As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 9, 2021

Registration No. 333-240331

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 2

TO

FORM F-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

The9 Limited

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Not Applicable

(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)

Puglisi & Associates

850 Library Avenue, Suite 204

Newark, Delaware 19711

+1 302-738-6680

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Copies to:

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: From time to time on or after the effective date of this registration statement.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box.  x

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ¨

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ¨

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933.

Emerging growth company  ¨

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ¨

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

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

EXPLANATION NOTE

This post-effective amendment, or the Post-effective Amendment, of The9 Limited to the registration statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-240331), or the Registration Statement, is being filed pursuant to our undertaking in the Registration Statement to update and supplement information contained in the Registration Statement, as originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 4, 2020, as amended by pre-effective amendments filed on August 19, 2020, September 23, 2020 and September 25, 2020, and declared effective on September 29, 2020, as further supplemented on October 20, 2020, November 3, 2020 and November 18, 2020.

The Registration Statement originally covered the offering of an aggregate of 2,350,000 American depositary shares, or the ADSs, each as of the date of this prospectus representing thirty (30) Class A ordinary shares, warrants to purchase 2,702,500 ADSs, the representative’s warrants to purchase 117,500 ADSs and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of such warrants. Each warrant, or the Warrant, will be immediately exercisable for 0.1 ADS at an exercise price of US$3.7 per ADS. The numbers of the ADSs and the exercise price of the Warrants have reflected the adjustments as the result of the change in ADS-to-Class A ordinary shares ratio from each ADS representing three Class A ordinary shares to each ADS representing thirty Class A ordinary shares effected on October 19, 2020, and expire three years after the issuance date. The Registrant granted the underwriter an option exercisable for a period of 45 days to purchase up to an additional 352,500 ADSs, each as of the date of this prospectus representing thirty (30) Class A ordinary shares, and/or up to an additional 3,525,000 Warrants to cover over-allotments. The underwriter exercised its over-allotment option to purchase an additional 3,525,000 Warrants in October 2020. Upon the closing of the offering contemplated by the Registration Statement, the Registrant issued to the representative warrants, or the Representative’s Warrants, to purchase 117,500 ADSs, each as of the date of this prospectus representing thirty (30) Class A ordinary shares. The Representative’s Warrants will be exercisable at an exercise price per ADS equal to 110% of the public offering price, subject to adjustment as the result of the change in ADS-to-Class A ordinary share ratio. The Representative’s Warrants are exercisable commencing six (6) months from the effective date of the Registration Statement and will be exercisable for three years after the effective date of the Registration Statement.

This Post-effective Amendment contains an updated prospectus relating to the offer and sale of the Registrant’s ADSs issuable upon the exercise of the Warrants and the Representative’s Warrants. No additional securities are being registered under this Post-effective Amendment. All filing fees payable in connection with the registration of the securities registered by the Registration Statement were paid by the Registrant at the time of the initial filing of the Registration Statement.

The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell nor does it seek an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

Subject to Completion

Preliminary Prospectus dated                 , 2021

Up to 2,820,000 American Depositary Shares

The9 Limited

Representing Up to 84,600,000 Class A Ordinary Shares

Issuable Upon Exercise of Outstanding Warrants and Representative’s Warrants

This prospectus relates to the issuance of up to 2,820,000 American depositary shares, or ADSs, representing up to 84,600,000 Class A ordinary shares of The9 Limited, issuable upon the exercise of the Warrants and the Representative’s Warrants. The Warrants and the Representative’s Warrants were issued in connection with a registered follow-on offering of 2,350,000 ADSs, each ADS representing thirty Class A ordinary shares, contemplated by the Registration Statement. As of the date of this prospectus, each ADS represents thirty (30) Class A ordinary shares, par value US$0.01 per share.

Each Warrant will be immediately exercisable for 0.1 ADS at an exercise price of US$3.7 per ADS, which have reflected the adjustments to the Warrants as the result of the change in ADS-to-Class A ordinary shares ratio to each ADS representing thirty Class A ordinary shares effected on October 19, 2020 and subject to further adjustment, if any, and expire three years after the issuance date. The Representative’s Warrants will be exercisable at an exercise price of US$4.07 per ADS, which have reflected the adjustments to the Representative’s Warrants as the result of the change in ADS-to-Class A ordinary shares ratio to each ADS representing thirty Class A ordinary shares effected on October 19, 2020 and subject to further adjustment, if any. The Representative’s Warrants are exercisable commencing six (6) months from the effective date of the Registration Statement and will be exercisable for three years after the effective date of the Registration Statement.

ADSs representing our Class A ordinary shares are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, or the Nasdaq, under the symbol “NCTY.” On February 8, 2021, the closing trading price for our ADSs, as reported on the Nasdaq, was US$24.79 per ADS. There is no established public trading market for the Warrants, and we do not expect one to develop. We do not intend to apply to list the Warrants on any security exchange.

Investing in these securities involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 12 for factors you should consider before investing in our securities.

NEITHER THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION NOR ANY STATE SECURITIES COMMISSION HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THESE SECURITIES, OR DETERMINED IF THIS PROSPECTUS IS TRUTHFUL OR COMPLETE. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE COMPANY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.

The date of this prospectus is        , 2021.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

RISK FACTORS

An investment in our securities involves significant risks. You should consider carefully all of the information in this prospectus, including the risks and uncertainties described below, before making an investment in our securities. Any of the following risks could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial may also materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and ability to pay dividends, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business and Our Industry

We may continue to incur losses, negative cash flows from operating activities and net current liabilities in the future. If we are not able to return to profitability or raise sufficient capital to cover our capital needs, we may not continue as a going concern.

We incurred net losses of RMB112.1 million, RMB239.3 million and RMB196.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively, as we continued to incur product development and sales and marketing expenses for our new products and general and administrative expenses while we have not generated significant revenues from our new games or other operations in those periods and since 2009. We recorded net income of RMB412.4 million (US$58.4 million) for the six months ended June 30, 2020, primarily due to gain on disposal of subsidies, which was of one-off nature. Our product development, sales and marketing and general and administrative expenses may increase in the future as we continue to explore various opportunities of new product and services development and business expansion in order to grow our revenues. Our ability to achieve profitability depends on the competitiveness of our products and services as well as our ability to control costs and to provide new products and services to meet the market demands and attract new customers. Due to the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with our business, we may not be able to achieve profitability in the short-term or long-term.

We recorded negative operating cash flows of RMB86.7 million, RMB101.2 million, RMB54.2 million and RMB20.4 million (US$2.9 million) for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively. Furthermore, as of December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019 and June 30, 2020, we recorded net current liabilities of RMB636.3 million, RMB875.4 million, RMB903.6 million and RMB393.6 million (US$55.7 million), respectively. Our net current liabilities positions as of December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019 and June 30, 2020 were primarily due to continuous cash outflow in connection with our product development and sales and marketing activities, partially offset in the six months ended June 30, 2020 by gain on extinguishment of convertible notes and gain on disposal of subsidiaries. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” We cannot assure you that our liquidity position will improve in the future. We may continue to incur losses, negative cash flows from operating activities and net current liabilities, which may materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.

We had an accumulated deficit of approximately RMB2,960.3 million (US$419.0 million) and total current liabilities exceeded total assets by approximately RMB393.6 million (US$55.7 million) as of June 30, 2020. If we are unable to achieve profitability or raise sufficient capital to cover our capital needs, we may not continue as a going concern. There can be no assurance that we can obtain additional financing. Our ability to obtain additional financing is subject to a number of factors, which may be beyond our control. See “—We may not be able to obtain additional financing to support our business and operations, and our equity or debt financings may have an adverse effect on our business operations and share price.”

