RAHGF Roan Holdings Group Company Ltd (CE)

ITEM 3. KEY INFORMATION

[RESERVED]

Not required.

Not required.

In conducting our business, we face many risks that may interfere with our business objectives. Some of these risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In particular, we are subject to various risks resulting from changing economic, political, industry, business and financial conditions. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial may also materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

You should carefully consider the following factors and other information in this Annual Report before you decide to invest in our ordinary shares. If any of the risks referred to below occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could suffer. In any such case, the trading price of our ordinary shares could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Factors Relating to the Company’s Business and Operations

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an adverse effect on our business, and public health epidemics such as COVID-19 could adversely impact our future operating results.

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the global economy, disrupted business operations of various industries, and created significant volatility and disruption of financial markets. In compliance with the government mandates, our Hangzhou, Shangyu, Guangzhou and Urumqi offices closed and our operations temporarily halted in the spring of 2020. During the closure, employees had only limited access to our facilities and delayed our project timeline, which affected our operating results and financial condition. In December 2021, Shangyu District, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, where the subsidiary company Zhejiang Jingyuxin Financing Guarantee Co., Ltd. is located, was closed and suspended due to the epidemic, resulting in delays in our services to some customers. After the lockdown was lifted on December 31, 2021, operations could resume. COVID-19, including any variants thereof such as the omicron variant, could continue to adversely affect our business and financial results in 2022, including if any virus resurgences cause significant disruptions to our operations or the business of our customers, or our logistics and service providers, or result in any negative impact to the pricing of our products. We cannot predict the severity and duration of the impact from such resurgence, if any.

COVID-19, any variants thereof, or any new pandemics could continue to have an adverse effect on our future business and financial performance. If any new outbreak of COVID-19 is not effectively and timely controlled, or if government responses to outbreaks or potential outbreaks are severe or long-lasting, our business operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected as a result of the deteriorating market outlook, the slowdown in regional and national economic growth, weakened liquidity and financial condition of our customers or other factors that we cannot foresee. Any of these factors and other factors beyond our control could have an adverse effect on the overall business environment, cause uncertainties in the regions where we conduct business, and could materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We do not have a history of profitability from continuing operations. We may revert back to a loss mode.

We do not have a history of profitability from our continuing operations. While we earned a profit from continuing operations during 2021 of $757,301, we had losses from continuing operations of $854,606 in 2020 and $2,557,110 in 2019. As we continue to change our focus from microfinancing to industrial operations services, we may revert back to a loss mode, which could lead to a depletion of our cash reserves.

We have had substantial changes in its business models and we cannot guarantee our future results of operations

Since 2019, we have had substantial changes with our organizational structure and business models, including the completion of the Lixin Acquisition in December 2019 as discussed elsewhere in this report and disposition of Feng Hui Ding Xin (Beijing) Financial Consulting Co., Ltd. (“Ding Xin”) and its direct loan business in September 2020 and disposition of China Roan Industrial-Financial Holdings Group Co., Ltd. in September 2021. The Company has transformed its business from a direct loan business, to a financial, insurance, healthcare and industrial operation service related solution provider serving middle-sized and micro enterprises (“MSMEs:”) in China.

In addition, we have substantially expanded our health management and other health related services and industrial operation services. As we have limited operating history in the business lines in which we are currently operating, it is difficult to evaluate our prospects, and we may not have sufficient experience in managing the changes and addressing the risks to which companies operating in new and rapidly evolving markets such as the financial guarantee, insurance, and health industries may be exposed. The Company will continue to encounter risks and difficulties that companies at a similar stage of development frequently experience, including the potential failure to:

If the Company is unable to address any or all of the foregoing risks, its business may be materially and adversely affected.

Our limited operating history makes it difficult to evaluate our business and prospects.

In general we have a limited operating history as many of our operating subsidiaries were formed in 2017 or later.

Hangzhou Zeshi Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) (“Hangzhou Zeshi”) was formed in November 2018 and commenced financial services. Yifu Health Industry (Ningbo) Co., Ltd. (“Yi Fu”), formerly Ningbo Ding Tai Financial Leasing Co., Ltd., was formed in December 2016 but only commenced its health industry operations in 2020. Zeshi (Hangzhou) Health Management Co., Ltd. (“Zeshi Health”) and Ningbo Zeshi Insurance Technology Co., Ltd. (“Zeshi Insurance”) began their operations in 2020.

The operating subsidiaries under Lixin Cayman also have a limited operating history. While Zhejiang Jing Yu Xin Financing Guarantee Co., Ltd. (“Zhejiang Jingyuxin”) was incorporated in 2013 and Zhejiang Lixin Enterprise Management Holding Group Co., Ltd.(“Zhejiang Lixin”) was incorporated in 2015, Lixin (Hangzhou) Asset Management Co., Ltd. (“LAM”) and Lixin Supply Chain Management (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. (“Lixin Supply Chain”) were incorporated in 2017.

As a result, the results of our operations in prior years may not be indicative of future performance.

We have a customer concentration risk as two of our customers represent almost half of our revenue. The loss of any one of these customers would have a material adverse effect on our revenue and profitability.

Two of our customers represent almost 50% of our revenue. These two customers are able to reduce the amount of their business with us at will or to cease doing business with us entirely at any time. Therefore, our continued revenue from these customers depends on their having continued needs that we are able to service in a manner they find more attractive than utilizing third parties. The loss or material reduction in revenue from either of these customers would have a material adverse affect on our revenue and profitability.

The Company’s current operations in China are geographically limited to certain areas.

Our business focuses on Yangtze River Delta region and Pearl River Delta region. The Company’s future growth opportunities will depend on the growth and stability of the economy in these areas. A downturn in the economy of these areas or the implementation of provincial or local policies unfavorable to MSMEs may cause a decrease in the demand for the Company’s loan guaranty services and other services provided to MSMEs and may negatively affect borrowers’ ability to repay their loans on a timely basis, both of which could have a negative impact on the Company’s profitability and business. Although it is open to and are trying to develop business in more areas, the Company still needs more time to expand its business geographically.

Regarding its financial guarantee services to MSMEs, the Company is subject to greater credit risks than larger guarantee providers, which could adversely affect its results of operations.

There are inherent risks associated with our financial guarantee activities, including credit risk, which is the risk that our customers may not repay us after we make payments for them according to our contracts. We provide financial guarantee services to MSMEs. These customers generally have fewer financial resources in terms of capital or borrowing capacity than larger entities and may have fewer financial resources to weather a downturn in the economy. Such customers may expose the Company to greater credit risks than guaranty providers guaranteeing for larger, better-capitalized state-owned businesses with longer operating histories. Conditions such as inflation, economic downturn, local policy change, adjustment of industrial structure and other factors beyond our control may increase our credit risk more than such events would affect larger guaranty providers. In addition, since we are still focusing on Yangtze River Delta region and Pearl River Delta region, our ability to geographically diversify the economic risks is currently limited by the local markets and economies. Also, decreases in local real estate value could adversely affect the values of the real property used as collateral in the financial guarantee business. Such adverse changes in the local economies may have a negative impact on the ability of customers to repay their loans and the value of their collateral and in turn our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.

Competition in the financial industry is growing and could cause the Company to lose market share and revenues in the future.

We believe that the financial industry is an emerging market in China. We may face growing competition in the financial industry, and the Company believes that the financial industry is becoming more competitive as this industry matures and begins to consolidate. The Company will compete with other financial companies and some cash-rich state-owned companies or individuals that provide financial services to MSMEs. Some of these competitors have larger and more established customer bases and substantially greater financial, marketing and other resources than we have. As a result, the Company could lose market share and its revenues could decline, thereby adversely affecting our earnings and potential for growth.

The Company’s businesses will require highly qualified personnel, and if it is unable to hire or retain qualified personnel, then it may not be able to grow effectively.

The Company’s future success depends upon its ability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel. Establishment of Zeshi Insurance and Zeshi Health in the first quarter of 2020 with healthcare business and expansion of the businesses of each operating company will require additional managers and employees with relevant industry experience, and its success will be highly dependent on its ability to attract and retain skilled management personnel and other employees. These operating companies may not be able to attract or retain highly qualified personnel. In addition, competition for skilled personnel is significant in China. This competition may make it more difficult and expensive to attract, hire and retain qualified managers and employees. The Company may incur additional expenses to recruit and retain qualified replacements and its businesses may be disrupted and its financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. In addition, key managers may join a competitor or form a competing company. An operating company may not be able to successfully enforce any contractual rights with its management team, in particular in China, where all of these individuals reside or will reside. 

The Company’s business continuity plans could prove to be inadequate, resulting in a material interruption in or disruption to, its business and a negative impact on the Company’s results of operations.

The Company relies on communications and information systems to conduct its business to some extent, and in general its ability to protect its systems against damage from fire, power loss, telecommunication failure, severe weather, natural disasters, terrorism or other factors is important to its operations. The computer systems and network infrastructure the Company uses could be vulnerable to unforeseen problems. While the Company has a business continuity plan and other policies and procedures designed to prevent or limit the effect of a failure or interruption of our information systems, there can be no assurance that any such failures or interruptions will not occur or, if they do occur, that they will be adequately addressed. The occurrence of any failures or interruptions of our information systems could, among other things, damage the Company’s reputation or result in a loss of clients, which could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s results of operations.

The Company has no material insurance coverage, which could expose it to significant costs and business disruption.

Risks associated with the Company’s business and operations include, but are not limited to, clients’ failure to repay the outstanding principal and interest after we make the payments for them and loss reserves are not sufficient to cover such failure, losses of key personnel, business interruption due to power loss or network failure, and risks posed by natural disasters including storms, floods and earthquakes, any of which may result in significant costs or business disruption. The Company does not maintain any credit insurance, business interruption insurance, general third-party liability insurance, nor does it maintain key-man life insurance or any other insurance coverage except the mandatory social insurance for employees. If the Company incurs any loss that is not covered by reserves, its business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

The Company maintains cash deposits with various banks. These cash accounts are not sufficiently insured or otherwise protected. Should any bank holding these cash deposits become insolvent, or if the Company is otherwise unable to withdraw funds, it could lose the cash on deposit with that particular bank or trust company.

