RISK FACTORS

         You should consider carefully all of the information in this prospectus, including the risks and uncertainties described below and our combined and consolidated financial statements and related notes, before making an investment in our ADSs. Any of the following risks and uncertainties could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. The market price of our ADSs could decline significantly as a result of any of these risks and uncertainties, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

If we fail to retain our existing users, keep them engaged or further grow our user base, our business, operation, profitability and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

        The size of our user base and the level of our user engagement are critical to our success. Our main monetization strategies—live streaming, advertisement and others depend on our ability to maintain and increase the size of our user base and user engagement level. If our user base becomes smaller or our users become less active, it is probable that they would spend less on our virtual gifts and jointly operated games or visit our advertisements less frequently, or access our platform less in general. This would in turn drive top streamers away from our platform, discourage companies from purchasing advertisements on our platform and dissuade game developers and publishers from distributing their games through our platform. Our financial condition would suffer from the consequential decline in revenue and our business and operating results will be materially and adversely impacted.

        According to iResearch, we ranked first among China's game-centric live streaming platforms in terms of the size of our user base as measured by average total MAUs on both mobile and PC platforms and the level of user engagement as measured by average total daily time spent by active users on our platform during the fourth quarter of 2017 and 2018. Maintaining and improving the current size of user base and level of user engagement are critical to our continued success. However, to maintain and improve this already large size of user base and high level of user engagement, we would have to ensure that we adequately and timely respond to changes in user preferences, attract and retain enough popular streamers, and offer new features and content that may attract new users. There is no guarantee that we could meet all of these goals. A number of factors could negatively affect user retention, growth and engagement, including if:

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we are unable to combat spam on or inappropriate or abusive use of our platform, which may lead to negative public perception of us and our brand;



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technical or other problems prevent us from delivering our services in a rapid and reliable manner or otherwise adversely affect the user experience;



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we fail to innovate our communities, user-generated content and our virtual gifts that keep our users interested and be eager to return to our platform on a regular basis;



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our streamers failed to keep our users engaged on our platform over a long period of time;



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we suffer from negative publicity, fail to maintain our brand or if our reputation is damaged;



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we fail to address user concerns related to privacy and communication, safety, security or other factors;



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there are adverse changes in our services that are mandated by, or that we elect to make to address, legislation, regulations or government policies; and



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the growth of the number of PC and smartphone users in China stalls.

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We may fail to attract, cultivate and retain top streamers, which may materially and negatively affect our user retention and thus our business and operations.

        As of December 31, 2018, our streamer pyramid consisted of 6.0 million registered streamers, including more than 5,200 top streamers each of whom entered into an exclusive contract with us directly, approximately 384,800 streamers managed through talent agencies and the rest who are self-registered streamers. As of December 31, 2017, our platform had 3.9 million registered streamers, including more than 2,000 top streamers each of whom entered into an exclusive contract with us directly. Our top streamers tend to have large following bases who regularly support these streamers with virtual gifts, and they also tend to attract many integrated promotion activities during live streaming compared to self-registered streamers. Their charisma and the high-quality content that they create are primary contributors to user stickiness and are hard to replicate with self-registered streamers. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, our exclusive streamers accounted for 34.8%, 46.1% and 50.3% of our total live streaming revenue.

        Although we have signed exclusive contracts with top streamers at typically three- to five-year terms that contain non-compete clauses, top streamers may still choose to depart us when their contract period ends, and their departure may cause a corresponding decline in our user base. As we attract top streamers from other platforms, we have also been involved in legal disputes concerning top streamers with competing platforms. Although we are not the primary target of these legal disputes, such streamers may be subject to fines or even injunctions which may render our investment in recruiting them meaningless. On the other hand, some of our top streamers have left us for competing platforms despite still being in contractual relationship with us which may raise legal disputes. Although we have won most of the legal disputes against these breaching streamers, their departures may still have a negative impact on user retention and reputation. To retain top streamers, we must devise better streamer compensation schemes, improve our monetization capabilities and help the top streamers reach a wider audience. Although we strive to improve ourselves in these two respects, we cannot guarantee that our streamers will not leave us even if we do our best to retain them.

        In terms of streamer cultivation, we cannot guarantee that the performance metrics we use to track promising streamers will enable us to identify future top streamers. Some of the streamers we identify as promising may turn out to be underperforming, and we may also fail to spot truly promising streamers in early stages of their career. In addition to a waste of resources, either one of these scenarios could prevent us from cultivating top streamers, which could weaken our core competitive strength against competing platforms and thus cause an outflow of users to those platforms.

We may fail to offer attractive content, in particular popular game content, on our platform.

        We offer comprehensive live streaming content with a primary focus on games. Our content library is constantly evolving and growing. Game content has been the key component of our content offerings since our inception, 72.0% of our streamers were game streamers as of December 31, 2018 and game streaming attracted 81.3% of viewership in terms of total viewing hours across our platform in the fourth quarter of 2018. In response to viewers' growing interests, we also have expanded our coverage into other entertainment content genres. We actively track viewership growth and community feedback to identify trending content and encourage our streamers and talent agencies to create content that caters to viewers constantly changing tastes. However, if we fail to expand and diversify our content offerings, identify trending and popular genres, or maintain the quality of our content, we may experience decreased viewership and user engagement, which may materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial conditions.

        In addition, we largely rely on our streamers to create high-quality and fun live streaming content. We have in place a comprehensive and effective incentive mechanism to encourage streamers and talent agencies to supply content that is attractive to our viewers. Also, talent agencies cooperating with

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us may guide or influence streamers to live stream content that is well received by our viewers. However, if we fail to observe the latest trends and timely guide streamers and talent agencies accordingly, or fail to attract streamers who are capable of creating content based on popular games, or if streamers fail to produce content for trending games, our viewer number may decline and our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We have significant reliance on the eSports industry.

        As the nexus of the eSports ecosystem, our platform connects game developers and publishers, professional eSports teams or players and eSports tournament organizers, advertisers and viewers. User generated content covering eSports games is the largest contributor to our user base. Our average total eSports MAUs were approximately 80.9 million and 95.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 and 2018, respectively. In addition to streaming of eSports games, major eSports events and tournaments, we also sponsor leading eSports teams and organize our own eSports tournaments.

        We rely heavily on a number of eSports games to generate our user traffic. For example, League of Legends, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and King of Glory, the three most popular eSports games on our platform, each attracted over 40 million average total MAUs on our platform and in total generated over 1,050 million hours spent by our users during the fourth quarter of 2018. As a result, if we fail to maintain our market position in the eSports industry or to attract users through live streaming of popular eSports games, our user base and streamer base may shrink significantly. We may experience decreased viewership and user engagement, which may materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

If we fail to effectively manage our growth and control our periodic spending to maintain such growth, our brand, business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

        We have experienced a period of significant rapid growth and expansion that has placed, and continues to place, significant strain on our management and resources. However, given our limited operating history and the rapidly evolving market in which we compete, we may encounter difficulties as we establish and expand our operations, research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative capabilities. We cannot assure you that this level of growth will be sustainable or achieved at all in the future. We believe that our continued growth will depend on our ability to attract and retain viewers and top streamers, develop an infrastructure to service and support an expanding body of viewers and streamers, explore new monetization avenues, convert non-paying users to paying users, increase user engagement levels and capitalize on the eSports industry. We cannot assure you that we will be successful with any of the above.

        To manage our growth and maintain profitability, we expect our costs and expenses to continue to increase in the future as we anticipate that we will need to continue to implement, from time to time, a variety of new and upgraded operational, informational and financial systems, procedures and controls on an as-needed basis, including the continued improvement of our accounting and other internal management systems. We will also need to expand, train, manage and motivate our workforce and manage our relationships with viewers and streamers game developers and publishers, advertisers and other business partners. All of these endeavors involve risks and will require substantial management efforts and skills and significant additional expenditures. We expect to continue to invest in our infrastructure in order to enable us to provide our services rapidly and reliably to viewers and streamers. Continued growth could end up straining our ability to maintain reliable service levels for all of our viewers and streamers, develop and improve our operational, financial, legal and management controls, and enhance our reporting systems and procedures. Managing our growth will require significant expenditures and the allocation of valuable management resources. If we fail to achieve the necessary level of efficiency in our organization as we grow, our business, operating results and financial condition could be harmed.

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We have incurred net losses since inception, and we may continue to incur losses in the future.

        We have incurred significant net losses to date. Although we generated positive gross profit for the first time recently in 2017 and then in 2018, such positive trend may not translate into a net after-tax profit. The time it will take for us to eventually achieve profitability hinges on our ability to grow rapidly in a cost-effective way, and we may not be able to grow this way successfully.

        While our future revenue growth will be linked with the realization of our monetization strategies, which will be affected by user engagement, streamer retention and product offering, our cost-effective growth will primarily rely on improvement of operational efficiency, which has been reflected so far in the continually decreasing percentage of our content costs and bandwidth and server costs in our total operating costs. This trend of operational efficiency improvement may not continue in the future, or it may not reach a sufficient level to generate profitability. Our ability to continue to improve operational efficiency will depend on our ability to maintain stronger bargaining position in contract negotiations with top streamers, streamline our operation, achieve economies of scale and employ more advanced streaming technologies at lower cost, among other things. Additionally, our ability to achieve profitability is affected by various external factors, many of which are beyond our control, such as the PC and mobile games market and eSports industry in China, and the development of social networking, live streaming services and mobile marketing services. We cannot assure you that we will be able to improve our operational efficiency in the future.

        We may again incur losses in the near future due to our continued investment in services, technologies, research and development and our continued sales and marketing initiatives. Changes in the macroeconomic and regulatory environment or competitive dynamics and our inability to respond to these changes in a timely and effective manner may also impact our profitability. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that our company will turn profitable in the short term just because we have made substantial investment in various areas.

Our business may suffer if we fail to successfully implement our monetization strategies.

        Our monetization model is new and evolving. Our streaming platform is free to access, and we generate revenues primarily from live streaming and advertisement. As a result, our revenue is affected by our ability to increase user engagement and convert non-paying users into paying users, which in turn depends on our ability to offer content, virtual gifts, advertisements and other services. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, we generated RMB611.3 million, RMB1,521.8 million and RMB3,147.2 million (US$457.7 million) from live streaming, representing 77.7%, 80.7% and 86.1% of our total revenues for the same period. We also generate a sizeable portion of our revenues from providing advertisement and other services on our platform. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, we generated RMB175.6 million, RMB363.9 million and RMB507.2 million (US$73.8 million) from advertisements and others, representing 22.3%, 19.3% and 13.9% of our total revenues for the same period. We also generate a small portion of our revenue from game distribution, which involves revenue-sharing arrangements with game developers and publishers. If we are not successful in enhancing our ability to monetize our existing services or developing new approaches to monetization, we may not be able to maintain or increase our revenues and profits or recover any associated costs. We monitor market developments and may adjust our monetization strategies accordingly from time to time, which may result in decreases of our overall revenue or revenue contributions from some monetization channels. In addition, we may in the future introduce new services to diversify our revenue streams, including services with which we have little or no prior development or operating experience. If these new or enhanced services fail to engage customers or platform partners, we may fail to generate sufficient revenues to justify our investments, and our business and operating results may suffer as a result.

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Our content monitoring system may not be effective in preventing misconduct by our platform users and misuse of our platform and such misconduct or misuse may materially and adversely impact our brand image, business and operating results.

        We are a game-centric live streaming platform that provides real-time streaming and interactions. Because we do not have full control over how and what streamers or viewers will use our platform to communicate, our platform may be misused by individuals or groups of individuals to engage in immoral, disrespectful, fraudulent or illegal activities. For example, we detect spam accounts through which illegal or inappropriate content is streamed or posted and illegal or fraudulent activities are conducted on a timely basis. Media reports and Internet forums have covered some of these incidents, which have in some cases generated negative publicity about our platform and brand. We have implemented control procedures to detect and block illegal or inappropriate content and illegal or fraudulent activities conducted through the misuse of our platform, but such procedures may not prevent all such content from being broadcasted or posted or activities from being carried out. Moreover, as we have limited control over real-time and offline behavior of our users, to the extent such behavior is associated with our platform, our ability to protect our brand image and reputation may be limited. Our business and the public perception of our brand may be materially and adversely affected by misuse of our platform.

        In addition, if any of our viewers suffers or alleges to have suffered physical, financial or emotional harm following contact initiated on our platform or after watching unsettling or inappropriate content that our content monitoring system failed to filter out, we may face civil lawsuits or other liabilities initiated by the affected viewer, or governmental or regulatory actions against us. In response to allegations of illegal or inappropriate activities conducted through our platform or any negative media coverage about us, PRC government authorities may intervene and hold us liable for non-compliance with PRC laws and regulations concerning the dissemination of information on the Internet and subject us to administrative penalties or other sanctions, such as requiring us to restrict or discontinue some of the features and services provided on our website and mobile application, or even revoke our licenses or permits to provide Internet content service. We endeavor to ensure all streamers are in compliance with relevant regulations, but we cannot guarantee that all streamers will comply with all the PRC laws and regulations. Therefore, our live streaming service may be subject to investigations or subsequent penalties if content displayed on our platform is deemed to be illegal or inappropriate under PRC laws and regulations. As a result, our business may suffer and our user base, revenues and profitability may be materially and adversely affected.

Our limited operating history with a relatively new business model in a relatively new market makes it difficult to evaluate our business and growth prospects.

        Our business operations commenced in 2014, with commercialization beginning midway through 2015. We experienced growth in the number of active and paying users and total revenue since 2016. However, our growth in 2016, 2017 and 2018 may not be indicative of our future performance, as our operating results represent a limited size of sample of operational results and may be hard to repeat in the future.

        Many of the elements of our business are unique and evolving. The markets for our live streaming platform and the related products and services are relatively new and rapidly developing and are subject to significant challenges, especially in terms of converting non-paying users to paying users, maintaining a stable paying user base and attracting new paying users. Our business plan relies heavily upon an expanding user base and the resulting increased revenue from live streaming and advertisement, as well as our ability to capitalize on the eSports industry and explore other monetization avenues. We may not succeed in any of these aspects.

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        As the live streaming industry in China is relatively young, there are few proven methods of projecting user demand or available industry standards on which we can rely. Some of our current monetization methods are also in a relatively preliminary stage. For example, if we fail to properly manage the volume and price of our virtual gifts, our users may be less likely to purchase them. We cannot assure you that our attempts to monetize our viewers and streamers will continue to be successful, profitable or accepted, and therefore the income potential of our business is difficult to gauge.

        Our growth prospects should be considered in light of the risks and uncertainties that fast-growing early-stage companies with limited operating histories in evolving industries may encounter, including, among others, risks and uncertainties regarding our ability to

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develop new virtual gifts that are appealing to users;



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develop new advertisement formats that are appealing to advertising partners;



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maintain stable relationships with game developers and publishers; and



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expand to new geographic markets with good eSports environment and high growth potential.

        Addressing these risks and uncertainties will require significant capital expenditures and allocation of valuable management and employee resources. If we fail to successfully address any of the above risks and uncertainties, the size of our user base, our revenue and operating margin may decline.

In our market, we mainly compete with other established streaming platforms and other entertainment mediums. If we are unable to compete effectively, our business and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.

        Since running a successful live streaming platform requires intensive capital outlay and a large team of quality streamers, who remain in short supply due to the fact that most have signed contracts with existing platforms, there are high entry barriers for our industry. As a result, our major competitors are streaming platforms with an established presence in the industry. While such competition may only come from a few established players instead of many newcomers, competition remains intense. As it is unlikely that viewers will watch streams on two platforms at once, and most top streamers sign exclusive contracts with only one platform, we compete mainly for user traffic and top streamers. If we are not able to effectively compete with our competitors, our overall user base and level of user engagement may decrease, which may result in loss of top streamers to other platforms. Such loss may also lead to fewer paying users and make us less attractive to advertisers and game developers and publishers, which may adversely affect our monetization success.

        To better compete with competitors which may have more cash, traffic, technological advantages, top streamers, business networks and other resources than we do, we may be required to spend additional resources, which may adversely affect our profitability. Furthermore, if we are involved in disputes with any of our competitors that result in negative publicity to us, such disputes, regardless of their veracity or outcome, may harm our reputation or brand image and in turn lead to reduced number of viewers and streamers. Our competitors may unilaterally decide to adopt a wide range of measures targeted at us, including approaching our top streamers, purchasing exclusive streaming rights to eSports tournaments or events that used to be streamed on our platform, or even attacking our platform. Any legal proceedings or measures we take in response to competition and disputes with our competitors may be expensive, time-consuming and disruptive to our operations and divert our management's attention.

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        We believe that our ability to compete effectively depends upon many factors both within and beyond our control, including:

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the popularity, usefulness, ease of use, performance and reliability of our services compared to those of our competitors, and the research and development abilities of us and our competitors;



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changes mandated by, or that we elect to make to address, legislation, regulations or government policies, some of which may have a disproportionate effect on us;



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acquisitions or consolidation within our industry, which may result in more formidable competitors; and



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our reputation and brand strength relative to our competitors.

        In addition, our users have a vast array of entertainment choices. Other forms of entertainment, such as traditional PC and console games, other online video services, social networking, as well as more traditional mediums such as television, movies and sports spectating, are much more well- established in mature markets and may be perceived by our users to offer greater variety, affordability, interactivity and enjoyment. Our platform competes against these other forms of entertainment for the discretionary time and spending of our users. If we are unable to sustain sufficient interest in our platform in comparison to other forms of entertainment, including new forms of entertainment that may emerge in the future, our business model may no longer be viable.