Our consolidated financial statements for each of the three years ended December 31, 2019 and interim condensed consolidated financial statements for the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2020 included in this prospectus beginning on page F-1 have been prepared based on the assumption that we will continue on a going concern basis. The auditors of our consolidated financial statements for each of the three years ended December 31, 2019 have included in their audit reports an explanatory paragraph relating to substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts or amounts of liabilities that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

We are transitioning our business focus and may continue to experience significant decline in our results of operations.

In March 2019, we entered into a joint venture agreement with F&F, and subsequently attempted to enter into electric vehicle business. However, our transition to electric vehicles business did not develop as we anticipated. In November 2020, we converted our initial deposit of US$5.0 million with F&F into 2,994,011 Class B ordinary shares of FF Intelligent Mobility Global Holdings Ltd. (formally known as Smart King Limited), the holding company of F&F that operates its electric vehicles business, at a pre-agreed conversion price set forth in the joint venture agreement. As a result of such conversion, the joint venture agreement with F&F was deemed to be terminated in accordance with the provisions thereof. As a result of our business focus transition, our revenues decreased significantly from RMB17.5 million in 2018 to RMB0.3 million in 2019. For the six months ended June 30, 2020, we recorded revenues of RMB466 thousand (US$66 thousand). Currently, we are still operating our gaming business and are in the process of identifying business development focus for our company, including but not limited to new gaming development projects and other innovative gaming business segments. In September 2020, we entered into a master cooperation and publishing agreement with Voodoo, a French game developer and publisher, to cooperate on the publishing and operations of casual games in China. On January 25, 2021, we entered into a Purchase Agreement with Investors in the cryptocurrencies industry. As part of our efforts to explore business opportunities in blockchain business, the Investors are expected to devote cryptocurrencies mining industry resources to us for our development of cryptocurrencies mining business. In February 2021, NBTC Limited, our wholly-owned subsidiary, signed a strategic cooperation framework purchase agreement, or the Cooperation Agreement, with Shenzhen MicroBT Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., the manufacturer of WhatsMiner bitcoin mining machines. Pursuant to the Cooperation Agreement, upon the payment of a deposit, NBTC Limited has the right of first offer to purchase 5,000 WhatsMiner bitcoin mining machines from MicroBT within one year, including but not limited to models M32 and M31S. We completed first batch purchase of 440 WhatsMiner M32 machines in February 2020. Other than WhatsMiner bitcoin mining machines, we also plan to continue purchasing different types of cryptocurrency mining machines in the near future. In February 2021, we entered into purchase agreements with five Bitcoin mining machine owners to purchase Bitcoin mining machines by issuance of our Class A ordinary shares. Pursuant to the purchase agreements, we issued an aggregate of 26,838,360 Class A ordinary shares in exchange for 26,007 Bitcoin mining machines, with a total hash rate of approximately 549PH/S, accounting for about 0.36% of the global hash rate of Bitcoin. On February 8, 2021, we further entered into six legally-binding memoranda of understanding with six unrelated Bitcoin mining machine owners to purchase Bitcoin mining machines by issuance of our Class A ordinary shares. We expect to begin cryptocurrency mining activities in the first quarter of 2021. We cannot assure you that we will successfully identify or transition our business focus and it is possible that we remain in such status for a certain period of time. During such period, our revenue may be very limited and we may continue to experience material and adverse effect to our results of operations, financial condition and business prospects. If we are not able to identify any promising business focus and generate sufficient revenue in a timely manner, our operations may not sustain going forward.

New lines of business or new products and services may subject us to additional risks.

From time to time, we may implement new lines of business or offer new products and services within our existing lines of business. For example, in March 2019, we entered into a joint venture agreement with F&F to establish a joint venture and serve China with electric vehicles designed and developed by F&F. However, the electric vehicles business did not develop as we anticipated. Currently, we plan to enter into hyper-casual game sector. We intend to build up a team and a platform for future hyper-casual game operations. We intend to acquire licensed hyper-casual games from global and local game developers, localize such hyper-casual games and implement technical interface such as in-gaming advertising. As part of our efforts, in September 2020, we entered into a master cooperation and publishing agreement with Voodoo, a French game developer and publisher, to cooperate on the publishing and operations of casual games in China. Furthermore, in connection with the Purchase Agreement, we may cooperate with the Investors to develop our cryptocurrencies mining business. However, as a new entrant into the new lines of business, we face significant challenges, uncertainties and risks, including, among others, with respect to our ability to:

Moreover, there can be no assurance that the introduction and development of new lines of business or new products and services would not encounter significant difficulties or delay or would achieve the profitability as we expect. Failure to successfully manage these risks in the development and implementation of new lines of business or new products or services could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and prospects. For example, with respect to our plan to enter into hyper-casual game sector, we may not be able to acquire such hyper-casual games at a reasonable cost, or at all. Due to our limited experience with hyper-casual games, we also face challenges and uncertainties relating to localization and monetization of such games. We cannot assure you that our efforts in entry into new business sectors, such as our collaboration with Voodoo related to hyper-casual games and our collaboration with the Investors related to cryptocurrencies mining, will succeed. If we are able to launch our hyper-casual game or cryptocurrencies mining operations, there can be no assurance that such operations will succeed or revert satisfactory results and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be materially and adversely affected. In addition, as our previous efforts to enter into blockchain business, in February 2018, we subscribed a total of 5,297,157 blockchain-related tokens to be issued by Telegram Inc., or Telegram, for a consideration of US$2.0 million with a third-party company and the tokens were expected to be issued in 2019. In October 2019, Telegram notified participants of the tokens offering that the SEC filed a lawsuit against it in United States. As of December 31, 2019, we provided a valuation allowance on these subscribed tokens. As of the date of this prospectus, it was determined that Telegram would not launch its products and would terminate the project by refunding the investment to its investors. We received US$0.8 million refunds for the tokens and are in the process of negotiation for the remaining tokens subscription consideration.

We may not be able to obtain additional financing to support our business and operations, and our equity or debt financings may have an adverse effect on our business operations and share price.

We may continue to experience a material decrease in our cash and cash equivalents balance. We will require additional cash resources to fund our working capital and expenditure needs, such as product developments expenses, payment of license fees and royalties, sales and marketing activities, investment or acquisition transactions, as well as our capital contribution obligations pursuant to the joint venture agreement with F&F. See “—We and F&F are obligated to provide contribution to the joint venture pursuant to the joint venture agreement. If F&F or we fail to fulfill the contribution requirements, the joint venture may not succeed.”

Furthermore, we expect to continue to incur product development costs to develop our proprietary online games, primarily mobile games, and license fees and royalties to obtain game licenses from third-party developers. In particular, in consideration for the exclusive license granted to us by Voodoo and as a minimum guarantee payment, we should pay Voodoo an aggregate amount of US$13.0 million in cash based on the agreed timetable, including an upfront payment of US$3.0 million that we paid already. Our cooperation with Voodoo is subject to an agreed timetable pursuant to which we need to make several payments upon certain conditions and events. If our internal financial resources are insufficient to satisfy our cash requirements, we may seek additional financing through the issuance of equity securities or through debt financing, such as borrowings from commercial banks or other financial institutions or lenders. However, we cannot assure you that such efforts may succeed. For example, we entered into a share purchase agreement in June 2017 with each of Ark Pacific Special Opportunities Fund I, L.P. or AP Fund, and Incsight Limited, or Incsight, which is wholly owned by Mr. Jun Zhu, our chairman and chief executive officer, to raise an aggregate of US$30.0 million through equity financing. Such transactions did not succeed and were terminated in February 2019. In addition, in July 2019, we entered into a convertible note purchase agreement with Jupiter Excel Limited, or Jupiter Excel, pursuant to which we agreed to sell and Jupiter Excel agreed to purchase 12% convertible notes in an aggregate principal amount of US$30 million, or the 2019 Convertible Notes. The closing of the transaction was subject to certain closing conditions. Due to unfavorable market conditions and failure to satisfy the closing conditions, the proposed 2019 Convertible Notes transaction was not closed and the convertible note purchase agreement was terminated in March 2020.

