ANTE AirNet Technology Inc

A.            Selected Financial Data

Selected Consolidated Financial Data

The following table represents our selected consolidated financial information. The selected consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2019 and 2020 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements, which are included in this annual report. The selected consolidated statements of operations data for the year ended December 31, 2016 and 2017 and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2016, 2017 and 2018, except for the impact of retrospective adjustments for the deconsolidation of our media business in airports (excluding digital TV screens in airports and TV-attached digital frames) and all billboard and LED media business outside of airports (excluding gas station media network and digital TV screens on airplanes), all of which have been classified as discontinued operations, have been derived from our financial statements for the relevant periods, which are not included in this annual report. Our consolidated financial statements are prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

These selected consolidated financial data below should be read in conjunction with, and are qualified in their entirety by reference to, our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this annual report and “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” below. Our historical results do not necessarily indicate results expected for any future periods. 

The following table presents a summary of our consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020:

B.            Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

C.            Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

D.            Risk Factors

Summary Risk Factors

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

Risks Related to Our Business

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

Risks Related to the Market for Our ADSs

Risks Related to Our Business

We incurred net losses in the past and we may incur losses in the future.

In an effort to realign our business, we:

In anticipation of the immediate impacts of COVID-19, we diverted our resources into the development of mining of cryptocurrencies since the beginning of 2021 while the staggering effects of COVID-19 on the economy and airline industry were being evaluated.

We have incurred net losses in recent years, and notwithstanding we recorded net income in 2020 and in spite of our efforts to transition into our new business, we may incur loss in the future. With respect to the termination of our advertising service at gas station and our on-train Wi-Fi business, we no longer pay concession fees. With respect to providing contents on flights, we have paid, and expect to continue to pay concession fees to secure time intervals to play advertising contents. With respect to our in-flight connectivity business, we have incurred, and expect to continue to incur, substantial expenses in the form of acquisition of concession rights, initial system development and installation investments and ongoing system operation and maintenance costs. In the event of any significant technology development, we may need to incur further system development expenses.

Concession fees constitute a significant part of our cost of revenues and most of our concession fees are fixed under the concession rights contracts with an escalation clause. These fees payments are usually due in advance. However, our revenues may fluctuate significantly from period to period for various reasons. For instance, when new concession rights contracts are signed for a period, additional concession fees are incurred immediately, but it may take some time for us to generate revenues from these concession rights contracts because it takes time to find advertisers for the time slots and locations made available under these new contracts. Similarly, we need to purchase the bandwidth before we sell our Wi-Fi services to users and we need to maintain our system regardless of the level of revenue. If we are not able to attract enough advertisers and customers, or at all, our revenue will decrease and we may continue to incur losses given most of our costs and expenses are fixed.

We have a limited operating history, which may make it difficult for you to evaluate our business and prospects.

Although we began our business operations in August 2005, we started to explore our in-flight connectivity business in 2015, and began operating our in-flight content business in 2015 as well divested our airport travel advertising business in 2015. As a result of our business realignment, our advertising service at long-haul buses and gas stations were terminated and on-train Wi-Fi business were scaled down significantly in 2018 and in early 2019 ceased operations for Wi-Fi services on trains altogether. Our limited operating history may not provide a meaningful basis for you to evaluate our business, financial performance and prospects. It is also difficult to evaluate the viability of our business model because we do not have sufficient experience to address the risks that we may encounter as we conduct our businesses. Certain members of our senior management team, especially those who joined us only recently due to our Wi-Fi business, have worked together for a relatively short period of time and it may be difficult for us to evaluate their effectiveness, on an individual or collective basis, and their ability to address future challenges to our business. Because of our limited operating history, we may not be able to:

We may fail to successfully implement our new business initiatives in cryptocurrency mining, where we have limited experience.

We have established a new line of business in relation to cryptocurrency mining to mitigate the adversary impacts of COVID-19 on our in-flight connectivity business. On December 30, 2020 and February 4, 2021, we entered into investment agreements with Unistar Group Holdings Limited and Northern Shore Group Limited, respectively, pursuant to which we issued ordinary shares in exchange for the delivery and transfer of computer servers specifically designed for mining cryptocurrencies. We will generate revenue from the cryptocurrency we earn through our mining activities, which we may hold for our own account and or sell at prices and times as determined by our executive management team in accordance with our corporate strategy. However, cryptocurrency mining is substantially different from our existing business in many ways, such as business model and governmental and regulatory requirements. In addition, the cryptocurrency mining industry is characterized by constant changes, including rapid technological evolution, continual shifts in government regulations, frequent introductions of new products and solutions and constant emergence of new industry standards and practices. Specifically, relevant restrictions from existing and future regulations on mining, holding, using, or transferring of cryptocurrencies may adversely affect our future business operations and results of operations. For example, although mining activities have not been explicitly prohibited by the PRC government, any further order of the PRC government to limit cryptocurrency mining may result in a crackdown on the cryptocurrency market and adversely affect the outcome of our new business initiatives. It is possible that the cryptocurrency market may respond to such regulations by moving to other countries or changing its practices to comply. However, it is unclear how various countries will regulate the blockchain or how the market will respond to such regulations. If any jurisdictions impose limitations on the mining, use, holding or transferring of cryptocurrencies or any other cryptocurrency-related activities, we may fail to achieve the expected benefits, and our business prospects may be materially and adversely affected. Based on our limited experience in cryptocurrency mining business and the unpredictable policy changes towards such business, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in implementing our new business initiatives in cryptocurrency mining, and our existing business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

If advertisers or the viewing public do not accept, or lose interest in, our air travel media network, we may be unable to generate sufficient cash flow from our operating activities and our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Our success in our air travel media business depends on the acceptance of our advertising network by advertisers and their interest in it as a part of their advertising strategies. In this annual report, the term “advertisers” refer to the ultimate brand-owners whose brands and products are being publicized by our advertisements, including both advertisers that purchase advertisements directly from us and advertisers that do so through third-party advertising agencies. Our advertisers may elect not to use our services if they believe that consumers are not receptive to our media network or that our network is not a sufficiently effective advertising medium. If consumers find our network to be disruptive or intrusive, airplane companies may refuse to allow us to place our programs on airplanes, and our advertisers may reduce spending on our network.

If we are not able to adequately track air traveler responses to our programs, in particular track the demographics of air travelers most receptive to air travel media, we will not be able to provide sufficient feedback and data to existing and potential advertisers to help us generate demand and determine pricing. Without improved market research, advertisers may reduce their use of air travel media and instead turn to more traditional forms of advertising that have more established and proven methods of tracking the effectiveness of advertisements.

Demand for our advertising services and the resulting advertising spending by our advertisers may fluctuate from time to time, and our advertisers may reduce the money they spend to advertise on our network for any number of reasons. If a substantial number of our advertisers lose interest in advertising on our media network for these or other reasons or become unwilling to purchase advertising time slots or locations on our network, we will be unable to generate sufficient revenues and cash flow to operate our business, and our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

If we do not succeed in launching our in-flight business, our future results of operations and growth prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

Driven by innovation, we gradually reinvented ourselves and shaped our core competence in providing in-flight solutions to connectivity, entertainment and digital multimedia in China. We began to explore the in-flight business in 2018, which has sustained adversary impacts caused by the spread of COVID-19 and the measurements taken to contain such spread. We collaborated with partners to deliver in-flight connectivity solutions and a wide range of in-flight entertainment and advertising contents streaming via the connectivity. We may face unexpected new risks as we continue to launch this new business. As a result, we cannot assure you that we will be able to generate enough, or any, revenue from this business. If we fail to do so, our considerable amounts of investment on system development, will materially and adversely affect our business and financial results.

In our new business, we may face new competition. If we cannot successfully address the foregoing new challenges and compete effectively, we may not be able to develop a sufficiently large advertiser base, recover costs incurred for developing and marketing our new business, and eventually achieve profitability from these businesses, and, consequently, our future results of operations and growth prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

We may be adversely affected by a significant or prolonged economic downturn in the level of consumer spending in the industries and markets served by our customers.

Our business depends on demand for our advertising services from our customers, which is affected by the level of business activity and economic condition of our customers and is in turn affected by the level of consumer spending in the markets our customers serve. Therefore, our businesses and earnings are affected by general business and economic conditions in China as well as abroad.

Advertising revenues from advertisers in the automobile industry accounted for a significant portion of our revenues. Any significant or prolonged slowdown or decline of this industry or the economy of China, countries with close economic ties with China or the overall global economy will affect consumers’ disposable income and consumer spending in these industries, and lead to a decrease in demand for our services.

Our business, financial condition and results of operations was and may continue to be adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The recent outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus, the COVID-19, has spread rapidly to many parts of the world. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 a pandemic, which has resulted in quarantines, travel restrictions, and the temporary closure of facilities in China and many other countries for the past few months. The spread of the pandemic and efforts to contain and counter the spread of the pandemic has restrained the flow of travelers both domestically and internationally. As our primary business is to provide in-flight connectivity and contents in the nature of information and entertainment to travelers by air, our results of operations and financial condition have been adversely affected and may continue to be adversely affected by the COVID-19, to the extent that COVID-19 exerts long-term negative impact on the global economy.

Government efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 through city lockdowns or “stay-at-home” orders, widespread business closures, restrictions on travel and emergency quarantines, among others, have caused significant and unprecedented disruptions to the global economy and normal business operations across sectors and countries. In 2020, many businesses and social activities in China and other countries and regions were severely disrupted. The COVID-19 pandemic may also affect our business, financial condition and results of operations for the full year 2021 to some extent. The extent to which this outbreak impacts our results of operations will depend on future developments which are highly uncertain and unpredictable, including new outbreaks of COVID-19, the severity of the disease, the success or failure of efforts to contain or treat the disease, and future actions we or the authorities may take in response to these developments.

We derive a significant portion of our revenues from the provision of air travel media services. A contraction in the air travel media industry in China may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Approximately 99.7% of our revenues from continuing operations in 2020 was generated from the provision of air travel media services through the display of advertisements on digital TV screens on airplanes. We expect digital TV screens on airplanes to contribute substantially all of our air travel network revenue and a majority of all our revenue in the foreseeable future. If we cannot successfully generate revenues from our Wi-Fi business, this situation will continue into the foreseeable future. A contraction in air travel media industry in China could therefore have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

If we are unable to carry out our operations as specified in existing concession rights contracts, retain or renew existing concession rights contracts or to obtain new concession rights contracts on commercially advantageous terms, we may be unable to maintain or expand our network coverage and our costs may increase significantly in the future.

Except for our new cryptocurrency business started in early 2021, our ability to carry out almost all of our wi-fi and advertising business depends on the availability of the necessary concession rights. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to carry out our operations as specified in our concession rights contracts, and any failure to perform may affect the availability of our concession rights and materially and negatively affect our business.

We may also be unable to retain or renew concession rights contracts when they expire. Most of our concession rights contracts have no automatic renewal provisions. We cannot assure you that we will be able to renew any or all of our concession contracts when they expire. In particular, failure to renew our Wi-Fi concession right contracts will render it hard or impossible for us to recoup our investment in related system development and installation. We enter into Wi-Fi contracts with private companies operating those vehicles or the relevant advertising companies or agencies operated or hired by the relevant airline companies, and those companies are usually price sensitive and may choose not to renew our concession rights but instead enter into contracts with other players who can offer more competitive pricing. Furthermore, even if we manage to renew a concession right contract, the terms of the new contract may not be commercially favorable to us. The concession fees that we incur under our concession rights contracts comprise a significant portion of our cost of revenues, which may further increase upon renewals. If we cannot pass increased concession costs onto our customers, our earnings and our results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, many of our concession rights contracts contain provisions granting us certain exclusive concession rights. We cannot assure you that we will be able to retain these exclusivity provisions when we renew these contracts. If we were to lose exclusivity, our advertisers may decide to advertise with our competitors or otherwise reduce their spending on our network and we may lose market share.