Our revenue growth is heavily dependent on paying users and revenue per paying user. If we fail to continue to grow or maintain our paying user and continue to increase revenue per paying user, our live streaming revenue may not increase, which may materially and adversely affect our business operation and financial results.

        Our quarterly average paying users grew from 0.9 million in 2016 to 2.4 million in 2017 and further to 3.8 million in 2018. Moreover, our average revenue per paying user ("ARPPU") per quarter changed from approximately RMB164 in 2016 to RMB156 in 2017 and increased to RMB208 in 2018. Whether we can continue this trend of increasing paying ratio amongst our users depends on many factors, and many of them are out of our control. For example, our paying users may have less disposable income as they need to meet financial obligations elsewhere, they may decide to no longer support a particular streamer that they used to follow financially, and an overall worsening economic conditions can lower disposable income for all existing paying users, causing them to spend less on our platform. We expect that our business will continue to be heavily dependent on revenue collected from paying users in the near future. Any decline in the number paying users or our paying ratio may materially and adversely affect our results of operations. See "—Our business may suffer if we fail to successfully implement our growth or monetization strategies."

We generate a portion of our revenues from advertisement. If we fail to maintain or grow advertisement revenue, our financial results may be adversely affected.

        In 2016, 2017 and 2018, we generated RMB116.6 million, RMB248.8 million and RMB342.2 (US$49.8 million) million from the sale of advertisements, representing 14.8%, 13.2% and 9.4% of our total revenues for the same period. Our revenues from advertisement represent an important part of our total revenue, and our financial results could be adversely affected if we fail to maintain or grow it in the future. For us to maintain or grow our advertisement revenue, we need to attract more advertisers to our platforms with our increased user traffic and engagement level, or offer more variety in terms of advertisement products that encourage more spending from advertisers. We offer (i) integrated promotion activities during live streaming, (ii) advertisement display, and (iii) online and offline events-related advertisements. We expect to introduce more integrated promotion activities that are engaging, creative and fun and hold events that are sponsored by advertisers, who have naming

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rights to these events. Failure to do so may adversely impact our advertisement revenue. In addition, traditional display advertisements are subject to time and space restrictions, especially when displayed on mobile devices which have become popular among our users. As a result, our business and results of operations may be adversely impacted.

        Advertisement revenue is also affected by online advertising industry in China and advertisers' allocation of budgets to Internet advertising and promotion. Companies that decide to advertise or promote online may utilize more established methods or channels for online advertising and promotion, such as more established Chinese Internet portals or search engines, over advertising and promotion on our platforms. If the online advertising market size does not increase from current levels, or if we are unable to capture and retain a sufficient share of that market, our ability to maintain or increase our current level of advertisement revenue and our profitability and prospects could be adversely affected.

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

        The Internet industry in China is highly regulated, which requires certain licenses, permits, filings and approvals to conduct and develop business. Currently, we have obtained the following valid licenses through our PRC variable interest entities: ICP License for provision of Internet information services, Internet Culture Operation License for operating online games and music products, Commercial Performance License for providing streamer agency services, License for Online Transmission of Audio/Video Programs for providing online streaming of video and Radio and Television Program Production and Operating Permit for producing radio and television program.

        Due to the uncertainties of interpretation and implementation of existing and future laws and regulations, the licenses we held may be deemed insufficient by governmental authorities, which may restrain our ability to expand our business scope and may subject us to fines or other regulatory actions by relevant regulators if our practice is deemed as violating relevant laws and regulations. As we develop and expand our business scope, we may need to obtain additional qualifications, permits, approvals or licenses. Moreover, we may be required to obtain additional licenses or approvals if the PRC government adopts more stringent policies or regulations for our industry.

        For example, according to the Administrative Provisions for Audio/Video Programs Services through Internet which was promulgated by the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (the "SARFT") (which is the predecessor of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television), came into effect on January 31, 2008, and amended on August 28, 2015 (the "Audio/Video Measures"), to engage in the business of transmitting audio/video programs, a License for Online Transmission of Audio/Video Programs is required. We have obtained the License for Online Transmission of Audio/Video Programs for offering live video programs on our platforms. We are currently applying to expand the scope of our License for Online Transmission of Audio/Video Programs and there is no guarantee that we will be successful in doing so. License for Online Transmission of Audio/Video Programs is subject to periodical renewal. Although we have successfully renewed it in the past, there is no guarantee that we will be able to continue to do so in the future. We may not be able to continue to hold the License for Online Transmission Audio/Video Programs, and the scope specified in our License for Online Transmission Audio/Video Programs may not be able to cover all the needs that arise or will arise in our operations from time to time. Failure to expand the scope of our current License for Online Transmission of Audio/Video Programs or to continue to hold such license may result in fines or other penalties being imposed to us, which may adversely affect our business. In addition, for the purpose of providing Internet audio/video program service, we have adopted and will adopt various operating strategies and measures. Due to the uncertainties of interpretation and application of pertinent laws by the government authority, such strategies and measures may be challenged under PRC laws and regulations and if so, we may be subject to fines,

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confiscation of income related or other penalties and, in certain circumstances, suspension or revocation of the license, which may materially and adversely affect our business.

        In addition, publishing and the commercial launch of domestic online games is subject to the pre-approval by the National Radio and Television Administration (the "NRTA") and the post-filing requirements with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (formerly known as the Ministry of Culture, the "MCT"), while the commercial launch of imported online games is subject to pre-approval by both of the NRTA and the MCT. Although the game publishers are responsible for obtaining the required approvals, filings or permits for these online games streamed or operated on our platform, we may be subject to fines, confiscation of income from these games, suspension of operations, revocation of licenses and other penalties due to game publishers' failure to obtain such approvals, filings or permits, which could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations. With respect to pre-approval for publishing of online games, the NRTA suspended such permission from March to December 2018 and have since restored it. As for the post-filing requirements for commercial launch of online games, the MCT has suspended such permission since June 2018 and has not restored it as of the date of this Prospectus. As a result, game publishers may not be able to obtain approval or make filings for games they operate that were not approved by, or filed with the NRTA or MCT. Furthermore, if more stringent regulations were adopted or the government authority takes more strict regulation or action against online games industry in the future, it might be increasingly difficult to introduce or operate new online games streamed or operated on our platform, which will adversely affect our business.

        As the Internet industry in China is still at a relatively early stage of development, new laws and regulations may be adopted from time to time to address new issues that come to the authorities' attention. Considerable uncertainties still exist with respect to the interpretation and implementation of existing and future laws and regulations governing our business activities. We could be found in violation of any future laws and regulations or any of the laws or regulations currently in effect due to changes in the relevant authorities' interpretation of these laws and regulations.

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

We may be subject to intellectual property infringement claims or other allegations by third parties for information or content displayed on, retrieved from or linked to our platform, or distributed to our users, or for proprietary information appropriated by former employees, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and prospects.

        We have been and may in the future be subject to intellectual property infringement claims or other allegations by third parties for services we provide or for information or content displayed on, retrieved from or linked to, recorded, stored or make accessible on our platform, or otherwise distributed to our users, including in connection with the music, movies, video and games played, recorded, stored or make accessible on our platform during streaming, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and prospects.

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        Under our agreements with streamers, we obtain the intellectual property arising from live-streaming on our platform. We have implemented internal control measures to ensure that the design of our platform and the content that is streamed on it does not infringe on valid intellectual property, such as patents and copyrights held by third parties. We also license certain intellectual properties from third parties to implement certain functions available on our platform.

        However, companies in the Internet, technology and media industries are frequently involved in litigation based on allegations of infringement of intellectual property rights, unfair competition, invasion of privacy, defamation and other violations of other parties' rights. In China, the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property rights in Internet-related industries, especially in our evolving live streaming industry, are uncertain and still evolving. We face, from time to time, and expect to face in the future, allegations that we have featured pirated or illegally downloaded music and movies on our platform, and that we have infringed on the trademarks, copyrights, patents and other intellectual property rights of third parties, including our competitors, or allegations that we are involved in unfair trade practices. Some of the game streaming on our platform may be alleged to infringe on the copyright in works of literature and art of a game of the game producers, which may also constitute an unfair competition claim. As we face increasing competition and as litigation becomes a more common method for resolving commercial disputes in China, we face a higher risk of being the subject of intellectual property infringement claims or other legal proceedings.

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

        Certain of our employees were previously employed at other peer companies, including our current and potential competitors. To the extent that these employees are involved in the development of content or technology similar to ours at their former employers, we may become subject to claims that such employees or we may have appropriated proprietary information or intellectual properties of the former employers of our employees. If we fail to successfully defend such claims, our results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

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

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We may be held liable for information or content displayed on, retrieved from or linked to our platform, or distributed to our users if such content is deemed to violate any PRC laws or regulations, and PRC authorities may impose legal sanctions on us.

        We are a live streaming platform that enables our users to exchange information, generate content, advertise products and services, and engage in various other online activities. Although real-name registration is required for streamers by our platform, we may not be able to verify the identity information provided by our streamers as true and accurate. For registration of users, we verify identities primarily based on verification text messages sent to their mobile devices, which may not always be reliable. As a majority of the video and audio communications on our platform is conducted in real time, cannot filter the content generated by our streamers and users on air before they are streamed on our platform. Therefore, users may engage in illegal conversations or activities, including the publishing of inappropriate or illegal content on our platforms that may be unlawful under PRC laws and regulations.

        We require users to agree to our terms of service upon account registration. Our terms of service set out types of content strictly prohibited on our platform, and we have also developed a robust content monitoring system. However, although we use our best efforts to monitor content on our platform, we cannot detect every incident of inappropriate content on our platform due to the immense quantity of user-generated content on our platform, and as such government authorities may hold us liable for inappropriate content on our platform. In addition, application stores may temporarily take down our applications if the content were deemed to violate relevant PRC laws or regulations.

        Although we report violations of our terms of service to PRC local authorities, such authorities may not take any action with respect to these violations on a timely basis, if at all. Therefore, our users may engage in conversations or activities on our platform that may be illegal under PRC laws and regulations. We may be subject to fines or other disciplinary actions, including in serious cases suspension or revocation of the licenses necessary to operate our platform, if we are deemed to have facilitated the appearance of inappropriate content placed by third parties on our platform under PRC laws and regulations. Meanwhile, we may face claims for defamation, libel, negligence, copyright, patent or trademark infringement, other unlawful activities or other theories and claims based on the nature and content of the information delivered on or otherwise accessed through our platform. Defending any such actions could be costly and require significant time and attention of our management and other resources, which would materially and adversely affect our business.

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

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

•

There are uncertainties relating to the regulation of the Internet business in China, including evolving licensing practices and the requirement for real-name registrations. Permits, licenses or operations at some of our subsidiaries and PRC variable interest entity levels may be subject to challenge, we may not be able to timely obtain or maintain all the required licenses or approvals, permits, or to complete filing, registration or other formalities necessary for our present or future operations, and we may not be able to renew certain permits or licenses or renew certain filing or registration or other formalities. See "—If we fail to obtain or maintain

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the required licenses and approvals or if we fail to comply with laws and regulations applicable to our industry, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected" and "Regulation." In addition, although we are not currently required by PRC law to ask all users for their real name and personal information when they register for an user account, PRC regulators could require us to implement compulsory real-name registration for all users on our platform in the future. In late 2011, for example, the Beijing municipal government required micro bloggers in China to implement real-name registration for all of their registered users. If we were required to implement real-name registration for users on our platform, we may lose large numbers of registered user accounts for various reasons, because users may no longer maintain multiple accounts and users who dislike giving out their private information may cease to use our products and services altogether.

•

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

        On June 3, 2010, the Ministry of Culture (the "MOC", which is the predecessor of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, or MCT), promulgated the Provisional Administration Measures of Online Games, or the Online Games Measures, which became effective on August 1, 2010 and amended on December 15, 2017. The Online Games Measures provide that any entity engaging in online game operation activities shall obtain the Internet Culture Operation License and must meet certain requirements. Although an online game developer may be involved in the purchase of servers and bandwidth, the control and management of game data, the maintenance of game systems and certain other maintenance tasks, such activities are not considered as conducting online game operation activities, and that online game developers are not online game operator and do not have to obtain the Internet Culture Operation License in accordance with the Online Games Measures. However, due to lack of detailed interpretative rules and uniform implementation practices and broad discretion of the local competent authorities, there are still uncertainties on the MCT's interpretation and implementation of these measures. If the MCT determines in the future that such qualifications or requirements apply to the online game developers for their involvement in our online game operations, we may have to terminate our revenue-sharing arrangements with certain unqualified online game developers and may even be subject to various penalties, which may negatively impact our results of operations and financial condition.

        On April 15, 2007, eight PRC government authorities, including the General Administration of Press and Publication, or the GAPP, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Information Industry (which is the predecessor of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, or the "MIIT"), issued a notice requiring all Chinese online game operators to adopt an "anti-fatigue system" in an effort to curb addiction to online games by minors. As of October 1, 2011, online game players in China are required to register and verify their names and identity card numbers with the National Citizen Identity Information Center, a subordinate public institution of the Ministry

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of Public Security, before playing an online game. These restrictions may lead to a decrease in the number or engagement of game players, which could adversely affect our game live streaming service and have a material effect on our results of operations. More stringent government regulations could be promulgated in future, which will also adversely affect our results of operations.

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

Increases in the costs of content on our platform, such as higher streamer compensation and recruitment cost with top streamers, may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

        We need to continue offering popular and attractive content on our platform to provide our viewers with engaging and satisfying viewing experiences, and our ability to provide such content is dependent on our ability to attract and retain top streamers. We enter into exclusive contracts with our top streamers, under which they are paid a base compensation in addition to a certain percentage of the sales of virtual gifts that they receive. We also sponsor pro players and eSports teams to have them stream their gameplay on our platform. The compensation and recruitment costs that we incur with respect to retaining top streamers may increase, depending on the streamers' revenue contribution. If our competitor platforms offer higher compensation with an intent to attract our popular streamers, costs to retain our streamers may increase. If we are not able to continue to retain our streamers and produce high quality content on our platform at commercially acceptable costs, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely impacted. Furthermore, as our business and user base further expands, we may have to devote more resources in encouraging our streamers to produce content that meets the varied interests of a diverse user base, which would increase the costs of contents on our platform. If we are unable to generate sufficient revenues that outpace our increased content costs, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Any compromise to the cyber security of our platform could materially and adversely affect our business, reputation and results of operations.

        On November 7, 2016, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress released the PRC Cyber Security Law, which took effect on June 1, 2017. The PRC Cyber Security Law requires network operators to fulfill certain obligations to safeguard security in the cyberspace and enhance network information management.

        Our products and services are generally provided through the Internet and involve the storage and transmission of users' information. Any security breach would expose us to a risk of loss of information and result in litigation and potential liability. As the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade Internet services or sabotage operating systems change frequently and often are not recognized until launched against a target, we may not be able to anticipate such techniques or implement adequate preventative measures. Our user data is encrypted and saved in two different places within our internal servers rather than client-based servers, protected by access control, and further backed up in our long-distance disaster recovery system, so as to minimize the possibility of data loss or breach. Upon a security breach, our technical team will be notified immediately and coordinate with the local supporting staff to diagnose and solve the technical problems. As of the date of this prospectus, we have not experienced any material incidents of security breach.

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        Despite the security measures we have implemented, our facilities, systems and procedures and those of our third-party providers, may be vulnerable to security breaches, act of vandalism, software viruses, misplaced or lost data, programming or human errors or other similar events which may disrupt our delivery of services or expose the confidential information of our users and others. If an actual or perceived breach of our security occurs, the market perception of the effectiveness of our security measures could be harmed, we may lose current and potential users and may be exposed to legal and financial risks, including legal claims, regulatory fines and penalties, which in turn could adversely affect our business, reputation and results of operations.

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

        Almost all access to the Internet in China is maintained through state-owned telecommunication operators under the administrative control and regulatory supervision of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, or the MIIT. Moreover, we primarily rely on a limited number of telecommunication service providers to provide us with data communications capacity through local telecommunications lines and Internet data centers to host our servers. We have limited access to alternative networks or services in the event of disruptions, failures or other problems with China's Internet infrastructure or the fixed telecommunications networks provided by telecommunication service providers. Web traffic in China has experienced significant growth during the past few years. Effective bandwidth and server storage at Internet data centers in large cities such as Beijing are scarce. With the expansion of our business, we may be required to upgrade our technology and infrastructure to keep up with the increasing traffic on our platform. We cannot assure you that the Internet infrastructure and the fixed telecommunications networks in China can support the demands associated with the continued growth in Internet usage. If we cannot increase our capacity to deliver our online services, we may not be able to the increases in traffic we anticipate from our expanding user base, and the adoption of our services may be hindered, which could adversely impact our business and profitability.

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

The proper functioning of our platform is essential to our business. Any disruption to our IT systems could materially affect our ability to maintain the satisfactory performance of our platform.

        The proper functioning of our platform is essential to our business. The satisfactory performance, reliability and availability of our IT systems are critical to our success, our ability to provide content to attract and retain users.

        Our technology or infrastructure may not function properly at all times. Any system interruptions caused by telecommunications failures, computer viruses, hacking or other attempts to harm our systems could result in the unavailability or slowdown of our platform and the attractiveness of content provided on our platform. Our servers may also be vulnerable to computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins and similar disruptions, which could lead to system interruptions, website or mobile app slowdown or unavailability or loss of data. Any of such occurrences could cause severe disruption to our daily operations. As a result, our reputation may be materially and adversely affected, our market share could decline and we could be subject to liability claims.