To meet our anticipated working capital needs, we are considering multiple alternatives, including but not limited to additional equity financing, launch of new games and new operations, and cost controls. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Cash Flows and Working Capital.” There can be no assurance that we will be able to complete any such transaction on acceptable terms or at all. If we are unable to obtain the necessary capital, we may need to seek to be acquired by another entity or cease operations.

Any equity or debt financing may result in dilution to our existing shareholders’ interests or an increase in our debt service obligations. For example, in February 2020, we issued and sold a one-year convertible note in a principal amount of US$500,000 at an initial conversion price of US$10.5 per ADS, each ADS representing thirty Class A ordinary shares to Iliad Research and Trading, L.P., or Iliad. In addition, in October 2020, we completed an underwritten offering of 23,500,000 ADSs and Warrants to purchase 23,500,000 ADSs at a combined offering price of US$0.37 for one ADS and one Warrant to purchase one ADS, each ADS then representing three Class A ordinary shares. On October 29, 2020, we further issued and sold 3,525,000 additional Warrants at a public offering price of US$0.01 per Warrant, each Warrant then representing the right of the holders thereof to purchase 0.1 ADS at an exercise price of US$3.7 per ADS, each ADS representing thirty Class A ordinary shares, pursuant to the exercise by the underwriter of our registered offering of its option to purchase additional Warrants. In February 2020, in accordance with the Purchase Agreement, we issued 8,108,100 Class A ordinary shares in aggregate at US$0.1233 per Class A ordinary share and 207,891,840 warrants in aggregate, each warrant representing the right to purchase one Class A ordinary share, to the Investors. In February 2021, we issued and sold a one-year convertible note in a principal amount of US$5.0 million to Streeterville at an initial conversion price of US$14 per ADS, each ADS representing thirty Class A ordinary shares, subject to adjustment. In February 2021. we entered into a standby equity distribution agreement, or the SEDA, with YA II PN, LTD., a Cayman Islands exempt limited partnership managed by Yorkville Advisor Global, LP pursuant to which we are able to sell up to US$100.0 million of our ADSs solely at our request at any time during the 36 months following the date of the SEDA. For details of the SEDA, see “Corporate History and Structure.” See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Cash Flows and Working Capital” and “Description of Share Capital—History of Securities Issuance.” Any conversion of the convertible notes by Streeterville, sales request pursuant to the SEDA, exercise of the outstanding warrants or any issuance of new shares may cause significant dilution to our existing shareholders’ interest in our company.

Our ability to make scheduled payments of the principal of, to pay interest on or to refinance, our indebtedness depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive and other factors beyond our control. For example, in June 2016, Asian Development Limited, or Asian Development, our wholly-owned subsidiary, borrowed a loan of HK$92.3 million from a financial services company, which was secured by a pledge of shares of L&A International Holding Limited, or L&A. As Asian Development was in default of the loan due to a sharp decline in the share price of L&A, the lender was entitled to foreclose the pledged L&A shares. If the market value of the pledged shares cannot cover the total outstanding amount owed by Asian Development to the lender, the lender may also make a claim against Asian Development for any outstanding amounts of the loan. In September 2020, the High Court of Hong Kong issued the order to wind-up Asian Development in connection with a petition filed by New Star International Development Limited, one of our subsidiaries, and appointed provisional liquidator to close remaining corporate affairs within the statutory timeframe. Asian Development will be de-consolidated from us in the second half of 2020. In addition, in the event that we fail to remain listed on Nasdaq and keep compliance with the relevant Nasdaq listing rules, we may cease to be a public company and our ADSs may be delisted from Nasdaq, upon which we may be obligated to pay cash to Splendid Days to settle the Convertible Notes instead. Our business may not generate cash flow from operations in the future sufficient to service our debt and make necessary capital expenditures. If we are unable to generate such cash flow, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as restructuring debt or obtaining additional equity capital. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, which could result in a default on our debt obligations. Incurrence of additional indebtedness could also result in operating and financing covenants restricting our business operations. In addition, we cannot assure you that any such future financing will be available to us in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all. If we fail to obtain sufficient financing to fund our capital needs, our business, financial condition and results or operations could be materially and adversely affected.

We are subject to risks related to our Convertible Notes settlement.

In December 2018, we failed to repay the senior convertible notes issued and sold by us in December 2015 upon the maturity date and later entered into a deed of settlement and several amendments with Splendid Days, the holder of the Convertible Notes in relation to the repayment schedule for the overdue Convertible Notes. Due to our failure to repay the Convertible Notes in a timely manner as stipulated in the previous deed of settlement and its amendments, in May 2020, Splendid Days obtained an injunction order from the Court of First Instance of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region prohibiting our company and some of our subsidiaries and affiliated PRC entity from disposing our assets worldwide up to the value of US$55.5 million and such injunction order was also registered in the High Court of the Republic of Singapore. In May 2020, Splendid Days also commenced an arbitration proceeding in Hong Kong under the rules of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre against our company, our subsidiaries and affiliated PRC entity.

In order to settle the Convertible Notes and those legal proceedings, we entered into a Settlement Deed with Splendid Days and other parties named therein. Pursuant to the Settlement Deed, the interest rate on the Convertible Notes was retrospectively lowered from 12% to 7% per annum for the period commencing from the original Convertible Notes issuance date until February 21, 2020. Pursuant to the Settlement Deed, we paid approximately RMB282.1 million to RMB-denominated bank accounts designated by Splendid Days immediately after the entry of the Settlement Deed and issued 32,400,000 Class A ordinary shares to Splendid Days on June 12, 2020 initially to settlement the outstanding amount of the Convertible Notes. Those Class A ordinary shares are subject to certain lock-up conditions. Based on the market value of our shares, the number of Class A ordinary shares to be held by Splendid Days may also be subject to quantitative adjustments, which will be determined from time to time. In the event that, among other things, we are suspended from trading on Nasdaq or our ADSs are not freely tradable or transferable other than the customary restrictions imposed by Rule 144 of the Securities Act, we shall immediately repay Splendid Days cash of certain amount and Splendid Days shall surrender certain number of Class A ordinary share it holds then. In accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the Settlement Deed, the interest-free loan of US$5.0 million extended by Ark Pacific Associates Limited, an affiliate of Splendid Days, was waived in December 2020. As of the date of this prospectus, the injunction order against us has been discharged. Upon the satisfaction of the conditions set forth in the Settlement Deed, the arbitration proceeding will be terminated.

Given the terms and conditions of the Settlement Deed, if the market value of our ADSs continues to decrease, we may be obligated to issue additional Class A ordinary shares to Splendid Days in accordance with the Settlement Deed, which may dilute your shareholding in our company and in turn adversely affect the market price of our ADSs. In addition, if we fail to remain listed on Nasdaq and keep compliance with the relevant Nasdaq listing rules, we may cease to be a public company and our ADSs may be delisted from Nasdaq, upon which we may be obligated to pay cash to Splendid Days to settle the Convertible Notes. However, there can be no assurance that we are able to maintain compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements or remain listed as a public company in the future. In the event that we may be obligated to pay additional cash to Splendid Days, there can be no assurance that we have adequate cash to resolve such matter. If we cannot provide such cash to Splendid Days, we may be subject to litigation, arbitration and other claims and proceedings initiated by Splendid Days, which may materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Our gaming business is intensely competitive and “hit” driven. If we do not deliver new “hit” products to the market, or if consumers prefer our competitors’ products or services over those we provide, our operating results will suffer.