We cannot assure you that our concession rights contracts will not be unilaterally terminated during their terms, whether with or without justification. In addition, many of our concession rights contracts were entered into with the advertising companies operated by or advertising agencies hired by airline companies, and not with the airline companies directly. Although these advertising companies and agents have generally represented to us in writing that they have the rights to operate advertising media on airplanes and all of them have performed their contractual obligations, we cannot assure you that airline companies will not challenge or revoke the contractual concession rights granted to us by their advertising companies or agents; if such challenges or revocations occur, our revenues and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

If we fail to properly perform our existing concession rights contracts, retain existing concession rights contracts or obtain new concession rights contracts on commercially advantageous terms, we may be unable to maintain or expand our network coverage and our costs may increase significantly in the future.

A significant portion of our revenues has been derived from a limited number of airline companies in China. If any of these airline companies experiences a material business or flight disruption or if there are changes in our arrangements with these airline companies, we may incur substantial losses of revenues.

We derived a significant portion of our revenues from operations in 2020 from six airline companies in China. As of the date of this annual report, we have concession rights contracts to place our programs on China Southern Airline, China Eastern Airline, Shanghai Airline, Xiamen Airline, Air China and Shenzhen Airline, which in the aggregate contributed more than a majority of our revenue from digital TV screens on airplanes in 2020. A material business or flight disruption of any of those airline companies could negatively affect our advertising media on airplanes operated by those companies.

We expect our advertising platform with these abovementioned airline companies to continue to contribute a significant portion of our revenues in the foreseeable future. If any such companies experience a material business or flight disruption, we would likely lose a substantial amount of revenues.

We depend on third-party program producers to provide the non-advertising content that we include in our programs. Failure to obtain high-quality content on commercially reasonable terms could materially reduce the attractiveness of our network, harm our reputation and materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

The programs on the majority of our digital TV screens include both advertising and non-advertising content. Third-party content providers and various other television stations and television production companies have contracts with us to provide the majority of the non-advertising content played on our digital TV screens on airplanes. There is no assurance that we will be able to renew these contracts, enter into substitute contracts to obtain similar contents or obtain non-advertising content on satisfactory terms, or at all. To make our programs more attractive, we must continue to secure contracts with third-party content providers. If we fail to obtain a sufficient amount of high-quality content on a cost-effective basis, advertisers may find advertising on our network unattractive and may not wish to purchase advertising time slots or locations on our network, which would materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

When our current advertising network of digital TV screens and LED screens becomes saturated on the airlines where we operate, we may be unable to offer additional time slots or locations to satisfy all of our advertisers’ needs, which could hamper our ability to generate higher levels of revenues and profitability over time.

When our network of digital TV screens and LED screens in airplanes becomes saturated in any particular airline where we operate, we may be unable to offer additional advertising time slots or locations to satisfy all of our advertisers’ needs. We would need to increase our advertising rates for advertising in such airlines or other locations to increase our revenues. However, advertisers may be unwilling to accept rate increases, which could hamper our ability to generate higher levels of revenues over time. In particular, the utilization rates of our advertising time slots and locations on the three largest airlines in China are higher than those on other airlines, and saturation or oversaturation of digital TV screens on these airlines could have a material adverse effect on our growth prospects.

Our advertising agencies could engage in activities that are harmful to our reputation in the industry and to our business.

We engage third-party advertising agencies to help source advertisers from time to time. These third-party advertising agencies assist us in identifying advertisers and introduce advertisers to us. In return, we pay fees to these advertising agencies if they generate advertising revenues for us. Fees that we pay to these third-party agencies are calculated based on a pre-set percentage of revenues generated from the advertisers introduced to us by the third-party agencies and are paid when payments are received from the advertisers. Our contractual arrangements with these advertising agencies do not provide us with control or oversight over their everyday business activities, and one or more of these agencies may engage in activities that violate PRC laws and regulations governing the advertising industry and related non-advertising content, or other laws and regulations. If the advertising agencies we use violate PRC advertising or other laws or regulations, it could harm our reputation in the industry and have detrimental effects on our business operations.

Because we rely on third-party advertising agencies to help obtain advertisers, if we fail to maintain stable business relations with key third-party agencies or to attract additional agencies on competitive terms, our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

We engage third-party advertising agencies to help obtain advertisers from time to time. We do not have long-term or exclusive agreements with these advertising agencies, including our key third-party advertising agencies, and cannot assure you that we will continue to maintain stable business relations with them. Furthermore, the fees we pay to these third-party advertising agencies constitute a significant portion of our cost of revenues. If we fail to retain key third-party advertising agencies or to attract additional advertising agencies, we may not be able to retain existing advertisers or attract new advertisers or advertising agencies, or the fees we pay them may have to significantly increase. If any of the above happens, our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

A limited number of advertisers have historically accounted for a significant portion of our revenues and this dependence may reoccur in the future, which would make us more vulnerable to the loss of major advertisers or delays in payments from these advertisers.

A limited number of advertisers historically accounted for a significant portion of our revenues, for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020, two, four and two individual customers accounted for over 10% of total revenue, respectively.

If we fail to sell our services to one or more of our major advertisers in any particular period, or if a major advertiser purchases fewer of our services, fails to purchase additional advertising time on our network, or cancels some or all of its purchase orders with us, our revenues could decline and our operating results could be adversely affected. The dependence on a small number of advertisers could leave us more vulnerable to payment delays from these advertisers. We are required under some of our concession rights contracts to make prepayments and although we do receive some prepayments from advertisers, there is typically a lag between the time of our prepayment of concession fees and the time that we receive payments from our advertisers. As our business expands and revenues grow, we have experienced and may continue to experience an increase in our accounts receivable. If any of our major advertisers are significantly delinquent with its payments, our liquidity and financial conditions may be materially and adversely affected.

We face significant competition in the advertising industry in China, and if we do not compete successfully against new and existing competitors, we may lose our market share, and our profits may be reduced.

We face significant competition in the advertising industry in China. We compete for advertisers primarily on the basis of price, program quality, the range of services offered and brand recognition. We primarily compete for advertising dollars spent in the air travel media industry. We may also face competition from new competitors as we enter into new markets.

Significant competition could reduce our operating margins and profitability and lead to a loss of market share. Some of our existing and potential competitors may have competitive advantages such as significantly greater brand recognition, a longer history in the out-of-home advertising industry and financial, marketing or other resources, and may be able to mimic and adopt our business model. In addition, several of our competitors have significantly larger advertising networks than we do, which gives them an ability to reach a larger number of overall potential consumers and which may make them less susceptible than we are to downturns in particular advertising sectors, such as air travel. Moreover, significant competition will provide advertisers with a wider range of media and advertising service alternatives, which could lead to lower prices and decreased revenues, gross margins and profits focus. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully compete against new or existing competitors, and failure to compete may reduce for existing market share and profits.

Our results of operations are largely subject to fluctuations in the demand for air travel. A decrease in the demand for air travel may make it difficult for us to sell our advertising time slots and locations.

To a large extent, our results of operations are linked to the demand for air travel, which fluctuates greatly from period to period, and is subject to seasonality due to holiday travel and weather conditions. Other factors that may affect our results include:

If the demand for air travel within our network decreases for any of these or other reasons, advertisers may be reluctant to advertise on our network and we may be unable to sell our advertising time slots or locations or charge premium prices.

Past and future acquisitions may have an adverse effect on our ability to manage our business.

We have acquired and may continue to acquire businesses, technologies, services or products which are complementary to our business in relation to cryptocurrency mining in the future. Past and future acquisitions may expose us to potential risks, including risks associated with:

Any of these potential risks could have a material and adverse effect on our ability to manage our business, our revenues and net income.

We may need to raise additional debt or sell additional equity securities to make future acquisitions. The raising of additional debt funding by us, if required, would increase debt service obligations and may lead to additional operating and financing covenants, or liens on our assets, that would restrict our operations. The sale of additional equity securities could cause additional dilution to our shareholders.

Our acquisition strategy also depends on our ability to obtain necessary government approvals. See “—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—The M&A Rule sets forth complex procedures for acquisitions conducted by foreign investors which could make it more difficult to pursue growth through acquisitions.”

Our quarterly and annual operating results are difficult to predict and have fluctuated and may continue to fluctuate significantly from period to period.

Our quarterly and annual operating results are difficult to predict and have fluctuated and may continue to fluctuate significantly from period to period based on the performance of our new business, the seasonality of air travel, consumer spending and corresponding advertising trends in China. Air travel, and advertising spending in China generally tend to increase during major national holidays in October and tend to decrease during the first quarter of each year. Air travel and advertising spending in China is also affected by certain special events and related government measures. As a result, and also due to the unpredictable performance of our new business, you may not be able to rely on period-to-period comparisons of our operating results as an indication of our future performance. Other factors that may cause our operating results to fluctuate include a deterioration of economic conditions in China and potential changes to the regulation of the advertising industry in China. If our revenues for a particular quarter are lower than we expect, we may be unable to reduce our operating costs and expenses for that quarter by a corresponding amount, and it would harm our operating results for that quarter relative to our operating results for other quarters.

Our business depends substantially on the continuing efforts of our senior executives and other key employees, and our business may be severely disrupted if we lose their services.

Our future success heavily depends upon the continued services of our senior executives and other key employees. We rely on their industry expertise, their experience in business operations and sales and marketing, and their working relationships with our advertisers, airlines, and relevant government authorities.

If one or more of our senior executives and other key employees were unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, we might not be able to replace them easily or at all. If any of our senior executives and other key employees joins a competitor or forms a competing company, we may lose advertisers, suppliers, key professionals and staff members. Each of our executive officers and other key employees has entered into an employment agreement with us which contains non-competition provisions. However, if any dispute arises between any of our executive officers and other key employees and us, we cannot assure you the extent to which any of these agreements could be enforced in China, where most of these executive officers and other key employees reside, in light of the uncertainties with China’s legal system. See “—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could limit the legal protections available to us or result in substantial costs and the diversion of resources and management attention.”

Failure to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting and effective disclosure controls and procedures could have a material and adverse effect on the trading price of our ADSs.

We are subject to reporting obligations under the U.S. securities laws. The SEC, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, adopted rules requiring every public company to include a management report on such company’s internal control over financial reporting in its annual report, which must also contain management’s assessment of the effectiveness of the company’s internal control over financial reporting. SEC rules also require every public company to include a management report containing management’s assessment of the effectiveness of such company’s disclosure controls and procedures in its annual report.

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting in the past. If we fail to develop or maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, current and potential stockholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which would harm our business and the trading price of our securities. In connection with the audit of our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020, our management concluded we had material weaknesses in our internal controls. Despite our continued efforts and the improvement achieved, our management has concluded that we had not maintained effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2020. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The material weakness as of December 31, 2020 was related to the weak operating effectiveness and lack of monitoring of controls over financial reporting due to inadequate resources or resources with insufficient experience or training in our financial reporting team, administration team and human resource team. See “Item 15. Controls and Procedures.” Any failure to achieve and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could negatively affect the reliability of our financial information and reduce investors’ confidence in our reported financial information, which in turn could result in lawsuits being filed against us by our shareholders, otherwise harm our reputation or negatively impact the trading price of our ADSs. Furthermore, we have incurred and anticipate that we will continue to incur considerable costs and use significant management time and other resources in an effort to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. 

We may need additional capital which, if obtained, could result in dilution or significant debt service obligations. We may not be able to obtain additional capital on commercially reasonable terms, which could adversely affect our liquidity and financial position.

We may require additional cash resources due to changed business conditions or other future developments, especially given our investment in our cryptocurrency mining business. If our current resources are insufficient to satisfy our cash requirements, we may seek to sell additional equity or debt securities or obtain a credit facility. The sale of convertible debt securities or additional equity securities could result in additional dilution to our shareholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased debt service obligations and could result in operating and financing covenants that would restrict our operations and liquidity.

In addition, our ability to obtain additional capital on acceptable terms is subject to a variety of uncertainties, including:

We cannot assure you that financing will be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all. Any failure to raise additional funds on favorable terms could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and financial condition.

Compliance with PRC laws and regulations may be difficult and could be costly, and failure to comply could subject us to government sanctions.