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Our core values of focusing on user experience and satisfaction first and acting for the long-term may conflict with the short-term operating results of our business, and also negatively impact our relationships with advertisers or other third parties.

        One of our core values is to focus on user experience and satisfaction, which we believe is essential to our success and serves the best, long-term interests of our company and our shareholders. Therefore, we have made, and may make in the future, significant investments or changes in strategy that we think will benefit our users, even if our decision negatively impacts our operating results in the short-term. For example, in order to provide users of our platform with uninterrupted entertainment options, we do not place significant advertising on our platform. While this decision adversely affects our operating results in the short-term, we believe it enables us to provide higher quality user experience on our platform, which will help us expand and maintain our current large user base and create better monetizing potential in the long-term. In addition, this philosophy of putting our users first may also negatively impact our relationships with advertisers or other third parties, and may not result in the long-term benefits that we expect, in which case the success of our business and operating results could be harmed.

We cooperate with various talent agencies to manage our streamers. If we are not able to maintain our relationship with talent agencies, our operations may be materially and adversely affected.

        We cooperate with talent agencies to manage and organize streamers on our platform. As we are an open platform that welcomes all streamers to register on our websites, cooperation with talent agencies increases our operational efficiency in terms of discovering, supporting and managing streamers in a more organized and structured manner, and turning amateur streamers to full-time streamers.

        We pay certain of our streamers or their talent agencies fees determined based on a percentage of revenue from virtual gift sales that is attributed to the streamers' live streams. If we cannot balance the interests between us, streamers and the talent agencies and design a compensation system that is agreeable to both streamers and talent agencies, we may not be able to retain or attract streamers or talent agencies, or both.

        In addition, some of the talent agencies have exclusive cooperation relationships with us. If other platforms offer better incentive to talent agencies, such talent agencies may choose to devote more of their resources to streamers who stream on the other platforms, or they may encourage their streamers to use or even enter into an exclusive agreement with other platforms, all of which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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

        Our business depends upon services provided by, and relationships with, third parties. For example, some third-party software we use in our operations is currently publicly available without charge. If the owner of any such software decides to make claims against us, charge users, or no longer makes the software publicly available, we may need to enter into settlement with such owners, incur significant cost to license the software, find replacement software or develop it on our own. If we are unable to find or develop replacement software at a reasonable cost, or at all, our business and operations may be adversely affected.

        Our overall network relies on broadband connections provided by third-party operators and we expect this dependence on third parties to continue. The networks maintained and services provided by such third parties are vulnerable to damage or interruption, which could impact our results of

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

        We also sell a significant portion of our products and services through third-party online payment systems. If any of these third-party online payment systems suffer from security breaches, users may lose confidence in such payment systems and refrain from purchasing our virtual gifts online, in which case our results of operations would be negatively impacted.

        We exercise no control over the third parties with whom we have business arrangements. For some of services and technologies such as online payment systems, we rely on a limited number of third-party providers with limited access to alternative networks or services in the event of disruptions, failures or other problems. If such third parties increase their prices, fail to provide their services effectively, terminate their service or agreements or discontinue their relationships with us, we could suffer service interruptions, reduced revenues or increased costs, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business depends on a strong brand, and any failure to maintain, protect and enhance our brand would hurt our ability to retain or expand our user and customer base, or our ability to increase their level of engagement.

        In China, we market our services under the brand " " Our business and financial performance are highly dependent on the strength and the market perception of our brand and services. A well-recognized brand is critical to increasing our user base and, in turn, facilitating our efforts to monetize our services and enhancing our attractiveness to customers. From time to time, we conduct marketing activities across various media to enhance our brand and to guide public perception of our brand and services. In order to create and maintain brand awareness and brand loyalty, to influence public perception and to retain existing and attract new mobile users, customers and platform partners, we may need to substantially increase our marketing expenditures. Since we operate in a highly competitive market, brand maintenance and enhancement directly affect our ability to maintain our market position. We must exercise strict quality control of our platform to ensure that our brand image is not tarnished by substandard products or services. We must also find ways to distinguish our platform from those of our competitors. If for any reason we are unable to maintain and enhance our brand recognition, or if we incur excessive expenses in this effort, our business, results of operations and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

Concerns about the collection, use and disclosure of personal data and other privacy-related and security matters could deter customers and users from using our services and adversely affect our reputation and business.

        Concerns about our practices with regard to the collection, use or disclosure of personal information or other privacy-related and security matters, even if unfounded, could damage our reputation and operations. The PRC Constitution, the PRC Criminal Law, the General Principles of the PRC Civil Law and the PRC Cyber Security Law protect individual privacy in general, which require certain authorization or consent from Internet users prior to collection, use or disclosure of their personal data and also protection of the security of the personal data of such users. In particular, Amendment 7 to the PRC Criminal Law prohibits institutions, companies and their employees in the telecommunications and other industries from selling or otherwise illegally disclosing a citizen's personal information obtained during the course of performing duties or providing services. Our internal policy also requires our employees to protect the personal data of our users, and employees who violate such policy are subject to disciplinary actions, including dismissal. While we strive to comply with all applicable data protection laws and regulations, as well as our own privacy policies, any failure or perceived failure to comply may result in proceedings or actions against us by government

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entities or private individuals, which could have an adverse effect on our business. Moreover, failure or perceived failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations related to the collection, use, or sharing of personal information or other privacy-related and security matters could result in a loss of confidence in us by customers and users, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations

Unauthorized use of our intellectual property by our streamers and employees and other third parties and the expenses incurred in protecting our intellectual property rights may harm our brands and reputation and materially and adversely affect our business.

        We regard our copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual properties as critical to our success, and rely on a combination of trademark and copyright laws, trade secrets protection, restrictions on disclosure and other agreements that restrict the use of our intellectual properties to protect these rights. Although our contracts with users typically prohibit the unauthorized use of our brands, images, characters and other intellectual property rights, we cannot assure you that they will always comply with these terms. These agreements may not effectively prevent disclosure of confidential information and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. Although we enter into confidentiality agreements and intellectual property ownership agreements with our employees, these confidentiality agreements could be breached, we may not have adequate remedies for any breach, and our proprietary technology, know-how or other intellectual property could otherwise become known to third parties. In addition, third parties may independently discover trade secrets and proprietary information, limiting our ability to assert any trade secret rights against such parties.

        While we actively take steps to protect our proprietary rights, such steps may not be adequate to prevent the infringement or misappropriation of our intellectual property. In addition, we cannot assure you that any of the above trademark applications will ultimately proceed to registration or will result in registration with adequate scope for our business. Some of our pending applications or registrations may be successfully challenged or invalidated by others. If our trademark applications are not successful, we may have to use different marks for affected products or services, or seek to enter into arrangements with any third parties who may have prior registrations, applications or rights, which might not be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.

        Implementation of intellectual property laws in China has historically been lacking, primarily because of ambiguities in the laws and difficulties in enforcement. Accordingly, intellectual property right protection in China may not be as effective as in other jurisdictions with a more developed legal framework regulating intellectual property rights. Policing unauthorized use of our proprietary technology, trademarks and other intellectual property is difficult and expensive, and litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights. Future litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources, and could disrupt our business, as well as materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our failure to anticipate or successfully implement new technologies could render our proprietary technologies or platform unattractive or obsolete, and reduce our revenues and market share.

        Our technological capabilities and infrastructure underlying our live streaming platform are critical to our success. The Internet industry is subject to rapid technological changes and also evolving quickly in terms of technology innovation. We need to anticipate the emergence of new technologies and assess their market acceptance. We also need to invest significant resources, including financial resources, in research and development to keep pace with technological advances in order to make our development capabilities, our platform and our services competitive in the market. However, development activities are inherently uncertain, and we might encounter practical difficulties in commercializing our development results. Our significant expenditures on research and development may not generate

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corresponding benefits. Given the fast pace with which the Internet technology has been and will continue to be developed, we may not be able to timely upgrade our streaming technology our engines or the software framework for our platform development in an efficient and cost-effective manner, or at all. New technologies in programming or operations could render our technologies, our platform or products or services that we are developing or expect to develop in the future obsolete or unattractive, thereby limiting our ability to recover related product development costs, outsourcing costs and licensing fees, which could result in a decline in our revenues and market share.

User growth and engagement depend upon effective interoperation with operating systems, networks, mobile devices and standards that we do not control.

        We make our services available across a variety of PC and mobile operating systems and devices. We are dependent on the interoperability of our services with popular mobile devices and mobile operating systems that we do not control, such as Windows, Android and iOS. Any changes in such operating systems or devices that degrade the functionality of our services or give preferential treatment to competitive services could adversely affect usage of our services. Further, if the number of platforms for which we develop our services increases, which is typically seen in a dynamic and fragmented mobile services market such as China, it will result in an increase in our costs and expenses. In order to deliver high quality services, it is important that our services work well across a range of mobile operating systems, networks, mobile devices and standards that we do not control. We may not be successful in developing relationships with key participants in the mobile industry or in developing services that operate effectively with these operating systems, networks, devices and standards. In the event that it is difficult for our viewers and streamers to access and use our services, particularly on their mobile devices, our user growth and user engagement could be harmed, and our business and operating results could be adversely affected.

Our business depends substantially on the continuing efforts of our executive officers, key employees and qualified personnel, and our business may be adversely and negatively impacted if we lose their services.

        Our future success depends substantially on the continued efforts of our executive officers and key employees. In particular, we rely on the expertise, experience and vision of Mr. Shaojie Chen, our founder, chairman and chief executive officer, Mr. Wenming Zhang, our co-founder and co-chief executive officer, as well as other members of our senior management team. If one or more of our executive officers or key employees were unable or unwilling to continue their services with us, we might not be able to replace them easily, in a timely manner, or at all. Since the game-centric live streaming industry is characterized by high demand and intense competition for talent, we cannot assure you that we will be able to attract or retain qualified staff or other highly skilled employees. In addition, as our company is relatively young, our ability to train and integrate new employees into our operations may not meet the growing demands of our business which may materially and adversely affect our ability to grow our business and hence our results of operations.

        We do not have key man insurance for our executive officers or key employees. If any of our executive officers and key employees terminates their services with us, our business may be severely and adversely affected, our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected and we may incur additional expenses to recruit, train and retain qualified personnel. If any of our executive officers or key employees joins a competitor or forms a competing company, we may lose customers, know-how and key professionals and staff members. Each of our executive officers and key employees has entered into an employment agreement and a non-compete agreement with us. However, certain provisions under the non- compete agreement may be deemed invalid or unenforceable under PRC laws. If any dispute arises between our executive officers and key employees and us, we cannot assure you that we would be able to enforce these non-compete agreements in China, where these executive officers reside, in light of uncertainties with China's legal system.

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We rely on our mobile application and PC application to provide services to our viewers and streamers which, if inaccessible, may have material adverse impact on our business and results of operations.

        We rely on third-party mobile application and PC application distribution channels such as Apple's App Store, various Android application stores, and websites featuring online game to distribute such applications to viewers and streamers. We expect a substantial number of downloads of our mobile applications and PC applications will continue to be derived from these distribution channels. As such, the promotion, distribution and operation of our applications are subject to such distribution platforms' standard terms and policies for application developers, which are subject to the interpretation of, and frequent changes by, these distribution channels. If Apple's App Store or any other major distribution channel interprets or changes its standard terms and conditions in a manner that is detrimental to us, or terminate its existing relationship with us, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

        Furthermore, our mobile application was removed temporarily from these third-party distribution channels for a short period of time due to personal misconduct of a streamer, which involved distribution of inappropriate content on our platform in violation of relevant laws and regulations. We have promptly removed such streamer from our platform and implemented measures to procure our platform users, in particular our streamers, to comply with relevant laws and regulations. However, we cannot guarantee that all platform users will comply with all the laws and regulations as well as our policies. For details, please refer to "—Our content monitoring system may not be effective in preventing misconduct by our platform users and misuse of our platform and such misconduct or misuse may materially and adversely impact our brand image, business and operating results." As a result, our application may again be taken down from these third-party distribution channels, or certain functions of our mobile application or PC application may be disabled, which may be disrupting to our operations and have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We are subject to risks relating to litigation, which could adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.

        We have been involved in and may be subject to litigation and claims of various types, including litigation alleging infringement of intellectual property rights and claims and disputes involving streamers, customers, our employees and suppliers. Litigation is expensive, subjects us to the risk of significant damages, requires significant management time and attention and could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

        We have been involved in litigation brought by other live streaming platforms against streamers who left these platforms to join us. The courts in some of these legal proceedings held that these streamers violated their non-compete obligations to other live streaming platforms and ordered us to ban these streamers from live streaming on our platform. We may also be forced to ban other streamers on our platform who violate non-compete obligations to other live streaming platforms and could face fines and other penalties for failing to do so, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Some of our products and services contain open source software, which may pose particular risk to our proprietary software, products and services in a manner that negatively affects our business.

        We use open source software in some of our products and services and will continue to use open source software in the future. There is a risk that open source software licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to provide or distribute our products or services. Additionally, we may face claims from third parties claiming ownership of, or demanding release of, the open source software or derivative works that we developed using such software. These claims could result in litigation and could require us to make our software source code

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freely available, purchase a costly license or cease offering the implicated products or services unless and until we can re-engineer them to avoid infringement. This re-engineering process could require significant additional research and development resources, and we may not be able to complete it successfully.

Negative publicity may materially and adversely affect our brand, reputation, business and growth prospects.

        Negative publicity involving us, our streamers, our viewers, our management, our live streaming platform or our business model may materially and adversely harm our brand and our business. We cannot assure you that we will be able to defuse negative publicity about us, our management and/or our services to the satisfaction of our investors, viewers and streamers, customers and platform partners. There has been negative publicity about our company and the misuse of our services, which has adversely affected our brand, public image and reputation. Such negative publicity, especially when it is directly addressed against us, may also require us to engage in defensive media campaigns. This may cause us to increase our marketing expenses and divert our management's attention and may adversely impact our business and results of operations.

Contractual disputes with our streamers and talent agencies may harm our reputation and subject us to contractual liabilities, and may be costly or time-consuming to resolve.

        We enter into contracts with some streamers on our platform, either directly or through talent agencies, the terms of which are generally negotiated on a case-by-case basis. The contractual terms between us and our streamers vary depending on factors such as the talent, popularity and revenue-generating potential of the streamers, as well as the minimum streaming hours they commit to our platform. Some of our contracted streamers enjoy fixed base fees while others do not, and some of our contracted streamers are bound by exclusivity clauses while others are not. We also enter into contractual arrangements with certain talent agencies, who are responsible for recruiting and training streamers, and we share a certain percentage of the revenue generated by the streamers they manage with them. From time to time, there may be contractual disputes between streamers, talent agencies and/or us or between us and other third parties relating to our streamers. Any such disputes may not only be costly and time-consuming to solve, but may also be detrimental to the quality of the content produced by our streamers, causing our streamers to leave our platform, decrease user engagement on our platform or otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Advertisements shown on our platform may subject us to penalties and other administrative actions.

        Under PRC advertising laws and regulations, we are obligated to monitor the advertising content shown on our platform to ensure that such content is true and accurate and in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. In addition, where a special government review is required for specific types of advertisements prior to Internet posting, such as advertisements relating to pharmaceuticals, medical instruments, agrochemicals and veterinary pharmaceuticals, we are obligated to confirm that such review has been performed and approval has been obtained. Violation of these laws and regulations may subject us to penalties, including fines, confiscation of our advertisement income, orders to cease dissemination of the advertisements and orders to publish an announcement correcting the misleading information. In circumstances involving serious violations by us, PRC governmental authorities may force us to terminate our advertisement operations or revoke our licenses.

        In addition to the advertisements that were placed by the advertising agencies or advertisers we directly cooperate with, our platform also displays side-bar advertisements placed by streamers on their own streaming channels. While we have made significant efforts to ensure that the advertisements shown on our platform are in full compliance with applicable PRC laws and regulations, we cannot assure you that all the content contained in such advertisements or offers is true and accurate as required by the advertising laws and regulations, especially given the uncertainty in the interpretation of

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these PRC laws and regulations. If we are found to be in violation of applicable PRC advertising laws and regulations, we may be subject to penalties and our reputation may be harmed, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Our key performance metrics, such as MAUs and paying users, may overstate the number of active and paying users that we have, which may therefore lead to an inaccurate interpretation of our revenue metrics and of our business operations by our management and by investors, and may affect advertisers' decisions on the amount spent on advertising with us.

        For performance tracking purposes, we monitor metrics such as the number of registered user accounts, active users and paying users. We calculate certain operating metrics in the following ways: (a) the number of registered users, which refers to the number of users that has registered and logged onto our platform at least once since registration; (b) the number of active users, which refers to the number of users who visited our platform through PC or mobile app at least once in a given period; (c) the number of paying users, which refers to the number of users that has purchased virtual gifts on our platform at least once in a given period. The actual number of individual users, however, is likely to be lower than that of registered users, active users and paying users potentially significantly, due to various reasons such as fraudulent representation or improper registration. Some of our user accounts may also be created for specific purposes such as to increase virtual gifting for certain performers in various contests, but the number of registered users, active users and paying users do not exclude user accounts created for such purposes. We have limited ability to validate or confirm the accuracy of information provided during the user registration process to ascertain whether a new user account created was actually created by an existing user who is registering duplicative accounts. The respective number of our registered users, active users and paying users may overstate the number of individuals who register on our platforms, sign onto our platforms, purchase virtual gifts or other products and services on our platforms and access DouYu.com, respectively, which may lead to an inaccurate interpretation of our operating metrics.