The Company uses credit reports issued by the Credit Reference Center of the People’s Bank of China for credit records, which may not cover all accurate credit activities of guarantee customers.

The Company generally uses credit reports issued by the Credit Reference Center of the People’s Bank of China (“CCRC”) for guarantee customers’ credit records. According to the information from CCRC’s official website (http://www.pbccrc.org.cn/crc/), CCRC is a professional credit information service institution directly under the People’s Bank of China (“PBOC”) which collects comprehensive credit information about both enterprises and individuals throughout China. The 2,100 credit reports query points of the PBOC’s branches have covered almost all rural areas in China, and CCRC has 300,000 information query ports in financial institutions and networks around the country, and the credit information service network is used throughout China. As of the end of April 2015, CCRC’s database had collected credit information of over 860 million individuals and over 20 million enterprises and institutions, mainly from commercial banks as well as other financial institutions. However, the CCRC’s credit reports do not cover all credit and financing activities with all trust companies, leasing companies, asset management companies, direct lending companies, insurance companies, and other financial companies. Moreover, the PBOC had not established a credit reporting system until 1997 when it established the Bank Credit Registration System which upgraded to the CCRC in 2006. Therefore, CCRC’s credit reports may not be able to cover credit and financing activities that occurred before 1997. In addition, the accuracy of credit reports provided by CCRC may be mainly adversely affected by the followings: (1) reliability of information source; (2) victimized by criminals forging identity of the customers; (3) mistakes made by data entry operators; and (4) technical stability of CCRC’s computer system. Furthermore, despite using credit reports issued by the CCRC, privately-owned guarantors may be more susceptible to default than state-owned or public guarantors due to financial difficulties or fraud and therefore, the Company may have more difficulty enforcing guarantees from privately-owned guarantors than from state-owned or public guarantors. Finally, having clean credit history in the past does not preclude a guarantee customer from defaulting in the future.

The business overlap of our subsidiaries could result in inefficiencies to the Company’s business.

We completed the Lixin Acquisition in December 2019. Most of our subsidiaries are in the financial industry and may conduct the same business. On one hand they may share resources and expand their own businesses. On the other hand, they may target   the same clients and compete with each other. This could reduce the efficiency of the Company as a whole. For example, Hangzhou Zeshi has commenced operations of asset management from 2019. Lixin (Hangzhou) Asset Management Co., Ltd. (“LAM”) started its asset management business in 2017. They both focus on Zhejiang province. Hangzhou Zeshi is staffed entirely by new hires and in some measure may compete with LAM for customers. As a result, Hangzhou Zeshi may initially struggle to establish its business after the Lixin Acquisition and some of its success it has may come at the expense of LAM.   Furthermore, because of PRC limitations, even though the economic benefit of Hangzhou Zeshi and LAM will inure to us, each will need to have its own segregated capital and client base. As a result, Hangzhou Zeshi and LAM will not be able to cross-collateralize or combine operations at the working level. Although the Company plans to allocate the resources from a strategic level, this structure may not allow the Company to allocate resources to their most efficient use and may require redundant or additional expenses.

Risks Related to Doing Business in China  

The failure to comply with PRC regulations relating to mergers and acquisitions of domestic enterprises by offshore special purpose vehicles may subject the Company to severe fines or penalties and create other regulatory uncertainties regarding the Company’s corporate structure.

On August 8, 2006, the Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”), joined by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”), the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the State Administration of Taxation (“SAT”), the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (the “SAIC”), and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (“SAFE”), jointly promulgated regulations entitled the Provisions Regarding Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors (the “M&A Rules”), which took effect as of September 8, 2006, and as amended on June 22, 2009. This regulation, among other things, has certain provisions that require offshore companies formed for the purpose of acquiring PRC domestic companies and controlled directly or indirectly by PRC individuals and companies which are the related parties with the PRC domestic companies, to obtain the approval of MOFCOM prior to engaging in such acquisitions and to obtain the approval of the CSRC prior to publicly listing special purpose vehicles’ securities on an overseas stock market. On September 21, 2006, the CSRC published on its official website a notice specifying the documents and materials that are required to be submitted for obtaining CSRC approval.

The application of the M&A Rules with respect to the Company’s corporate structure remains unclear, with no current consensus existing among leading PRC law firms regarding the scope and applicability of the M&A Rules. We believe that the MOFCOM and CSRC approvals under the M&A Rules were not required in the context of the Business Combination and the Lixin Acquisition because we did not acquire Feng Hui’s equity or assets and Xinjiang Fenghui Jing Kai Direct Lending Co., Ltd. (“Jing Kai”) and Ding Xin and Lixin Group were already foreign owned. However, we cannot be certain that the relevant PRC government agencies, including the CSRC and MOFCOM, would reach the same conclusion, and we cannot be certain that MOFCOM or the CSRC will not deem that the Business Combination or the Lixin Acquisition circumvented the M&A Rules, and other rules and notices, or that prior MOFCOM or CSRC approval was required for overseas financing.

If prior CSRC approval for overseas financings is required and not obtained, the Company may face severe regulatory actions or other sanctions from MOFCOM, the CSRC or other PRC regulatory agencies. In such event, these regulatory agencies may impose fines or other penalties on the Company’s operations in the PRC, limit the Company’s operating privileges in the PRC, delay or restrict the repatriation of the proceeds from overseas financings into the PRC, restrict or prohibit payment or remittance of dividends to us or take other actions that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation and prospects, as well as the trading price of our ordinary shares. The CSRC or other PRC regulatory agencies may also take actions requiring us, or making it advisable for us, to delay or cancel overseas financings, to restructure the Company’s corporate structure, or to seek regulatory approvals that may be difficult or costly to obtain.

The M&A Rules, along with certain foreign exchange regulations discussed below, will be interpreted or implemented by the relevant government authorities in connection with our future offshore financings or acquisitions, and we cannot predict how they will affect our acquisition strategy.

PRC regulations relating to investments in offshore companies by PRC residents may subject our PRC-resident beneficial owners or our PRC subsidiaries to liability or penalties, limit our ability to inject capital into our PRC subsidiaries or limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to increase their registered capital or distribute profits.

SAFE promulgated the Circular on Relevant Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Control on Domestic Residents’ Offshore Investment and Financing and Roundtrip Investment through Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 37, on July 4, 2014, which replaced the former circular commonly known as “SAFE Circular 75” promulgated by SAFE on October 21, 2005. SAFE Circular 37 requires PRC residents to register with local branches of SAFE in connection with their direct establishment or indirect control of an offshore entity, for the purpose of overseas investment and financing, with such PRC residents’ legally owned assets or equity interests in domestic enterprises or offshore assets or interests, referred to in SAFE Circular 37 as a “special purpose vehicle.” SAFE Circular 37 further requires amendment to the registration in the event of any significant changes with respect to the special purpose vehicle, such as increase or decrease of capital contributed by PRC individuals, share transfer or exchange, merger, division or other material event. In the event that a PRC resident holding interests in a special purpose vehicle fails to fulfill the required SAFE registration, the PRC subsidiaries of that special purpose vehicle may be prohibited from making profit distributions to the offshore parent and from carrying out subsequent cross-border foreign exchange activities, and the special purpose vehicle may be restricted in its ability to contribute additional capital into its PRC subsidiary. Moreover, failure to comply with the various SAFE registration requirements described above could result in liability under PRC law for evasion of foreign exchange controls.

SAFE promulgated the Notice of SAFE on Further Simplifying and Improving Policies for the Foreign Exchange Administration of Direct Investment, or SAFE Circular 13, on February 13, 2015, which was effective on June 1, 2015. SAFE Circular 13 cancels two administrative approval items which are foreign exchange registration under domestic direct investment and foreign exchange registration under overseas direct investment. Instead, banks shall directly examine and handle foreign exchange registration under domestic direct investment and foreign exchange registration under overseas direct investment, and SAFE and its branch shall indirectly regulate the foreign exchange registration of direct investment through banks.

We have notified substantial beneficial owners of ordinary shares who we know are PRC residents of their filing obligations in accordance with SAFE Circular 37 and SAFE Circular 13. However, we may not be aware of the identities of all of our beneficial owners who are PRC residents. We do not have control over our beneficial owners and cannot assure you that all of our PRC-resident beneficial owners will comply with SAFE Circular 37, SAFE Circular 13 and subsequent implementation rules. The failure of our beneficial owners who are PRC residents to register or amend their SAFE registrations in a timely manner pursuant to SAFE Circular 37, SAFE Circular 13 and subsequent implementation rules, or the failure of future beneficial owners of our company who are PRC residents to comply with the registration procedures set forth in SAFE Circular 37, SAFE Circular 13 and subsequent implementation rules, may subject such beneficial owners or our PRC subsidiaries to fines and legal sanctions. Furthermore, since SAFE Circular 37 and SAFE Circular 13 was recently promulgated and it is unclear how this regulation, and any future regulation concerning offshore or cross-border transactions, will be interpreted, amended and implemented by the relevant PRC government authorities, we cannot predict how these regulations will affect our business operations or future strategy. Failure to register or comply with relevant requirements may also limit our ability to contribute additional capital to our PRC subsidiaries and limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to distribute dividends to our company. These risks may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If any of our subsidiaries fails to maintain the requisite registered capital, licenses and approvals required under PRC law, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Numerous regulatory authorities of the central PRC government, provincial and local authorities are empowered to issue and implement regulations governing various aspects of the financial industry. Each of our subsidiaries may be required to obtain and maintain certain assets relevant to its business as well as applicable licenses or approvals from different regulatory authorities in order to provide its current services. These registered capitals, licenses and approvals will be essential to the operation of the Company’s business. If any of our subsidiaries fails to obtain or maintain any of the required registered capital, licenses or approvals for its business, it may be subject to various penalties, such as confiscation of illegal net revenue, fines and the discontinuation or restriction of its operations. Any such disruption in its business operations could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

PRC regulation of loans to, and direct investments in, PRC entities by offshore holding companies may delay or prevent us from making loans or additional capital contributions to our PRC operating subsidiaries and thereby prevent us from funding our business.