As an advertising service provider, we are obligated under PRC laws and regulations to monitor the advertising content shown on our network for compliance with applicable law. Violation of these laws or regulations may result in penalties, including fines, confiscation of advertising fees, orders to cease dissemination of the offending advertisements and orders to publish advertisements correcting the misleading information. In case of serious violations, the PRC authorities may revoke our license for advertising business operations. In general, the advertisements shown on our network have previously been broadcast over public television networks and have been subjected to internal review and verification by such networks, but we are still required to independently review and verify these advertisements for content compliance before displaying them. In addition, if a special government review is required for certain product advertisements before they are shown to the public, we are required to confirm that such review has been performed and approval obtained. For advertising content related to certain types of products and services, such as food products, alcohol, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and medical procedures, we are required to confirm that the advertisers have obtained requisite government approvals, including review of operating qualifications, proof of quality inspection of the advertised products, government pre-approval of the contents of the advertisement and filing with local authorities.

We endeavor to comply with such requirements through means such as requesting relevant documents from the advertisers. However, we cannot assure you that each advertisement that an advertiser provides to us and which we include in our network programs is in full compliance with all relevant PRC advertising laws and regulations or that such supporting documentation and government approvals provided to us are complete. Although we employ qualified advertising inspectors who are trained to review advertising content for compliance with relevant PRC laws and regulations, the content standards in the PRC are less certain and less clear than those in more developed countries such as the United States and we cannot assure you that we will always be able to properly review all advertising content to comply with the PRC standards imposed on us with certainty.

In addition, although we use our best efforts to comply with all relevant laws and regulations and to obtain all necessary certificates, registrations and approvals for our business, due to the complexity of local laws and regulations across China governing outdoor media advertising platforms, there can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain or maintain all necessary approvals. For example, our Wi-Fi business might be regarded as value-added telecommunication service. To provide this type of services, we are required to obtain the relevant telecommunication license from the communication authorities. As a result, we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain the necessary license soon, if at all, to provide Wi-Fi service. Any delay or failure in obtaining such approvals or licenses could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

We may be subject to, and may expend significant resources in defending against government actions and civil suits based on the content we provide through our advertising network.

Because of the nature and content of the information displayed on our network, civil claims may be filed against us for fraud, defamation, subversion, negligence, copyright or trademark infringement or other violations. Offensive and objectionable content and legal standards for defamation and fraud in China are less defined than in other more developed countries and we may not be able to properly screen out unlawful content. If consumers find the content displayed on our network to be offensive, the relevant airlines, gas stations, railway bureaus and long-haul bus companies may seek to hold us responsible for any consumer claims or may terminate their relationships with us.

In addition, if the security of our content management system is breached and unauthorized images, text or audio sounds are displayed on our network, viewers or the PRC government may find these images, text or audio sounds to be offensive, which may subject us to civil liability or government censure despite our efforts to ensure the security of our content management system. Any such event may also damage our reputation. If our advertising viewers do not believe our content is reliable or accurate, our business model may become less appealing to viewers in China and our advertisers may be less willing to place advertisements on our network.

Furthermore, we have established a new line of business in relation to cryptocurrency mining since early 2021. Governmental authorities are likely to continue to issue new laws, rules and regulations governing the cryptocurrency industry and enhance enforcement of existing laws, rules and regulations. For example, seven PRC governmental authorities including the People’s Bank of China, promulgated an announcement in September 2017 prohibiting financial institutions from engaging in initial coin offering transactions. Some jurisdictions, including the PRC, restrict various uses of cryptocurrencies, including the use of cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange, the conversion between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies or between cryptocurrencies, the provision of trading and other services related to cryptocurrencies by financial institutions and payment institutions, and initial coin offerings and other means of capital raising based on cryptocurrencies. In addition, cryptocurrencies may be used by market participants for black market transactions, to conduct fraud, money laundering and terrorism-funding, tax evasion, economic sanction evasion or other illegal activities. As a result, governments may seek to regulate, restrict, control or ban the mining, use, holding and transferring of cryptocurrencies. We may not be able to eliminate all instances where other parties use our products to engage in money laundering or other illegal or improper activities. We cannot assure you that we will successfully detect all money laundering or other illegal or improper activities which may adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may be subject to intellectual property infringement claims, which may force us to incur substantial legal expenses and, if determined adversely against us, may materially and adversely affect our business.

Our commercial success depends to a large extent on our ability to operate without infringing the intellectual property rights of third parties. We cannot assure you that our displays or other aspects of our business do not or will not infringe patents, copyrights or other intellectual property rights held by third parties. We may become subject to legal proceedings and claims from time to time relating to the intellectual property of others in the ordinary course of our business. If we are found to have violated the intellectual property rights of others, we may be enjoined from using such intellectual property, incur licensing fees or be forced to develop alternatives. In addition, we may incur substantial expenses and diversion of management time in defending against these third-party infringement claims, regardless of their merit. Successful infringement or licensing claims against us may result in substantial monetary liabilities, which may materially and adversely affect our business.

We face risks related to natural disasters, health epidemics and other outbreaks, which could significantly disrupt our operations.

Our business could be materially and adversely affected by natural disasters or the outbreak of health epidemic. Any such occurrences could cause severe disruption to our daily operations, and may even require a temporary closure of our facilities. In August 2014, a strong earthquake hit part of Yunnan province in south, and resulted in significant casualties and property damage. While we did not suffer any loss or experience any significant increase in cost resulting from these earthquakes, if a similar disaster were to occur in the future affecting Beijing or another city where we have major operations in China, our operations could be materially and adversely affected due to loss of personnel and damages to property. In addition, any outbreak of avian flu, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), influenza A (H1N1), H7N9, Ebola, COVID-19 or other adverse public health epidemic in China may have a material and adverse effect on our business operations. These occurrences could require the temporary closure of our offices or prevent our staff from traveling to our customers’ offices to provide services. Such closures could severely disrupt our business operations and adversely affect our results of operations. These occurrences could reduce air and train traveling in China and adversely affect the results of operations of our related business.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating our China business do not comply with PRC governmental restrictions on foreign investment in the advertising industry and in the operating of non-advertising content, our business could be materially and adversely affected.

Substantially all of our operations are conducted through contractual arrangements with our consolidated VIEs in China: Yuehang Sunshine Network Technology Group Co., Ltd. (previously known as AirMedia Online Network Technology Group Co., Ltd.), or AirNet Online, Beijing Linghang Shengshi Advertising Co., Ltd., or Linghang Shengshi, Wangfan Tianxia Network Technology Co., Ltd., or Iwangfan. As the Foreign-invested Advertising Enterprise Management Regulations, or the Foreign-invested Advertising Regulations, which became effective on October 1, 2008 and has been abolished on June 29, 2015, it permitted 100% foreign ownership of companies that provide advertising services, subject to approval by relevant PRC government authorities. Also according to the Special Administrative Measures for Access of Foreign Investment (Negative List) (2020 Edition), which became effective on July 23, 2020, the television program production and operation falls into the category of prohibited foreign investment industry, but the advertising business still does not fall into the category of restricted or prohibited foreign investment industry. We believe that these regulations apply to our business and are therefore carrying out the portions of our business that involve the production of non-advertising content through our VIEs. Our wholly owned Hong Kong subsidiary Air Net (China) Limited, or AN China, the 100% shareholder of our three wholly foreign owned subsidiaries in China, has been operating an advertising business in Hong Kong since 2008, and thus it is allowed to directly invest in advertising business in China. In December 2014, we transferred 100% equity interest in Shenzhen Yuehang Information Technology Co., Ltd., or Shenzhen Yuehang, to AN China to provide advertising services in China directly. In July 2015, Shenzhen Yuehang obtained the approval to include advertising in its scope of business. We therefore intent to gradually shift our advertising business to Shenzhen Yuehang to gradually reduce our reliance on the current VIE structure in terms of our advertising business. Our advertising business is currently primarily provided through our contractual arrangements with certain of our consolidated VIEs in China. These entities directly operate our air advertising network, enter into concession rights contracts related to our air advertising network and sell advertising time slots and locations to our advertisers. In addition, under current PRC regulations, a foreign entity is prohibited from owning more than 50% of any PRC entity that provides value-added telecommunication services, and Wi-Fi services might be regarded as value-added telecommunication business. As a result, we enter into concession rights contracts related to our Wi-Fi business via AirNet Online, which is expected to directly operate this business. We have contractual arrangements with these VIEs pursuant to which we, through Yuehang Chuangyi Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., or Chuangyi Technology, provide technical support and consulting services and other services to these entities. We also have agreements with our VIEs and each of their individual shareholders (except Yi Zhang) that provide us with the substantial ability to control these entities. For a description of these contractual arrangements, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Organizational Structure” and “Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions—B. Related Party Transactions—Contractual Arrangements.”

In January 2016, we, through the nominee shareholders of the respective VIEs, transferred 3.5% equity interest in each of AirNet Online and Linghang Shengshi to Yi Zhang. Yi Zhang is an unrelated third-party minority shareholder of those VIEs and did not enter into the same VIE arrangements with us as did the other nominee shareholders. In December 2018 and February 2020, Yi Zhang withdrew all his equity interests in Linghang Shengshi and AirNet Online, respectively. Accordingly, we can exert control over the equity interests in the VIEs previously owned by Yi Zhang.

Some of our VIE arrangements with Linghang Shengshi may expire on June 13, 2027 if any party thereto sends a no-extension notice to the other at least twenty (20) days in advance. Although we believe we can renew those agreements with the VIEs and their shareholders at that time, if we fail to do so, our control over such VIEs might be adversely affected.

In the opinion of Commerce & Finance Law Offices, our PRC counsel, except as described in this annual report, the VIE arrangements between Chuangyi Technology and our consolidated VIEs, as described in this annual report, do not violate PRC law and are valid, binding and legally enforceable. However, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements and if the shareholders of the VIEs were to reduce their interest in us, their interests may diverge from ours and that may potentially increase the risk that they would seek to act contrary to the contractual terms, for example by influencing the VIEs not to pay the service fees when required to do so.

Our ability to control the VIEs also depends on the power of attorney Chuangyi Technology has to vote on all matters requiring shareholder approval in the VIEs. As noted above, we believe this power of attorney is legally enforceable but may not be as effective as direct equity ownership.

In addition, if the PRC government were to find that the VIE arrangements do not comply with PRC governmental restrictions on foreign investment in the advertising industry and in the operating of non-advertising content, or if the legal structure and contractual arrangements were found to be in violation of any other existing PRC laws and regulations, the PRC government could:

While we do not believe that any penalties imposed or actions taken by the PRC government would result in the liquidation of us, Chuangyi Technology, or the VIEs, the imposition of any of these penalties may result in a material and adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business. In addition, if the imposition of any of these penalties causes us to lose the power to direct the activities of the VIEs (and VIEs’ subsidiaries) that most significantly impact the VIEs (and VIEs’ subsidiaries) economic performance or the right to receive substantially all of the benefits from the VIEs (and VIEs’ subsidiaries), we would no longer be able to consolidate the VIEs (and VIEs’ subsidiaries).

In December 2018, the National People’s Congress of the PRC, or the NPC, released another draft of foreign investment law, or the Foreign Investment Law, for soliciting public comments. On March 15, 2019, the Foreign Investment Law was enacted by the NPC and was effective on January 1, 2020. Although the Foreign Investment Law does not explicitly define the contractual arrangements with VIEs as a form of foreign investment, it contains an ambiguous clause that covers other form stipulated in laws, administrative regulations or other methods prescribed by the State Council within its definition of foreign investment. Therefore, uncertainties still exist about whether our contractual arrangements with VIEs will be deemed to violate the market access requirements for foreign investment under the PRC laws. Additionally, if the State Council or laws, administrative regulations require further actions regarding the existing contractual arrangements with VIEs, we may not complete such actions in a timely manner, or at all, which may materially and adversely affect our business operation and financial condition.

Because some of the shareholders of our VIEs in China are our directors and officers, their fiduciary duties to us may conflict with their respective roles in the VIEs, and their interest may not be aligned with the interests of our unaffiliated public security holders. If any of the shareholders of our VIEs fails to act in the best interests of our company or our shareholders, our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Certain of our directors and officers are shareholders in the VIEs, namely AirNet Online, Linghang Shengshi, and Iwangfan. Mr. Herman Man Guo, our chairman and chief executive officer, in addition to holding 15.35% in our company, also directly and indirectly holds approximately 80.00% of AirNet Online, 86.9193% of Linghang Shengshi and 90.00% of Iwangfan. Mr. Qing Xu, our director and executive president, in addition to holding 1.3% of our company, also directly and indirectly holds approximately 15.00% of AirNet Online, and 12.9954% of Linghang Shengshi. In addition, Mr. Guo is a director of AirNet Online, Linghang Shengshi and Iwangfan, the general manager of Linghang Shengshi, and the legal representative of AirNet Online and Linghang Shengshi; Mr. Xu is a director of Linghang Shengshi, the general manager and legal representative of Iwangfan. For these directors and officers, their fiduciary duties toward our company under Cayman Islands law — to act honestly, in good faith and with a view to our best interests — may conflict with their roles in the VIEs, as what is in the best interest of the VIEs may not be in the best interests of our company or the unaffiliated public shareholders of our company.