The gaming industry is a highly competitive and dynamic market, and, if we still commit to gaming business, our future success depends not only on the popularity of our existing online games but also, in a large part, on our ability to develop and introduce new games that are attractive to our customers. To achieve this, we need to anticipate and effectively adapt to rapidly changing consumer tastes and preferences and technological advances. The development of new games and the procurement of licenses from third-party developers can be very difficult and requires high levels of innovation and significant investments. We currently focus on and have made significant investment in developing our own proprietary games, primarily mobile games. We are also working with Voodoo to cooperate on the publishing and operations of casual games in China. However, we do not have a proven track record of developing, publishing or operating such games or other online games. While new products are regularly introduced, only a small number of “hit” titles account for a significant portion of total revenues in our industry. We may decide to cease to operate or develop any game that is no longer profitable. For example, we ceased to operate Knight Forever and Q Jiang San Guo in 2019 and Pop Fashion in 2020. There is no assurance that any new game, proprietary, licensed or otherwise, to be introduced by us from time to time, including those named in “Business—Products and Services,” could become “hit” products and be widely accepted by the customers and the market. We may continue to incur losses, and experience net cash outflow from operating activities, decrease in cash and cash equivalents balance and net current liabilities if we fail to introduce “hit” games or products which gain substantial market acceptance. In addition, “hit” products offered by our competitors may take a larger share of the market than we anticipate, which could cause revenues generated by our products to fall below expectations. Our competitors may develop more successful products, or offer similar products at lower price points or pursuant to payment models viewed as offering a better value than we do. Any such negative development may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We currently depend on a limited number of games, and we may not be able to successfully implement our growth strategies.

We currently focus on cooperating with Voodoo to publish and operate its casual games in China and we target to obtain licenses to games to further grow our business. We have invested significant time and resources in developing our proprietary online games, including a new mobile game that we were developing based on the intellectual property relating to CrossFire, or the CrossFire New Mobile Game. As of the date of this prospectus, such license has expired and we are in the process of negotiation with Smilegae to re-gain the license for such game development. However, there is no assurance that we can successfully develop the games we invest in, that we may successfully launch the games as expected on a timely basis, or at all, or any newly games to be launched would be widely accepted by game players. In particular, the development and operation of a game usually involves significant investments and dedication of time and resources, but the resulting game product may not yield the financial return that we anticipate. Our business strategies may also involve the development and marketing of new products and services for which there are no established markets in China or in which we lack experience and expertise. If any of our games encounters any adverse development or if we are unable to develop, purchase or license additional games that are attractive to users, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. We cannot assure you that we will be able to launch new games or continue operating existing games on a commercially viable basis or in a timely manner, or at all, or that we will be able to implement our other growth strategies. If any of these occur, our competitiveness may be harmed and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We face the risks of changing consumer preferences and uncertainty about market acceptance of our new products.

The online game industry is constantly evolving in China. Customer demand for and market acceptance of our online games is subject to a high degree of uncertainty. Our future operating results will depend on numerous factors beyond our control. These factors include, among others:

Our ability to plan for product development and distribution and promotional activities will be significantly affected by our ability to anticipate and adapt to relatively rapid changes in consumer tastes and preferences. Currently, we primarily offer and develop mobile games. A decline in the popularity of the types of games we offer or develop could adversely affect our business and prospects.

We may not be able to recover our market share and profitability as we operate in a highly competitive industry with numerous competitors.

There are numerous online game operators in China. Given the relatively low entry barriers, an increasing number of companies have entered the online game industry in China and a wider range of online games have been introduced to the Chinese market, and we expect this trend to continue. Our competitors vary in size and include large companies, many of which have significantly greater financial, marketing and game development resources and name recognition than we have. As a result, we may not be able to devote the same degree of resources as our competitors do to designing, developing, licensing or acquiring new games, undertaking extensive marketing campaigns, adopting aggressive pricing policies, paying high compensation to game developers or compensating independent game developers. Our competitors may introduce new business methods, technologies or gaming platforms from time to time. If these new business methods, technologies or gaming platforms are more attractive to customers than what we offer, our customers may switch to our competitors’ games, and we may lose market share. We cannot assure you that we will be able to compete successfully against new or existing competitors, or against new business methods, technologies or gaming platforms implemented by them. In addition, the increasing competition we experience in the online game industry may also reduce the number of our users or the growth rate of our user base or reduce the game points spending for in-game premiums. All of these competitive factors could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and prevent us from recovering market share and profitability.

If we or our joint ventures fail to renew or acquire new online game licenses on favorable terms or at all, our future results of operations and profitability may be materially impacted.

In addition to developing and offering our own proprietary games, we and our joint ventures also seek to offer games licensed from game licensors. Historically, we have operated a number of games licensed from game licensors, most of which already expired or terminated, and may operate additional games licensed from game licensors in the future. In September 2020, we entered into a master cooperation and publishing agreement with Voodoo, a French game developer and publisher, to cooperate on the publishing and operations of casual games in China. Currently, we are in the process of game development and localization of Voodoo’s games. There is no assurance that we or our joint ventures will be able to acquire new online game licenses or favorable terms or at all, or that we or our joint ventures will be able to renew the game licenses upon their expiration.

We and our joint ventures need to renew existing licenses and may need to obtain new online game licenses, and any failure to do so on favorable terms or at all may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Online game developers may not grant or continue to grant licenses to us or our joint ventures due to commercial or other reasons. For example, our exclusive license from Smilegate Entertainment Inc., or Smilegate, to publish and operate CrossFire 2 in China was terminated in 2017 due to the slowdown of massively multiplayer online game market. In July 2019, we entered in an amendment to the amended and restated license agreement dated October 31, 2017 with Smilegate and other parties thereto to extend the license period for game development till October 31, 2020, which already expired as of the date of this prospectus. We are in the process of negotiating with Smilegate tore-gain the license for such game development. Additionally, in connection with the game license, we may be subject to certain conditions or milestones relating to, among others, payment, game operations and profitability. If we or our joint ventures are unable to maintain a satisfactory relationship with the online game developers that have licensed games to us or our joint ventures, resulting in licenses not being renewed or licenses being prematurely terminated, or should any of these game developers either establish similar or more favorable relationships with our competitors in violation of their contractual arrangements with us or our joint ventures, or otherwise, our operating results and our business would be harmed. We cannot assure you that online game developers will renew their license agreements with us or our joint ventures, or grant us or our joint ventures a license for any new online games that they will develop or make available to us or our joint ventures expansion packs for existing games. Any failure to obtain or renew online game licenses from online game operators could harm our future results of operations or the growth of our business.

If we are unable to successfully re-gain license for CrossFire New Mobile Game, launch or operate CrossFire New Mobile Game or other licensed games in China, our future results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We have invested a significant amount of financial and personnel resources in development of our proprietary CrossFire New Mobile Game. In July 2019, we entered in an amendment to the amended and restated license agreement dated October 31, 2017 with Smilegate and other parties thereto to extend the license period for game development till October 31, 2020. The license period for CrossFire New Mobile Game has expired and we are in the process of negotiating with Smilegate to re-gain the license for such game development. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain such license from Smilegate or launch CrossFire New Mobile Game. In the event that we cannot re-gain such license, our investment into and devotion to the development of CrossFire New Mobile Game may be futile. Even if we are able to re-gain license for such game, there is no assurance that CrossFire New Mobile Game can be successfully developed, tested and launched, or that once CrossFire New Mobile Game is launched, we will be able to continue to operate the game at a profit or at all. The relevant Chinese governmental authorities may delay or deny the granting of the approvals required for the open beta test, commercial launch or operation of CrossFire New Mobile Game due to the content of the game or other factors. Furthermore, there is no assurance that CrossFire New Mobile Game will attract sufficient users and be commercially successful.

Similarly, we may not be able to successfully launch or operate other licensed games in China, such as the ones we are cooperating with Voodoo. There can be no assurance how long it will take us to successfully launch or operate such licensed games. In the event such games are launched, we may not be able to operate them successfully, generate results as we anticipated, gain market popularity or make profit. Our failure to launch and operate other licensed games successfully may impair licensors’ confidence in us, they may render their cooperation with us ineffective and unsatisfactory, which may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial conditions and prospects.