As an offshore holding company with PRC subsidiaries, we may transfer funds to our PRC subsidiaries by means of loans or capital contributions. Any loans to these PRC subsidiaries, which are foreign-invested enterprises, cannot exceed statutory limits based on the difference between the amount of our investments and registered capital in such subsidiaries, and shall be registered with SAFE, or its local counterparts. Furthermore, any capital increase contributions we make to our PRC subsidiaries, which are foreign-invested enterprises, shall be approved by MOFCOM, or its local counterparts. We may not be able to obtain these government registrations or approvals on a timely basis, if at all. If we fail to receive such registrations or approvals, our ability to provide loans or capital to increase contributions to our PRC subsidiaries may be negatively affected, which could adversely affect their liquidity and our ability to fund and expand their business.

A slowdown of the Chinese economy or adverse changes in economic and political policies of the PRC government could negatively impact China’s overall economic growth, which could materially adversely affect our business.

All of the Company’s operations are entirely conducted in the PRC. Although the PRC economy has grown in recent years, the pace of growth has slowed, and even that rate of growth may not continue. The annual rate of growth in the PRC declined from 7.3% in 2014 to 6.9% in 2015 to 6.7% in 2016, to 6.9% in 2017, to 6.6% in 2018, to 6.1% in 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, China’s economic growth rate in 2020 has slowed to 2.3%, its lowest since 1990. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2021, we witnessed a recovery in China’s overall economy, benefiting from the COVID-19 pandemic control measures and the resumption of production and business. However, the recent outbreak of the pandemic in many areas of China has caused, and may continue to cause, the authorities to implement numerous measures to try to contain the disease and slow its spread. These include travel bans and restrictions, quarantines, shelter-in-place orders and shutdowns. These measures have created significant uncertainty and economic disruption, both short-term and potentially long-term. Furthermore, the global spread of COVID-19 pandemic in a significant number of countries around the world has resulted in, and may intensify, global economic distress. A slowdown in overall economic growth, an economic downturn or recession or other adverse economic developments in the PRC may materially reduce the demand for the Company’s services and may have a materially adverse effect on its business.

China’s economy differs from the economies of most other countries in many respects, including the amount of government involvement in the economy, the general level of economic development, growth rates and government control of foreign exchange and the allocation of resources. While the PRC economy has grown significantly over the past few decades, this growth has remained uneven across different periods, regions and economic sectors.

The PRC government also exercises significant control over China’s economic growth by allocating resources, controlling the payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies. Any actions and policies adopted by the PRC government could negatively impact the Chinese economy or the economy of the region the Company serves, which could materially adversely affect the Company’s business.

Substantial uncertainties and restrictions with respect to the political and economic policies of the PRC government and PRC laws and regulations could have a significant impact upon the business the Company may be able to conduct in the PRC and accordingly on the results of its operations and financial condition.

The Company’s business operations may be adversely affected by the current and future political environment in the PRC. The Chinese government exerts substantial influence and control over the manner in which the Company must conduct its business activities. The Company’s ability to operate in China may be adversely affected by changes in Chinese laws and regulations. Under the current government leadership, the government of the PRC has been pursuing economic reform policies that encourage private economic activities and greater economic decentralization. However, the government of the PRC may not continue to pursue these policies, or may significantly alter these policies from time to time without notice.

There are certain uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of PRC laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, the laws and regulations governing the Company’s business, or the enforcement and performance of the Company’s arrangements with clients. Only after 1979 did the Chinese government begin to promulgate a comprehensive system of laws that regulate economic affairs in general, deal with economic matters such as foreign investment, corporate organization and governance, commerce, taxation and trade, as well as encourage foreign investment in China. Although the influence of the law has been increasing, 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. Also, because these laws and regulations are relatively new, and because of the limited volume of published cases and their lack of force as precedents, interpretation and enforcement of these laws and regulations involve significant uncertainties. New laws and regulations that affect existing and proposed future businesses may also be applied retroactively. In addition, there have been constant changes and amendments of laws and regulations over the past 30 years in order to keep up with the rapidly changing society and economy in China. Because government agencies and courts provide interpretations of laws and regulations and decide contractual disputes and issues, their inexperience in adjudicating new business and new polices or regulations in certain less developed areas causes uncertainty and may affect the Company’s business. Consequently, we cannot predict the future direction of Chinese legislative activities with respect to either businesses with foreign investment or the effectiveness on enforcement of laws and regulations in China. The uncertainties, including new laws and regulations and changes of existing laws, as well as judicial interpretation by inexperienced officials in the agencies and courts in certain areas, may cause possible problems to foreign investors.

The Company’s business is subject to extensive regulation and supervision by state, provincial and local government authorities, which may interfere with the way the Company conducts its business and may negatively impact its financial results.

The Company conducts its business in the financial industry which is highly regulated. It is subject to extensive and complex state, provincial and local laws, rules and regulations with regard to its financing guaranties, capital structure, and asset management, among other things. These laws, rules and regulations are issued by different central government ministries and departments, provincial and local governments and are enforced by different local authorities. Therefore, the interpretation and implementation of such laws, rules and regulations may not be clear and occasionally the Company has to depend on oral inquiries with local government authorities. As a result of the complexity, uncertainties and constant changes in these laws, rules and regulation, including changes in interpretation and implementation of such, the Company’s business activities and growth may be adversely affected if they do not respond to the changes in a timely manner or are found to be in violation of the applicable laws, regulations and policies as a result of a different position from theirs taken by the competent authority in the interpretation of such applicable laws, regulations and policies. If the Company is found to be not in compliance with these laws and regulations, they may be subject to sanctions by regulatory authorities, monetary penalties and/or reputation damage, which could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business operations and profitability.

You may experience difficulties in effecting service of legal process, enforcing foreign judgments or bringing original actions against us or our management, in China, based upon United States laws, including the U.S. federal securities laws, or other foreign laws.

We are a company organized under the laws of the British Virgin Islands. Substantially all of our operations are conducted in China, and substantially all of our assets are located in China. None of our subsidiaries is organized under the laws of the United States. All of our directors and officers reside in China, and substantially all of the assets of those persons are located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult for a shareholder to effect service of process within the United States upon these persons, or to enforce judgments against us which are obtained in United States courts, including judgments predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States.

Furthermore, the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments are provided for under the PRC Civil Procedures Law. PRC courts may recognize and enforce foreign judgments in accordance with the requirements of the PRC Civil Procedures Law based either on treaties between China and the country where the judgment is made or on principles of reciprocity between jurisdictions. China does not have any treaties or other form of reciprocity with the United States providing for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. In addition, according to the PRC Civil Procedures Law, courts in the PRC will not enforce a foreign judgment against us or our directors or officers if they decide that the judgment violates the basic principles of PRC laws, national sovereignty, security or public interest. As a result, it is uncertain whether and on what basis a PRC court would enforce a judgment rendered by a court in the United States.

Lastly, in the event shareholders originate an action against a company without domicile in China for disputes related to contracts or other property interests, the PRC courts may accept a cause of action if (a) the disputed contract is concluded or performed in the PRC or the disputed subject matter is located in the PRC, (b) the company (as defendant) has properties that can be seized within the PRC, (c) the company has a representative organization within the PRC, or (d) the parties chose to submit to the jurisdiction of the PRC courts in the contract on the condition that such submission does not violate the requirements of jurisdiction under the PRC Civil Procedures Law. The action may be initiated by the shareholder by filing a complaint with the PRC courts. The PRC courts would determine whether to accept the complaint in accordance with the PRC Civil Procedures Law. The shareholder may participate in the action by itself or entrust any other person or PRC legal counsel to participate on behalf of such shareholder. Foreign citizens and companies will have the same rights as PRC citizens and companies in such an action unless such foreign country restricts the rights of PRC citizens and companies.

Our Chinese subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends to us may be restricted due to foreign exchange control and other regulations of China.

As an offshore holding company, we will rely principally on dividends from our subsidiaries in China, for our cash requirements. Under the applicable PRC laws and regulations, foreign-invested enterprises in China may pay dividends only out of their accumulated profits, if any, determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. In addition, a foreign-invested enterprise in China is required to set aside a portion of its after-tax profit to fund specific reserve funds prior to payment of dividends. In particular, at least 10% of its after-tax profits based on PRC accounting standards each year is required to be set aside towards its general reserves until the accumulative amount of such reserves reach 50% of its registered capital. These reserves are not distributable as cash dividends.

Furthermore, our Chinese subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends may be restricted due to foreign exchange control policies and the availability of its cash balance. Substantially all of the Company’s operations are conducted in China and all of the revenue we recognize will be denominated in RMB. RMB is subject to exchange control regulation in China, and, as a result, our Chinese subsidiaries may be unable to distribute any dividends outside of China due to PRC exchange control regulations that restrict our ability to convert RMB into U.S. dollars.

The lack of dividends or other payments from our Chinese subsidiaries may limit our ability to make investments or acquisitions that could be beneficial to our business, pay dividends or otherwise fund, and conduct our business. Our funds may not be readily available to us to satisfy obligations which have been incurred outside the PRC, which could adversely affect our business and prospects or our ability to meet our cash obligations. Accordingly, if we do not receive dividends from our Chinese subsidiaries, our liquidity and financial condition will be materially and adversely affected.

Dividends payable to our foreign investors and gains on the sale of our ordinary shares by our foreign investors may become subject to tax by the PRC.