Currently, we do not have agreements in place that solely target to resolve conflicts of interest arising between our company and the VIEs and their operations. In addition, we have not appointed a separate fiduciary — one without potential conflicts of interest — to serve as the fiduciary of the public unaffiliated security holders of our company. Although our independent directors or disinterested officers may take measures to prevent the parties with dual roles from making decisions that may favor themselves as shareholders of the VIEs, we cannot assure you that these measures would be effective in all instances. If the parties with dual roles do find ways to make and carry out decisions on our behalf that are detrimental to our interest, our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Certain provisions in the contractual agreements between Chuangyi Technology and our VIEs do impose limits on the rights of the shareholders of the VIEs. For example, each of the individual shareholders of the VIEs (except Yi Zhang) has signed an irrevocable power of attorney authorizing the person designated by Chuangyi Technology to exercise its rights as shareholder, including the voting rights, the right to enter into legal documents and the right to transfer its equity interest in the VIEs. However, we cannot assure you that when conflicts of interest arise that each of our VIEs and its respective shareholders will act completely in our interests or that conflicts of interests will be resolved in our favor, or that the above contractual provisions would be sufficient protection for us in the event that shareholders of the VIEs fail to perform under their contracts with Chuangyi Technology. In any such event, we would have to rely on legal remedies under PRC law, which may not be effective. See “—We rely on contractual arrangements with our consolidated variable interest entities and their shareholders for a substantial portion of our China operations, which may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing operational control” and “Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions—B. Related Party Transactions—Contractual Arrangements.”

We rely on contractual arrangements with our consolidated variable interest entities and their shareholders for a substantial portion of our China operations, which may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing operational control.

We rely on contractual arrangements with AirNet Online, Linghang Shengshi, and Iwangfan to operate our Wi-Fi and air advertising business. For a description of these arrangements, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Organizational Structure” and “Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions—B. Related Party Transactions—Contractual Arrangements.” These contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing control over our VIEs. Under these contractual arrangements, if our VIEs or their shareholders fail to perform their respective obligations, we may have to incur substantial costs and resources to enforce such arrangements and rely on legal remedies under PRC law, including seeking specific performance or injunctive relief and claiming damages, and we may not be successful.

Many of these contractual arrangements are governed by PRC law and provide for disputes to be resolved through arbitration or litigation in the PRC. The legal environment in the PRC is not as developed as in other jurisdictions such as the United States. As a result, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements, which may make it difficult to exert effective control over our VIEs, and our ability to conduct our business may be negatively affected.

We have not registered the pledge of equity interest by certain shareholder of our consolidated affiliated entities with the relevant authority, and we may not be able to enforce the equity pledge against any third parties who acquire the equity interests in good faith in the relevant consolidated affiliated entities before the pledge is registered.

The individual shareholders of our VIEs, each a consolidated affiliated entity of ours, have pledged all of their equity interests, including the right to receive declared dividends, in the relevant VIEs to Chuangyi Technology, our wholly-owned subsidiary. An equity pledge agreement becomes effective among the parties upon execution, but according to the PRC Civil Code, an equity pledge is not perfected as a security property right unless it is registered with the relevant local administration for industry and commerce. We have not yet registered the share pledges by shareholders of AirNet Online, Linghang Shengshi and Iwangfan. As the registration of these pledges has not yet been completed so far, the pledges, as property rights, have not yet become effective under the PRC Civil Code. Before the registration procedures are completed, we cannot assure you that the effectiveness of these pledges will be recognized by PRC courts if disputes arise with respect to certain pledged equity interests or that Chuangyi Technology’s interests as pledgee will prevail over those of third parties. Chuangyi Technology may not be able to successfully enforce these pledges against any third parties who have acquired property right interests in good faith in the equity interests in AirNet Online, Linghang Shengshi and Iwangfan. As a result, if AirNet Online, Linghang Shengshi or Iwangfan breaches their respective obligations under the various agreements described above, and there are third parties who have acquired equity interests in good faith, Chuangyi Technology would need to resort to legal proceedings to enforce its contractual rights under the equity pledge agreements, or the underlying agreements secured by the pledges. We do not have agreements that pledge the assets of the VIEs and their respective subsidiaries for the benefit of us or our wholly owned subsidiaries.

Contractual arrangements we have entered into among our subsidiaries and variable interest entities may be subject to scrutiny by the PRC tax authorities and a finding that we owe additional taxes could substantially increase our taxes owed and reduce our net income and the value of your investment.

Under PRC law, arrangements and transactions among related parties may be audited or challenged by the PRC tax authorities. If any transactions we have entered into among Chuangyi Technology and our VIEs are found not to be on an arm’s length basis, or to result in an unreasonable reduction in tax under PRC law, the PRC tax authorities have the authority to disallow our tax savings, adjust the profits and losses of our respective PRC entities and assess late payment interest and penalties. A finding by the PRC tax authorities that we are ineligible for the tax savings we achieved would substantially increase our taxes owed and reduce our net income and the value of your investment.

We may rely principally on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our wholly-owned operating subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have, and any limitation on the ability of our operating subsidiaries to pay dividends to us could have a material adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business.

We are a holding company, and we may rely principally on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by Chuangyi Technology, Shenzhen Yuehang and Xi’an Shengshi Dinghong Information Technology Co., Ltd., or Xi’an Shengshi for our cash requirements, including the funds necessary to service any debt we may incur. If Chuangyi Technology, Shenzhen Yuehang or Xi’an Shengshi incurs debt on its own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict the ability of these entities to pay dividends or make other distributions to us. In addition, the PRC tax authorities may require us to adjust our taxable income under the contractual arrangements Chuangyi Technology currently has in place with our VIEs in a manner that would materially and adversely affect Chuangyi Technology’s ability to pay dividends and other distributions to us.

Furthermore, relevant PRC laws and regulations permit payments of dividends by Chuangyi Technology, Shenzhen Yuehang and Xi’an Shengshi only out of their accumulated profits, if any, as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. Under PRC laws and regulations, Chuangyi Technology, Shenzhen Yuehang and Xi’an Shengshi are also required to set aside at least 10% of after-tax income based on PRC accounting standards each year to their general reserves until the accumulative amount of such reserves reaches 50% of their respective registered capital.

The registered capital of Chuangyi Technology, Shenzhen Yuehang and Xi’an Shengshi is $42.0 million, $96.4 million (approximately RMB700 million) and $50.0 million, respectively. Xi’an Shengshi and Chuangyi Technology have made the applicable annual appropriations required under PRC law. Shenzhen Yuehang is not currently required to fund any statutory surplus reserve because Shenzhen Yuehang still has accumulated losses. Any direct or indirect limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to distribute dividends and other distributions to us could materially and adversely limit our ability to make investments or acquisitions at the holding company level, pay dividends or otherwise fund and conduct our business.

Although none of Chuangyi Technology, Shenzhen Yuehang or Xi’an Shengshi has any present plan to pay any cash dividends to us in the foreseeable future, any limitation on the ability of Chuangyi Technology, Shenzhen Yuehang or Xi’an Shengshi to pay dividends or make other distributions to us could materially and adversely limit our ability to grow, make investments or acquisitions that could be beneficial to our business, or otherwise fund and conduct our business.

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

Adverse changes in the political and economic policies of the PRC government could have a material adverse effect on the overall economic growth of China, which could reduce the demand for our services and have a material adverse effect on our competitive position.

Substantially all of our assets are located in China and substantially all of our revenues are derived from our operations in China. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects are affected significantly by China’s economic, political and legal developments. The Chinese economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including the level of government involvement and the level and growth rate of economic development.

While the Chinese economy has experienced significant growth in the past decades, growth has been uneven both geographically and among various sectors of the economy, and the rate of growth has been slowing. The PRC government has implemented various measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures may benefit the overall Chinese economy, but may also have a negative effect on us. We cannot predict the future direction of political or economic reforms or the effects such measures may have on our business, financial position or results of operations. Any adverse change in the political or economic conditions in China, including changes in the policies of the PRC government or in laws and regulations in China, could have a material adverse effect on the overall economic growth of China and the industries in which we operate. Such developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, lead to a reduction in demand for our services and materially and adversely affect our competitive position.

Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could limit the legal protections available to us or result in substantial costs and the diversion of resources and management attention.

We conduct our business primarily through Beijing Yuehang Digital and AirNet Online, which are subject to PRC laws and regulations applicable to foreign investment in China and, in particular, laws applicable to wholly-foreign owned companies. The PRC legal system is based on written statutes. Prior court decisions may be cited for reference but have limited precedential value. PRC legislation and regulations afford significant protections to various forms of foreign investments in China, but since these laws and regulations are relatively new and the PRC legal system continues to rapidly evolve, the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules are not always uniform and the enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules involve uncertainties, which may limit the legal protections available to us. In addition, any litigation in China may be protracted and result in substantial costs and the diversion of resources and management attention.

A severe or prolonged downturn in the global or Chinese economy could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

The global macroeconomic environment is facing challenges, including the economic slowdown in the Eurozone since 2014, potential impact of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union on January 31, 2020, and the adverse impact on the global economies and financial markets as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve into a worldwide health crisis in 2020. The growth of the PRC economy has slowed down since 2012 compared to the previous decade and the trend may continue. There is considerable uncertainty over the long-term effects of the expansionary monetary and fiscal policies adopted by the central banks and financial authorities of some of the world’s leading economies, including the United States and China. There have been concerns over unrest and terrorist threats in the Middle East, Europe and Africa and over the conflicts involving Ukraine, Syria and North Korea. There have also been concerns on the relationship among China and other Asian countries, which may result in or intensify potential conflicts in relation to territorial disputes, and the trade disputes between the United States and China. The ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China may have tremendous negative impact on the economies of not merely the two countries concerned, but the global economy as a whole. It is unclear whether these challenges and uncertainties will be contained or resolved, and what effects they may have on the global political and economic conditions in the long term.

Economic conditions in China are sensitive to global economic conditions, changes in domestic economic and political policies, and the expected or perceived overall economic growth rate in China. While the economy in China has grown significantly over the past decades, growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy, and the rate of growth has been slowing in recent years. Although growth of China’s economy remained relatively stable, there is a possibility that China’s economic growth may materially decline in the near future. Any severe or prolonged slowdown in the global or PRC economy may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Fluctuations in the value of the Renminbi may have a material adverse effect on your investment.

The value of the RMB against the U.S. dollar and other currencies is affected by changes in China’s political and economic conditions and by China’s foreign exchange policies, among other things. In July 2005, the PRC government changed its decades-old policy of pegging the value of the RMB to the U.S. dollar, and the RMB appreciated more than 20% against the U.S. dollar over the following three years. Between July 2008 and June 2010, this appreciation halted and the exchange rate between the RMB and the U.S. dollar remained within a narrow band. Since June 2010, the RMB has fluctuated against the U.S. dollar, at times significantly and unpredictably. Since October 1, 2016, Renminbi has joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s basket of currencies that make up the Special Drawing Right (SDR), along with the U.S. dollar, the Euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound. In the fourth quarter of 2016, Renminbi has depreciated significantly in the backdrop of a surging U.S. dollar and persistent capital outflows of China. While appreciating approximately by 7% against the U.S. dollar in 2017, the Renminbi in 2018 depreciated approximately by 5% against the U.S. dollar.  Starting from the beginning of 2019, the Renminbi has depreciated significantly against the U.S. dollar again. In early August 2019, the PBOC set the Renminbi's daily reference rate at RMB7.0039 to US$1.00, the first time that the exchange rate of Renminbi to U.S. dollar exceeded 7.0 since 2008. With the development of the foreign exchange market and progress towards interest rate liberalization and Renminbi internationalization, the PRC government may in the future announce further changes to the exchange rate system and there is no guarantee that Renminbi will not appreciate or depreciate significantly in value against the U.S. dollar in the future. 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.