        If the tracked growth in the number of our registered users, active users and paying users is higher than the actual growth in the number of individual registered, active or paying users, our user engagement level, sales and our business may not grow as quickly as we expect, and advertisers may reduce the amount spent on advertising with us, which may harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, such overstatement may cause inaccurate evaluation of our operations by our management and by investors, which may also materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

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

        Currently, we sell almost all of our products and services to our users through third-party online payment systems. We expect that an increasing amount of our sales will be conducted over the Internet as a result of the growing use of online payment systems. We utilize third-party online payment platforms, such as China UnionPay, Wechat Pay and Alipay, to receive cash proceeds from sales of our virtual currency through direct purchases on our platform. Any scheduled or unscheduled interruption in the ability of our users to use these and other online payment platforms could adversely affect our payment collection, and in turn, our revenue. In addition, in online payment transactions, secure transmission of user information, such as debit and credit card numbers and expiration dates, personal information and billing addresses, over public networks, is essential to user privacy protection and maintaining their confidence in our platform.

        We do not have control over the security measures of our third-party payment platforms, and their security measures may not be adequate at present or may not be adequate with the expected increased usage of online payment platforms. We could be exposed to litigation and possible liability if online transaction safety of our users is compromised in transactions involving payments for our virtual

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currency, which could harm our reputation and our ability to attract users and may materially adversely affect our business. We also rely on the stability of such payment transmissions to ensure the continued payment services provided to our users. If any of these third-party online payment platforms fails to process, or ensure the security of, users' payments for any reason, our reputation will be damaged and we may lose our paying users and discourage the potential purchases, which in turn, will materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and prospects.

Our users may suffer from third-party fraud when purchasing our virtual currency and we may suffer fraud when selling virtual currency to users.

        We offer our users multiple options to purchase Yuchi , our virtual currency. Users can purchase these virtual currencies directly on web streaming portal, make in- app purchases using third-party payment channels such as WeChat pay, Alipay and Apple's App Store, or purchase Yuchi from our flagship store on Tmall.com. Other than the above-mentioned official purchase channels, there is no other means to purchase Yuchi . However, from time to time, certain third parties fraudulently claim that users can purchase Yuchi through them. If our users choose to purchase our virtual currency from such third parties, they may suffer losses from such fraudulent activities by third parties. Although we are not directly responsible for such fraudulent activities conducted by third parties, our user experience may be adversely affected and they may choose to leave our platform as a result. Such fraudulent activities by third parties might also generate negative publicity, disputes or even legal claims. The measures we take in response to such negative publicity, disputes or legal claims may be expensive, time consuming and disruptive to our operations and divert our management's attention.

        In addition, in 2016, 2017 and 2018, we have run into multiple incidents where the users paid for our virtual currency through fraudulent methods, including illegal use of credit cards. While such incidents have decreased given tightened regulation, we may lose all the revenue we were supposed to generate from the sales as we were not able to collect or recover on any of it when such incidents occur. Although we have instated authentication mechanisms that help us detect such fraudulent paying methods, we still cannot guarantee that our mechanisms can prevent all fraudulent virtual currency purchases. These fraudulent transactions cause harm to our financial results and business operations.

Restrictions on virtual currency may adversely affect our revenues.

        In 2015, we launched "Yuchi," the virtual currency that can be used by our viewers to purchase the virtual gifts. Due to the relatively short history of virtual currency in China, the regulatory framework governing the industry is still under development.

        On June 4, 2009, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued Notice on the Strengthening of the Administration of Online Game Virtual Currency (the "Virtual Currency Notice"), which defines what virtual currency is and requires that entities obtain the approval from the competent culture administrative department before issuing virtual currency and engaging in transactions using virtual currency in connection with online games. The Virtual Currency Notice regulates that virtual currency may only be used to purchase services and products provided by the online service provider that issues the virtual currency, and also prohibits businesses that issue online game virtual currency from issuing virtual currency to game players through means other than purchases with legal currency, and from setting game features that involve the direct payment of cash or virtual currency by players for the chance to win virtual gifts or virtual currency based on random selection through a lucky draw, wager or lottery. These restrictions on virtual currency may result in lower sales of online virtual currency, and could have an adverse effect on our revenues from online game business.

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        Currently, the PRC government has not promulgated any specific rules, laws or regulations to directly regulate virtual currency, except for the above-mentioned online game virtual currency. Although the term "virtual currency" is widely used in live streaming industry, we believe that such "virtual currency" used in our live streaming communities, including Yuchi, do not fall into the virtual currency defined under the Virtual Currency Notice, and we are not subject to any online game virtual currency laws and regulations for our live streaming business. We have obtain the approval from the competent culture administrative department for issuing the virtual currency of online games (which is set forth in the Internet Culture Operation Licenses that we have acquired). However, we have not issued any virtual currency of online games defined under the Virtual Currency Notice. Due to the uncertainties of the interpretation and implementation of the law and regulation, we cannot assure you that the PRC regulatory authorities will not take a view contrary to ours, in which case we may be required to obtain additional approvals or licenses or change our current business model and may be subject to fines or other penalties, which could adversely affect our business.

Present and future business partnerships or acquisitions may fail and materially and adversely affect our business, reputation and results of operations.

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

        In addition, we may acquire additional assets, products, technologies or businesses that are complementary to our existing business. Future acquisitions and the subsequent integration of new assets and businesses into our own would require significant attention from our management and could divert resources from our existing business, which in turn could adversely affect our operations. Acquired assets or businesses may not generate the financial results we expect. Acquisitions could result in the use of substantial amounts of cash, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, significant goodwill impairment charges, amortization expenses for other intangible assets and exposure to potential unknown liabilities of the acquired businesses. Moreover, the costs of identifying and consummating acquisitions may be significant. In addition to possible shareholder approval, we may have to obtain approvals and licenses from government authorities and comply with applicable PRC laws and regulations, which could result in increased delays and costs.

We may not realize the benefits we expect from our strategic cooperation with Tencent, which may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

        We and Tencent, through our respective PRC affiliated entities, have entered into a strategic cooperation framework memorandum which became effective on January 31, 2018 and was subsequently replaced by the amended and restated strategic cooperation framework memorandum dated April 1, 2019 (the "Amended and Restated SCFM"). For details, please refer to "Business—Our Relationship with Tencent." Tencent also holds 3,125,000 of our Series B-2 Preferred Shares, 1,114,376 of our Series C-1 Preferred Shares and 7,828,728 of our Series E Preferred Shares, through one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries. Upon completion of this offering, Tencent will hold an aggregate of            % of our total outstanding ordinary shares, representing            % of our total voting power, assuming the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option. For details see "Principal [and Selling] Shareholders." As a result, Tencent has substantial influence over our business and their interests may not be aligned with us or the other shareholders. For details please refer to "—Certain

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existing shareholders have substantial influence over our company and their interests may not be aligned with the interests of our other shareholders."

        If we encounter difficulties implementing our strategic cooperation with Tencent, our management may need to divert their attention from existing operations. In addition, certain terms of the Amended and Restated SCFM may restrict our ability to collaborate with third-party game developers or publishers. Our relationship with Tencent does not restrict Tencent from entering into collaboration with other parties. Tencent has in the past invested in, and may in the future continue to invest in our direct or indirect competitors, including companies such as Huya Inc. Tencent may devote resources or attention to the other companies it has an interest in, including our direct or indirect competitors. As a result, we may not fully realize the benefits we expect from the strategic cooperation with Tencent. Failure to realize the intended benefits from the strategic cooperation with Tencent, or potential restrictions on our collaboration with other parties, could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Certain existing shareholders have substantial influence over our company and their interests may not be aligned with the interests of our other shareholders.

        Upon the completion of this offering, our directors and executive officers will hold an aggregate of            % of our total outstanding ordinary shares, and Tencent, through one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, will hold            % of our total outstanding ordinary shares, representing            % and            %, respectively, of our total voting power, assuming the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional ADSs. As a result, these parties have substantial influence over our business, including significant corporate actions such as mergers, consolidations, sales of substantially all of our assets, election of directors and related party transactions.

        They may take actions that are not in the best interest of us or our other shareholders and conflicts of interest between them and us may arise as a result of their operation of or investment in businesses that compete with us. This concentration of ownership may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company, which could deprive our shareholders of a premium for their shares as part of a sale of our company and may reduce the price of the ADSs. These actions may be taken even if they are opposed by our other shareholders, including those who purchase ADSs in this offering. In addition, the significant concentration of share ownership may adversely affect the trading price of the ADSs due to investors' perception that conflicts of interest may exist or arise. For more information regarding our principal shareholders and their affiliated entities, see "Principal [and Selling] Shareholders."

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

        We experience seasonality in our business, reflecting seasonal fluctuations in Internet usage. As a result, comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful.

        For example, the number of active users tend to be higher during school holidays and certain parts of the school year, and tend to be lower at the beginning or exam periods of the school year, which affects our cash flow for those periods. Furthermore, the number of paying users of our online live streaming platform correlates with the marketing campaigns and promotional activities we conduct which may coincide with popular western or Chinese festivals.

        As a result, our operating results in future quarters or years may fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors.

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We do not currently have business insurance to cover our main assets and business. Any uninsured occurrence of business disruption, litigation or natural disaster could expose us to significant costs, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

        The insurance industry in China is still at an early stage of development, and insurance companies in China currently offer limited business-related insurance products. As such, we may not be able insure against certain risks related to our assets or business even if we desire to. In addition, the costs of insuring for such risks and the difficulties associated with acquiring such insurance on commercially reasonable terms make it impractical for us to have such insurance. We do not have any business liability or disruption insurance to cover our operations. Any uninsured occurrence of business disruption, litigation or natural disaster, or significant damages to our uninsured equipment or facilities could disrupt our business operations, requiring us to incur substantial costs and divert our resources, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

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

        Prior to this offering, we were a private company with limited accounting personnel and other resources with which to address our internal controls and procedures. In the course of auditing our combined and consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018, we and our independent registered public accounting firm identified one material weakness and other control deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2018, in accordance with the standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board of the United States.

        The material weakness identified relates to our lack of sufficient skilled staff with U.S. GAAP knowledge for the purpose of financial reporting and lack of formal accounting policies and procedures manual to ensure proper financial reporting to comply with U.S. GAAP and SEC requirements. For example, we restated the combined and consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017 relating to the accounting for content rights as intangible assets and related amortization, for which we previously estimated the useful life approximates their contractual life of one to ten years and later determined they should be the live-broadcasting periods. We have implemented and are continuing to implement a number of measures to remedy this material weakness and the other control deficiencies. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Internal Control Over Financial Reporting." We have also adopted measures to improve our internal control over financial reporting. We cannot assure you, however, that these measures may fully address the material weakness or other deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting or that we may conclude that they have been fully remedied.

        Upon the completion of this offering, we will become a public company in the United States subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or Section 404, will require that we include a report of management on our internal control over financial reporting in our annual report on Form 20-F beginning with our annual report for the year ending December 31, 2020. In addition, once we cease to be an "emerging growth company" as such term is defined in the JOBS Act, our independent registered public accounting firm must attest to and report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Our management may conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is not effective. Moreover, even if our management concludes that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, our independent registered public accounting firm, after conducting its own independent testing, may issue a report that is qualified if it is not satisfied with our internal controls or the level at which our controls are documented, designed, operated or reviewed, or if it interprets the relevant requirements differently from us. In addition, after we become a public company, our reporting obligations may place a

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significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources and systems for the foreseeable future. We may be unable to timely complete our evaluation testing and any required remediation.

        During the course of documenting and testing our internal control procedures, in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404, we may identify other weaknesses and deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, if we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, as these standards are modified, supplemented or amended from time to time, we may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting. If we fail to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment, we could suffer material misstatements in our financial statements and fail to meet our reporting obligations, which would likely cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information. This could in turn limit our access to capital markets, harm our results of operations and lead to a decline in the trading price of our shares. Additionally, ineffective internal control over financial reporting could expose us to increased risk of fraud or misuse of corporate assets and subject us to potential delisting from the stock exchange on which we list, regulatory investigations and civil or criminal sanctions. We may also be required to restate our financial statements from prior periods.

We have granted RSUs in the past and will continue to grant share-based awards in the future, which may have an adverse effect on our future profit. Exercise of the share options and the vesting of the RSUs granted will increase the number of our Shares in circulation, which may adversely affect the market price of our Shares.

        We adopted a share incentive plan in April 2018, which was amended and restated in April 2019 (the "Amended and Restated 2018 RSU Scheme"), for the purpose of granting share-based compensation awards to employees, directors and consultants to incentivize their performance and align their interests with ours. Under the Amended and Restated 2018 RSU Scheme, we are authorized to grant RSUs. The maximum aggregate number of ordinary shares we are authorized to issue pursuant to all awards under the Amended and Restated 2018 RSU Scheme is 2,106,321 ordinary shares. In April 2019, we adopted the 2019 Share Incentive Plan (the "2019 Share Incentive Plan"), pursuant to which we may grant options, restricted shares, restricted share units, share appreciation rights, rights to dividends, dividend equivalent rights and other rights or benefits. The maximum aggregate number of shares we may issue under the 2019 Share Incentive Plan will not exceed 10% of the total number of shares issued and outstanding immediately after 30 days of the date of a Qualified IPO. We may adopt share incentive plans in the future that permits granting of share-based compensation to employees and directors.

        As of the date of this prospectus, 2,097,087 RSUs have been granted and outstanding under the Amended and Restated 2018 RSU Scheme and no award has been granted and outstanding under the 2019 Share Incentive Plan. We will not recognize expenses in our combined and consolidated statement of income until the performance target of initial public offering ("IPO") is achieved. As a result, these awards will start vesting once we complete this offering. As of December 31, 2018, our unrecognized share-based compensation expenses amounted to RMB576 million.

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

        Competition for highly skilled personnel is often intense and we may incur significant costs or not successful in attracting, integrating, or retaining qualified personnel to fulfill our current or future needs. We have, from time to time, experienced, and we expect to continue to experience, difficulty in hiring and retaining highly skilled employees with appropriate qualifications. Our ability to attract or

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retain highly skilled employees may be adversely affected by declines in the perceived value of our equity or equity awards. Furthermore, there are no assurances that the number of shares reserved for issuance under our share incentive plans will be sufficient to grant equity awards adequate to recruit new employees and to compensate existing employees.

We may be the subject of allegations, harassing or other detrimental conduct by third parties, which could harm our reputation and cause us to lose market share, users and customers.

        We have been subject to allegations by third parties or purported former employees, negative Internet postings and other adverse public exposure on our business, operations and staff compensation. We may also become the target of harassment or other detrimental conduct by third parties or disgruntled former or current employees. Such conduct may include complaints, anonymous or otherwise, to regulatory agencies, media or other organizations. We may be subject to government or regulatory investigation or other proceedings as a result of such third-party conduct and may be required to spend significant time and incur substantial costs to address such third-party conduct, and there is no assurance that we will be able to conclusively refute each of the allegations within a reasonable period of time, or at all. Additionally, allegations, directly or indirectly against us, may be posted on the Internet, including social media platforms by anyone, whether or not related to us, on an anonymous basis. Any negative publicity on us or our management can be quickly and widely disseminated. Social media platforms and devices immediately publish the content of their subscribers and participants post, often without filters or checks on accuracy of the content posted. Information posted may be inaccurate and adverse to us, and it may harm our reputation, business or prospects. The harm may be immediate without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction. Our reputation may be negatively affected as a result of the public dissemination of negative and potentially false information about our business and operations, which in turn may cause us to lose market share, users or customers.

Non-compliance on the part of our employees or third parties involved in our business could adversely affect our business.

        Our compliance controls, policies and procedures may not protect us from acts committed by our employees, agents, contractors, or collaborators that violate the laws or regulations of the jurisdictions in which we operate, which may adversely affect our business.

        In addition, our business partners or other third parties involved in our business through our business partners (such as contractors, talent agencies or other third parties entered into business relationship with our third-party business partners) may be subject to regulatory penalties or punishments because of their regulatory compliance failures, which may, directly or indirectly, disrupt our business. Although we conduct review of legal formalities and certifications before entering into contractual relationship with other businesses such as third-party game developers, advertisers and talent agencies, and take measures to reduce the risks that we may be exposed to in case of any non-compliance by third parties, we cannot be certain whether such third party has infringed or will infringe any third parties' legal rights or violate any regulatory requirements or rule out the likelihood of incurring any liabilities imposed on us due to any regulatory failures by third parties. We identify irregularities or noncompliance in the business practices of any parties with whom we pursue existing or future cooperation and we cannot assure you that any of these irregularities will be corrected in a prompt and proper manner. In addition, for those third parties actively involved in our business through our business partners such as our sales agents, we also request our business partners to supervise and administrate relevant business activities of such third parties, but we cannot assure you that our business partners will be able to supervise and administrate in an effective way. The legal liabilities and regulatory actions on our business partners or other third parties involved in our business may affect our business activities and reputation and in turn, our results of operations.

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We may not be able to ensure compliance with United States economic sanctions laws.

        The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, administers laws and regulations that generally prohibit U.S. persons and, in some instances, foreign entities owned or controlled by U.S. persons, from conducting activities or transacting business with certain countries, governments, entities or individuals that are targets of U.S. economic sanctions. We will not use any proceeds from the sale of our ADSs to fund any activities or business with any country, government, entity or individual in violation of U.S. economic sanctions.