Under the Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementation regulations issued by the State Council of the PRC, a 10% PRC withholding tax is applicable to dividends payable to investors that are non-resident enterprises, which do not have an establishment or place of business in the PRC or which have such establishment or place of business but the dividends are not effectively connected with such establishment or place of business, to the extent such dividends are derived from sources within the PRC. Similarly, any gain realized on the transfer of shares by such investors is also subject to PRC tax at a current rate of 10%, subject to any reduction or exemption set forth in relevant tax treaties, if such gain is regarded as income derived from sources within the PRC. If we are deemed a PRC resident enterprise, dividends paid on our shares, and any gain realized from the transfer of our shares, would be treated as income derived from sources within the PRC and would as a result be subject to PRC taxation. Furthermore, if we are deemed a PRC resident enterprise, dividends payable to individual investors who are non-PRC residents and any gain realized on the transfer shares by such investors may be subject to PRC tax at a current rate of 20%, subject to any reduction or exemption set forth in applicable tax treaties. It is unclear whether we or any of our subsidiaries established outside of China are considered a PRC resident enterprise, holders of shares would be able to claim the benefit of income tax treaties or agreements entered into between China and other countries or areas. If dividends payable to our non-PRC investors or gains from the transfer of our shares by such investors are subject to PRC tax, the value of your investment in our shares may decline significantly.

Our global income may be subject to PRC taxes under the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Under the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law, or the New EIT Law, and its implementation rules, which became effective in January 2008, an enterprise established outside of the PRC with a “de facto management body” located within the PRC is considered a PRC resident enterprise and will be subject to the enterprise income tax at the rate of 25% on its global income. The implementation rules define the term “de facto management bodies” as “establishments that carry out substantial and overall management and control over the manufacturing and business operations, personnel and human resources, finance and treasury, and acquisition and disposition of properties and other assets of an enterprise.” On April 22, 2009, the State Administration of Taxation (the “SAT”), issued a circular, or SAT Circular 82 (partly modified by SAT Announcement [2014]No. 9), 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 China. Although the SAT Circular 82 only applies to offshore enterprises controlled by PRC enterprises or PRC enterprise groups, not those controlled by PRC individuals or foreigners, the determining criteria set forth in the SAT Circular 82 may reflect the SAT’s general position on how the “de facto management body” test should be applied in determining the resident status of all offshore enterprises for the purpose of PRC tax, regardless of whether they are controlled by PRC enterprises or individuals. Although we do not believe that our legal entities organized outside of the PRC constitute PRC resident enterprises, it is possible that the PRC tax authorities could reach a different conclusion. In such case, we may be considered a PRC resident enterprise and may therefore be subject to the 25% enterprise income tax on our global income, which could significantly increase our tax burden and materially and adversely affect our cash flow and profitability. In addition to the uncertainty regarding how the new PRC resident enterprise classification for tax purposes may apply, it is also possible that the rules may change in the future, possibly with retroactive effect.

We and our shareholders face uncertainties with respect to indirect transfers of equity interests in PRC resident enterprises by their non-PRC holding companies.

On February 3, 2015, the State Administration of Taxation issued an Announcement on Several Issues Concerning Enterprise Income Tax on Income Arising from Indirect Transfers of Property by Non-PRC Resident Enterprises, or Announcement 7, with the same effective date. Under Announcement 7, an “indirect transfer” refers to a transaction where a non-resident enterprise transfers its equity interest and other similar interest in an offshore holding company, which directly or indirectly holds Chinese taxable assets (the assets of an “establishment or place” situated in China; real property situated in China and equity interest in Chinese resident enterprises) and any indirect transfer without reasonable commercial purposes are subject to the PRC taxation. In addition, Announcement 7 specifies the conditions under which an indirect transfer is deemed to lack a reasonable commercial purpose which include: (1) 75% or more of the value of the offshore holding company’s equity is derived from Chinese taxable assets, (2) anytime in the year prior to the occurrence of the indirect transfer of Chinese taxable assets, 90% or more of the total assets (excluding cash) of the offshore holding company are direct or indirect investment in China, or 90% or more of the revenue of the offshore holding company was sourced from China; (3) the functions performed and risks assumed by the offshore holding company(ies), although incorporated in an offshore jurisdiction to conform to the corporate law requirements there, are insufficient to substantiate their corporate existence and (4) the foreign income tax payable in respect of the indirect transfer is lower than the Chinese tax which would otherwise be payable in respect of the direct transfer if such transfer were treated as a direct transfer. As a result, gains derived from such indirect transfer will be subject to PRC enterprise income tax, currently at a rate of 10%.

Announcement 7 grants a safe harbor under certain qualifying circumstances, including transfers in the public securities market and certain intragroup restricting transactions, however, there is uncertainty as to the implementation of Announcement 7. For example, Announcement 7 requires the buyer to withhold the applicable taxes without specifying how to obtain the information necessary to calculate taxes and when the applicable tax shall be submitted. Announcement 7 may be determined by the tax authorities to be applicable to our offshore restructuring transactions or sale of the shares of our offshore subsidiaries where non-resident enterprises, being the transferors, were involved. Though Announcement 7 does not impose a mandatory obligation of filing the report of taxable events, the transferring party shall be subject to PRC withholding tax if the certain tax filing conditions are met. Non-filing may result in an administrative penalty varying from 50% to 300% of unpaid taxes. As a result, we and our non-resident enterprises in such transactions may become at risk of being subject to taxation under Announcement 7, and may be required to expend valuable resources to comply with Announcement 7 or to establish that we and our non-resident enterprises should not be taxed under Announcement 7, for any restructuring or disposal of shares of our offshore subsidiaries, which may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Restrictions on currency exchange may limit our ability to utilize our revenue effectively.

Substantially all of our revenue is denominated in Renminbi. The Renminbi is currently convertible under the “current account,” which includes dividends, trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions, but not under the “capital account,” which includes foreign direct investment and loans. Currently, our PRC subsidiaries, which are wholly- owned foreign enterprises, may purchase foreign currency for settlement of “current account transactions,” including payment of dividends to us, without the approval of SAFE by complying with certain procedural requirements. However, the relevant PRC governmental authorities may limit or eliminate our ability to purchase foreign currencies in the future for current account transactions. Since a significant amount of our future revenue will be denominated in Renminbi, any existing and future restrictions on currency exchange may limit our ability to utilize revenue generated in Renminbi to fund our business activities outside of the PRC or pay dividends in foreign currencies to our shareholders. Foreign exchange transactions under the capital account remain subject to limitations and require approvals from, or registration with, SAFE or banks and other relevant PRC governmental authorities. This could affect our ability to obtain foreign currency through debt or equity financing for our subsidiaries.

Fluctuations in the foreign currency exchange rate between U.S. Dollars and Renminbi could adversely affect our financial condition.

The value of the RMB against the U.S. dollar and other currencies may fluctuate. Exchange rates are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions and the foreign exchange policy adopted by the PRC government. On July 21, 2005, the PRC government changed its policy of pegging the value of the RMB to the U.S. dollar. Under this policy, the RMB is permitted to fluctuate within a narrow and managed band against a basket of foreign currencies. Following the removal of the U.S. dollar peg, the RMB appreciated more than 20% against the U.S. dollar over three years. From July 2008 until June 2010, however, the RMB traded stably within a narrow range against the U.S. dollar. On June 20, 2010, the PBOC announced that the PRC government would reform the RMB exchange rate regime and increase the flexibility of the exchange rate. Since June 2010, the RMB has appreciated more than 10% against the U.S. dollar. In April 2012, the PRC government announced it would allow greater RMB exchange rate fluctuation. On August 11, 12 and 13, 2015, the PRC government successively set the central parity rate for the RMB more than 3% lower in the aggregate than that of August 10, 2015 and announced that it will begin taking into account previous day’s trading in setting the central parity rate. In 2015, the yuan experienced a 4.88% drop in value, and on January 4, 2016 the PRC government set the U.S. dollar-Chinese yuan currency pair to a reference rate of 6.5%, the lowest rate in 4.5 years. In 2019, the exchange rate of RMB against the US dollar depreciated by 4.1%. (Source: website of National Bureau of Statistics Annual Statistic Report, dated February 28, 2020). However, it is difficult to predict how market forces or PRC or U.S. government policy may impact the exchange rate between the RMB and the U.S. dollar in the future. As significant international pressure remains on the PRC government to adopt a more flexible currency policy, greater fluctuation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar could result.

Our revenues and costs are mostly denominated in RMB, and a significant portion of our financial assets are also denominated in RMB. Any significant fluctuations in the exchange rate between the RMB and the U.S. dollar may materially adversely affect our cash flows, revenues, earnings and financial position, and the amount of and any dividends we may pay on our shares in U.S. dollars. Fluctuations in the exchange rate between the RMB and the U.S. dollar could also result in foreign currency translation losses for financial reporting purposes.

If any dividend is declared in the future and paid in a foreign currency, you may be taxed on a larger amount in U.S. dollars than the U.S. dollar amount that you will actually ultimately receive.

If you are a U.S. holder of our ordinary shares, you will be taxed on the U.S. dollar value of your dividends, if any, at the time you receive them, even if you actually receive a smaller amount of U.S. dollars when the payment is in fact converted into U.S. dollars. Specifically, if a dividend is declared and paid in a foreign currency such as the RMB, the amount of the dividend distribution that you must include in your income as a U.S. holder will be the U.S. dollar value of the payments made in the foreign currency, determined at the spot rate of the foreign currency to the U.S. dollar on the date the dividend distribution is includible in your income, regardless of whether the payment is in fact converted into U.S. dollars. Thus, if the value of the foreign currency decreases before you actually convert the currency into U.S. dollars, you will be taxed on a larger amount in U.S. dollars than the U.S. dollar amount that you will actually ultimately receive.

Future inflation in China may inhibit economic activity and adversely affect the Company’s operations.