We may not be able to get approval for renewing our current foreign games, or for licensing new foreign games, if the PRC regulatory authorities promote a policy of domestic online or mobile game development and tighten approval criteria for online or mobile game imports.

We licensed and operated foreign games and may still do so in the near future, such as the games we cooperated with Voodoo. In the past, such foreign games mainly included massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) or casual games. With mobile social gaming being one of our new businesses, we also license foreign mobile games. Since 2004, relevant government authorities have promulgated several circulars, according to which the development of domestically developed online games, including mobile games, will be strategically supported by the PRC government. For example, in July 2005, MIIT and the Ministry of Culture issued the Opinion on Development and Management of Online Games, or the Opinion. The Opinion provided that domestic software development companies, network service providers and content providers will be encouraged, guided and supported to develop and promote self-developed and self-owned online games so that such games can take up a leading position in the domestic market and expand into the international market.

The government will also encourage the development of derivative products to domestic online games. In support of this policy, GAPPRFT may tighten approval criteria for online game imports in an effort to protect the development of domestic online game enterprises, as well as to limit the influence of foreign culture on Chinese youth. If GAPPRFT implements such rules and policies, we may not be able to get approval for renewing our current foreign game licenses or for licensing new foreign games, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Failure to obtain or renew approvals or filings for online games and mobile games we operate may adversely affect our operations or subject us to penalties.

The Ministry of Culture has promulgated laws and regulations that require, among other things, (i) the review and prior approval of all new online games licensed from foreign game developers and related license agreements, (ii) the review of patches and updates with substantial changes of games which have already been approved, and (iii) the filing of domestically developed online games. Furthermore, online games, regardless of whether imported or domestic, will be subject to content review and approval by GAPPRFT prior to the commencement of games operations in China. Failure to obtain or renew approvals or complete filings for online games, including mobile games, may materially delay or otherwise affect a game operator’s plan to launch new games, and the operator may be subject to fines, the restriction or suspension of operations of the related games or revocation of licenses in the event that the relevant governmental authority believes that the violation is severe.

We cannot assure you that we are able to obtain and maintain requisite approvals or fulfill other requisite registration or filing procedures required by the relevant PRC governmental authorities in a timely manner, or at all. From time to time, we also rely on certain third-party licensors of domestically developed online games to obtain approvals and complete filings with the PRC regulatory authorities. If we or any such third-party licensors fail to obtain the required approvals or complete the filings, we may not be able to continue the operation of such games. If any such negative event occurs, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Illegal game servers, unauthorized character enhancements and other infringements of our intellectual property rights, as well as theft of in-game goods, could harm our business and reputation and materially and adversely affect our results of operation.

With the increase in the number of online game players in China, we face the risks of illegal game servers, unauthorized character enhancements and other infringements of our intellectual property rights as well as the risk of theft of in-game goods purchased by our customers. Although we have adopted a number of measures to address illegal server usage, misappropriation of our game server installation software and the establishment of illegal game servers could harm our business and reputation and materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

From time to time, we have detected a number of players who have gained an unfair advantage by installing tools that fraudulently facilitate character progression. We have installed software patches designed to prevent unauthorized modifications to our execution files. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to identify and eliminate new illegal game servers, unauthorized character enhancements or other infringements of our intellectual property rights in a timely manner, or at all. The deletion of unauthorized character enhancements requires the affected players to restart with a new character from the starting level, and this may cause some of these players to cease playing the game altogether. If we are unable to eliminate illegal servers, unauthorized character enhancements or suffer other infringement of our intellectual property rights, our players’ perception of the reliability of our games may be negatively impacted, which may reduce the number of players using our games, shorten the lifespan of our games and adversely affect our results of operations.

Our business may be adversely affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 in China.

Since the beginning of 2020, outbreaks of COVID-19 have resulted in the temporary closure of many corporate offices, retail stores, and manufacturing facilities across China. Substantially all of our employees are located in Shanghai. Our employees in Shanghai were unable to go to our offices for an extended period. Normal economic life throughout China was sharply curtailed. The population in most of the major cities was locked down to a greater or lesser extent and opportunities for discretionary consumption were extremely limited. While many of the restrictions on movement within China have been relaxed as of the date of this prospectus, there is great uncertainty as to the future progress of the disease. Relaxation of restrictions on economic and social life may lead to new cases which may lead to the re-imposition of restrictions.

The quarantining requirements and work-from-home situation may materially and adversely disrupt our game development capabilities and cause delay in the launch time for licensed games. If we fail to timely complete the game development due to such disruptions, our business may be materially and adversely affected. The global spread of COVID-19 pandemic in a significant number of countries around the world has resulted in, and may intensify, global economic distress, and the extent to which it may affect our results of operations, financial condition and cash flow will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted.

Our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by the downturn in the global or Chinese economy.

COVID-19 had a severe and negative impact on the Chinese and the global economy in the first quarter of 2020. Whether this will lead to a prolonged downturn in the economy is still unknown. Even before the outbreak of COVID-19, the global macroeconomic environment was facing numerous challenges. The growth rate of the Chinese economy had already been slowing since 2010, and the impact of COVID-19 on the Chinese economy in 2020 is likely to be severe. There is considerable uncertainty over the long-term effects of the expansionary monetary and fiscal policies which had been adopted by the central banks and financial authorities of some of the world’s leading economies, including the United States and China, even before 2020. Unrest, terrorist threats and the potential for war in the Middle East and elsewhere may increase market volatility across the globe. There have also been concerns about the relationship between China and other countries, including the surrounding Asian countries, which may potentially have economic effects. In particular, there is significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the United States and China with respect to trade policies, treaties, government regulations and tariffs. Economic conditions in China are sensitive to global economic conditions, as well as changes in domestic economic and political policies and the expected or perceived overall economic growth rate in China. Any severe or prolonged slowdown in the global or Chinese economy may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our equity investments or establishment of joint ventures and any material disputes with our investment or joint venture partners may have an adverse effect on our financial results, business prospects and our ability to manage our business.

From time to time, subject to the availability of the necessary financial resources, we make equity investments into selected targets, such as online game developers, operators or application platforms, or establish joint venture with business partners, to seek business growth opportunities. For example, in August 2014, we formed a joint venture company, System Link, with Qihoo 360, for publishing and operating Firefall, a massive multiplayer online first person shooting game, or MMOFPS, in China. In the same month, System Link licensed Firefall from our subsidiary Red 5 Singapore Pte. Ltd., or Red 5 Singapore, for a term of five years. In March 2019, we entered into a joint venture agreement with F&F. The immediate objective of this joint venture is to exclusively manufacture and distribute certain electric car model designed and developed by F&F in China. The electric vehicles business did not develop as we anticipated. In addition, in May 2019, we entered into a joint venture agreement with EN+, to establish a joint venture to engage in sales of electric vehicle charging equipment, investment, construction and operation of charging stations, and provision of operational services relating to charging equipment and platforms for electric vehicles. Currently, we do not expect to pursue such joint venture opportunity with EN+.

We may have limited power to direct or otherwise participate in the management of operations and strategies of the companies in which we invest or the joint ventures we establish. The diversion of our management’s attention away from our business and any difficulties encountered in managing our interests in the respective investees or joint ventures could have an adverse effect on our ability to manage our business. Any material disputes with our investment or joint venture partners and existing shareholders may also require us to allocate significant corporate and other resources. For example, Red 5 and its affiliates previously had been in dispute with Qihoo 360 and its affiliates regarding System Link and Firefall. Various legal proceedings have been initiated in connection with such dispute, including a litigation proceeding in Shanghai and an arbitration proceeding in Hong Kong. In May 2019, we entered into a mediation agreement with Qihoo 360 to settle the disputes in principle and then withdrew all the litigation claims against Qihoo 360 in Shanghai. As of the date of this prospectus, we and Qihoo 360 are implementing the mediation agreement to settle the arbitration proceeding in Hong Kong.