        In the past, we have identified a small number of users on our platform that appear to have been located in countries that are targets of U.S. economic sanctions. We have taken measures to prevent such persons from accessing our platform, either as streamers or users, in a manner that would violate U.S. economic sanctions. However, we cannot assure you that such measures will be effective. While we believe that we have been, and that we continue to be, in compliance with applicable U.S. economic sanctions, our failure to employ appropriate safeguards with respect to streamers and users located in countries that are targets of U.S. economic sanctions may result in a violation of such laws. Non-compliance with applicable U.S. economic sanctions could subject us to adverse media coverage, investigations, and severe administrative, civil and possibly criminal sanctions, expenses related to remedial measures, and legal expenses, which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation.

Spammers and malicious software and applications may affect user experience, which could reduce our ability to attract users and advertisers and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

        Spammers may use our streaming platform to send spam messages to users, which may affect user experience. As a result, our users may reduce using our products and services or stop using them altogether. In spamming activities, spammers typically create multiple user accounts for the purpose of sending a high volume of repetitive messages. Although we attempt to identify and delete accounts created for spamming purposes, we may not be able to effectively eliminate all spam messages from our platform in a timely fashion. Any spamming activities could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

        In addition, malicious software and applications may interrupt the operations of our websites, our PC clients or mobile apps and pass on such malware to our users which could adversely hinder user experience. Although we have been successfully blocking these attacks in the past, we cannot guarantee that this will always be the case, and in the incident if users experience a malware attack by using our platform, our users may associate the malware with our websites, our PC clients or mobile apps, and our reputation, business, and results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.

We will incur additional costs as a result of being a public company.

        Upon completion of this offering, we will become a public company and expect to incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. These additional costs could negatively affect our financial results. In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including regulations implemented by the NYSE, may increase legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time-consuming. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. We intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management's time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If, notwithstanding our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards, we fail to

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comply, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us and our business may be harmed.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

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

        PRC laws and regulations impose certain restrictions or prohibitions on foreign ownership of companies that engage in Internet and other related businesses, including the provision of Internet content and online game operations. Specifically, foreign ownership is prohibited in industries of online audio and video program services and Internet cultural business (excluding music), foreign ownership of an Internet content provider may not exceed 50%, and the major foreign investor is required to have a record of good performance and operating experience in managing value-added telecommunications business. We are a company registered in the Cayman Islands and Douyu Yule (our wholly-owned subsidiary in China) is considered a foreign-invested enterprise. To comply with PRC laws and regulations, we conduct our business in China mainly through Wuhan Douyu and Wuhan Ouyue (our VIEs) and their respective subsidiaries, based on a series of contractual arrangements by and among Douyu Yule, our VIEs, and their shareholders. As a result of these contractual arrangements, we exert control over our consolidated affiliated entities and consolidate their financial results in our financial statements under U.S. GAAP. Our consolidated affiliated entities hold the licenses, approvals and key assets that are essential for our operations.

        In the opinion of our PRC counsel, Global Law Office, based on its understanding of the relevant PRC laws and regulations, each of the contracts among Douyu Yule, our VIEs and their shareholders is valid, binding and enforceable in accordance with its terms. However, we have been further advised by our PRC counsel that there are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current or future PRC laws and regulations. Thus, the PRC government may ultimately take a view contrary to the opinion of our PRC counsel. In addition, PRC government authorities may deem that foreign ownership is directly or indirectly involved in each of our VIE's shareholding structure. If we are found in violation of any PRC laws or regulations, or if the contractual arrangements among Douyu Yule, our VIEs and their shareholders are determined as illegal or invalid by the PRC court, arbitral tribunal or regulatory authorities, the relevant governmental authorities would have broad discretion in dealing with such violation, including, without limitation:

•

its political structure;



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



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imposing fines on us;



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confiscating any of our income that they deem to be obtained through illegal operations;



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discontinuing or placing restrictions or onerous conditions on our operations;



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placing restrictions on our right to collect revenues;



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shutting down our servers or blocking our app/websites;



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requiring us to restructure the operations in such a way as to compel us to establish a new enterprise, re-apply for the necessary licenses or relocate our businesses, staff and assets;



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imposing additional conditions or requirements with which we may not be able to comply; or



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taking other regulatory or enforcement actions against us that could be harmful to our business.

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        The imposition of any of these penalties may result in a material and adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business operations. In addition, if the imposition of any of these penalties causes us to lose the rights to direct the activities of our consolidated affiliated entities or the right to receive their economic benefits, we would no longer be able to consolidate their financial results.

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

        Due to PRC restrictions or prohibitions on foreign ownership of Internet and other related businesses in China, we operate our business in China through our VIEs and their subsidiaries, in which we have no ownership interest. We rely on a series of contractual arrangements with our VIEs and their shareholders, including the powers of attorney, to control and operate business of our consolidated affiliated entities. These contractual arrangements are intended to provide us with effective control over our consolidated affiliated entities and allow us to obtain economic benefits from them. See "Corporate History and Structure—Contractual Arrangements with Our VIEs and Their Respective Shareholders" for more details about these contractual arrangements. In particular, our ability to control the consolidated affiliated entities depends on the powers of attorney, pursuant to which Douyu Yule (our wholly-owned subsidiary in China) can vote on all matters requiring shareholder approval in our VIEs. We believe these powers of attorney are legally enforceable but may not be as effective as direct equity ownership.

        Although we have been advised by our PRC counsel, Global Law Office, that each of the contracts among Douyu Yule, our VIEs and their shareholders is valid, binding and enforceable under existing PRC laws and regulations, these contractual arrangements may not be as effective in providing control over our VIEs and their subsidiaries as direct ownership. If our VIEs or their shareholders fail to perform their respective obligations under the contractual arrangements, we may incur substantial costs and expend substantial resources to enforce our rights. Although Douyu Yule has an option, subject to the registration process with PRC governmental authorities, to purchase the equity of our VIEs, if the shareholders of VIEs do not cooperate or there are any disputes relating to these contractual arrangements, we will have to enforce our rights under these contracts under PRC laws through arbitration, litigation and other legal proceedings, the outcome of which is uncertain. These contractual arrangements are governed by and interpreted in accordance with PRC law, and disputes arising from these contractual arrangements will be resolved through arbitration in China. However, the legal system in China, particularly as it relates to arbitration proceedings, is not as developed as the legal system in many other jurisdictions, such as the United States. There are very few precedents and little official guidance as to how contractual arrangements in the context of a variable interest entity should be interpreted or enforced under PRC law. There remain significant uncertainties regarding the ultimate outcome of arbitration should legal action become necessary. These uncertainties could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. In addition, arbitration awards are final and can only be enforced in PRC courts through arbitration award recognition proceedings, which could cause additional expenses and delays. In the event we are unable to enforce these contractual arrangements or we experience significant delays or other obstacles in the process of enforcing these contractual arrangements, we may not be able to exert effective control over our VIEs and may lose control over the assets owned by our VIEs. As a result, we may be unable to consolidate the financial results of such entities in our combined and consolidated financial statements, our ability to conduct our business may be negatively affected, and our operations could be severely disrupted, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

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

        Our VIEs hold certain assets that are important to our operations, including the ICP License, the Internet Culture Operation License, the Commercial Performance License, the License for Online Transmission of Audio/Video Programs and Radio and Television Program Production and Operating Permit. Under our contractual arrangements, the shareholders of our VIEs may not voluntarily liquidate our VIEs or approve them to sell, transfer, mortgage or dispose of their assets or legal or beneficial interests exceeding certain threshold in the business in any manner without our prior consent. However, in the event that the shareholders breach this obligation and voluntarily liquidate our VIEs, or our VIEs declare bankruptcy, or all or part of their assets become subject to liens or rights of third-party creditors, we may be unable to continue some or all of our operations, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, if our VIEs or their subsidiaries undergo a voluntary or involuntary liquidation proceeding, their shareholders or unrelated third-party creditors may claim rights to some or all of its assets, hindering our ability to operate our business, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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

        Pursuant to applicable PRC laws and regulations, arrangements and transactions among related parties may be subject to audit or challenge by PRC tax authorities. We may be subject to adverse tax consequences if the PRC tax authorities determine that the contractual arrangements among Douyu Yule, our VIEs and their shareholders are not on an arm's length basis and therefore constitute favorable transfer pricing. As a result, the PRC tax authorities could require that our VIEs adjust their taxable income upward for PRC tax purposes. Such an adjustment could increase our VIEs' tax expenses without reducing the tax expenses of Douyu Yule, subject our VIEs to late payment fees and other penalties for under-payment of taxes, and result in the loss of any preferential tax treatment Douyu Yule may have. As a result, our consolidated results of operations may be adversely affected.

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

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

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

        The shareholders of our VIEs include persons who are also our shareholders or affiliates of our shareholders, and, in some cases, our directors or officers. Conflicts of interest may arise between the roles of them as shareholders, directors or officers of our company and as shareholders of our VIEs. For individuals who are also our directors and officers, we rely on them to abide by the laws of the Cayman Islands, which provide that directors and officers owe a fiduciary duty to our company to act in good faith and in the best interest of our company and not to use their positions for personal gain. The shareholders of our VIEs have executed powers of attorney to appoint Douyu Yule (our WFOE) or a person designated by Douyu Yule to vote on their behalf and exercise voting rights as shareholders of our VIEs. We cannot assure you that when conflicts arise, these shareholders will act in the best interest of our company or that conflicts will be resolved in our favor. If we cannot resolve any conflicts of interest or disputes between us and these shareholders, we would have to rely on legal proceedings, which may be expensive, time-consuming and disruptive to our operations. There is also substantial uncertainty as to the outcome of any such legal proceedings.

        Additionally, we rely on our shareholders and the shareholders of our VIEs to secure, both at the internal and external level, all the necessary approvals, permits, filings or other formalities and proceedings in relation to their respective investment in us and/or our VIEs. We cannot assure you that our shareholders and shareholders of our VIEs have obtained all of such necessary approvals, permits, filings or other formalities and proceedings. The failure to obtain such approvals, permits, filings or other formalities and proceedings may adversely affect our business and results of operation.

We may rely on dividends paid by our PRC subsidiaries to fund cash and financing requirements. Any limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to pay dividends to us could have a material adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business and to pay dividends to holders of the ADSs and our ordinary shares.

        We are a holding company, and we may rely on dividends to be paid by our PRC subsidiaries for our cash and financing requirements, including the funds necessary to pay dividends and other cash distributions to the holders of the ADSs and our ordinary shares and service any debt we may incur. If our PRC subsidiaries incur debt on their own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to us.

        Under PRC laws and regulations, a wholly foreign-owned enterprise in China, such as Douyu Yule, may pay dividends only out of its accumulated profits as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. In addition, a wholly foreign-owned enterprise is required to set aside at least 10% of its after-tax profits each year, after making up previous years' accumulated losses, if any, to fund certain statutory reserve funds, until the aggregate amount of such fund reaches 50% of its registered capital. At the discretion of the board of directors of the wholly foreign-owned enterprise, it may allocate a portion of its after-tax profits based on PRC accounting standards to staff welfare and bonus funds. These reserve funds and staff welfare and bonus funds are not distributable as cash dividends. Any limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiaries 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, pay dividends, or otherwise fund and conduct our business.

Substantial uncertainties exist with respect to whether the foreign investor's controlling PRC onshore variable interest entities via contractual arrangements will be recognized as "foreign investment" and how it may impact the viability of our current corporate structure and operations.

        On March 15, 2019, the National People's Congress of the PRC adopted the PRC Foreign Investment Law, which will come into force on January 1, 2020. The PRC Foreign Investment Law

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defines the "foreign investment" as the investment activities in China conducted directly or indirectly by foreign investors in the following manners: (i) the foreign investor, by itself or together with other investors establishes a foreign invested enterprises in China; (ii) the foreign investor acquires shares, equities, asset tranches, or similar rights and interests of enterprises in China; (iii) the foreign investor, by itself or together with other investors, invests and establishes new projects in China; (iv) the foreign investor invests through other approaches as stipulated by laws, administrative regulations or otherwise regulated by the State Council. The PRC Foreign Investment Law keeps silent on how to define and regulate the "variable interest entities", while adding a catch-all clause that "other approaches as stipulated by laws, administrative regulations or otherwise regulated by the State Council" can fall into the concept of "foreign investment", which leaves uncertainty as to whether the foreign investor's controlling PRC onshore variable interest entities via contractual arrangements will be recognized as "foreign investment". Pursuant to the PRC Foreign Investment Law, PRC governmental authorities will regulate foreign investment by applying the principle of pre-entry national treatment together with a "negative list", which will be promulgated by or promulgated with approval by the State Council. Foreign investors are prohibited from making any investments in the industries which are listed as "prohibited" in such negative list; and, after satisfying certain additional requirements and conditions as set forth in the "negative list", are allowed to make investments in the industries which are listed as "restricted" in such negative list. For any foreign investor that fails to comply with the negative list , the competent authorities are entitled to ban its investment activities, require such investor to take measures to correct its non-compliance and impose other penalties.

        The internet content service, internet audio-visual program services and online culture activities that we conduct through our consolidated variable interest entities are subject to foreign investment restrictions/prohibitions set forth in the Guidance Catalogue of Industries for Foreign Investment (2017 Revision), the Special Management Measures for the Market Entry of Foreign Investment (Negative List) (2018 Version) and the Market Access Negative List (2018 Version) issued by MOFCOM and the National Development and Reform Commission. It is unclear whether any new "negative list" to be issued under the PRC Foreign Investment Law will be different from the foregoing lists that already exist.

        The PRC Foreign Investment Law leaves leeway for future laws, administrative regulations or provisions of the State Council to provide for contractual arrangements as a form of foreign investment. It is therefore uncertain whether our corporate structure will be seen as violating foreign investment rules as we are currently using the contractual arrangements to operate certain businesses in which foreign investors are currently prohibited from or restricted to investing. Furthermore, if future laws, administrative regulations or provisions of the State Council mandate further actions to be taken by companies with respect to existing contractual arrangements, we may face substantial uncertainties as to whether we can complete such actions in a timely manner, or at all. If we fail to take appropriate and timely measures to comply with any of these or similar regulatory compliance requirements, our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

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

        The PRC legal system is based on written statutes where prior court decisions have limited value as precedents. Our PRC subsidiaries and our VIEs, in particular Douyu Yule, a wholly foreign-owned enterprises, is subject to laws and regulations applicable to foreign-invested enterprises as well as various Chinese laws and regulations generally applicable to companies incorporated in China. However, since these laws and regulations are relatively new and the PRC legal system continues to rapidly evolve, the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules are not always uniform and enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules involves uncertainties.

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

Regulation and censorship of information disseminated over the mobile and Internet in China may adversely affect our business and subject us to liability for streaming content or posted on our platform.

        Internet companies in China are subject to a variety of existing and new rules, regulations, policies, and license and permit requirements. In connection with enforcing these rules, regulations, policies and requirements, relevant government authorities may suspend services by, or revoke licenses of, any Internet or mobile content service provider that is deemed to provide illicit content online or on mobile devices, and such activities may be intensified in connection with any ongoing government campaigns to eliminate prohibited content online. For example, in 2016, the Office of the Anti-Pornography and Illegal Publications Working Group, the State Internet Information Office, the MIIT, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Public Security jointly launched a "Clean Up the Internet 2016" campaign. Based on publicly available information, the campaign aims to eliminate pornographic information and content in the Internet information services industry by, among other things, holding liable individuals and corporate entities that facilitate the distribution of pornographic information and content. Publicly traded Chinese Internet companies voluntarily initiated self-investigations to filter and remove content from their websites and cloud servers.

        We endeavor to eliminate illicit content from our platform. We have made substantial investments in resources to monitor content that users post on our platform and the way in which our users engage with each other through our platform. We use a variety of methods to ensure our platform remains a healthy and positive experience for our users. See "Business—Content Monitoring System." Although we employ these methods to filter content posted on our platform, we cannot be sure that our internal content control efforts will be sufficient to remove all content that may be viewed as indecent or otherwise non-compliant with PRC law and regulations. Government standards and interpretations as to what constitutes illicit online content or behavior are subject to interpretation and may change in a manner that could render our current monitoring efforts insufficient. The Chinese government has wide discretion in regulating online activities and, irrespective of our efforts to control the content on our platform, government campaigns and other actions to reduce illicit content and activities could subject us to negative press or regulatory challenges and sanctions, including fines, suspension or revocation of our licenses to operate in China or a suspension or ban on our mobile or online platform, including suspension or closure of one or more parts of or our entire business. Further, our senior management could be held criminally liable if we are deemed to be profiting from illicit content on our platform. Although our business and operations have not been materially and adversely affected by government campaigns or any other regulatory actions in the past, we cannot assure you that our business and operations will be immune from government actions or sanctions in the future. If government actions or sanctions are brought against us, or if there are widespread rumors that government actions or sanctions have been brought against us, our reputation could be harmed, we may lose users and customers, our revenues and results of operation may be materially and adversely affected and the value of our ADSs could be dramatically reduced.

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

        Our revenues are substantially sourced from China. Accordingly, our results of operations, financial condition and prospects are influenced by economic, political and legal developments in China. Economic reforms begun in the late 1970s have resulted in significant economic growth. However, any economic reform policies or measures in China may from time to time be modified or revised. China's economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including with respect to the amount of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources. While the PRC economy has experienced significant growth in the past 40 years, growth has been uneven across different regions and among different economic sectors and the rate of growth has been slowing.