The Chinese economy has experienced periods of rapid expansion in recent years which can lead to high rates of inflation or deflation. This has caused the PRC government to, from time to time, enact various corrective measures designed to restrict the availability of credit or regulate growth and contain inflation. High inflation may in the future cause the PRC government to once again impose controls on credit and/or prices, or to take other action, which could inhibit economic activity in China. Any action on the part of the PRC government that seeks to control credit and/or prices may adversely affect the Company’s business operations.

PRC laws and regulations have established more complex procedures for certain acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors, which could make it more difficult for the Company to pursue growth through acquisitions in China.

Further to the Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors, or the New M&A Rules, the Anti-monopoly Law of the PRC, the Rules of Ministry of Commerce on Implementation of Security Review System of Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors promulgated by MOFCOM or the MOFCOM Security Review Rules, was issued in August 2011, which established additional procedures and requirements that are expected to make merger and acquisition activities in China by foreign investors more time-consuming and complex, including requirements in some instances that MOFCOM be notified in advance of any change of control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of a PRC enterprise, or that the approval from MOFCOM be obtained in circumstances where overseas companies established or controlled by PRC enterprises or residents acquire affiliated domestic companies. PRC laws and regulations also require certain merger and acquisition transactions to be subject to merger control review and or security review.

The MOFCOM Security Review Rules, effective from September 1, 2011, which implement the Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Establishing the Security Review System for Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors promulgated on February 3, 2011, further provide that, when deciding whether a specific merger or acquisition of a domestic enterprise by foreign investors is subject to the security review by MOFCOM, the principle of substance over form should be applied and foreign investors are prohibited from bypassing the security review requirement by structuring transactions through proxies, trusts, indirect investments, leases, loans, control through agreements control or offshore transactions.

Further, if the business of any target company that the Company seeks to acquire falls into the scope of security review, the Company may not be able to successfully acquire such company either by equity or asset acquisition, capital contribution or through any VIE Agreement. The Company may grow its business in part by acquiring other companies operating in its industry. Complying with the requirements of the relevant regulations to complete such transactions could be time consuming, and any required approval processes, including approval from MOFCOM, may delay or inhibit its ability to complete such transactions, which could affect its ability to maintain or expand its market share.

In addition, SAFE promulgated the Circular on the Settlement of Foreign Currency Capital of Foreign-invested Enterprises, or Circular 19, on June 1, 2015. Under Circular 19 (partly modified by Huifa No.39 [2019]), registered capital of a foreign-invested company settled in RMB converted from foreign currencies may only be used within the business scope approved by the applicable governmental authority and the equity investments in the PRC made by the foreign-invested company shall be subject to the relevant laws and regulations about the foreign-invested company’s reinvestment in the PRC. In addition, foreign-invested companies cannot use such capital to make the investments on securities, and cannot use such capital to issue the entrusted RMB loans (except approved in its business scope), repay the RMB loans between the enterprises and the ones which have been transferred to the third party. Circular 19 may significantly limit our ability to effectively use the proceeds from future financing activities as the Chinese subsidiaries may not convert the funds received from us in foreign currencies into RMB, which may adversely affect their liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business in the PRC.

Failure to comply with the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Chinese anti-corruption laws could subject us to penalties and other adverse consequences.

As our shares are quoted on OTC, we are subject to the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which generally prohibits United States companies from engaging in bribery or other prohibited payments to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Non-U.S. companies, including some that may compete with us, may not be subject to these prohibitions. Corruption, extortion, bribery, pay-offs, theft and other fraudulent practices may occur from time-to-time in the PRC. Our employees or other agents may engage in such conduct for which we might be held responsible. If our employees or other agents are found to have engaged in such practices, we could suffer severe penalties and other consequences that may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our management may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with United States securities laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.

Management of the Company has limited familiarity with United States securities laws. They may have to expend time and resources becoming more familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues, which may adversely affect our operations.

If we become directly subject to the recent scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity involving U.S.-listed Chinese companies, we may have to expend significant resources to investigate and resolve the matter which could harm our business operations and our reputation and could result in a loss of your investment in our shares, especially if such matter cannot be addressed and resolved favorably.

U.S. public companies that have substantially all of their operations in China have been the subject of intense scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity by investors, financial commentators and regulatory agencies, such as the SEC. Much of the scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity has centered around financial and accounting irregularities, a lack of effective internal controls over financial accounting, inadequate corporate governance policies or a lack of adherence thereto and, in many cases, allegations of fraud. As a result of the scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity, the publicly traded stock of many U.S. listed Chinese companies has sharply decreased in value and, in some cases, has become virtually worthless. Many of these companies are now subject to shareholder lawsuits and SEC enforcement actions and are conducting internal and external investigations into the allegations. It is not clear what effect this sector-wide scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity will have on our company and our business. If we become the subject of any unfavorable allegations, whether such allegations are proven to be true or untrue, we will have to expend significant resources to investigate such allegations and/or defend the Company. This situation may be a major distraction to our management. If such allegations are not proven to be groundless, our Company and business operations will be severely hampered and your investment in our stock could be rendered worthless.

The disclosures in our reports and other filings with the SEC and our other public pronouncements are not subject to the scrutiny of any regulatory bodies in the PRC.

Our reports and other filings with the SEC are subject to SEC review in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act. Our SEC filings and other disclosure and public pronouncements are not subject to the review or scrutiny of any PRC regulatory authority. For example, the disclosure in our SEC reports and other filings are not subject to the review by CSRC, a PRC regulator that is tasked with oversight of the capital markets in China. Accordingly, you should review our SEC reports, filings and our other public pronouncements with the understanding that no local regulator has done any review of our Company, our SEC reports, other filings or any of our other public pronouncements.

There are uncertainties under the PRC laws relating to the procedures for U.S. regulators to investigate and collect evidence from companies located in the PRC. 

Shareholder claims that are common in the U.S., including securities law class actions and fraud claims, among other matters, generally are difficult to pursue as a matter of law or practicality in China. For example, in China, there are significant legal and other obstacles to obtaining information needed for shareholder investigations or litigation outside China or otherwise with respect to foreign entities. Although the local authorities in China may establish a regulatory cooperation mechanism with the securities regulatory authorities of another country or region to implement cross-border supervision and administration, such regulatory cooperation with the securities regulatory authorities in the Unities States have not been efficient in the absence of mutual and practical cooperation mechanism. According to Article 177 of the PRC Securities Law, which became effective in March 2020, or Article 177, the securities regulatory authority of the State Council may collaborate with securities regulatory authorities of other countries or regions in order to monitor and oversee cross border securities activities. Article 177 further provides that overseas securities regulatory authorities are not permitted to carry out investigation and evidence collection directly within the territory of the PRC, and that any Chinese entities and individuals are not allowed to provide documents or materials related to securities business activities to overseas agencies without prior consent of the securities regulatory authority of the State Council and the competent departments of the State Council.

Our principal business operations are conducted in the PRC. In the event that any U.S. regulators carry out investigations with respect to our business and need to conduct investigation or collect evidence within the territory of the PRC, the U.S. regulators may not be able to carry out such investigation or evidence collection directly in the PRC under the PRC laws. U.S. regulators may consider cross-border cooperation with securities regulatory authority of the PRC by way of judicial assistance, diplomatic channels or regulatory cooperation mechanism established with the securities regulatory authority of the PRC. However, there can be no assurance that the U.S. regulators could succeed in establishing such cross-border cooperation in a specific case or could establish the cooperation in a timely manner. If U.S. regulators are unable to conduct such investigations, they may determine to suspend the quotation of our securities on the OTC markets or choose to suspend or de-register our SEC registration.

Newly enacted Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, recent regulatory actions taken by the SEC and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB, and proposed rule changes submitted by U.S. stock exchanges calling for additional and more stringent criteria to be applied to China-based public companies could add uncertainties to our capital raising activities and compliance costs.

In April 2020, the SEC then-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.

In May 2020, the U.S. Senate passed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (“HFCAA” or the “Act”) 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.

In August 2020, the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (“PWG”) issued a Report on Protecting United States Investors from Significant Risks from Chinese Companies. The Report made five recommendations designed to address risks to investors in U.S. financial markets posed by the Chinese government’s failure to allow audit firms that are registered with the PCAOB to comply with U.S. securities laws and investor protection requirements. Among the recommendations was advice to enhance the listing standards of U.S. exchanges to require, as a condition of initial and continued exchange listing, PCAOB access to main auditor work papers either directly or through co-audits.

On December 2, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the HFCAA. On December 18, the HFCAA was signed into law. Among other things, the HFCAA amends the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to require the SEC to prohibit the securities of foreign companies from being traded on U.S. securities markets, if the company retains a foreign accounting firm that cannot be inspected or investigated completely by the PCAOB for three consecutive years, beginning in 2021. The Act also requires foreign companies to make certain disclosures about their ownership by governmental entities.

On March 24, 2021, the SEC adopted interim final amendments and on December 2, 2021, the SEC adopted final amendments to implement congressionally mandated submission and disclosure requirements of the HFCAA. The interim final amendments will apply to registrants that the SEC identifies as having filed an annual report on Form 20-F and other forms with an audit report issued by a registered public accounting firm that is located in a foreign jurisdiction and that the PCAOB has determined it is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a position taken by an authority in that jurisdiction. The SEC will implement a process for identifying such a registrant and any such identified registrant will be required to submit documentation to the SEC establishing that it is not owned or controlled by a governmental entity in that foreign jurisdiction, and will also require disclosure in a company’s annual report regarding the audit arrangements of, and governmental influence on, such a registrant.

The lack of access to the audit work paper or other inspections prevents the PCAOB from fully evaluating audits and quality control procedures of the auditors based in China. As a result, 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 those accounting firms’ audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of China that are subject to the PCAOB inspections.