The reporting and functional currency of our Cayman Islands parent company is the U.S. dollar. However, substantially all of the revenues and expenses of our consolidated operating subsidiaries and affiliate entities are denominated in Renminbi. Substantially all of our sales contracts are denominated in Renminbi and substantially all of our costs and expenses are denominated in Renminbi. Any significant appreciation or depreciation of the RMB may materially and adversely affect our revenues, earnings and financial position, and the value of, and any dividends payable on, our ADSs in U.S. dollars. To the extent that we need to convert U.S. dollars into Renminbi for our operations, depreciation of the Renminbi against the U.S. dollar would have an adverse effect on the Renminbi amount we receive from the conversion. Conversely, if we decide to convert our Renminbi into U.S. dollars for the purpose of dividend distribution or for other business purposes, depreciation of the U.S. dollar against the Renminbi would have a negative effect on the U.S. dollar amount available to us. Fluctuations in the exchange rate will also affect the relative value of any dividend we issue which will be exchanged into U.S. dollars and earnings from and the value of any U.S. dollar-denominated investments we make in the future.

Very limited hedging transactions are available in China to reduce our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations. To date, we have not entered into any hedging transactions in an effort to reduce our exposure to foreign currency exchange risk. While we may decide to enter into hedging transactions in the future, the availability and effectiveness of these hedges may be limited so that we may not be able to successfully hedge our exposure at all. In addition, our currency exchange losses may be magnified by PRC exchange control regulations that restrict our ability to convert Renminbi into foreign currency. As a result, fluctuations in exchange rates may have a material adverse effect on your investment.

Restrictions on currency exchange may limit our ability to receive and use our revenues or financing effectively.

Substantially all of our revenues and expenses are denominated in Renminbi. We may need to convert a portion of our revenues into other currencies to meet our foreign currency obligations, including, among others, payments of dividends declared, if any, in respect of our ordinary shares or ADSs. Under China’s existing foreign exchange regulations, Chuangyi Technology, Shenzhen Yuehang and Xi’an Shengshi are able to pay dividends in foreign currencies, without prior approval from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or the SAFE, by complying with certain procedural requirements. However, we cannot assure you that the PRC government will not take measures in the future to restrict access to foreign currencies for current account transactions.

Foreign exchange transactions by our subsidiaries and VIEs in China under capital accounts continue to be subject to significant foreign exchange controls and require the approval of, or registration with, PRC governmental authorities. In particular, if we or other foreign lenders make foreign currency loans to our subsidiaries or VIEs in China, these loans must be registered with the SAFE, and if we finance them by means of additional capital contributions, these capital contributions must be approved by or registered with certain government authorities including the SAFE, the Ministry of Commerce or their local counterparts. These limitations could affect the ability of our subsidiaries in China to exchange the foreign currencies obtained through debt or equity financing, and could affect our business and financial condition.

On August 29, 2008, SAFE promulgated the Circular on the Relevant Operating Issues Concerning the Improvement of the Administration of the Payment and Settlement of Foreign Currency Capital of Foreign Invested Enterprises, or SAFE Circular 142, regulating the conversion by a foreign-invested enterprise of foreign currency registered capital into RMB by restricting how the converted RMB may be used. SAFE Circular 142 provides that the RMB capital converted from foreign currency registered capital of a foreign-invested enterprise may only be used within the purpose within the business scope approved by the applicable government authority and unless otherwise provided by law, such RMB capital may not be used for equity investments within the PRC. In addition, SAFE strengthened its oversight of the flow and use of the RMB capital converted from foreign currency registered capital of a foreign-invested company. The use of such RMB capital may not be altered without SAFE approval, and such RMB capital may not in any case be used to repay RMB loans if the proceeds of such loans have not been used. Violations of SAFE Circular 142 could result in severe monetary or other penalties. On November 9, 2011, SAFE promulgated the Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Issues Relating to Further Clarification and Regulation of Certain Capital Account Items under Foreign Exchange Control (“Circular 45”) to further strengthen and clarify its existing regulations on foreign exchange control under SAFE Circular 142. Circular 45 expressly prohibits foreign invested entities, including wholly foreign owned enterprises such as Chuangyi Technology, from converting RMB funds derived from settlement of foreign exchange capital for the purpose of domestic equity investment, granting certain loans, repayment of inter-company loans, and repayment of bank loans which have been transferred to a third party. Further, Circular 45 generally prohibits a foreign invested entity from converting RMB funds derived from settlement of foreign exchange capital for the payment of various types of cash deposits. If our VIEs require financial support from us or our wholly foreign-owned enterprises in the future and we find it necessary to use foreign currency-denominated capital to provide such financial support, our ability to fund the VIEs’ operations will be subject to statutory limits and restrictions, including those described above.

Circular 45 was abolished by SAFE on March 19, 2015 according to a Circular on Promulgating the Abolishment and Invalidation of 50 Foreign Exchange-related Regulatory Documents. On March 30, 2015, SAFE promulgated the Circular on Reforming the Management Approach Regarding the Foreign Exchange Capital Settlement of Foreign-invested Enterprises, or SAFE Circular 19, which took effect on June 1, 2015 and replaced SAFE Circular 142. On June 9, 2016, the SAFE promulgated the Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Reforming and Regulating Policies on the Control over Foreign Exchange Settlement of Capital Accounts, or SAFE Circular 16, which revised some provisions of SAFE Circular 19. SAFE Circular 19 and SAFE Circular 16 allow foreign-invested enterprises to settle 100% of their foreign exchange capitals on a discretionary basis and allows ordinary foreign-invested enterprises to make domestic equity investments by capital transfer in the original currencies, or with the amount obtained from foreign exchange settlement, subject to complying with certain requirements. According to SAFE Circular 19 and SAFE Circular 16, the RMB funds obtained by foreign-invested enterprises from the discretionary settlement of foreign exchange capitals shall be managed under the accounts pending for foreign exchange settlement payment, and foreign-invested enterprise shall not use its capital and the RMB funds obtained from foreign exchange settlement for the purposes within the following negative list: for expenditure beyond its business scope or expenditure prohibited by laws and regulations, for investments in securities or other investments than banks’ principal-secured products, for the granting of loans to non-affiliated enterprises, except where it is expressly permitted in the business license, or for construction or expenses related to the purchase of real estate not for self-use, unless it is a foreign-invested real estate enterprise. Nevertheless, it is still not clear whether foreign-invested enterprises like our PRC subsidiaries are allowed to extend intercompany loans to our VIEs.

PRC regulations relating to the establishment of offshore special purpose companies by PRC residents and registration requirements for employee stock ownership plans or share option plans may subject our PRC resident beneficial owners or the plan participants to personal liability, limit our ability to inject capital into our PRC subsidiaries, limit our subsidiaries’ ability to increase their registered capital or distribute profits to us, or may otherwise adversely affect us.

Regulations promulgated by the SAFE require PRC residents and PRC corporate entities to register with local branches of the SAFE in connection with their direct or indirect offshore investment activities. These regulations apply to our shareholders who are PRC residents and may apply to any offshore acquisitions that we make in the future.

On February 15, 2012, the SAFE promulgated the Circular on Relevant Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in an Employee Share Incentive Plan of an Overseas-Listed Company (which replaced the old Circular 78, “Application Procedure of Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in an Employee Stock Holding Plan or Stock Option Plan of an Overseas-Listed Company” promulgated on March 28, 2007), or the New Share Incentive Rule. Under the New Share Incentive Rule, PRC citizens who participate in a share incentive plan of an overseas publicly listed company are required to register with SAFE and complete certain other procedures. All such participants need to retain a PRC agent through a PRC subsidiary to register with SAFE and handle foreign exchange matters such as opening accounts, transferring and settlement of the relevant proceeds. The New Share Incentive Rule further requires that an offshore agent should also be designated to handle matters in connection with the exercise or sale of share options and proceeds transferring for the share incentive plan participants.

We and our PRC employees who have been granted stock options are subject to the New Share Incentive Rule. We are in the process of completing the registration and procedures which the New Share Incentive Rule requires, but the application documents are subject to the review and approval of SAFE, and we can make no assurance as to when the registration and procedures could be completed. If we or our PRC employees fail to comply with the New Share Incentive Rule, we and/or our PRC employees may face sanctions imposed by the foreign exchange authority or any other PRC government authorities.

In addition, the State Administration of Taxation, or SAT, has issued a few circulars concerning employee stock options. Under these circulars, our employees working in China who exercise stock options will be subject to PRC individual income tax. Our PRC subsidiaries have obligations to file documents related to employee stock options with relevant tax authorities and withhold individual income taxes of those employees who exercise their stock options. If our employees fail to pay and we fail to withhold their income taxes, we may face sanctions imposed by tax authorities or any other PRC government authorities.

Under the SAFE regulations, PRC residents who make, or have previously made, direct or indirect investments in offshore companies, will be required to register those investments. In addition, any PRC resident who is a direct or indirect shareholder of an offshore company is required to file or update the registration with the local branch of the SAFE, with respect to that offshore company, any material change involving its round-trip investment and capital variation. The PRC subsidiaries of that offshore company are required to urge the PRC resident shareholders to make such updates. If any PRC shareholder fails to make the required SAFE registration or file or update the registration, the PRC subsidiaries of that offshore parent company may be prohibited from distributing their profits and the proceeds from any reduction in capital, share transfer or liquidation, to their offshore parent company, and the offshore parent company may also be prohibited from injecting additional capital into their PRC subsidiaries. Moreover, failure to comply with the various SAFE registration requirements described above could result in liability under PRC laws for evasion of applicable foreign exchange restrictions, such as restrictions on distributing dividend to our offshore entities or monetary penalties against us. We cannot assure you that all of our shareholders who are PRC residents will make or obtain any applicable registrations or approvals required by these SAFE regulations. The failure or inability of our PRC resident shareholders to comply with these SAFE registration procedures may subject us to fines and legal sanctions, restrict our cross-border investment activities, or limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to distribute dividends to or obtain foreign-exchange-dominated loans from our company.

As it is uncertain how the SAFE regulations will be interpreted or implemented, we cannot predict how these regulations will affect our business operations or future strategy. For example, we may be subject to more stringent review and approval process with respect to our foreign exchange activities, such as remittance of dividends and foreign-currency-denominated borrowings, which may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, if we decide to acquire a PRC domestic company, we cannot assure you that we or the owners of such company, as the case may be, will be able to obtain the necessary approvals or complete the necessary filings and registrations required by the SAFE regulations. This may restrict our ability to implement our acquisition strategy and could adversely affect our business and prospects.

Certain measures promulgated by the People’s Bank of China on foreign exchange for individuals set forth the respective requirements for foreign exchange transactions by PRC individuals under either the current account or the capital account. Implementing rules for these measures were promulgated by the SAFE which, among other things, specified approval requirements for certain capital account transactions such as a PRC citizen’s participation in the employee stock ownership plans or stock option plans of an overseas publicly-listed company. The SAFE also promulgated rules under which PRC citizens who are granted stock options by an overseas publicly-listed company are required, through a PRC agent or PRC subsidiary of such overseas publicly-listed company, to register with the SAFE and complete certain other procedures. We and our PRC employees who have been granted stock options are subject to these rules, and we are in the process of completing the required registration and procedures, but the application documents are subject to the review and approval of SAFE, and we can make no assurance as to when the registration and procedures could be completed. If we or our PRC optionees fail to comply with these regulations, we or our PRC optionees may be subject to fines and legal sanctions. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulation— SAFE Regulations on Offshore Investment by PRC Residents and Employee Stock Options.”

The M&A Rule sets forth complex procedures for acquisitions conducted by foreign investors which could make it more difficult to pursue growth through acquisitions. 

Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors, or the M&A Rule, sets forth complex procedures and requirements that could make merger and acquisition activities by foreign investors more time-consuming and complex. Part of our growth strategy includes acquiring complementary businesses or assets. Complying with the requirements of the M&A Rule to complete such transactions could be time-consuming, and any required approval processes, including obtaining approval from the Ministry of Commerce, may delay or inhibit the completion of such transactions, which could affect our ability to expand our business or maintain our market share. In addition, if any of our acquisitions were subject to the M&A Rule and were found not to be in compliance with the requirements of the M&A Rule in the future, relevant PRC regulatory agencies may impose fines and penalties on our operations in the PRC, limit our operating privileges in the PRC, or take other actions that could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Changes in laws and regulations governing air travel media or otherwise affecting our business in China may result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

There are no existing PRC laws or regulations that specifically define or regulate air travel media. Changes in existing laws and regulations or the implementation of new laws and regulations governing the content of air travel media and our business licenses or otherwise affecting our business in China may result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and may materially and adversely affect our business prospects and results of operations.

The enforcement of the Labor Contract Law and other labor-related regulations in China may adversely affect our business and our results of operations.

The Labor Contract Law, which came into effect January 1, 2008 and was amended on December 28, 2012, established more restrictions and increased costs for employers to dismiss employees under certain circumstances, including specific provisions relating to fixed-term employment contracts, non-fixed-term employment contracts, task-based employment, part-time employment, probation, consultation with the labor union and employee representative’s council, employment without a contract, dismissal of employees, compensation upon termination and for overtime work, and collective bargaining. Under the Labor Contract Law, unless otherwise provided by law, an employer is obligated to sign a labor contract with a non-fixed term with an employee, if the employer continues to hire the employee after the expiration of two consecutive fixed-term labor contracts, or if the employee has worked for the employer for 10 consecutive years. Severance pay is required if a labor contract expires and is not renewed because of the employer’s refusal to renew or seeking to renew with less favorable terms. In addition, under the Regulations on Paid Annual Leave for Employees, which became effective on January 1, 2008, employees who have served more than one year for an employer are entitled to a paid vacation for five to 15 days, depending on the employee’s number of years of employment. Employees who waive such vacation at the request of employers are entitled to compensation that equals to three times their regular daily salary for each waived vacation day. As a result of these new labor protection measures, our labor costs are expected to increase, which may adversely affect our business and our results of operations. It is also possible that the PRC government may enact additional labor-related legislations in the future, which would further increase our labor costs and affect our operations.

We have limited insurance coverage in China, and any business disruption or litigation we experience may result in our incurring substantial costs and the diversion of resources.

Insurance companies in China offer limited business insurance products and do not, to our knowledge, offer business liability insurance. While business disruption insurance is available to a limited extent in China, we have determined that the risks of disruption, cost of such insurance and the difficulties associated with acquiring such insurance on commercially reasonable terms make it impractical for us to have such insurance. As a result, except for our liability insurance for directors and officers, we do not have any business liability, disruption or litigation insurance coverage for our operations in China. Any business disruption or litigation may result in our incurring substantial costs and the diversion of resources.

We may have claims and lawsuits against us that may result in material adverse outcomes.

We have been and will be possibly subject to a variety of claims and lawsuits. See “Item 8. Financial Information—A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information—Legal Proceedings.” This litigation and other claims that may be made against us from time to time are subject to inherent uncertainties. Adverse outcomes in one or more of those claims may result in significant monetary damages or injunctive relief that could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business. A material adverse impact on our financial statements also could occur for the period in which the effect of an unfavorable final outcome becomes probable and reasonably estimable.

If one or more of our PRC subsidiaries fails to maintain or obtain qualifications to receive PRC preferential tax treatments, we will be required to pay more taxes, which may have a material adverse effect on our result of operations.

The Enterprise Income Tax Law (revised in 2018), or the EIT law, which became effective on December 29, 2018, imposes a uniform income tax rate of 25% on most domestic enterprises and foreign investment enterprises. Under this law, entities that qualify as “high and new technology enterprises strongly supported by the state,” or HNTE, are entitled to the preferential EIT rate of 15%. A company’s status as a HNTE is valid for three years, after which the company must re-apply for such qualification in order to continue to enjoy the preferential EIT rate. In addition, according to relevant guidelines, “new software enterprises” can enjoy an income tax exemption for two years beginning with their first profitable year and a 50% tax reduction to a rate of 12.5% for the subsequent three years.

Wangfan Linghang Mobile Network Technology Co., Ltd., one of our PRC subsidiaries, or Linghang received the HNTE certificate at the end of 2017 and was entitled to an EIT rate of 15% from 2017, expiring on December 26, 2020, and will be entitled to an EIT rate of 25% afterwards.

Air Esurfing Information Technology Co., Ltd., one of our PRC subsidiaries, or Air Esurfing received the HNTE certificate in 2018 and entitled to an EIT rate of 15% from 2018, expiring on September 10, 2021.

We cannot assure you that our PRC subsidiaries will be able to maintain or obtain qualifications to receive the above preferential tax treatments; we will be required to pay more taxes if they fail to become or continue to be eligible to receive PRC tax benefits, which may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Dividends payable to us by our wholly-owned operating subsidiaries may be subject to PRC withholding taxes, or we may be subject to PRC taxation on our worldwide income, and dividends distributed to our investors may be subject to more PRC withholding taxes under PRC tax law.

Under the EIT Law and related regulations, dividends payable by a foreign-invested enterprise in China to its foreign investors who are non-resident enterprises are subject to a 10% withholding tax, unless any such foreign investor’s jurisdiction of incorporation has a tax treaty with China that provides for a different withholding arrangement. The British Virgin Islands, or BVI, where Broad Cosmos Enterprises Ltd., or Broad Cosmos, our wholly-owned subsidiary, is incorporated, does not have such a tax treaty with AN China, the 100% shareholder of Chuangyi Technology, Shenzhen Yuehang and Xi’an Shengshi, is incorporated in Hong Kong. According to the Mainland and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Arrangement on Avoiding Double Taxation or Evasion of Taxation on Income between China and Hong Kong and the relevant rules, dividends paid by a foreign-invested enterprise in China to its direct holding company in Hong Kong will be subject to withholding tax at a rate of 5% (if the foreign investor owns directly at least 25% of the shares of the foreign-invested enterprise). However, under recently implemented PRC regulations, now our Hong Kong subsidiary must obtain approval from the competent local branch of the State Administration of Taxation in accordance with the double-taxation agreement among the PRC and Hong Kong in order to enjoy the 5% preferential withholding tax rate. In February 2009, SAT issued Notice No. 81. According to Notice No. 81, in order to enjoy the preferential treatment on dividend withholding tax rates, an enterprise must be the “beneficial owner” of the relevant dividend income, and no enterprise is entitled to enjoy preferential treatment pursuant to any tax treaties if such enterprise qualifies for such preferential tax rates through any transaction or arrangement, the major purpose of which is to obtain such preferential tax treatment. The tax authority in charge has the right to make adjustments to the applicable tax rates, if it determines that any taxpayer has enjoyed preferential treatment under tax treaties as a result of such transaction or arrangement. In October 2009, SAT issued another notice on this matter, or Notice No. 601, to provide guidance on the criteria to determine whether an enterprise qualifies as the “beneficial owner” of the PRC sourced income for the purpose of obtaining preferential treatment under tax treaties. Pursuant to Notice No. 601, the PRC tax authorities will review and grant tax preferential treatment on a case-by-case basis and adopt the “substance over form” principle in the review. Notice 601 specifies that a beneficial owner should generally carry out substantial business activities and own and have control over the income, the assets or other rights generating the income. Therefore, an agent or a conduit company will not be regarded as a beneficial owner of such income. Since the two notices were issued, it has remained unclear how the PRC tax authorities will implement them in practice and to what extent they will affect the dividend withholding tax rates for dividends distributed by our subsidiaries in China to our Hong Kong subsidiary. If the relevant tax authority determines that our Hong Kong subsidiary is a conduit company and does not qualify as the “beneficial owner” of the dividend income it receives from our PRC subsidiaries, the higher 10% withholding tax rate may apply to such dividends. On February 3, 2018, SAT issued Announcement of the State Administration of Taxation on Issues concerning “Beneficial Owners” in Tax Treaties, or Circular 9, which became effective on April 1, 2018 and superseded Notice No. 601. In comparison with Notice No. 601, Circular 9 enlarging and further explaining the scope of beneficial owner, supplementing the applicants deemed as beneficial owners who obtain proceeds from China as direct or indirect 100% shareholder, increasing the certainty of identifying beneficial owner.

Under the EIT Law and EIT Implementation Rules, an enterprise established outside of the PRC with “de facto management bodies” within the PRC is considered a PRC resident enterprise and is subject to the EIT at the rate of 25% on its worldwide income. The EIT 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, accounting, properties, etc. of an enterprise.” The SAT issued the Notice Regarding the Determination of Chinese-Controlled Overseas Incorporated Enterprises as PRC Tax Resident Enterprises on the Basis of De Facto Management Bodies, or SAT Circular 82, on April 22, 2009. SAT Circular 82 provides certain specific criteria for determining whether the “de facto management body” of a Chinese-controlled overseas-incorporated enterprise is located in China.

In addition, the SAT issued a bulletin on July 27, 2011 to provide more guidance on the implementation of SAT Circular 82 with an effective date to be September 1, 2011. The bulletin made clarification in the areas of resident status determination, post-determination administration, as well as competent tax authorities. It also specifies that when provided with a copy of the Chinese tax resident determination certificate from a resident Chinese controlled offshore incorporated enterprise, the payer should not withhold 10% income tax when paying the Chinese-sourced dividends, interest, royalties, etc. to the Chinese controlled offshore incorporated enterprise. Although both SAT Circular 82 and the bulletin only apply to offshore enterprises controlled by PRC enterprises, not to those that, like our company, are controlled by PRC individuals, the determination criteria set forth in SAT Circular 82 and administration clarification made in the bulletin may reflect the SAT’s general position on how the “de facto management body” test should be applied in determining the tax residency status of offshore enterprises and the administration measures that should be implemented, regardless of whether they are controlled by PRC enterprises or PRC individuals.

After consulting with our PRC counsel, we do not believe that our holding company and other overseas subsidiaries should be deemed PRC resident enterprises as, among other things, certain of our company’s key assets and records, including register of members, board resolutions and shareholder resolutions, are located and maintained outside of the PRC, and we also hold our board and board committee meetings outside of the PRC from time to time. However, we have been advised by our PRC counsel, Commerce & Finance Law Offices, that because there remains uncertainty regarding the interpretation and implementation of the EIT Law and EIT Implementation Rules, it is uncertain whether we will be deemed a PRC resident enterprise. If the PRC authorities were to subsequently determine, or any further regulations provide, that we should be treated as a PRC resident enterprise, we would be subject to a 25% EIT on our global income. To the extent our holding company earns income outside of China, a 25% EIT on our global income may increase our tax burden and could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

If we are regarded as a PRC resident enterprise, dividends distributed from our PRC subsidiaries to us could be exempt from the PRC dividend withholding tax, since such income is exempt under the EIT Law and the EIT Implementation Rules to the extent such dividends are deemed “dividends among qualified PRC resident enterprises.” If we are considered a resident enterprise for enterprise income tax purposes, dividends we pay with respect to our ADSs or ordinary shares may be considered income derived from sources within the PRC and subject to PRC withholding tax of 10%. In addition, non-PRC shareholders may be subject to PRC tax on gains realized on the sale or other disposition of ADSs or ordinary shares, if such income is treated as sourced from within the PRC. It is unclear whether our non-PRC shareholders would be able to claim the benefits of any tax treaties between their tax residence and the PRC in the event that we are considered as a PRC resident enterprise.

With the 10% PRC dividend withholding tax, we will incur an incremental PRC tax cost when we distribute our PRC profits to our ultimate shareholders if we are deemed not to be a PRC resident enterprise. On the other hand, if we are determined to be a PRC resident enterprise under the EIT Law and receive income other than dividends, our profitability and cash flow would be adversely impacted due to our worldwide income being taxed in China under the EIT Law.

Moreover, under the EIT Law, foreign ADS holders may be subject to a 10% withholding tax upon dividends payable by us and gains realized on the sale or other disposition of ADSs or ordinary shares, if we are classified as a PRC resident enterprise and such income is deemed to be sourced from within the PRC. Although we are incorporated in the Cayman Islands, it is unclear whether the dividends payable by us or the gains our foreign ADS holders may realize on disposition will be regarded as income from sources within the PRC if we are classified as a PRC resident enterprise. Any such tax on our dividend payments will reduce the returns of your investment.