Our investments may also be subject to market conditions and therefore are uncertain whether our resources and expenses devoted are able to be converted into revenue. For example, the license to publish and operate CrossFire 2 was terminated in 2017 due to the slowdown of massively multiplayer online game market. In addition, we may not recover our equity investments if the companies in which we invest do not perform well and equity investments could result in the incurrence of operating or impairment losses, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

Undetected programming errors or flaws in our games could harm our reputation or decrease market acceptance of our games, which would materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

Our games may contain errors or flaws, which may only be discovered after their release, particularly as we launch new games or introduce new features to existing games under tight time constraints. If our games contain programming errors or other flaws, our customers may be less inclined to continue playing our games or to recommend our games to other potential customers, and may switch to our competitors’ games. Undetected programming errors and game defects can disrupt our operations, adversely affect the gaming experience of our users, harm our reputation, cause our customers to stop playing our games, divert our resources and delay market acceptance of our games, any of which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

We may not be able to prevent others from infringing upon our intellectual property rights, which may harm our business and expose us to litigation.

We regard our proprietary software, domain names, trade names, trademarks and similar intellectual properties as critical to our business. Intellectual property rights and confidentiality protection in China may not be as effective as in the United States or other countries. Monitoring and preventing the unauthorized use of proprietary technology is difficult and expensive. The steps we have taken may be inadequate to prevent the misappropriation of our proprietary technology. Any misappropriation could have a negative effect on our business and operating results. We may need to resort to court proceedings to enforce our intellectual property rights in the future. Litigation relating to our intellectual property might result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention away from our business. See “—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could adversely affect us.”

Any delay or failure by the online game platforms or distributors to successfully market or sell our products and services could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Upon the launch of our new games, we will primarily rely on game platforms and distributors to distribute, promote, market and sell our games in China. End users can purchase our virtual currencies and prepaid cards through such game platforms and distributors. We may not have long-term agreements with any online game platforms or distributors. A delay or failure by the online game platforms or distributors to successfully market or sell our prepaid cards or products may adversely affect our business and results of operations. We cannot assure you that we will maintain favorable relationships with the online game platforms and distributors, and any failure to do so could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

We rely on services and licenses from third parties to carry out our businesses, and if there is any negative development in these services or licenses, our end users may cease to use our products and services.

We rely on third parties for certain services and licenses for our business, including game platforms and distributors for the distribution of our games, and other services and licenses for our operations. For example, we rely on third-party licenses for some of the software underlying our technology platform, and on China Telecom’s Internet data centers for hosting our servers.

Any interruption or any other negative development in our ability to rely on these services and licenses, such as material deterioration of quality of the third-party services or the loss of intellectual property relating to licenses held by our licensors, could have a material and adverse impact on our business operations. In particular, our game licensors may be subject to intellectual property rights claims with respect to the games or software licensed to us. If such licensors cannot prevail on the legal proceedings brought against them, we could lose the right to use the licensed games or software. Furthermore, if our arrangements with any of these third parties are terminated or modified against our interest, we may not be able to find alternative solutions on a timely basis or on terms favorable to us. If any of these events occur, our end users may cease using our products and services, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Unexpected network interruptions caused by system failures or other internal or external factors may lead to user attrition, revenue reductions and may harm our reputation.

Any failure to maintain satisfactory performances, reliability, security and availability of our network infrastructure may cause significant harm to our reputation and our ability to attract and maintain users. The system hardware for our operations is located in several cities in China. We maintain our backup system hardware and operate our back-end infrastructure in Shanghai. Server interruptions, breakdowns or system failures in the cities where we maintain our servers and system hardware, including failures that may be attributable to sustained power shutdowns, or other events within or outside our control that could result in a sustained shutdown of all or a material portion of our services, could adversely impact our ability to service our users.

Our network systems are also vulnerable to damage from computer viruses, fire, flood, earthquake, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer hacking and similar events. We maintain property insurance policies covering our servers, but do not have business interruption insurance.

Our business may be harmed if our technology becomes obsolete or if our system infrastructure fails to operate effectively.

The online game industry is subject to rapid technological change. We need to anticipate the emergence of new technologies and games, assess their acceptance and make appropriate investments. If we are unable to do so, new technologies in online game programming or operations could render our games obsolete or unattractive. In addition, our business may be harmed if we are unable to upgrade our systems fast enough to accommodate fluctuations in future traffic levels, avoid obsolescence or successfully integrate any newly developed or acquired technology with our existing systems. Capacity constraints could cause unanticipated system disruptions and slower response times, affecting data transmission and game play. These factors could, among other things, cause us to lose existing or potential customers and existing or potential game development partners.

We have been and may be subject to future intellectual property rights claims or other claims, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our financial and management resources away from our business.

There is no assurance that our online games, including our mobile games, or other content posted on our websites, whether proprietary or licensed from third parties, do not or will not infringe upon patents, valid copyrights or other intellectual property rights held by third parties. We may be subject to legal proceedings and claims from time to time relating to the intellectual property of others.

Some of our employees were previously employed at other companies, including our current and potential competitors. To the extent these employees have been involved in research at our company similar to research in which they had been involved at their former employers, we may become subject to claims that such employees have used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former employers. In addition, our competitors may file lawsuits against us in order to gain an unfair competitive advantage over us.

If any such claim arises in the future, litigation or other dispute resolution proceedings may be necessary to retain our ability to offer our current and future games, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our financial and management resources. Furthermore, if we are found to have violated the intellectual property rights of others, we may be enjoined from using such intellectual property, incur additional costs to license or develop alternative games and be forced to pay fines and damages, each of which may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our operating results may fluctuate due to various factors, and therefore may not be indicative of our future results.

Our operating results have experienced fluctuations from time to time and will likely continue to fluctuate in the future. These fluctuations in operating results depend on a variety of factors, including the timing of new game launches, the expiration or termination of existing game licenses, and acquisition or disposal of subsidiaries. Other factors include the demand for our products and the products of our competitors, the level of usage of illegal game servers, the level of usage of the Internet, the size and rate of growth of the online game market and development and promotional expenses related to the introduction of new products. In addition, because our game software is susceptible to unauthorized character enhancements, we may periodically delete characters that are enhanced with unauthorized modifications. This has caused some affected customers to stop playing the respective game, which, in the aggregate, may cause our operating results to fluctuate.

To a significant degree, our operating expenses are based on planned expenditures and our expectations regarding prospective customer usage. Failure to meet our expectations could disproportionately and adversely affect our operating results in any given period. As a result, our historical operating results may not necessarily be indicative of our future results.

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

Our business and prospect depend heavily upon the continued services of our senior executives. We rely on their expertise in business operations, technology support and sales and marketing and on their relationships with our shareholders and distributors. We do not maintain key-man life insurance for any of our key executives. If one or more of our key executives are unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, we may not be able to replace them easily or at all. As a result, our business may be severely disrupted, our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected, and we may incur additional expense to recruit and train personnel.

Each of our executive officers has entered into an employment agreement with us, which contains confidentiality and non-competition provisions. If any disputes arise between our executive officers and us, we cannot assure you the extent to which any of these agreements could be enforced in China, where these executive officers reside and hold most of their assets, in light of uncertainties with the PRC legal system. See “—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could adversely affect us.”

If we are unable to attract, train and retain key individuals and highly skilled employees, our business may be adversely affected.

Our business relies on our ability to hire and retain additional qualified employees, including skilled and experienced online game developers. Since our industry is characterized by high demand and intense competition for talent, we may need to offer higher compensation and other benefits in order to retain key personnel in the future. We cannot assure you that we will be able to attract or retain the qualified game developers or other key personnel that we will need to achieve our business objectives.

We have limited business insurance coverage in China.