After SEC issued new disclosure requirements to Chinese companies seeking to list on Nasdaq, SEC approved the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s (PCAOB) Rule 6100 establishing framework for determinations under the HFCAA. On December 20, 2021, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance (the “Division”) posted an illustrative letter containing sample comments that the Division may issue to China-based companies describing 15 areas where the agency encourages existing and future China-based listings to increase disclosures. On December 20, 2021, the PCAOB issued a report on its determinations that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely PCAOB-registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland because of positions taken by PRC authorities in those jurisdictions.

Our independent registered public accounting firm that issued the audit report for our financial statements for 2021, 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 based on the U.S. and has been inspected by the PCAOB on a regular basis. However, the recent U.S. legislative and evolving regulatory environments as related to PRC companies listing or seeking to list stock on U.S. exchanges would add uncertainties to the trading and price volatility of our common shares. The rules and guidelines applicable in the future are unclear and may affect the progress of our application. We cannot be certain whether SEC or other U.S. regulatory authorities would apply additional and more stringent criteria to Chinese issuers including us as related to the audit of our financial statements. These additional requirements and more stringent criteria to be applied could add potential risks to our business and share price. Investigations under more strict scrutiny brought significant impact to the Company that may materially and adversely affect your stock holdings value, reduces the value of your investment.

Additional factors outside of our control related to doing business in China could negatively affect our business.

Additional factors that could negatively affect our business include a potential significant revaluation of the Renminbi, which may result in an increase in the cost of commodity or products in the PRC supply chain industry, labor shortages and increases in labor costs in China as well as difficulties in moving products manufactured in China out of the country, whether due to infrastructure inadequacy, labor disputes, slowdowns, PRC regulations and/or other factors. Prolonged disputes or slowdowns can negatively impact both the time and cost of goods. Natural disasters or health pandemics impacting China can also have a significant negative impact on our business. Further, the imposition of trade sanctions or other regulations against products supplied or sold in the supply chain industry transactions for which we provide solutions or the loss of “normal trade relations” status with China could significantly affect our operating results and harm our business.

The risk related to products quality responsibility and personal claims.

The Company’s subsidiaries and related parties’ business scope involve the operation and distribution of medical device, in product liability claims we should be liable for compensation according to the Civil Law, the Product Quality Law and the Tort Liability Law in below circumstances: (1)Where physical injury is caused to a person or damage to another person’s property by a product’s defect resulting from the seller’s fault; (2) Where the seller can identify neither the producer of the defective product nor the supplier thereof; (3) Where a defective product causes physical injury to a person or damage to another person’s property, the victim may claim compensation from the producer or from the seller of such product. We may be involved in any litigation regarding the products we sold or distributed due to our contractual relationship with other companies. If we lose the lawsuit, the damages can be very substantial, even if we are found not liable, the costs of litigation can be quite substantial. Additional, product liability dispute litigation may cause adversely affect on our business reputation and efficiency, further, affect or interrupt the company’s operations and revenue.

Risks arising from reliance on third-party service providers and intellectual property rights risk.

The Company’s subsidiaries have co-operation agreements with technology enterprises that have patent or other independent intellectual property rights which have been properly registered with regulatory agencies such as the State Intellectual Property Office and Trademark Office of China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC). Our service and reputation significantly rely on the third-party suppliers mentioned above. If (i) the PRC authorities invalidate these agreements for violation of PRC laws, rules, and regulations, (ii) the agreements are valid but can not be performed, or (iii) any parties fail to perform their obligations under these agreements, our business operations in China would be materially and adversely affected, and the value of your stock would substantially decrease. If a third party fails to perform or defective perform its contractual obligations, it will lead to a failure to provide products or services according to meet our consumers’ requirements, we may have to take legal action to compel them to fulfill their contractual obligations. The Company depends on third parties to a large extent that it could not enable us to feasibly monitor the behavior of third parties to reasonably avoid contractual risks. Further, because intellectual property rights are owned by a third party, it is difficult for the company to restrain third parties from intellectual property infringement or default disclosure of trade secrets. This could harm our reputation and business position.

Federal and state privacy laws, and equivalent laws of third countries, may increase our costs of operation and expose us to civil and criminal sanctions.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended, and the regulations that have been issued under it, or collectively HIPAA, and similar laws outside the United States, contain substantial restrictions and requirements with respect to the use and disclosure of individuals’ protected health information. The HIPAA privacy rules prohibit “covered entities,” such as healthcare providers and health plans, from using or disclosing an individual’s protected health information, unless the use or disclosure is authorized by the individual or is specifically required or permitted under the privacy rules. Under the HIPAA security rules, covered entities must establish administrative, physical and technical safeguards to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of electronic protected health information maintained or transmitted by them or by others on their behalf. While we do not believe that we will be a covered entity under HIPAA, we believe many of our customers will be covered entities subject to HIPAA. Such customers may require us to enter into business associate agreements, which will obligate us to safeguard certain health information we obtain in the course of our relationship with them, restrict the manner in which we use and disclose such information and impose liability on us for failure to meet our contractual obligations.

In addition, under The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, or HITECH, which was signed into law as part of the U.S. stimulus package in February 2009, certain of HIPAA’s privacy and security requirements are now also directly applicable to “business associates” of covered entities and subject them to direct governmental enforcement for failure to comply with these requirements. We may be deemed as a “business associate” of some of our customers. As a result, we may be subject as a “business associate” to civil and criminal penalties for failure to comply with applicable privacy and security rule requirements. Moreover, HITECH created a new requirement obligating “business associates” to report any breach of unsecured, individually identifiable health information to their covered entity customers and imposes penalties for failing to do so.

In addition to HIPAA, most U.S. states have enacted patient confidentiality laws that protect against the disclosure of confidential medical information, and many U.S. states have adopted or are considering adopting further legislation in this area, including privacy safeguards, security standards, and data security breach notification requirements. These U.S. state laws, which may be even more stringent than the HIPAA requirements, are not preempted by the federal requirements, and we are therefore required to comply with them to the extent they are applicable to our operations.

These and other possible changes to HIPAA or other U.S. federal or state laws or regulations, or comparable laws and regulations in countries where we conduct business, could affect our business and the costs of compliance could be significant. Failure by us to comply with any of the standards regarding patient privacy, identity theft prevention and detection, and data security may subject us to penalties, including civil monetary penalties and in some circumstances, criminal penalties. In addition, such failure may damage our reputation and adversely affect our ability to retain customers and attract new customers.

The protection of personal data, particularly patient data, is subject to strict laws and regulations in many countries. The collection and use of personal health data in the EU is governed by the provisions of Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, commonly known as the Data Protection Directive. The Directive imposes a number of requirements including an obligation to seek the consent of individuals to whom the personal data relates, the information that must be provided to the individuals, notification of data processing obligations to the competent national data protection authorities of individual EU Member States and the security and confidentiality of the personal data. The Data Protection Directive also imposes strict rules on the transfer of personal data out of the EU to the U.S. Failure to comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Directive and the related national data protection laws of the EU Member States may result in fines and other administrative penalties and harm our business. We may incur extensive costs in ensuring compliance with these laws and regulations, particularly if we are considered to be a data controller within the meaning of the Data Protection Directive.

Once we commercialize our product, if ever, security breaches, loss of data and other disruptions could compromise sensitive information related to our business or prevent us from accessing critical information and expose us to liability, which could adversely affect our business and our reputation.

We face four primary risks relative to protecting this critical information: loss of access risk, inappropriate disclosure risk, inappropriate modification risk and the risk of our being unable to identify and audit our controls over the first three risks.

We will be highly dependent on information technology networks and systems, including the Internet, to securely process, transmit and store this critical information. Security breaches of this infrastructure, including physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses, attacks by hackers and similar breaches, can create system disruptions, shutdowns or unauthorized disclosure or modification of confidential information. The secure processing, storage, maintenance and transmission of this critical information will be vital to our operations and business strategy, and we plan to devote significant resources to protecting such information. Although we will take measures to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access or disclosure, our information technology and infrastructure, and that of our third-party providers, may be vulnerable to attacks by hackers or viruses or breached due to employee error, malfeasance or other disruptions.

A security breach or privacy violation that leads to disclosure or modification of or prevents access to consumer information (including personally identifiable information or protected health information) could harm our reputation, compel us to comply with disparate state breach notification laws, require us to verify the correctness of database contents and otherwise subject us to liability under laws that protect personal data, resulting in increased costs or loss of revenue. If we are unable to prevent such security breaches or privacy violations or implement satisfactory remedial measures, our operations could be disrupted, and we may suffer loss of reputation, financial loss and other regulatory penalties because of lost or misappropriated information, including sensitive consumer data. In addition, these breaches and other inappropriate access can be difficult to detect, and any delay in identifying them may lead to increased harm of the type described above.

Any such breach or interruption could compromise our networks or those of our third-party providers, and the information stored there could be inaccessible or could be accessed by unauthorized parties, publicly disclosed, lost or stolen. Any such interruption in access, improper access, disclosure or other loss of information could result in legal claims or proceedings, liability under laws that protect the privacy of personal information, such as HIPAA, and regulatory penalties. Unauthorized access, loss or dissemination could also disrupt our operations, including our ability to perform tests, provide test results, bill payers or patients, process claims and appeals, provide customer assistance services, conduct research and development activities, collect, process and prepare company financial information, provide information about our current and future products and other patient and clinician education and outreach efforts through our website, and manage the administrative aspects of our business and damage our reputation, any of which could adversely affect our business. Any such breach could also result in the compromise of our trade secrets and other proprietary information, which could adversely affect our competitive position.

In addition, the interpretation and application of consumer, health-related, privacy and data protection laws in the U.S., the EU and elsewhere are often uncertain, contradictory and in flux. It is possible that these laws may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our practices. If so, this could result in government-imposed fines or orders requiring that we change our practices, which could adversely affect our business. Complying with these various laws could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices and compliance procedures in a manner adverse to our business.