Scrutiny over acquisition transactions by the PRC tax authorities may have a negative impact on potential acquisitions we may pursue in the future.

In connection with the EIT Law, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation jointly issued, on April 30, 2009, the Notice on Issues Concerning Process of Enterprise Income Tax in Enterprise Restructuring Business, or Circular 59. On December 10, 2009, the State Administration of Taxation issued the Notice on Strengthening the Management on Enterprise Income Tax for Non-resident Enterprises Equity Transfer, or Circular 698. Both Circular 59 and Circular 698 became effective retroactively on January 1, 2008. By promulgating and implementing these circulars, the PRC tax authorities have enhanced their scrutiny over the direct or indirect transfer of equity interests in a PRC resident enterprise by a non-resident enterprise. However, SAT issued Announcement of the State Administration of Taxation on Matters concerning Withholding of Income Tax of Non-resident Enterprises at Source, or Circular 37, which became effective on December 1, 2017 and superseded Circular 698. In comparison with Circular 698, Circular 37 releases the obligations of withholding agent, taxpayer by adopting straightforward procedures and simple calculation concerning withholding income tax of non-resident enterprises at source.

On February 3, 2015, the SAT issued the Announcement on Several Issues concerning the Enterprise Income Tax on Indirect Transfers of Properties by Non-Resident Enterprises, or Public Notice 7, to supersede tax rules in relation to the Indirect Transfer of Shares under the original SAT Circular 698. Public Notice 7 covers transactions involving not only Indirect Transfer of Shares as set forth under SAT Circular 698 but also transactions involving an overseas company’s indirect transfer of other property or assets (such as real properties) located in China (collectively, ‘‘PRC Taxable Properties’’) through transfer of shares of an offshore intermediary company. Pursuant to Public Notice 7, in the event that non-residential enterprises indirectly transfer PRC Taxable Properties without reasonable commercial purposes in order to evade PRC enterprise income tax, such indirect transfer will be deemed as direct transfer of PRC Taxable Properties and, therefore, be subject to PRC enterprise income tax. In addition, Public Notice 7 provides clearer criteria on how to assess reasonable commercial purposes and allows for safe harbor scenarios applicable to internal group restructurings. Under Public Notice 7, subject to certain exceptions such as internal group restructurings and purchase and sale of shares of the same publicly-listed oversea enterprise in a public securities market, an indirect transfer of PRC Taxable Properties shall be directly deemed as having no reasonable commercial purposes if the following circumstances are satisfied: (i) more than 75% of the value of overseas enterprises’ shares directly or indirectly comes from PRC Taxable Properties; (ii) at any time within one year before the indirect transfer of PRC Taxable Properties, more than 90% the total amount of overseas enterprises’ assets (excluding cash) are directly or indirectly constituted by their investment within the PRC, or within one year before the indirect transfer of PRC Taxable Properties, more than 90% of the overseas enterprises’ income directly or indirectly derive from the PRC; (iii) the overseas enterprises and their controlling enterprises, which directly or indirectly hold PRC Taxable Properties, cannot justify the economic substance of the corporate structure; and (iv) overseas tax payment regarding indirect transfer of PRC Taxable Properties is lower than PRC tax payment regarding direct transfer of PRC Taxable Properties. Public Notice 7 also brings uncertainties to the offshore transferor and transferee of the indirect transfer of PRC Taxable Properties as they have to make self-assessment on whether the transaction should be subject to PRC tax and to file or withhold the PRC tax accordingly. As a result, where non-resident investors were involved in our private equity financing or share transfer of our company between two or more offshore parties, if such transactions were determined by the tax authorities to lack reasonable commercial purpose, we and our non-resident investors may become at risk of being taxed under Circular 37 and Public Notice 7 and may be required to expend valuable resources to comply with Circular 37 and Public Notice 7 or to establish that we should not be taxed under Circular 37 and Public Notice 7, which may have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

The PRC tax authorities have the discretion under Public Notice 7 to make adjustments to the taxable capital gains based on the difference between the fair value of the equity interests transferred and the cost of investment. We may pursue acquisitions in the future that may involve complex corporate structures. If we are considered a non-resident enterprise under the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law and if the PRC tax authorities make adjustments to the taxable income of the transactions under SAT Circular 59, Circular 37 or Public Notice 7, our income tax costs associated with such potential acquisitions will be increased, which may have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Although Circular 37 requires less scrutiny on withholding income tax of non-resident enterprises at source, we cannot assure you that the PRC government will not take harsh measures in the future with respect to tax related regulations over acquisition transactions.

If we become directly subject to the 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, stock price and reputation and could result in a loss of your investment in our stock, especially if such matter cannot be addressed and resolved favorably.

Occasionally, U.S. public companies that have substantially all of their operations in China, particularly companies which have completed so-called reverse merger transactions, 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 and mistakes, 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. For example, in December 2012, the SEC initiated administrative proceedings against the China affiliates of the Big Four public accounting firms for allegedly refusing to produce audit work papers and other documents related to certain China-based companies under investigation by the SEC for potential accounting fraud against U.S. investors. Although the firms reached a settlement with the SEC and although we were not and are not subject to any ongoing SEC investigations, many U.S. listed Chinese companies are now subject to, or may become subject to, shareholder lawsuits and SEC enforcement actions and are conducting internal and external investigations into the allegations. As a result of this proceeding and 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. It is not clear what effect this sector-wide scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity will have on our Company, our business and our stock price. 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 our company. This situation will be costly and time consuming and distract our management from growing our company.

If additional remedial measures are imposed on the “Big Four” PRC-based accounting firms, including Deloitte, our previous independent registered public accounting firm, in administrative proceedings brought by the SEC alleging the firms’ failure to meet specific criteria set by the SEC, with respect to requests for the production of documents, investors’ confidence in our reported financial information and the price of our ADSs could be adversely affected.

Starting in 2011, the Chinese affiliates of the “big four” accounting firms, including Deloitte, our previous independent registered public accounting firm, were affected by a conflict between the United States’ and Chinese laws. Specifically, for certain U.S. listed companies operating and audited in mainland China, the SEC and the PCAOB sought to obtain from these Chinese accounting firms access to their audit work papers and related documents. The firms were, however, advised and directed that under PRC law they could not respond directly to the U.S. regulators on those requests, and that requests by foreign regulators for access to such papers in China had to be channeled through the China Securities Regulatory Commission, or the CSRC.

In late 2012, this impasse led the SEC to commence administrative proceedings under Rule 102(e) of its Rules of Practice and also under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 against the Chinese accounting firms, including Deloitte. A first instance trial of the proceedings in July 2013 in the SEC’s internal administrative court resulted in an adverse judgment against the firms. The administrative law judge proposed penalties on the firms including a temporary suspension of their right to practice before the SEC, although such proposed penalties did not take effect pending review by the Commissioners of the SEC. On February 6, 2015, before a review by the Commissioner had taken place, the firms reached a settlement with the SEC. Under the settlement, the SEC accepts that future requests by the SEC for the production of documents will normally be made to the CSRC. The firms will receive matching Section 106 requests, and are required to abide by a detailed set of procedures with respect to such requests, which in substance require them to facilitate production via the CSRC. If they fail to meet the specified criteria, the SEC retains authority to impose a variety of additional remedial measures on the firms, depending on the nature of the failure. Under the terms of the settlement, the underlying proceeding against the four PRC-based accounting firms was deemed dismissed with prejudice at the end of four years starting from the settlement date, which was February 6, 2019. We cannot predict if the SEC will further challenge the four PRC-based accounting firms’ compliance with U.S. law in connection with U.S. regulatory requests for audit work papers or if the results of such a challenge would result in the SEC imposing penalties such as suspensions.

In the event that the SEC restarts the administrative proceedings, depending upon the final outcome, listed companies in the United States with major PRC operations may find it difficult or impossible to retain auditors in respect of their operations in the PRC, which could result in financial statements being determined to not be in compliance with the requirements of the Exchange Act and possible delisting. Moreover, any negative news about any such future proceedings against these audit firms may cause investor uncertainty regarding China-based, United States-listed companies and the market price of our ADSs may be adversely affected.

The custodians or authorized users of our controlling non-tangible assets, including chops and seals, may fail to fulfill their responsibilities, or misappropriate or misuse these assets.

Under the PRC law, legal documents for corporate transactions, including agreements and contracts are executed using the chop or seal of the signing entity or with the signature of a legal representative whose designation is registered and filed with relevant PRC market regulation administrative authorities.

In order to secure the use of our chops and seals, we have established internal control procedures and rules for using these chops and seals. In any event that the chops and seals are intended to be used, the responsible personnel will submit the application through our office automation system and the application will be verified and approved by authorized employees in accordance with our internal control procedures and rules. In addition, in order to maintain the physical security of our chops, we generally have them stored in secured locations accessible only to authorized employees. Although we monitor such authorized employees, the procedures may not be sufficient to prevent all instances of abuse or negligence. There is a risk that our employees could abuse their authority, for example, by entering into a contract not approved by us or seeking to gain control of one of our subsidiaries or our affiliated entities or their subsidiaries. If any employee obtains, misuses or misappropriates our chops and seals or other controlling non-tangible assets for whatever reason, we could experience disruption to our normal business operations. We may have to take corporate or legal action, which could involve significant time and resources to resolve and divert management from our operations.

It may be difficult for overseas regulators to conduct investigations or collect evidence within China.

Shareholder claims or regulatory investigations that are common in jurisdictions outside China 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 providing information needed for regulatory investigations or litigation initiated outside China. Although the 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 cooperation with the securities regulatory authorities in the United States or other jurisdictions may not be efficient in the absence of a mutual and practical cooperation mechanism. Furthermore, according to Article 177 of the PRC Securities Law, or Article 177, which became effective in March 2020, no overseas securities regulator is allowed to directly conduct investigation or evidence collection activities within the territory of the PRC, and without the consent by the Chinese securities regulatory authorities under the State Council and the relevant competent departments under the State Council, no entity or individual may provide documents or materials related to securities business to any foreign party. While detailed interpretation of or implementation rules under Article 177 has yet to be promulgated, the inability of an overseas securities regulator to directly conduct investigation or evidence collection activities within China and the potential obstacles for information provision may further increase difficulties you face in protecting your interests. See “—You may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited, because we are incorporated under Cayman Islands law, conduct substantially all of our operations in China and most of our directors and officers reside outside the United States” for risks associated with investing in us as a Cayman Islands company.

You may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited, because we are incorporated under Cayman Islands law, conduct substantially all of our operations in China and most of our directors and officers reside outside the United States.

We are an exempted company with limited liability incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. Our corporate affairs are governed by our memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands and the common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary duties of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from the common law of England, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding, on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary duties of our directors under Cayman Islands law are not as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands have a less developed body of securities laws than the United States. Some states in the United States, such as Delaware, have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law than the Cayman Islands. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholder derivative action in a federal court of the United States.

Shareholders of exempted companies in Cayman Islands like us have no general rights under Cayman Islands law to inspect corporate records (other than our memorandum and articles of association, special resolutions passed by our shareholders, and our register of mortgages and chargers) or to obtain copies of lists of shareholders of these companies. Our directors have discretion to determine whether or not, and under what conditions, our corporate records may be inspected by our shareholders, but are not obliged to make them available to our shareholders. This may make it more difficult for you to obtain the information needed to establish any facts necessary for a shareholder resolution or to solicit proxies from other shareholders in connection with a proxy contest.

Certain corporate governance practices in the Cayman Islands, which is our home country, differ significantly from requirements for companies incorporated in other jurisdictions such as the United States. If we choose to follow home country practice in the future, our shareholders may be afforded less protection than they otherwise would under rules and regulations applicable to U.S. domestic issuers.