The insurance industry in China is still at an early stage of development. Insurance companies in China offer limited business insurance products. As a result, we do not have any business liability or disruption insurance coverage for our operations in China. Any business disruption, litigation or natural disaster might result in our incurring substantial costs and the diversion of our resources.

Some of our subsidiaries, affiliated entity and joint ventures in China engaged in certain business activities beyond the authorized scope of their respective licenses, and if they are subject to administrative penalties or fines, our operating results may be adversely affected.

Some of our subsidiaries, affiliated entity and joint ventures in China engaged in business activities that were not within the authorized scope of their respective licenses in the past. The relevant PRC authorities may impose administrative fines or other penalties for the non-compliance with the authorized scope of the business licenses, which may in turn adversely affect our operating results.

We could be liable for breaches of security of third-party online payment channels, which may have a material adverse effect on our reputation and business.

Currently, a portion of our online game operation revenues are generated from sales through third-party online payment platforms. In such transactions, secured transmission of confidential information, such as customers’ credit card numbers and expiration dates, personal information and billing addresses, over public networks, in some cases including our website, is essential to maintain consumer confidence. While we have not experienced any material breach of our security measures to date, we cannot assure you that our current security measures are adequate. We do not have control over the security measures of our third-party online payment vendors and we cannot assure you that these vendors’ security measures are adequate or will be adequate with the expected increased usage of online payment systems. Security breaches of the online payment systems that we use could expose us to litigation and possible liability for failing to secure confidential customer information and could harm our reputation, ability to attract customers and ability to encourage customers to purchase in-game items.

Failure to achieve and maintain effective internal controls could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and the trading price of our ADSs.

We are subject to reporting obligations under the U.S. securities laws. The Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, has adopted rules requiring public companies to include a report of management in its annual report that contains management’s assessment of the effectiveness of such company’s internal controls over financial reporting.

Our management has concluded that our internal controls over financial reporting were effective as of December 31, 2019. We, however, were not subject to the requirement to provide an attestation report on our management’s assessment of our internal control over financial reporting as we were not an accelerated filer or a large accelerated filer (as defined in § 240.12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act) as of December 31, 2019.

If we fail to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting in the future, our management and, if applicable, our independent registered public accounting firm may not be able to conclude that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting at a reasonable assurance level. This could result in a loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial reporting which in turn could negatively impact the trading price of our ADSs and result in lawsuits being filed against us by our shareholders or otherwise harm our reputation. Furthermore, we have incurred and anticipate that we will continue to incur considerable costs and use significant management time and other resources in an effort to comply with Section 404 and other requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Changes in accounting standards may adversely affect our financial statements.

A change in accounting standards or practices may have a significant effect on our results of operations and may affect our reporting of transactions completed before the change is effective. New accounting pronouncements and varying interpretations of accounting pronouncements have occurred and may occur in the future. Changes to existing rules or the application thereof and changes to current practices may adversely affect our reported financial results or the way we conduct our business. For example, Accounting Standards Codification 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” or ASC 606, became effective on January 1, 2018. We adopted ASC 606 on January 1, 2018. Effective from January 1, 2019, we adopted ASC 842, a new accounting standard on the recognition of right-of-use assets and lease liabilities issued by FASB, and have applied this accounting standard on a modified retrospective basis and have elected not to restate comparative periods. As a result, we recorded operating lease right-of-assets of RMB9.3 million (US$1.3 million), current portion of operating lease liabilities of RMB3.4 million (US$0.5 million) and non-current portion of operating lease liabilities of RMB6.3 million (US$0.9 million) as of December 31, 2019. There may be other standards that become effective in the future that may have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements and will result in a significant gross up of both our assets and liabilities.

We face risks related to natural disasters and health epidemics.

In addition to the impact of COVID-19, our business could be materially and adversely affected by natural disasters, other health epidemics or other public safety concerns affecting the PRC, and particularly Shanghai. Natural disasters may give rise to server interruptions, breakdowns, system failures, technology platform failures or internet failures, which could cause the loss or corruption of data or malfunctions of software or hardware as well as adversely affect our ability to operate our platforms and provide services and solutions. Our business could also be adversely affected if our employees are affected by health epidemics. In addition, our results of operations could be adversely affected to the extent that any health epidemic harms the Chinese economy in general. Our headquarters are located in Shanghai, where most of our management and the majority of our employees currently reside. Most of our system hardware and back-up systems are hosted in facilities located in Shanghai. Consequently, if any natural disasters, health epidemics or other public safety concerns were to affect Shanghai, our operation may experience material disruptions, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

Our current corporate structure and business operations may be affected by the Foreign Investment Law.

On March 15, 2019, the National People’s Congress promulgated the Foreign Investment Law, or the FIL, which took effect on January 1, 2020 and replace the existing laws regulating foreign investment in China, namely, the Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Venture Law, the Sino-Foreign Cooperative Joint Venture Law and the Wholly Foreign-owned Enterprise Law, or Existing FIE Laws, together with their implementation rules and ancillary regulations. The FIL embodies an expected PRC regulatory trend to rationalize its foreign investment regulatory regime in line with prevailing international practice and the legislative efforts to unify the corporate legal requirements for both foreign and domestic investments. See “Regulations—Regulations on Foreign Investment.”

Uncertainties still exist in relation to interpretation and implementation of the FIL, especially in regard to, including, among other things, the nature of variable interest entities contractual arrangements and specific rules regulating the organization form of foreign-invested enterprises within the five-year transition period. While FIL does not define contractual arrangements as a form of foreign investment explicitly, we cannot assure you that future laws and regulations will not provide for contractual arrangements as a form of foreign investment. Therefore, there can be no assurance that our control over our affiliated PRC entity through contractual arrangements will not be deemed as foreign investment in the future. The Special Administrative Measures on Access of Foreign Investment (Negative List) (Edition 2020), or the 2020 Negative List, was jointly issued by the Ministry of Commerce, or the MOC, and the National Development and Reform Commission, or the NDRC, on June 23, 2020, which took effect on July 23, 2020, repealing and replacing the Special Administrative Measures on Access of Foreign Investment (Negative List) (Edition 2019). The 2020 Negative List stipulates the special administrative measures on access of foreign investment. Industries not listed in the 2020 Negative List are generally deemed as falling into categories of “encouraged” or “permitted” unless specifically restricted by other PRC laws. Our current business operations in China falls in the “prohibited” industry for foreign investment. However, even though FIL does not define contractual arrangements as a form of foreign investment explicitly, there can be no assurance that our contractual arrangements will be valid and legal at all times. In the event that any possible implementing regulations of the FIL, any other future laws, administrative regulations or provisions deem contractual arrangements as a way of foreign investment, our contractual arrangements may be deemed as invalid and illegal, we may be required to unwind the variable interest entity contractual arrangements and/or dispose of any affected business. Also, if future laws, administrative regulations or provisions mandate further actions to be taken 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. Furthermore, under the FIL, foreign investors or the foreign investment enterprise should be imposed legal liabilities for failing to report investment information in accordance with the requirements. In addition, the FIL provides that foreign invested enterprises established according to the existing laws regulating foreign investment may maintain their structure and corporate governance within a five-year transition period, which means that we may be required to adjust the structure and corporate governance of certain of our PRC subsidiaries in such transition period. Failure to take timely and appropriate measures to cope with any of these or similar regulatory compliance challenges could materially and adversely affect our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business operations.

PRC laws and regulations restrict foreign ownership of Internet content provision, Internet culture operation and Internet publishing licenses, and substantial uncertainties exist with respect to the application and implementation of PRC laws and regulations.

We are a Cayman Islands exempted company and, as such, we are classified as a foreign enterprise under PRC laws. Various regulations in China currently restrict foreign or foreign-owned entities from holding certain licenses required in China to provide online game operation services over the Internet, including ICP, Internet culture operation and Internet publishing licenses. In light of such restrictions, we primarily rely on Shanghai IT, our affiliated PRC entity, to hold and maintain the licenses necessary for the operation of our online games in China.