Risks Related to our Operations as a Public Company and our Securities

If financial performance do not meet the expectations of investors, shareholders or financial analysts, the market price of the Company’s securities may be volatile and decline .

If our business and/or financial performance do not meet the expectations of investors or securities analysts, the market price of the Company’s securities may decline. If an active market for the Company’s securities develops and continues, the trading price of our securities could be volatile and subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. Any of the factors listed below could have a material adverse effect on your investment in the Company’s securities which may trade at prices significantly below the price you paid for them. In such circumstances, the trading price of our securities may not recover and may experience a further decline.

Factors affecting the trading price of the Company’s securities may include:

Broad market and industry factors may materially harm the market price of the Company’s securities irrespective of our operating performance. The stock market in general, has experienced price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the particular companies affected. The trading prices and valuations of these stocks, and of our securities, may not be predictable. A loss of investor confidence in the market for retail stocks or the stocks of other companies which investors perceive to be similar to the Company could depress our stock price regardless of our business, prospects, financial condition or results of operations. A decline in the market price of our securities also could adversely affect our ability to issue additional securities and our ability to obtain additional financing in the future.

The Company’s business and share and warrant prices may suffer as a result of the Company’s insufficient public company operating experience and if securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about the Company, its business, or its market, or if they change their recommendations regarding our ordinary shares adversely, the price and trading volume of our ordinary shares and warrants could decline.

The Company has been a public company for a limited number of years. The Company’s insufficient public company operating experience may make it difficult to forecast and evaluate its future prospects. If the Company is unable to execute its business strategy, either as a result of its inability to effectively manage its business in a public company environment or for any other reason, the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and operating results may be harmed.

The trading market for our ordinary shares and warrants will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our market, or our competitors. Securities and industry analysts do not currently, and may never, publish research on the Company. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of the Company, our ordinary share and warrant prices and trading volume would likely be negatively impacted. If any of the analysts who may cover the Company change their recommendation regarding our shares adversely, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, the price of our ordinary shares and warrants would likely decline. If any analyst who may cover the Company were to cease coverage of the Company or fail to regularly publish reports on it, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share and warrant prices or trading volume to decline.

The Company has only registered a small number of our ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of our warrants, and has not registered any of our ordinary shares underlying the preferred shares under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) or state securities laws at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise such warrants.

The Company has only registered a small number of the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of our warrants, and has not registered any of our ordinary shares underlying the preferred shares under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. We have agreed to use our best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, covering these securities as soon as practicable after the closing of the Business Combination and cause the same to become effective and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto.

Warrants we sold will become exercisable for the Company’s ordinary shares, which would increase the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and result in dilution to our shareholders.

In addition to the warrants issued before January 1, 2018, at an exercise price of $6.00 per one-half of one share ($12.00 per whole share), the Company issued in July 2018 Series A Warrants at an exercise price of $2.6 per one share and adjusted to $1.18 per one share on January 19, 2019. All warrants are subject to adjustments. Warrants may be exercised only for a whole number of the Company’s ordinary shares. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of warrants. To the extent such warrants are exercised, additional ordinary shares will be issued, which will result in dilution to the then existing holders of ordinary shares of the Company and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market could adversely affect the market price of our ordinary shares.

The Company’s charter permits the Board by resolution to amend our charter, including to create additional classes of securities, including shares with rights, preferences, designations and limitations as they determine which may have an anti-takeover effect.

The Company’s charter permits the Board by resolution to amend the charter including designating rights, preferences, designations and limitations attaching to the preferred shares as they determine in their discretion, without shareholder approval with respect to the terms or the issuance. When issued, the rights, preferences, designations and limitations of the preferred shares are set by the Board and can operate to the disadvantage of the outstanding ordinary shares the holders of which would not have any pre-emption rights in respect of such an issue of preferred shares. Such terms could include, among others, preferences as to dividends and distributions on liquidation, or can be used to prevent possible corporate takeovers.

The Company is no longer a Nasdaq listed company and, as a result, the Company may not be required to, and may choose not to, obey certain corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq.

The Company’s ordinary shares have not been listed on the Nasdaq since September 2019. As a result, the Company is no longer subject to Nasdaq rules. While the Company plans to continue following certain corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq, it has the discretion not to and may elect to not obey any Nasdaq rules. Its shareholders will not be afforded the same protections generally as shareholders of Nasdaq-listed companies for so long as the Company is not a Nasdaq listed company.

The Company may not be able to timely and effectively implement controls and procedures required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

The Company is required to establish and maintain internal controls over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures and to comply with other requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the rules promulgated by the SEC. The Company is required to provide management’s attestation on internal controls. The standards required for a public company under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 are significantly more stringent than those required of a privately held company. Management may not be able to effectively and timely implement controls and procedures that adequately respond to the regulatory compliance and reporting requirements, especially considering the new corporate structure after the Lixin Acquisition. If we are not able to implement the additional requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner or with adequate compliance, we may not be able to assess whether our internal controls over financial reporting are effective, which may subject us to adverse regulatory consequences and could harm investor confidence and the market price of our ordinary shares.

The Company has material weaknesses in its controls and procedures required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This material weakness may call into question the accuracy of our financial statements which could harm our business and adversely affect the trading price of our ordinary shares.

The Company is required to establish and maintain internal controls over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures and to comply with other requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the rules promulgated by the SEC. The Company is required to provide management’s attestation on internal controls. The standards required for a public company under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 are significantly more stringent than those required of a privately held company. Based on our assessment, as of December 31, 2021, we determined that there were material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. We believe these material weaknesses mainly resulted from our not having sufficient personnel with appropriate levels of accounting knowledge and experience to address complex U.S. GAAP accounting issues and to prepare and review financial statements and related disclosures under U.S. GAAP. There can be no assurance that the steps we have taken to remedy these material weaknesses will be effective. Any continued material weakness may result in investors believing they may not rely on the accuracy in our financial statements. This could cause our stock price to decline and any resulting material errors could cause us to have to restate our financial statements which would be costly and could further erode investor confidence.

There is no guarantee that our warrants will ever be in the money, and they may expire worthless and the terms of our warrants may be amended.

In addition to the warrants issued before January 1, 2018, at an exercise price of $6.00 per one-half of one share ($12.00 per whole share), A Warrants at an exercise price of $2.60 per one share which was adjusted to $1.18 per one share on January 19, 2019. All warrants are subject to adjustments. Warrants may be exercised only for a whole number of the Company’s ordinary shares. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. There is no guarantee that the warrants will ever be in the money prior to their expiration, and they may expire worthless. The Series A Warrants are the Company’s only outstanding warrants prior to the Reverse Split and such warrants will expire on July 9, 2022.

A market for the Company’s securities may not continue, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.

The price of the Company’s securities may fluctuate significantly due to the market’s reaction and general market and economic conditions. An active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. In addition, the price of the Company’s securities can vary due to general economic conditions and forecasts, our general business condition and the release of our financial reports. Additionally, because the Company’s ordinary shares were delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market in September 2019, and are quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board, an inter-dealer automated quotation system for equity securities that is not a national securities exchange, the liquidity and price of our securities are more limited than when we were listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established or sustained.

Because the Nasdaq Capital Market delisted the Company’s ordinary shares from trading on its exchange due to our failure to meet the Nasdaq Capital Market’s initial and/or continued listing standards, we and our security holders face significant material adverse consequences including:

Although we are making significant efforts to help our ordinary shares be listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market again, there can be no assurance that we will succeed or, if listed, that we will be able to comply with the continued listing standards of Nasdaq.

Our ordinary shares were delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market in September 2019. To list the Company’s securities on the Nasdaq Capital Market again, among other conditions, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with Nasdaq’s initial listing standards, which are more rigorous than Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements. For instance, the Company must maintain a minimum number of holders (300 round-lot holders). While we are working hard and spending significant resources on applying for listing on Nasdaq again, we cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing standards and/or any other conditions.

Risks Related to Our Ordinary Shares, the Warrants and this Offering

An active trading market for our ordinary shares and warrants has not developed on the OTCQB and may not develop in the future regardless of where our stock is quoted or listed. As a result, our shareholders may not be able to resell their ordinary shares.

Although our ordinary shares are quoted on the OTCQB, an active trading market for our ordinary shares has not developed. While we intend to apply to have our ordinary shares and warrants listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market, any such uplisting would likely require that we conduct a substantial financing which we may be unable to do. If we are unsuccessful in our uplisting, we would remain on the OTCQB which could inhibit our ability to cause an active trading market to develop. Even if we are successful in listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market, an active trading market for our shares may never develop or be sustained. We cannot predict the extent to which an active market for our ordinary shares or warrants will develop or be sustained if we are able to list such securities on Nasdaq. If an active market for our ordinary shares or warrants does not develop, it may be difficult for you to sell securities you own without depressing the market price for the shares or warrants, or at all.

Future issuance of our ordinary shares could dilute the interests of existing shareholders.

We may issue additional ordinary shares in the future. The issuance of a substantial number of ordinary shares could have the effect of substantially diluting the interests of our shareholders. In addition, the sale of a substantial amount of ordinary shares in the public market, in the initial issuance, in a situation in which we acquire a company and the acquired company receives ordinary shares as consideration and the acquired company subsequently sells its ordinary shares, or by investors who acquired such ordinary shares in a private placement, could have an adverse effect on the market price of our ordinary shares.

We have some warrants outstanding, and while these warrants are outstanding, it may be more difficult to raise additional equity capital.

As of December 31, 2021, we had outstanding warrants to purchase 623,078 ordinary shares. The holders of these warrants have the opportunity to profit from a rise in the market price of our ordinary shares. We may find it more difficult to raise additional equity capital while these warrants are outstanding. At any time during which these warrants are likely to be exercised, we may be unable to obtain additional equity capital on more favorable terms from other sources. Additionally, the exercise of these warrants will cause the increase of our outstanding ordinary shares, which could have the effect of substantially diluting the interests of our current shareholders.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our ordinary shares in the public market by our existing shareholders could cause our share price to fall.

