to dividends paid by a PRC “resident enterprise” to a foreign enterprise investor, unless any such foreign investor’s jurisdiction of incorporation has a tax treaty with China that provides for preferential tax treatment. Pursuant to the Arrangement between the Mainland China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and Tax Evasion on Income, or the Double Tax Avoidance Arrangement, and Circular 81 issued by the State Administration of Taxation, such withholding tax rate may be lowered to 5% if the PRC enterprise is at least 25% held by a Hong Kong enterprise throughout the 12 months prior to distribution of the dividends and is determined by the relevant PRC tax authority to have satisfied other requirem