        China's economic conditions are sensitive to global economic conditions. The global financial markets have experienced significant disruptions since 2008 and the United States, Europe and other economies have experienced periods of recession. The global macroeconomic environment is facing new challenges and 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. Recent international trade disputes, including tariff actions announced by the United States, the PRC and certain other countries, and the uncertainties created by such disputes may cause disruptions in the international flow of goods and services and may adversely affect the Chinese economy as well as global markets and economic conditions. There have also been concerns about the economic effect of the military conflicts and political turmoil or social instability in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and other places. Any severe or prolonged slowdown in the global economy may adversely affect the Chinese economy which in turn may adversely affect our business and operating results.

        The PRC government exercises significant control over China's economic growth through strategically allocating resources, controlling the payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies. Although the PRC economy has grown significantly in the past decade, that growth may not continue, as evidenced by the slowing of the growth of the PRC economy since 2012. Any adverse changes in economic conditions in China, in the policies of the PRC government or in the laws and regulations in China could have a material adverse effect on the overall economic growth of China. Such developments could adversely affect our business and operating results, lead to reduction in demand for our services and adversely affect our competitive position.

Currently there is no law or regulation specifically governing virtual asset property rights and therefore it is not clear what liabilities, if any, online game operators may have for virtual assets.

        While participating on our platform, our users acquire, purchase and accumulate some virtual assets, such as gifts or certain status. Such virtual assets can be important to users and have monetary value and, in some cases, are sold for actual money. In practice, virtual assets can be lost for various reasons, often through unauthorized use of the user account of one user by other users and occasionally through data loss caused by delay of network service, network crash or hacking activities. Currently, there is no PRC law or regulation specifically governing virtual asset property rights. As a result, there is uncertainty as to who the legal owner of virtual assets is, whether and how the ownership of virtual assets is protected by law, and whether an operator of live streaming platform such as us would have any liability, whether in contract, tort or otherwise, to users or other interested parties, for loss of such virtual assets. Based on recent PRC court judgments, the courts have typically held online platform operators liable for losses of virtual assets by platform users, and ordered online platform operators to return the lost virtual items to users or pay damages and losses. In case of a loss

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of virtual assets, we may be sued by our users and held liable for damages, which may negatively affect our reputation and business, financial condition and results of operations.

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

        Under the PRC enterprise income tax law that became effective on January 1, 2008, an enterprise established outside the PRC with "de facto management bodies" within the PRC is considered a "resident enterprise" for PRC enterprise income tax purposes and is generally subject to a uniform 25% enterprise income tax rate on its worldwide income. On April 22, 2009, the State Taxation Administration, or the SAT, issued the Circular Regarding the Determination of Chinese-Controlled Overseas Incorporated Enterprises as PRC Tax Resident Enterprise on the Basis of De Facto Management Bodies, or SAT Circular 82, which provides certain specific criteria for determining whether the "de facto management body" of a PRC-controlled enterprise that is incorporated offshore is located in China. Further to SAT Circular 82, on August 3, 2011, the SAT issued the Administrative Measures of Enterprise Income Tax of Chinese-Controlled Offshore Incorporated Resident Enterprises (Trial), or SAT Bulletin 45, which became effective on September 1, 2011, to provide more guidance on the implementation of SAT Circular 82.

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

        Although SAT Circular 82 and SAT Bulletin 45 apply only to offshore incorporated enterprises controlled by PRC enterprises or PRC enterprise group and not those controlled by PRC individuals or foreigners, Global Law Office, our legal counsel as to PRC law, has advised us that the determination criteria set forth therein may reflect SAT's general position on how the term "de facto management body" could be applied in determining the tax resident status of offshore enterprises, regardless of whether they are controlled by PRC enterprises, individuals or foreigners.

        We do not meet all of the conditions set forth in SAT Circular 82. Therefore, we believe that we should not be treated as a "resident enterprise" for PRC tax purposes even if the standards for "de facto management body" prescribed in the SAT Circular 82 applied to us. For example, our minutes and files of the resolutions of our board of directors and the resolutions of our shareholders are maintained outside the PRC.

        However, it is possible that the PRC tax authorities may take a different view. Global Law Office, our legal counsel as to PRC law, has advised us that if the PRC tax authorities determine that our Cayman Islands holding company or any Hong Kong subsidiary is a PRC resident enterprise for PRC enterprise income tax purposes, its world-wide income could be subject to PRC tax at a rate of 25%, which could reduce our net income. In addition, we will also be subject to PRC enterprise income tax reporting obligations. Although dividends paid by one PRC tax resident to another PRC tax resident should qualify as "tax-exempt income" under the enterprise income tax law, we cannot assure you that dividends paid by our PRC subsidiary to us or any of our Hong Kong subsidiaries will not be subject to

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a 10% withholding tax if we or any of our Hong Kong subsidiaries were treated as a PRC resident enterprise, as the PRC foreign exchange control authorities, which enforce the withholding tax on dividends, and the PRC tax authorities have not yet issued guidance with respect to the processing of outbound remittances to entities that are treated as resident enterprises for PRC enterprise income tax purposes.

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

There are uncertainties with respect to indirect transfers of PRC taxable properties outside a public stock exchange.

        We face uncertainties on the reporting and consequences on private equity financing transactions, private share transfers and share exchange involving the transfer of shares in our company by non-resident investors. According to the Notice on Several Issues Concerning Enterprise Income Tax for Indirect Share Transfer by Non-PRC Resident Enterprises, issued by the State Taxation Administration on February 3, 2015, or SAT Circular 7, an "indirect transfer" of assets of a PRC resident enterprise, including a transfer of equity interests in a non-PRC holding company of a PRC resident enterprise, by non-PRC resident enterprises may be re-characterized and treated as a direct transfer of PRC taxable properties, if such transaction lacks reasonable commercial purpose and was undertaken for the purpose of reducing, avoiding or deferring PRC enterprise income tax. As a result, gains derived from such indirect transfer may be subject to PRC enterprise income tax, and tax filing or withholding obligations may be triggered, depending on the nature of the PRC taxable properties being transferred. According to SAT Circular 7, "PRC taxable properties" include assets of a PRC establishment or place of business, real properties in the PRC, and equity investments in PRC resident enterprises, in respect of which gains from their transfer by a direct holder, being a non-PRC resident enterprise, would be subject to PRC enterprise income taxes. When determining if there is a "reasonable commercial purpose" of the transaction arrangement, features to be taken into consideration include: whether the main value of the equity interest of the relevant offshore enterprise derives from PRC taxable properties; whether the assets of the relevant offshore enterprise mainly consists of direct or indirect investment in China or if its income mainly derives from China; whether the offshore enterprise and its subsidiaries directly or indirectly holding PRC taxable properties have a real commercial nature which is evidenced by their actual function and risk exposure; the duration of existence of the business model and organizational structure; the replicability of the transaction by direct transfer of PRC taxable properties; and the tax situation of such indirect transfer outside China and its applicable tax treaties or similar arrangements. In respect of an indirect offshore transfer of assets of a PRC establishment or place of business of a foreign enterprise, the resulting gain is to be included with the annual enterprise filing of the PRC establishment or place of business being transferred, and would consequently be subject to PRC enterprise income tax at a rate of 25%. Where the underlying transfer relates to PRC real properties or to equity investments in a PRC resident enterprise, which is not related to a PRC establishment or place of business of a non-resident enterprise, a PRC enterprise income tax at 10% would apply, subject to available preferential tax

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treatment under applicable tax treaties or similar arrangements, and the party who is obligated to make the transfer payments has the withholding obligation. Where the payer fails to withhold any or sufficient tax, the transferor shall declare and pay such tax to the competent tax authority by itself within the statutory time limit. Late payment of applicable tax will subject the transferor to default interest. Currently, SAT Circular 7 does not apply to the sale of shares by investors through a public stock exchange where such shares were acquired in a transaction on a public stock exchange.

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

Implementation of the new labor laws and regulations in China may adversely affect our business and results of operations.

        Pursuant to the labor contract law that took effect in January 2008, its implementation rules that took effect in September 2008 and its amendment that took effect in July 2013, employers are subject to stricter requirements in terms of signing labor contracts, minimum wages, paying remuneration, determining the term of employees' probation and unilaterally terminating labor contracts. Due to lack of detailed interpretative rules and uniform implementation practices and broad discretion of the local competent authorities, it is uncertain as to how the labor contract law and its implementation rules will affect our current employment policies and practices. Our employment policies and practices may violate the labor contract law or its implementation rules, and we may thus be subject to related penalties, fines or legal fees. Compliance with the labor contract law and its implementation rules may increase our operating expenses, in particular our personnel expenses. In the event that we decide to terminate some of our employees or otherwise change our employment or labor practices, the labor contract law and its implementation rules may also limit our ability to effect those changes in a desirable or cost-effective manner, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations. On October 28, 2010, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress promulgated the PRC Social Insurance Law, or the Social Insurance Law, which became effective on July 1, 2011. According to the Social Insurance Law, employees must participate in pension insurance, work-related injury insurance, medical insurance, unemployment insurance and maternity insurance and the employers must, together with their employees or separately, pay the social insurance premiums for such employees.

        We expect our labor costs to increase due to the implementation of these new laws and regulations. As the interpretation and implementation of these new laws and regulations are still evolving, we cannot assure you that our employment practice will at all times be deemed in full compliance with labor-related laws and regulations in China, which may subject us to labor disputes or government investigations. If we are deemed to have violated relevant labor laws and regulations, we could be required to provide additional compensation to our employees and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

        We have not made full contributions to the social insurance plans and the housing provident fund for employees as required by the relevant PRC laws and regulations. As of the date of this prospectus, we are not aware of any notice from regulatory authorities or any claim or request from these employees in this regard.

        Further, labor disputes, work stoppages or slowdowns at our company or any of our third-party service providers could significantly disrupt our daily operation or our expansion plans and have a material adverse effect on our business.

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China's M&A Rules and certain other PRC regulations establish complex procedures for certain acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors, which could make it more difficult for us to pursue growth through acquisitions in China.

        The Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors, or the M&A Rules, and other recently adopted regulations and rules concerning mergers and acquisitions established additional procedures and requirements that could make merger and acquisition activities by foreign investors more time consuming and complex. For example, the M&A Rules require that MOFCOM be notified in advance of any change-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of a PRC domestic enterprise, if (i) any important industry is concerned, (ii) such transaction involves factors that impact or may impact national economic security, or (iii) such transaction will lead to a change in control of a domestic enterprise which holds a famous trademark or PRC time-honored brand. Moreover, the PRC Anti-Monopoly Law promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress effective 2008 requires that transactions which are deemed concentrations and involve parties with specified turnover thresholds (i.e., during the previous fiscal year, (i) the total global turnover of all operators participating in the transaction exceeds RMB10 billion and at least two of these operators each had a turnover of more than RMB400 million within China, or (ii) the total turnover within China of all the operators participating in the concentration exceeded RMB2 billion, and at least two of these operators each had a turnover of more than RMB400 million within China) must be cleared by the anti-monopoly enforcement authority before they can be completed. In addition, in 2011, the General Office of the State Council promulgated a Notice on Establishing the Security Review System for Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors, also known as Circular 6, which officially established a security review system for mergers and acquisitions of domestic enterprises by foreign investors. Further, MOFCOM promulgated the Regulations on Implementation of Security Review System for the Merger and Acquisition of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors, effective 2011, to implement Circular 6. Under Circular 6, a security review is required for mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors having "national defense and security" concerns and mergers and acquisitions by which foreign investors may acquire the "de facto control" of domestic enterprises with "national security" concerns. Under the foregoing MOFCOM regulations, MOFCOM will focus on the substance and actual impact of the transaction when deciding whether a specific merger or acquisition is subject to security review. If MOFCOM decides that a specific merger or acquisition is subject to a security review, it will submit it to the Inter-Ministerial Panel, an authority established under Circular 6 led by the National Development and Reform Commission, and MOFCOM under the leadership of the State Council, to carry out security review. The regulations prohibit foreign investors from bypassing the security review by structuring transactions through trusts, indirect investments, leases, loans, control through contractual arrangements or offshore transactions. There is no explicit provision or official interpretation stating that the merging or acquisition of a company engaged in the Internet content or mobile games business requires security review, and there is no requirement that acquisitions completed prior to the promulgation of the Security Review Circular are subject to MOFCOM review.

        In the future, we may grow our business by acquiring complementary businesses. Complying with the requirements of the above-mentioned regulations and other relevant rules to complete such transactions could be time consuming, and any required approval processes, including obtaining approval from MOFCOM or its local counterparts may delay or inhibit our ability to complete such transactions. We believe that it is unlikely that our business would be deemed to be in an industry that raises "national defense and security" or "national security" concerns. However, MOFCOM or other government agencies may publish explanations in the future determining that our business is in an industry subject to the security review, in which case our future acquisitions in China, including those by way of entering into contractual control arrangements with target entities, may be closely scrutinized or prohibited.

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PRC regulations relating to offshore investment activities by PRC residents may limit our PRC subsidiary's ability to increase their registered capital or distribute profits to us or otherwise expose us to liability and penalties under PRC law.

        The SAFE promulgated the Circular on Relevant Issues Relating to Domestic Resident's Investment and Financing and Roundtrip Investment through Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 37, in July 2014 that requires PRC residents or entities to register with SAFE or its local branch in connection with their establishment or control of an offshore entity established for the purpose of overseas investment or financing. In addition, such PRC residents or entities must update their SAFE registrations when the offshore special purpose vehicle undergoes material events relating to any change of basic information (including change of such PRC citizens or residents, name and operation term), increases or decreases in investment amount, transfers or exchanges of shares, or mergers or divisions. According to the Notice on Further Simplifying and Improving Policies for the Foreign Exchange Administration of Direct Investment released on February 13, 2015 by the SAFE, local banks will examine and handle foreign exchange registration for overseas direct investment, including the initial foreign exchange registration and amendment registration, under SAFE Circular 37 from June 1, 2015.

        If our shareholders who are PRC residents or entities do not complete their registration with the local SAFE branches, our PRC subsidiary may be prohibited from distributing their profits and proceeds from any reduction in capital, share transfer or liquidation to us, and we may be restricted in our ability to contribute additional capital to our PRC subsidiary. Moreover, failure to comply with the SAFE registration described above could result in liability under PRC laws for evasion of applicable foreign exchange restrictions. However, we may not at all times be fully aware or informed of the identities of all our shareholders or beneficial owners that are required to make such registrations, and we cannot compel our beneficial owners to comply with SAFE registration requirements. As a result, we cannot assure you that all of our shareholders or beneficial owners who are PRC residents or entities have complied with, and will in the future make or obtain any applicable registrations or approvals required by, SAFE regulations. Failure by such shareholders or beneficial owners to comply with SAFE regulations, or failure by us to amend the foreign exchange registrations of our PRC subsidiary, could subject us to fines or legal sanctions, restrict our overseas or cross-border investment activities, limit our subsidiaries' ability to make distributions or pay dividends or affect our ownership structure, which could adversely affect our business and prospects.

PRC regulation of direct investment and loans by offshore holding companies to PRC entities may delay or limit us from using the proceeds of our initial public offering to make additional capital contributions or loans to our PRC subsidiary.

        We are an offshore holding company conducting our operations in China through our PRC subsidiary, variable interest entities and their subsidiaries. We may make loans to our PRC subsidiary, variable interest entities and their subsidiaries, or we may make additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary.

        Any capital contributions or loans that we, as an offshore entity, make to our PRC subsidiary, including from the proceeds of our initial public offering, are subject to PRC regulations. For example, none of our loans to a PRC subsidiary can exceed the difference between its total amount of investment and its registered capital approved under relevant PRC laws, or certain amount calculated based on elements including capital or net assets and the cross-border financing leverage ratio and the loans must be registered with the local branch of SAFE and the competent development and reform commission in case of any external debts of more than one year. Our capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary must be approved by or filed with the MOFCOM or its local counterpart.

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        On March 30, 2015, SAFE issued the Circular on the Reforming of the Management Method of the Settlement of Foreign Currency Capital of Foreign-Invested Enterprises, or SAFE Circular 19, which took effect on June 1, 2015. Under SAFE Circular 19, a foreign-invested enterprise, within the scope of business, may choose to convert its registered capital from foreign currency to RMB on a discretionary basis, and the RMB capital so converted can be used for equity investments within PRC, provided that such usage shall fall into the scope of business of the foreign-invested enterprise, which will be regarded as the reinvestment of foreign-invested enterprise. See "Regulation—Regulation Relating to Foreign Currency Exchange and Dividend Distribution."

        In light of the various requirements imposed by PRC regulations on loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies, we cannot assure you that we will be able to complete the necessary registration or obtain the necessary approval on a timely basis, or at all. If we fail to complete the necessary registration or obtain the necessary approval, our ability to make loans or equity contributions to our PRC subsidiary may be negatively affected, which could adversely affect our PRC subsidiary's liquidity and its ability to fund its working capital and expansion projects and meet its obligations and commitments.

Our PRC subsidiary and PRC variable interest entities are subject to restrictions on paying dividends or making other payments to us, which may restrict our ability to satisfy our liquidity requirements.