Sales of a substantial number of our ordinary shares in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our ordinary shares and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. We are unable to predict the effect that sales may have on the prevailing market price of our ordinary shares. All of the shares owned by our directors, officers and shareholders that own over 5% of our ordinary shares on a fully diluted basis are subject to lock-up agreements with the underwriters of this offering that restrict such shareholders’ ability to transfer our ordinary shares for at least six months from the date of this prospectus. All of our outstanding shares held by our directors, officers and shareholders that own over 5% of our ordinary shares on a fully diluted basis will become eligible for unrestricted sale upon expiration of the lockup period, as described in the sections of this prospectus entitled “Shares Eligible for Future Sale” and “Underwriting.” In addition, shares issued or issuable upon exercise of options and warrants vested as of the expiration of the lock-up period will be eligible for sale at that time. Sales of shares by these shareholders could have a material adverse effect on the trading price of our ordinary shares. We intend to register the offering, issuance, and sale of all ordinary shares that we may issue under our equity compensation plans. Once we register these shares, they can be freely sold in the public market upon issuance, subject to volume limitations applicable to affiliates and the lock-up agreements described in the “Underwriting” section of this prospectus. Also, we have granted “piggyback” registration rights to certain investors concurrently with the consummation of our IPO, in October 2014, pursuant to a Registration Rights Agreement. Upon the effectiveness of a future registration statement in which their shares are included pursuant to the exercise of these piggyback rights, these stockholders will be able to freely sell their ordinary shares in the public market without restriction, which sales could materially and adversely affect the trading price of our ordinary shares.

We are a foreign private issuer and, as a result, we are not subject to U.S. proxy rules and are subject to reporting obligations that, to some extent, are more lenient and less frequent than those applicable to a U.S. issuer.

Because we qualify as a foreign private issuer under the Exchange Act, we are exempt from certain provisions of the Exchange Act that are applicable to U.S. publicly reporting companies, including (i) the sections of the Exchange Act regulating the solicitation of proxies, consents or authorizations in respect of a security registered under the Exchange Act, (ii) the sections of the Exchange Act requiring insiders to file public reports of their stock ownership and trading activities and liability for insiders who profit from trades made in a short period of time, and (iii) the rules under the Exchange Act requiring the filing with the SEC of quarterly reports on Form 10-Q containing unaudited financial and other specified information, or current reports on Form 8-K, upon the occurrence of specified significant events. In addition, while U.S. domestic issuers that are not large accelerated filers or accelerated filers are required to file their annual reports on Form 10-K within 90 days after the end of each fiscal year, foreign private issuers are not required to file their annual report on Form 20-F until 120 days after the end of each fiscal year. Foreign private issuers are also exempt from the Regulation Fair Disclosure, aimed at preventing issuers from making selective disclosures of material information.

We have not paid cash dividends on our capital stock since 2017 and we do not anticipate paying any further dividends in the foreseeable future. Consequently, any gains from an investment in our ordinary shares will likely depend on whether the price of our ordinary shares increases, which may not occur.

We have not paid cash dividends our ordinary shares since 2017 and we currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of our business. In addition, the BVI Law imposes restrictions on our ability to declare and pay dividends. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our ordinary shares will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future. Consequently, in the foreseeable future, you will likely only experience a gain from your investment in our ordinary shares if the price of our ordinary shares increases beyond the price in which you originally acquired the ordinary shares.

The current and potential future application of the SEC’s “penny stock” rules to our ordinary shares could limit trading activity in the market, and our shareholders may find it more difficult to sell their shares.

If our ordinary shares continue to trade at less than $5.00 per share we will continue to be subject to the SEC’s penny stock rules. Penny stocks generally are equity securities with a price of less than $5.00. Penny stock rules require a broker-dealer, prior to a transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from the rules, to deliver a standardized risk disclosure document that provides information about penny stocks and the risks in the penny stock market. The broker-dealer also must provide the customer with current bid and offer quotations for the penny stock, the compensation of the broker-dealer and its salesperson in the transaction, and monthly account statements showing the market value of each penny stock held in the customer’s account. The broker-dealer must also make a special written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written agreement to the transaction. These requirements may have the effect of reducing the level of trading activity, if any, in the secondary market for a security that becomes subject to the penny stock rules. The additional burdens imposed upon broker-dealers by such requirements may discourage broker-dealers from effecting transactions in our securities, which could severely limit their market price and liquidity of our securities. These requirements may restrict the ability of broker-dealers to sell our ordinary shares and may affect our shareholders’ ability to resell their ordinary shares.

In the event a market develops for our ordinary shares, the market price of our ordinary shares may be volatile.

In the event a market develops for our ordinary shares, the market price of our ordinary shares may be highly volatile. Some of the factors that may materially affect the market price of our ordinary shares are beyond our control, such as changes in financial estimates by industry and securities analysts, conditions or trends in the industry in which we operate or sales of our ordinary shares. These factors may materially adversely affect the market price of our ordinary shares, regardless of our performance. In addition, the public stock markets have experienced extreme price and trading volume volatility. This volatility has significantly affected the market prices of securities of many companies for reasons frequently unrelated to the operating performance of the specific companies. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our ordinary shares.

If we are or become classified as a passive foreign investment company, our U.S. shareholders may suffer adverse tax consequences as a result.

Generally, for any taxable year, if at least 75% of our gross income is passive income, or at least 50% of the value of our assets is attributable to assets that produce passive income or are held for the production of passive income, including cash, we would be characterized as a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes. For purposes of these tests, passive income includes dividends, interest gains from commodities and securities transactions, the excess of gains over losses from the disposition of assets which produce passive income (including amounts derived by reason of the temporary investment of funds raised in offerings of our shares) and rents and royalties other than rents and royalties which are received from unrelated parties in connection with the active conduct of a trade or business. If we are characterized as a PFIC, our U.S. shareholders may suffer adverse tax consequences, including having gains realized on the sale of our ordinary shares treated as ordinary income, rather than capital gain, the loss of the preferential rate applicable to dividends received on our ordinary shares by individuals who are U.S. holders, and having interest charges apply to distributions by us and gains from the sales of our shares.

Our status as a PFIC will depend on the nature and composition of our income and the nature, composition and value of our assets (which, assuming we are not a “controlled foreign corporation,” or a CFC, under Section 957(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, for the year being tested, may be determined based on the fair market value of each asset, with the value of goodwill and going concern value determined in large part by reference to the market value of our common shares, which may be volatile). Our status may also depend, in part, on how quickly we utilize the cash proceeds from this offering in our business. Based upon the value of our assets, including any goodwill, and the nature and composition of our income and assets, we do not believe that we were classified as a PFIC for the taxable year ended December 31, 2020 and we do not believe that we will be classified as a PFIC for the taxable year ending December 31, 2021 or in the immediately foreseeable future. Because the determination of whether we are a PFIC for any taxable year is a factual determination made annually after the end of each taxable year, there can be no assurance that we will not be considered a PFIC in any taxable year. Accordingly, our legal counsel expresses no opinion with respect to our PFIC status for our taxable year ended December 31, 2018, and also expresses no opinion with regard to our expectations regarding our PFIC status in the future.

The tax consequences that would apply if we were classified as a PFIC would also be different from those described above if a U.S. shareholder were able to make a valid qualified electing fund, or QEF, election. At this time, we do not expect to provide U.S. shareholders with the information necessary for a U.S. shareholder to make a QEF election. Prospective investors should assume that a QEF election will not be available.

The intended tax effects of our corporate structure and intercompany arrangements depend on the application of the tax laws of various jurisdictions and on how we operate our business.

Significant judgment is required in evaluating our tax positions and determining our provision for income taxes. During the ordinary course of business, there are many transactions and calculations for which the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. For example, our effective tax rates could be adversely affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates or by changes in the relevant tax, accounting and other laws, regulations, principles and interpretations. As we intend to operate in numerous countries and taxing jurisdictions, the application of tax laws can be subject to diverging and sometimes conflicting interpretations by tax authorities of these jurisdictions. It is not uncommon for taxing authorities in different countries to have conflicting views, for instance, with respect to, among other things, the manner in which the arm’s length standard is applied for transfer pricing purposes, or with respect to the valuation of intellectual property. In addition, tax laws are dynamic and subject to change as new laws are passed and new interpretations of the law are issued or applied. For example, on December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was enacted, which introduced a comprehensive set of tax reforms. We continue to assess the impact of such tax reform legislation on our business and may determine that changes to our structure, practice or tax positions are necessary in light of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Certain impacts of this legislation have been taken into account in our financial statements, including the reduction of the U.S. corporate income tax rate from the previous 35 percent to 21 percent. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in conjunction with the tax laws of other jurisdictions in which we operate, however, may require consideration of changes to our structure and the manner in which we conduct our business. Such changes may nevertheless be ineffective in avoiding an increase in our consolidated tax liability, which could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

If tax authorities in any of the countries in which we operate were to successfully challenge our transfer prices as not reflecting arms’ length transactions, they could require us to adjust our transfer prices and thereby reallocate our income to reflect these revised transfer prices, which could result in a higher tax liability to us. In addition, if the country from which the income is reallocated does not agree with the reallocation, both countries could tax the same income, potentially resulting in double taxation. If tax authorities were to allocate income to a higher tax jurisdiction, subject our income to double taxation or assess interest and penalties, it would increase our consolidated tax liability, which could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about us, our business or our market, or if they adversely change their recommendations or publish negative reports regarding our business or our shares, our share price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our ordinary shares will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our market or our competitors. We do not have any control over these analysts, and we cannot provide any assurance that analysts will cover us or provide favorable coverage. If any of the analysts who may cover us adversely change their recommendation regarding our shares, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, our share price would likely decline. If any analyst who may cover us were to cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.