In addition, we conduct substantially all of our business operations in China, and substantially all of our directors and senior management are based in China. The SEC, U.S. Department of Justice and other authorities often have substantial difficulties in bringing and enforcing actions against non-U.S. companies and non-U.S. persons, including company directors and officers, in certain emerging markets, including China. Additionally, our public shareholders may have limited rights and few practical remedies in emerging markets where we operate, as shareholder claims that are common in the United States, including class action securities law and fraud claims, generally are difficult or impossible to pursue as a matter of law or practicality in many emerging markets, including China. For example, in China, there are significant legal and other obstacles for the SEC, the DOJ and other U.S. authorities to obtaining information needed for shareholder investigations or litigation. Although the competent 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, the regulatory cooperation with the securities regulatory authorities in the United States has not been efficient in the absence of a mutual and practical cooperation mechanism. In China, without the consent of the Chinese securities regulatory authorities under the State Council and the relevant competent departments under the State Council, no organization or individual may provide the documents and materials relating to securities business activities to foreign securities regulators. See “—It may be difficult for overseas regulators to conduct investigations or collect evidence within China.”

As a result of all of the above, our public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a company incorporated in the United States.

Risks Related to the Market for Our ADSs

The trading price of our ADSs has been and may continue to be volatile.

The trading price of our ADSs has been and may continue to be subject to wide fluctuations. During the year of 2020, the trading prices of our ADSs on the Nasdaq Capital Market ranged from $0.64 to $2.19 per ADS, and the last reported trading price on May 5, 2021 was $3.51 per ADS. Effective on April 11, 2019, we adjusted the ratio of our ADSs to ordinary shares from one ADS representing two ordinary shares to one ADS representing ten ordinary shares. The aforementioned trading prices have not been adjusted for the ADS ratio change. The price of our ADSs may fluctuate in response to a number of events and factors including, changes in the economic performance or market valuations of other advertising companies, conditions in the air travel media industry and the sales or perceived potential sales of additional ordinary shares or ADSs.

In addition, the securities market has from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. These market fluctuations may also have a material adverse effect on the market price of our ADSs.

Additional sales of our ordinary shares in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur, could also cause the market price of our ADSs to decline.

If we fail to comply with the continued listing requirements of Nasdaq, we would face possible delisting, which would result in a limited public market for our ADSs and make obtaining future debt or equity financing more difficult for us.

Our ADSs are currently listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “ANTE.” We are required to meet certain qualitative and financial requirements to maintain the listing of our ADSs on Nasdaq.

We received a notification letter from Nasdaq on March 30, 2020 indicating that the closing bid price per ADS had been below $1.00 for a period of 30 consecutive business days and that we did not meet the minimum bid price requirement set forth in Rule 5550(a)(2) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules. Due to the tolling of compliance period through June 30, 2020, as determined by Nasdaq, we had until December 10, 2020, to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement. We received a notification letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of Nasdaq dated November 13, 2020 notifying us that we have regained compliance with the requirement.

In addition, we received a notification letter from Nasdaq on September 16, 2020 indicating that we failed to comply with Rule 5550(b) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules, which requires a minimum $2.5 million stockholders’ equity, or $35 million market value of listed securities, or $500,000 of net income from continuing operations. The letter also noted that we have until November 2, 2020 to submit a plan to Nasdaq to regain compliance with Rule 5550(b) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules. After reviewing the compliance plan which we submitted, Nasdaq granted us an extension to regain compliance. Under the terms of the extension, we must, on or before March 15, 2021, complete the actions undertaken by us in the compliance plan and evidence compliance with the Rule 5550(b) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules. We received a notification letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of Nasdaq dated February 18, 2021, notifying us that we have regained compliance with the market value requirement.

However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to continue to maintain our compliance with the continued listing requirements of Nasdaq. If we fail to satisfy the requirements going forward or fail to regain compliance on a timely basis, our ADSs could be delisted from Nasdaq Capital Market and they would likely be traded on the over-the-counter markets. As a result, selling our ADSs could be more difficult because smaller quantities of shares would likely be bought and sold, and security analysts’ coverage of us may be reduced. In addition, in the event our ADSs are delisted, broker-dealers would bear certain regulatory burdens which may discourage them from effecting transactions in our ADSs and further limit the liquidity. These factors could result in lower trading prices and larger spreads in the bid and ask prices for our ADSs. Such delisting from Nasdaq could also greatly impair our ability to raise additional funds through equity or debt financing.

We have been named as a defendant or respondent in legal proceedings that could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operation, cash flows and reputation.

We will have to defend against the legal proceedings described in “Item 8. Financial Information—A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information—Legal Proceedings,” including any appeals of such legal proceedings should our initial defense be unsuccessful. We are currently unable to estimate the possible loss or possible range of loss, if any, associated with the resolution of these legal proceedings. In the event that our initial defense of these legal proceedings is unsuccessful, there can be no assurance that we will prevail in any appeal. Any adverse outcome of these cases, including any plaintiff’s or claimant’s appeal of a judgment in these legal proceedings, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operation, cash flows and reputation. In addition, there can be no assurance that our insurance carriers will cover all or part of the defense costs, or any liabilities that may arise from these matters. The legal proceeding process may utilize a significant portion of our cash resources and divert management’s attention from the day-to-day operations of our company, all of which could harm our business. We also may be subject to claims for indemnification related to these matters, and we cannot predict the impact that indemnification claims may have on our business or financial results.

You may not have the same voting rights as the holders of our ordinary shares and may not receive voting materials in time to be able to exercise your right to vote.

Except as described in this annual report and in the deposit agreement, holders of our ADSs will not be able to exercise voting rights attaching to the shares evidenced by our ADSs on an individual basis. Holders of our ADSs will appoint the depositary or its nominee as their representative to exercise the voting rights attaching to the shares represented by the ADSs. You may not receive voting materials in time to instruct the depositary to vote, and it is possible that you, or persons who hold their ADSs through brokers, dealers or other third parties, will not have the opportunity to exercise a right to vote.

Your right to participate in any future rights offerings may be limited, which may cause dilution to your holdings and you may not receive cash dividends if it is impractical to make them available to you.

We may from time to time distribute rights to our shareholders, including rights to acquire our securities. However, we cannot make rights available to you in the United States unless we register both the rights and the securities to which the rights relate under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, or an exemption from the registration requirements is available. Under the deposit agreement, the depositary bank will not make rights available to you unless both the rights and the underlying securities to be distributed to ADS holders are either registered under the Securities Act or exempt from registration under the Securities Act. We are under no obligation to file a registration statement with respect to any such rights or securities or to endeavor to cause such a registration statement to be declared effective and we may not be able to establish a necessary exemption from registration under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you may be unable to participate in our rights offerings and may experience dilution in your holdings.

The depositary of our ADSs has agreed to pay to you the cash dividends or other distributions it or the custodian receives on our ordinary shares or other deposited securities after deducting its fees and expenses. You will receive these distributions in proportion to the number of ordinary shares your ADSs represent. However, the depositary may, at its discretion, decide that it is inequitable or impractical to make a distribution available to any holders of ADSs. For example, the depositary may determine that it is not practicable to distribute certain property through the mail, or that the value of certain distributions may be less than the cost of mailing them. In these cases, the depositary may decide not to distribute such property to you.

You may be subject to limitations on transfer of your ADSs.

Your ADSs are transferable on the books of the depositary. However, the depositary may close its transfer books at any time or from time to time when it deems expedient in connection with the performance of its duties.

In addition, the depositary may refuse to deliver, transfer or register transfers of ADSs generally when our books or the books of the depositary are closed, or at any time if we or the depositary deem it advisable to do so because of any requirement of law or of any government or governmental body, or under any provision of the deposit agreement, or for any other reason.

Anti-takeover provisions in our memorandum and articles of association and rights agreement could adversely affect the rights of holders of our ordinary shares and ADSs.

We have included certain provisions in our memorandum and articles of association that could limit the ability of others to acquire control of our company and deprive our shareholders of the opportunity to sell their shares at a premium over the prevailing market price by discouraging third parties from seeking to obtain control of our company in a tender offer or similar transactions. The following provisions in our articles may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of our company:

On August 13, 2020, our board of directors adopted a rights agreement between us and American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, as the rights agent, and declared a dividend distribution of one right with respect to each of our outstanding ordinary share held of record at the close of business on August 24, 2020. When exercisable, each right will entitle the registered holder to purchase one ordinary share of our company at an exercise price of US$0.9 per right, subject to adjustment. In general terms, it works by imposing a significant penalty upon any person or group that acquires 15% or more of our ordinary shares without the approval of our board of directors. As a result, the overall effect of the rights agreement and the issuance of the rights may be to render more difficult or discourage a merger, tender or exchange offer or other business combination involving us that is not approved by our board. The issuance of additional ordinary shares of our company pursuant to the rights agreement would cause substantial dilution to a person or group that attempts to acquire us on terms not approved by our board of directors.

Our corporate actions are substantially controlled by our principal shareholders who could exert significant influence over important corporate matters, which may reduce the price of our ADSs and deprive you of an opportunity to receive a premium for your shares.

Certain principal shareholders hold a substantial percentage of the outstanding shares of our company. For example, as of March 31, 2021, our principal shareholder, Mr. Herman Man Guo, along with his wife, Ms. Dan Shao, beneficially owned approximately 25.0% of our outstanding ordinary shares. Mr. Guo and other principal shareholders of our company could exert substantial influence over matters such as electing directors and approving material mergers, acquisitions or other business combination transactions. This concentration of ownership may also discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company, which could have the dual effect of depriving our shareholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their shares as part of a sale of our company and reducing the price of our ADSs. These actions may be taken even if they are opposed by our other shareholders.

We are a “foreign private issuer,” and have disclosure obligations that are different from those of U.S. domestic reporting companies so you should not expect to receive the same information about us at the same time as a U.S. domestic reporting company may provide.

We are a foreign private issuer and, as a result, we are not subject to certain of the requirements imposed upon U.S. domestic issuers by the SEC. For example, we are not required by the SEC or the federal securities laws to issue quarterly reports or proxy statements with the SEC. We are required to file our annual report within four months of our fiscal year end. We are not required to disclose certain detailed information regarding executive compensation that is required from U.S. domestic issuers. Further, our directors and executive officers are not required to report equity holdings under Section 16 of the Securities Act. We are also exempt from the requirements of Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure) which, generally, are meant to ensure that select groups of investors are not privy to specific information about an issuer before other investors. We are, however, still subject to the anti-fraud and anti-manipulation rules of the SEC, such as Rule 10b-5. Since many of the disclosure obligations required of us as a foreign private issuer are different from those required by other U.S. domestic reporting companies, our shareholders should not expect to receive information about us in the same amount and at the same time as information is received from, or provided by, other U.S. domestic reporting companies. We are liable for violations of the rules and regulations of the SEC which do apply to us as a foreign private issuer. Violations of these rules could affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We believe we were a passive foreign investment company for our taxable year ended December 31, 2020, which could subject United States investors in the ADSs or ordinary shares to significant adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.

Based on the market price of our ADSs and composition of our assets (in particular the retention of a substantial amount of cash), we believe that we were a “passive foreign investment company,” or “PFIC,” for U.S. federal income tax purposes for our taxable year ended December 31, 2020, and we may be a PFIC for our current taxable year ending December 31, 2021 unless the market price of our ADSs increases and/or we invest a substantial amount of cash and other passive assets we hold in assets that produce or are held for the production of non-passive income. A non-U.S. corporation will be considered a PFIC for any taxable year if either (1) 75% or more of its gross income for such year consists of certain types of “passive” income or (2) 50% or more of the average quarterly value of its assets (as generally determined on the basis of fair market value) during such year produce or are held for the production of passive income.

If we were to be classified as a PFIC in any taxable year, a U.S. Holder (as defined in Item 10. Additional Information—E.—Taxation—U.S. Federal Income Taxation) may incur significantly increased U.S. income tax on gain recognized on the sale or other disposition of the ADSs or ordinary shares and on the receipt of distributions on the ADSs or ordinary shares to the extent such gain or distribution is treated as an “excess distribution” under the U.S. federal income tax rules. Furthermore, a U.S. Holder will generally be treated as holding an equity interest in a PFIC in the first taxable year of the U.S. Holder’s holding period in which we become a PFIC and subsequent taxable years even if, we, in fact, cease to be a PFIC in subsequent taxable years. Accordingly, a U.S. Holder of our ADSs or ordinary shares is urged to consult its tax advisor concerning the U.S. federal income tax consequences of an investment in our ADSs or ordinary shares, including the possibility of making a “mark-to-market” election. For more information, see “Item 10. Additional Information—E. Taxation—U.S. Federal Income Taxation.”