        We are a holding company incorporated in the Cayman Islands. We rely on dividends from our PRC subsidiary which in turn relies on consulting and other fees paid by our PRC variable interest entities for our cash and financing requirements, such as the funds necessary to pay dividends and other cash distributions to our shareholders, including holders of our ADSs, and service any debt we may incur. Current PRC regulations permit our PRC subsidiary to pay dividends to us only out of their accumulated after-tax profits upon satisfaction of relevant statutory condition and procedures, if any, determined in accordance with Chinese accounting standards and regulations. In addition, each of our PRC subsidiary is required to set aside at least 10% of its accumulated profits each year, if any, to fund certain reserve funds until the total amount set aside reaches 50% of its registered capital. As of December 31, 2017, we had not made appropriations to statutory reserves as our subsidiary and our variable interest entities (including their subsidiaries) reported accumulated loss. Furthermore, if our PRC subsidiary, variable interest entities and their subsidiaries incur debt on their own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other payments to us, which may restrict our ability to satisfy our liquidity requirements.

        In addition, the EIT Law, and its implementation rules provide that withholding tax rate of 10% will be applicable to dividends payable by Chinese companies to non-PRC-resident enterprises unless otherwise exempted or reduced according to treaties or arrangements between the PRC central government and governments of other countries or regions where the non-PRC-resident enterprises are incorporated. As of December 31, 2017, our subsidiary and our variable interest entities (including their subsidiaries) located in the PRC reported accumulated loss and therefore they could not pay any dividends.

Fluctuations in exchange rates could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and the value of 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. On November 30, 2015, the

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Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the regular five-year review of the basket of currencies that make up the Special Drawing Right, or the SDR, and decided that with effect from October 1, 2016, RMB is determined to be a freely usable currency and will be included in the SDR basket as a fifth currency, along with the U.S. dollar, the Euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound. In the fourth quarter of 2016, the RMB has depreciated significantly in the backdrop of a surging U.S. dollar and persistent capital outflows of China. With the development of the foreign exchange market and progress towards interest rate liberalization and RMB internationalization, the PRC government may in the future announce further changes to the exchange rate system and we cannot assure you that the RMB 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.

        There remains significant international pressure on the Chinese government to adopt a flexible currency policy to allow the RMB to appreciate against the U.S. dollar. Significant revaluation of the RMB may have a material adverse effect on your investment. Substantially all of our revenues and costs are denominated in RMB. Any significant revaluation of 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 RMB for capital expenditures and working capital and other business purposes, appreciation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar would have an adverse effect on the RMB amount we would receive from the conversion. Conversely, a significant depreciation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar may significantly reduce the U.S. dollar equivalent of our earnings, which in turn could adversely affect the price of our ADSs, and if we decide to convert RMB into U.S. dollars for the purpose of making payments for dividends on our ordinary shares or ADSs, strategic acquisitions or investments or other business purposes, appreciation of the U.S. dollar against the RMB would have a negative effect on the U.S. dollar amount available to us.

        Very limited hedging options 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 and we may not be able to adequately hedge our exposure or at all. In addition, our currency exchange losses may be magnified by PRC exchange control regulations that restrict our ability to convert RMB into foreign currency. As a result, fluctuations in exchange rates may have a material adverse effect on your investment.

Governmental control of currency conversion may limit our ability to utilize our revenues effectively and affect the value of your investment.

        The PRC government imposes control on the convertibility of the RMB into foreign currencies and, in certain cases, the remittance of currency out of China. We receive substantially all of our revenues in RMB. Under existing PRC foreign exchange regulations, payments of current account items, including profit distributions, interest payments and trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions, can be made in foreign currencies without prior SAFE approval by complying with certain procedural requirements. Therefore, our PRC subsidiary is able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to us without prior approval from SAFE. However, approval from or registration with appropriate government authorities is required where RMB is to be converted into foreign currency and remitted out of China to pay capital expenses such as the repayment of loans denominated in foreign currencies. The PRC government may also at its discretion restrict access to foreign currencies for current account transactions in the future. If the foreign exchange control system prevents us from obtaining sufficient foreign currencies to satisfy our foreign currency demands, we may not be able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to our shareholders, including holders of our ADSs.

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Failure to comply with PRC regulations regarding the registration requirements for employee stock ownership plans or share option plans may subject the PRC plan participants or us to fines and other legal or administrative sanctions.

        Pursuant to SAFE Circular 37, PRC residents who participate in share incentive plans in overseas non-publicly-listed companies may submit applications to SAFE or its local branches for the foreign exchange registration with respect to offshore special purpose companies. In the meantime, our directors, executive officers and other employees who are PRC citizens or who are non-PRC residents residing in the PRC for a continuous period of not less than one year, subject to limited exceptions, and who have been granted incentive share awards by us, may follow the Circular on Issues Concerning the Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in Stock Incentive Plan of Overseas Publicly-Listed Company, or the SAFE Circular 7, promulgated by the SAFE in 2012. Pursuant to the SAFE Circular 7, PRC citizens and non-PRC citizens who reside in China for a continuous period of not less than one year who participate in any stock incentive plan of an overseas publicly listed company, subject to a few exceptions, are required to register with SAFE through a domestic qualified agent, which could be the PRC subsidiaries of such overseas listed company, and complete certain other procedures. In addition, an overseas entrusted institution must be retained to handle matters in connection with the exercise or sale of stock options and the purchase or sale of shares and interests. We and our executive officers and other employees who are PRC citizens or who reside in the PRC for a continuous period of not less than one year and who have been granted options will be subject to these regulations when our company becomes an overseas listed company upon the completion of this offering. Failure to complete the SAFE registrations may subject them to fines, and legal sanctions and may also limit our ability to contribute additional capital into our PRC subsidiary and limit our PRC subsidiary's ability to distribute dividends to us. We also face regulatory uncertainties that could restrict our ability to adopt additional incentive plans for our directors, executive officers and employees under PRC law. See "Regulation—Regulation Relating to Foreign Currency Exchange and Dividend Distribution—Stock Option Rules."

        The SAT has issued certain circulars concerning equity incentive awards. Under these circulars, our employees working in China who exercise share options or are granted restricted shares or RSUs will be subject to PRC individual income tax. Our PRC subsidiary has obligations to file documents related to employee share options, restricted shares or RSUs with relevant tax authorities and to withhold individual income taxes of those employees. If our employees fail to pay or we fail to withhold their income taxes according to relevant laws and regulations, we may face sanctions imposed by the tax authorities or other PRC governmental authorities. See "Regulation—Regulation of Foreign Currency Exchange and Dividend Distribution—Stock Option Rules."

Our leased property interests may be defective and our right to lease the properties affected by such defects may be challenged, which could adversely affect our business.

        Under PRC laws, all lease agreements are required to be registered with local housing authorities. We lease ten premises in China. Some landlords of these premises have not registered the relevant lease agreements with the government authorities or have not completed registration of their ownership rights to the premises, and some of the premises have defective title. We may be subject to monetary fines due to failure by the landlords to complete the required registrations.

        We may also be forced to relocate our operations if the landlords do not obtain valid title to or complete the required registrations with local housing authorities in a timely manner or at all. We might not be able to locate desirable alternative sites for our operations in a timely and cost-effective manner which may adversely affect our business.

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Our auditor, like other independent registered public accounting firms operating in China, is not permitted to be subject to inspection by Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and as such, investors may be deprived of the benefits of such inspection.

        Our independent registered public accounting firm that issues the audit reports included in our prospectus filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, as auditors of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or the PCAOB, is required by the laws of the United States to undergo regular inspections by the PCAOB to assess its compliance with the laws of the United States and professional standards. Because our auditors are located in the Peoples' Republic of China, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB is currently unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the Chinese authorities, our auditors are not currently inspected by the PCAOB. On May 24, 2013, PCAOB announced that it had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on Enforcement Cooperation with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, or the CSRC, and the Ministry of Finance which establishes a cooperative framework between the parties for the production and exchange of audit documents relevant to investigations in the United States and China. PCAOB continues to be in discussions with the CSRC and the Ministry of Finance to permit joint inspections in the PRC of audit firms that are registered with PCAOB and audit Chinese companies that trade on U.S. exchanges. On December 7, 2018, the SEC and the PCAOB issued a joint statement highlighting continued challenges faced by the U.S. regulators in their oversight of financial statement audits of U.S.-listed companies with significant operations in China. The joint statement reflects a heightened interest in this issue. However, it remains unclear what further actions the SEC and PCAOB will take and its impact on Chinese companies listed in the U.S.

        Inspections of other firms that the PCAOB has conducted outside China have identified deficiencies in those firms' audit procedures and quality control procedures, which may be addressed as part of the inspection process to improve future audit quality. This lack of PCAOB inspections in China prevents the PCAOB from regularly evaluating our auditor's audits and its quality control procedures. As a result, investors may be deprived of the benefits of PCAOB inspections.

        The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of auditors in China makes it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our auditor's audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of China that are subject to PCAOB inspections. Investors may lose confidence in our reported financial information and procedures and the quality of our financial statements.

Additional remedial measures could be imposed on certain PRC-based accounting firms, including our independent registered public accounting firm, in administrative proceedings instituted by the SEC, as a result of which our financial statements may be determined to not be in compliance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, if at all.

        In December 2012, the SEC brought administrative proceedings against the PRC-based affiliates of the Big Four accounting firms, including our independent registered public accounting firm, alleging that they had violated U.S. securities laws by failing to provide audit work papers and other documents related to certain other PRC-based companies under investigation by the SEC. On January 22, 2014, an initial administrative law decision was issued, censuring and suspending these accounting firms from practicing before the SEC for a period of six months. The decision was neither final nor legally effective until reviewed and approved by the SEC, and on February 12, 2014, the PRC-based accounting firms appealed to the SEC against this decision. In February 2015, each of the four PRC-based accounting firms agreed to a censure and to pay a fine to the SEC to settle the dispute and avoid suspension of their ability to practice before the SEC. The settlement requires the firms to follow detailed procedures to seek to provide the SEC with access to such firms' audit documents via the CSRC. If the firms do not follow these procedures or if there is a failure in the process between the

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SEC and the CSRC, the SEC could impose penalties such as suspensions, or it could restart the administrative proceedings.

        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, including possible delisting. Moreover, any negative news about the proceedings against these audit firms may cause investor uncertainty regarding PRC-based, United States-listed companies and the market price of our ADSs may be adversely affected.

        If our independent registered public accounting firm was denied, even temporarily, the ability to practice before the SEC and we were unable to timely find another registered public accounting firm to audit and issue an opinion on our financial statements, our financial statements could be determined not to be in compliance with the requirements of the Exchange Act. Such a determination could ultimately lead to the delisting of our ordinary shares from the NYSE or deregistration from the SEC, or both, which would substantially reduce or effectively terminate the trading of our ADSs in the United States.

Risks Related to This Offering and our American Depositary Shares

There has been no public market for our shares or ADSs prior to this offering, and you may not be able to resell our ADSs at or above the price you paid, or at all.

        We will apply for listing our ADSs on the NYSE. We have no current intention to seek a listing for our ordinary shares on any stock exchange. Prior to the completion of this offering, there has been no public market for our ADSs or our ordinary shares, and we cannot assure you that a liquid public market for our ADSs will develop. If an active public market for our ADSs does not develop following the completion of this offering, the market price and liquidity of our ADSs may be materially and adversely affected. The initial public offering price for our ADSs was determined by negotiation between us and the underwriters based upon several factors, and we can provide no assurance that the trading price of our ADSs after this offering will not decline below the initial public offering price. As a result, investors in our securities may experience a significant decrease in the value of their ADSs.

The market price for our ADSs may be volatile.

        The trading price of our ADSs is likely to be volatile and could fluctuate widely due to factors beyond our control. This may happen because of broad market and industry factors, including the performance and fluctuation of the market prices of other companies with business operations located mainly in China that have listed their securities in the United States. In addition to market and industry factors, the price and trading volume for our ADSs may be highly volatile for factors specific to our own operations, including the following:

•

variations in our revenues, earnings, cash flow and data related to our user base or user engagement;



•

announcements of new investments, acquisitions, strategic partnerships or joint ventures by us or our competitors;



•

announcements of new product and service offerings, solutions and expansions by us or our competitors;



•

changes in financial estimates by securities analysts;



•

detrimental adverse publicity about us, our products and services or our industry;

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•

additions or departures of key personnel;



•

release of lock-up or other transfer restrictions on our outstanding equity securities or sales of additional equity securities; and



•

potential litigation or regulatory investigations.

        Any of these factors may result in large and sudden changes in the volume and price at which our ADSs will trade.

        In the past, shareholders of public companies have often brought securities class action suits against those companies following periods of instability in the market price of their securities. If we were involved in a class action suit, it could divert a significant amount of our management's attention and other resources from our business and operations and require us to incur significant expenses to defend the suit, which could harm our results of operations. Any such class action suit, whether or not successful, could harm our reputation and restrict our ability to raise capital in the future. In addition, if a claim is successfully made against us, we may be required to pay significant damages, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the market price for our ADSs and trading volume could decline.

        The trading market for our ADSs will be influenced by research or reports that industry or securities analysts publish about our business. If one or more analysts who cover us downgrade our ADSs, the market price for our ADSs would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease to cover us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause the market price or trading volume for our ADSs to decline.

Because our initial public offering price is substantially higher than our net tangible book value per share, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution.

        If you purchase ADSs in this offering, you will pay more for your ADSs than the amount paid by our existing shareholders for their ordinary shares on a per ADS basis. As a result, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution of US$        per ADS, representing the difference between the assumed initial public offering price of US$        per ADS, the midpoint of the estimated range of the initial public offering price, and our net tangible book value per ADS as of December 31, 2018, after giving effect to the net proceeds to us from this offering. In addition, you may experience further dilution upon the vesting of the RSUs issued under the Amended and Restated 2018 RSU Scheme. See "Dilution" for a more complete description of how the value of your investment in our ADSs will be diluted upon completion of this offering.

Because we do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future after this offering, you must rely on price appreciation of our ADSs for return on your investment.

        We currently intend to retain most, if not all, of our available funds and any future earnings after this offering to fund the development and growth of our business. As a result, we do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Therefore, you should not rely on an investment in our ADSs as a source for any future dividend income.

        Our board of directors has complete discretion as to whether to distribute dividends, subject to certain requirements of Cayman Islands law. In addition, our shareholders may by ordinary resolution declare a dividend, but no dividend may exceed the amount recommended by our board of directors. Under Cayman Islands law, a Cayman Islands company may pay a dividend out of either profit or share premium account, provided that in no circumstances may a dividend be paid if this would result in the company being unable to pay its debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. Even if

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our board of directors decides to declare and pay dividends, the timing, amount and form of future dividends, if any, will depend on, among other things, our future results of operations and cash flow, our capital requirements and surplus, the amount of distributions, if any, received by us from our subsidiaries, our financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. Accordingly, the return on your investment in our ADSs will likely depend entirely upon any future price appreciation of our ADSs. There is no guarantee that our ADSs will appreciate in value after this offering or even maintain the price at which you purchased the ADSs. You may not realize a return on your investment in our ADSs and you may even lose your entire investment in our ADSs.

Substantial future sales or perceived potential sales of our ADSs in the public market could cause the price of our ADSs to decline.

        Sales of our ADSs in the public market after this offering, or the perception that these sales could occur, could cause the market price of our ADSs to decline. Immediately after the completion of this offering, we will have ordinary shares outstanding including ordinary shares represented by ADSs, assuming the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option. All ADSs sold in this offering will be freely transferable without restriction or additional registration under the Securities Act. The remaining ordinary shares outstanding after this offering will be available for sale, upon the expiration of the 180-day lock-up period beginning from the date of this prospectus, subject to volume and other restrictions as applicable under Rules 144 and 701 under the Securities Act. Any or all of these shares may be released prior to the expiration of the lock-up period at the discretion of the representatives of the underwriters of this offering. To the extent shares are released before the expiration of the lock-up period and sold into the market, the market price of our ADSs could decline.

        After completion of this offering, certain holders of our ordinary shares may cause us to register under the Securities Act the sale of their shares, subject to the 180-day lock-up period in connection with this offering. Registration of these shares under the Securities Act would result in ADSs representing these shares becoming freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act immediately upon the effectiveness of the registration. Sales of these registered shares in the form of ADSs in the public market could cause the price of our ADSs to decline.

The voting rights of holders of ADSs are limited by the terms of the deposit agreement, and you may not be able to exercise your right to direct the voting of the underlying ordinary shares which are represented by your ADSs.

        As a holder of our ADSs, you will only be able to exercise the voting rights with respect to the underlying ordinary shares representing your ADSs in accordance with the provisions of the deposit agreement. Under the deposit agreement, you must vote by giving voting instructions to the depositary. Upon receipt of your voting instructions, the depositary will vote the underlying ordinary shares representing your ADSs in accordance with these instructions. You will not be able to directly exercise your right to vote with respect to the underlying ordinary shares representing your ADSs unless you withdraw the shares and become the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date for the general meeting. Under our Third Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, effective upon the completion of this offering, the minimum notice period required for convening a general meeting is 15 days. When a general meeting is convened, you may not receive sufficient advance notice enable you to withdraw the shares underlying your ADSs and become the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date of the general meeting to allow you to vote with respect to any specific matter. In addition, under our Third Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association that will become effective immediately upon completion of this offering, for the purposes of determining those shareholders who are entitled to attend and vote at any general meeting, our directors may close our register of members or fix in advance a record date for such meeting, and

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such closure of our register of members or the setting of such a record date may prevent you from withdrawing the shares underlying your ADSs and becoming the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date, so that you would not be able to attend the general meeting or to vote directly. Where any matter is to be put to a vote at a general meeting, the depositary will use its best endeavors to notify you of the upcoming vote and to deliver our voting materials to you. We cannot assure you that you will receive the voting materials in time to ensure that you can instruct the depositary to vote your shares. In addition, the depositary and its agents are not responsible for failing to carry out voting instructions or for their manner of carrying out your voting instructions. This means that you may not be able to exercise your right to vote and you may have no legal remedy if the shares underlying your ADSs are not voted as you requested.

Except in limited circumstances, the depositary for our ADSs will give us a discretionary proxy to vote the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs if you do not vote at shareholders' meetings, which could adversely affect your interests.

        Under the deposit agreement for the ADSs, if you do not timely and properly give voting instructions to the depository as to how to vote the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs, the depositary will give us or our nominee a discretionary proxy to vote the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs at shareholders' meetings unless:

•

[we have failed to timely provide the depositary with notice of meeting and related voting materials;



•

we have instructed the depositary that we do not wish a discretionary proxy to be given;



•

we have informed the depositary that there is substantial opposition as to a matter to be voted on at the meeting;



•

a matter to be voted on at the meeting would have a material adverse impact on shareholders; or



•

the voting at the meeting is to be made on a show of hands.]

        The effect of this discretionary proxy is that if you do not timely and properly give voting instructions to the depository as to how to vote the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs at shareholders' meetings, you cannot prevent such ordinary shares underlying your ADSs from being voted, except under the circumstances described above. This may make it more difficult for shareholders to influence the management of our company. Holders of our ordinary shares are not subject to this discretionary proxy.

Your rights to pursue claims against the depositary as a holder of ADSs are limited by the terms of the deposit agreement.

        Under the deposit agreement, any action or proceeding against or involving the depositary, arising out of or based upon the deposit agreement or the transactions contemplated thereby or by virtue of owning the ADSs may only be instituted in a state or federal court in New York, New York, and you, as a holder of our ADSs, will have irrevocably waived any objection which you may have to the laying of venue of any such proceeding, and irrevocably submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of such courts in any such action or proceeding. However, the depositary may, in its sole discretion, require that any dispute or difference arising from the relationship created by the deposit agreement be referred to and finally settled by an arbitration conducted under the terms described in the deposit agreement. The arbitration provisions in the deposit agreement do not preclude you from pursuing claims under federal securities laws in federal courts. Also, we may amend or terminate the deposit agreement without your consent. If you continue to hold your ADSs after an amendment to the deposit agreement, you agree

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to be bound by the deposit agreement as amended. See "Description of American Depositary Shares" for more information.

ADSs holders may not be entitled to a jury trial with respect to claims arising under the deposit agreement, which could result in less favorable outcomes to the plaintiff(s) in any such action.

        The deposit agreement governing the ADSs representing our ordinary shares provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, ADS holders waive the right to a jury trial for any claim they may have against us or the depositary arising out of or relating to our shares, the ADSs or the deposit agreement, including any claim under the U.S. federal securities laws.

        If we or the depositary were to oppose a jury trial based on this waiver, the court would have to determine whether the waiver was enforceable based on the facts and circumstances of the case in accordance with applicable state and federal law. To our knowledge, the enforceability of a contractual pre-dispute jury trial waiver in connection with claims arising under the federal securities laws has not been finally adjudicated by the United States Supreme Court. However, we believe that a contractual pre-dispute jury trial waiver provision is generally enforceable, including under the laws of the State of New York, which govern the deposit agreement, or by a federal or state court in the City of New York, which has non-exclusive jurisdiction over matters arising under the deposit agreement. In determining whether to enforce a contractual pre-dispute jury trial waiver, courts will generally consider whether a party knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily waived the right to a jury trial. We believe that this would be the case with respect to the deposit agreement and the ADSs. It is advisable that you consult legal counsel regarding the jury waiver provision before investing in the ADSs.

        If you or any other holders or beneficial owners of ADSs bring a claim against us or the depositary in connection with matters arising under the deposit agreement or the ADSs, including claims under federal securities laws, you or such other holder or beneficial owner may not be entitled to a jury trial with respect to such claims, which may have the effect of limiting and discouraging lawsuits against us or the depositary. If a lawsuit is brought against us or the depositary under the deposit agreement, it may be heard only by a judge or justice of the applicable trial court, which would be conducted according to different civil procedures and may result in different outcomes than a trial by jury would have, including outcomes that could be less favorable to the plaintiff(s) in any such action.

        Nevertheless, if this jury trial waiver is not permitted by applicable law, an action could proceed under the terms of the deposit agreement with a jury trial. No condition, stipulation or provision of the deposit agreement or the ADSs serves as a waiver by any holder or beneficial owner of ADSs or by us or the depositary of compliance with any substantive provision of the U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

Your right to participate in any future rights offerings may be limited, which may cause dilution to your holdings.

        We may from time to time distribute rights to our shareholders, including rights to acquire our securities. However, we cannot make such rights available to you in the United States unless we register both the rights and the securities to which the rights relate under the Securities Act or an exemption from the registration requirements is available. Under the deposit agreement, the depositary 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 in the future and may experience dilution in your holdings.

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

        The depositary of our ADSs has agreed to pay to you the cash dividends or other distributions it or the custodian receives on ordinary shares or other deposited securities underlying our ADSs, 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 is not responsible if it decides that it is unlawful or impractical to make a distribution available to any holders of ADSs. For example, it would be unlawful to make a distribution to a holder of ADSs if it consists of securities that require registration under the Securities Act but that are not properly registered or distributed under an applicable exemption from registration. The depositary may also determine that it is not feasible to distribute certain property through the mail. Additionally, the value of certain distributions may be less than the cost of mailing them. In these cases, the depositary may determine not to distribute such property. We have no obligation to register under U.S. securities laws any ADSs, ordinary shares, rights or other securities received through such distributions. We also have no obligation to take any other action to permit the distribution of ADSs, ordinary shares, rights or anything else to holders of ADSs. This means that you may not receive distributions we make on our ordinary shares or any value for them if it is illegal or impractical for us to make them available to you. These restrictions may cause a material decline in the value of our ADSs.

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 books at any time or from time to time when it deems expedient in connection with the performance of its duties. The depositary may close its books from time to time for a number of reasons, including in connection with corporate events such as a rights offering, during which time the depositary needs to maintain an exact number of ADS holders on its books for a specified period. The depositary may also close its books in emergencies, and on weekends and public holidays. The depositary may refuse to deliver, transfer or register transfers of our ADSs generally when our share register or the books of the depositary are closed, or at any time if we or the depositary thinks that it is 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 in accordance with the terms of the deposit agreement. As a result, you may be unable to transfer your ADSs when you wish to.

Certain judgments obtained against us by our shareholders may not be enforceable.

        We are an exempted company limited by shares incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. We conduct substantially all of our operations in China and substantially all of our assets are located in China. In addition, a majority of our directors and executive officers reside within China, and most of the assets of these persons are located within China. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for you to effect service of process within the United States upon these individuals, or to bring an action against us or against these individuals in the United States in the event that you believe your rights have been infringed under the U.S. federal securities laws or otherwise. Even if you are successful in bringing an action of this kind, the laws of the Cayman Islands and of the PRC may render you unable to enforce a judgment against our assets or the assets of our directors and officers. For more information regarding the relevant laws of the Cayman Islands and China, see "Enforceability of Civil Liabilities."

Our post-offering memorandum and articles of association contain anti-takeover provisions that could have a material adverse effect on the rights of holders of our ordinary shares and ADSs.

        We will adopt a Third Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association that will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering. Our Third Amended and

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Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, which will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering, will contain certain provisions to limit the ability of others to acquire control of our company or cause us to engage in change-of-control transactions, including a provision that grants authority to our board of directors to establish and issue from time to time one or more series of preferred shares without action by our shareholders and to determine, with respect to any series of preferred shares without action by our shareholders, the terms and rights of that series. These provisions could have the effect of depriving our shareholders and ADSs holders of the opportunity to sell their shares or ADSs 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.

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

        We are an exempted company limited by shares incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. Our corporate affairs are governed by our Third Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Companies Law (2018 Revision) 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 and Wales, 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 has a less developed body of securities laws than the United States. Some U.S. 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 Cayman Islands exempted companies like us have no general rights under Cayman Islands law to inspect corporate records or to obtain copies of lists of shareholders of these companies. Our directors will have discretion under the post-offering memorandum and articles of association we expect to adopt, 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.

        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. For a discussion of significant differences between the provisions of the Companies Law (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders, see "Description of Share Capital—Differences in Corporate Law."

The approval of the China Securities Regulatory Commission may be required in connection with this offering under PRC law.

        The M&A Rules requires an overseas special purpose vehicle formed for listing purposes through acquisitions of PRC domestic companies and controlled by PRC companies or individuals to obtain the approval of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, or the CSRC, prior to the listing and trading of such special purpose vehicle's securities on an overseas stock exchange. The interpretation and application of the regulations remain unclear, and this offering may ultimately require approval from

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the CSRC. In addition, it is reported that the CSRC intended to propose a pre-approval regime that requires all offshore listings by China-based companies with variable interest entity structures, such as ours, that operate in industry sectors subject to foreign investment restrictions to obtain CSRC's approval. If CSRC approval is required, it is uncertain whether it would be possible for us to obtain the approval and any failure to obtain or delay in obtaining CSRC approval for this offering would subject us to sanctions imposed by the CSRC and other PRC regulatory agencies.

        Our PRC counsel, Global Law Office, has advised us based on their understanding of the current PRC law, rules and regulations that the CSRC's approval is not required for the listing and trading of our ADSs on the NYSE in the context of this offering, given that:

•

the CSRC currently has not issued any definitive rule or interpretation concerning whether offerings like ours under this prospectus are subject to this regulation; and



•

no provision in this regulation clearly classifies contractual arrangements as a type of transaction subject to its regulation.

        However, our PRC legal counsel has further advised us that there remains some uncertainty as to how the M&A Rules will be interpreted or implemented in the context of an overseas offering and its opinions summarized above are subject to any new laws, rules and regulations or detailed implementations and interpretations in any form relating to the M&A Rules. We cannot assure you that relevant PRC governmental agencies, including the CSRC, would reach the same conclusion as we do. If it is determined that CSRC approval is required for this offering, we may face sanctions by the CSRC or other PRC regulatory agencies for failure to seek CSRC approval for this offering. These sanctions may include fines and penalties on our operations in the PRC, limitations on our operating privileges in the PRC, delays in or restrictions on the repatriation of the proceeds from this offering into the PRC, restrictions on or prohibition of the payments or remittance of dividends by our China subsidiary, or other actions that could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation and prospects, as well as the trading price of our ADSs. The CSRC or other PRC regulatory agencies may also take actions requiring us, or making it advisable for us, to halt this offering before the settlement and delivery of the ADSs that we are offering. Consequently, if you engage in market trading or other activities in anticipation of and prior to the settlement and delivery of the ADSs we are offering, you would be doing so at the risk that the settlement and delivery may not occur.

You must rely on the judgment of our management as to the use of the net proceeds from this offering, and such use may not produce income or increase our ADS price.

        Our management will have considerable discretion in the application of the net proceeds received by us. You will not have the opportunity, as part of your investment decision, to assess whether proceeds are being used appropriately. The net proceeds may be used for corporate purposes that do not improve our efforts to achieve or maintain profitability or increase our ADS price. The net proceeds from this offering may be placed in investments that do not produce income or that lose value.

We are an emerging growth company and may take advantage of certain reduced reporting requirements.

        We are an "emerging growth company," as defined in the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various requirements applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, most significantly, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 for so long as we are an emerging growth company. As a result, if we elect not to comply with such auditor attestation requirements, our investors may not have access to certain information they may deem important.

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        The JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company does not need to comply with any new or revised financial accounting standards until such date that a private company is otherwise required to comply with such new or revised accounting standards. Pursuant to the JOBS Act, we have elected to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards as required when they are adopted for public companies. As a result, our operating results and financial statements may not be comparable to the operating results and financial statements of other companies who have adopted the new or revised accounting standards.

We are a foreign private issuer within the meaning of the rules under the Exchange Act, and as such we are exempt from certain provisions applicable to U.S. domestic public companies.

        Because we qualify as a foreign private issuer under the Exchange Act, we are exempt from certain provisions of the securities rules and regulations in the United States that are applicable to U.S. domestic issuers, including:

•

the rules under the Exchange Act requiring the filing with the SEC of quarterly reports on Form 10-Q or current reports on Form 8-K;



•

the sections of the Exchange Act regulating the solicitation of proxies, consents, or authorizations in respect of a security registered under the Exchange Act;



•

the sections of the Exchange Act requiring insiders to file public reports of their stock ownership and trading activities and liability for insiders who profit from trades made in a short period of time; and



•

the selective disclosure rules by issuers of material nonpublic information under Regulation FD.

        We will be required to file an annual report on Form 20-F within four months of the end of each fiscal year. In addition, we intend to publish our results on a quarterly basis as press releases, distributed pursuant to the rules and regulations of the NYSE. Press releases relating to financial results and material events will also be furnished to the SEC on Form 6-K. However, the information we are required to file with or furnish to the SEC will be less extensive and less timely compared to that required to be filed with the SEC by U.S. domestic issuers. As a result, you may not be afforded the same protections or information that would be made available to you were you investing in a U.S. domestic issuer.

As an exempted company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, we are permitted to adopt certain home country practices in relation to corporate governance matters that differ significantly from the NYSE corporate governance listing standards; these practices may afford less protection to shareholders than they would enjoy if we complied fully with the NYSE corporate governance listing standards.

        As an exempted company incorporated in the Cayman Islands company that is listed on the NYSE, we are subject to the NYSE corporate governance listing standards. However, NYSE rules permit a foreign private issuer like us to follow the corporate governance practices of its home country. Certain corporate governance practices in the Cayman Islands, which is our home country, may differ significantly from the NYSE corporate governance listing standards. Currently, we plan to rely on home country practice with respect to our corporate governance after we complete this offering. Specifically, we do not plan to have a majority of independent directors serving on our board of directors or to establish a nominating committee and a compensation committee composed entirely of independent directors. For details, please refer to "Management—Board of Directors." As a result, our shareholders may be afforded less protection than they otherwise would enjoy under the NYSE corporate governance listing standards applicable to U.S. domestic issuers.

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There can be no assurance that we will not be a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, for any taxable year, which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors in the ADSs or ordinary shares.

        In general, a non-U.S. corporation is a passive foreign investment company for U.S. federal income tax purposes or PFIC for any taxable year in which (i) 75% or more of its gross income consists of passive income; or (ii) 50% or more of the average quarterly value of its assets consists of assets that produce, or are held for the production of, passive income. For purposes of the above calculations, a non-U.S. corporation that owns, directly or indirectly, at least 25% by value of the shares of another corporation is treated as if it held its proportionate share of the assets of the other corporation and received directly its proportionate share of the income of the other corporation. Passive income generally includes dividends, interest, rents, royalties and certain gains. Cash is a passive asset for these purposes. Goodwill is generally characterized as a nonpassive or passive asset based on the nature of the income produced in the activity to which the goodwill is attributable. Based on the expected composition of our income and assets and the value of our assets, including goodwill, which is based on the expected price of the ADSs in this offering, we do not expect to be a PFIC for our current taxable year. However, it is not entirely clear how the contractual arrangements between our wholly-owned subsidiaries, our VIEs and the shareholders of our VIEs will be treated for purposes of the PFIC rules. In addition, the extent to which our goodwill should be characterized as a nonpassive asset is not entirely clear. The determination of our PFIC status for our current or any future taxable year cannot be made until after the end of each such year. Furthermore, we will hold a substantial amount of cash following this offering and our PFIC status for any taxable year will depend on the composition of our income and assets and the value of our assets from time to time (which may be determined, in part, by reference to the market price of the ADSs, which could be volatile). Accordingly, there can be no assurance that we will not be a PFIC for our current or any future taxable year. If we were a PFIC for any taxable year during which a U.S. taxpayer holds ADSs or ordinary shares, the U.S. taxpayer generally will be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences, including increased tax liability on disposition gains and "excess distributions" and additional reporting requirements. See "Taxation—Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations—Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules."

We will incur increased costs as a result of being a public company, particularly after we cease to qualify as an "emerging growth company."

        Upon completion of this offering, we will become a public company and expect to incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as rules subsequently implemented by the SEC and NYSE, impose various requirements on the corporate governance practices of public companies. We expect these rules and regulations to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make some corporate activities more time-consuming and costly. We expect to incur significant expenses and devote substantial management effort toward ensuring compliance with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the other rules and regulations of the SEC. For example, as a result of becoming a public company, we will need to increase the number of independent directors and adopt policies regarding internal controls and disclosure controls and procedures. We also expect that operating as a public company will make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. In addition, we will incur additional costs associated with our public company reporting requirements. It may also be more difficult for us to find qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or as executive officers. We are currently evaluating and monitoring developments with respect to these rules and regulations, and we cannot predict or estimate with any degree of certainty the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs.

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        In the past, shareholders of a public company often brought securities class action suits against the company following periods of instability in the market price of that company's securities. If we were involved in a class action suit, it could divert a significant amount of our management's attention and other resources from our business and operations, which could harm our results of operations and require us to incur significant expenses to defend the suit. Any such class action suit, whether or not successful, could harm our reputation and restrict our ability to raise capital in the future. In addition, if a claim is successfully made against us, we may be required to pay significant damages, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

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