In July 2006, the MIIT issued a notice entitled “Notice on Strengthening Management of Foreign Investment in Operating Value-Added Telecommunication Services,” or the MII Notice, which prohibits ICP license holders from leasing, transferring or selling a telecommunications business operating license to foreign investors in any form, or providing resources, sites or facilities to any foreign investors for their illegal operation of a telecommunications business in China. The notice also requires that ICP license holders and their shareholders directly own the domain names and trademarks used by such ICP license holders in their daily operations. The notice further requires each ICP license holder to have the necessary facilities for its approved business operations and to maintain such facilities in the regions covered by its license. In addition, all value-added telecommunication service providers are required to maintain network and information security in accordance with the standards set forth under relevant PRC regulations. The local authorities in charge of telecommunications services are required to ensure that existing ICP license holders conduct a self-assessment of their compliance with the MII Notice and submit status reports to MIIT before November 1, 2006. Since the MII Notice was issued, we have transferred to Shanghai IT all of the domain names used in our daily operations and certain trademarks used in our daily operations, as required under the MII Notice. All relevant transfers have been completed and relevant approvals have been obtained.

In September 2009, the General Administration of Press and Publication, Radio, Film and Television, or GAPPRFT (formerly known as the General Administration of Press and Publication, or GAPP), promulgated the Circular Regarding the Implementation of the Department Reorganization Regulation by State Council and Relevant Interpretation by State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform to Further Strengthen the Administration of Pre-approval on Online Games and Approval on Import Online Games, or the GAPP Circular, which provides that foreign investors shall not control or participate in PRC online game operation businesses indirectly or in a disguised manner by establishing joint venture companies or entering into relevant agreements with, or by providing technical supports to, such PRC online game operation companies, or by inputting the users’ registration, account management or game card consumption directly into the interconnected gaming platform or fighting platform controlled or owned by the foreign investor. In addition, on February 4, 2016, the GAPPRFT and the MIIT jointly issued the Administrative Measures on Network Publication, or the Network Publication Measures, which took effect in March 2016. Pursuant to the Network Publication Measures, wholly foreign-owned enterprises, Sino-foreign equity joint ventures and Sino-foreign cooperative enterprises shall not engage in the provision of web publishing services, including online game services. Project cooperation involving internet publishing services between an internet publishing service provider and a wholly foreign-owned enterprise, Sino-foreign equity joint venture, or Sino-foreign cooperative enterprise within China or an overseas organization or individual shall be subject to prior examination and approval by the GAPPRFT. It is unclear whether the authorities will deem our VIE structure as a kind of such “manners of cooperation” by foreign investors to gain control over or participate in domestic online game operators, and it is not clear whether GAPPRFT and MIIT have regulatory authority over the ownership structures of online game companies based in China and online game operation in China.

Subject to the interpretation and implementation of the GAPP Circular and the Network Publication Measures, the ownership structure and the business operation models of our PRC subsidiaries and affiliated PRC entity comply with all applicable PRC laws, rules and regulations, and no consent, approval or license is required under any of the existing laws and regulations of China for their ownership structure and business operation models except for those which we have already obtained or which would not have a material adverse effect on our business or operations as a whole. There are, however, substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current or future PRC laws and regulations. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that PRC government authorities will ultimately take a view that is consistent with the opinion of our PRC legal counsel.

For example, the Ministry of Commerce, or MOFCOM, promulgated the Rules of Ministry of Commerce on Implementation of Security Review System of Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors in August 2011, or the MOFCOM Security Review Rules, to implement the Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Establishing the Security Review System for Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors promulgated on February 3, 2011, or Circular No. 6. According to these circulars and rules, 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 having “national security” concerns. In addition, when deciding whether a specific merger or acquisition of a domestic enterprise by foreign investors is subject to the security review, MOFCOM will look into the substance and actual impact of the transaction. The MOFCOM Security Review Rules further prohibit foreign investors from bypassing the security review requirement by structuring transactions through proxies, trusts, indirect investments, leases, loans, control through contractual arrangements or offshore transactions. There is no explicit provision or official interpretation stating that our online game operation services falls into the scope subject to the security review, and there is no requirement for foreign investors in those merger and acquisition transactions already completed prior to the promulgation of Circular No. 6 to submit such transactions to MOFCOM for security review. As we have already obtained the “de facto control” over our affiliated PRC entity prior to the effectiveness of these circulars and rules, we do not believe we are required to submit our existing contractual arrangement to MOFCOM for security review. However, we are advised by our PRC legal counsel that, as there is a lack of clear statutory interpretation on the implementation of these circulars and rules, there is no assurance that MOFCOM will have the same view as we do when applying these national security review-related circulars and rules.

We have been further advised by our PRC counsel, Grandall Law Firm, that if we, any of our PRC subsidiaries or affiliated PRC entity are found to be in violation of any existing or future PRC laws or regulations, including the MII Notice, the GAPP Circular and the Network Publication Measures, or fail to obtain or maintain any of the required permits or approvals, the relevant PRC regulatory authorities, would have broad discretion in dealing with such violations, including:

The imposition of any of these penalties could result in a material and adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business and on our results of operations. If any of these penalties results in our inability to direct the activities of Shanghai IT that most significantly impact its economic performance, and/or our failure to receive the economic benefits from Shanghai IT, we may not be able to consolidate Shanghai IT in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

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

Because the PRC government restricts our ownership of ICP, Internet culture operation and Internet publishing businesses in China, we primarily depend on Shanghai IT, in which we have no ownership interest, to operate our online game business and other ICP related businesses, and hold and maintain the requisite licenses. We have relied and expect to continue to rely on contractual arrangements to obtain effective control over Shanghai IT. Such contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over Shanghai IT. From the legal perspective, if Shanghai IT fails to perform its obligations under the contractual arrangements, we may have to incur substantial costs and spend other resources to enforce such arrangements, and rely on legal remedies under PRC law, including seeking specific performance or injunctive relief and claiming damages. For example, if the shareholders of Shanghai IT were to refuse to transfer their equity interests in Shanghai IT to us or our designee when we exercise the call option pursuant to the Call Option Agreement, or if such shareholders otherwise act in bad faith toward us, we may have to take legal action to compel it to fulfill their contractual obligations, which could be time consuming and costly.

These contractual arrangements are governed by PRC law and provide for the resolution of disputes through arbitration in the PRC. The legal environment in the PRC is not as developed as in some other jurisdictions, such as the United States. As a result, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. We have historically derived significant revenues from Shanghai IT. For the year ended December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019, Shanghai IT contributed 25.8%, 92.2% and 53.5%, respectively, of our total revenues. In the event we are unable to enforce the contractual arrangements, we may not be able to have the power to direct the activities that most significantly affect the economic performance of Shanghai IT, and our ability to conduct our business may be negatively affected, and we may not be able to consolidate the financial results of Shanghai IT into our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

We believe that our option to purchase all or part of the equity interests in Shanghai IT, when and to the extent permitted by PRC law, or request any existing shareholder of Shanghai IT to transfer all or part of the equity interest in Shanghai IT to another PRC person or entity designated by us at any time in our discretion, and the rights under the Shareholder Voting Proxy Agreement that the shareholders of Shanghai IT have granted to us, effectively enable us to have the ability to cause the related contractual arrangements to be renewed when needed. However, if we are not able to effectively enforce these agreements or otherwise renew the relevant agreements when they expire, our ability to receive the economic benefits of Shanghai IT may be adversely affected.

Our ability to enforce the Equity Pledge Agreements between us and the shareholders of Shanghai IT may be subject to limitations based on PRC laws and regulations.

Pursuant to the Equity Pledge Agreements with the shareholders of Shanghai IT, such shareholders agreed to pledge their equity interests in Shanghai IT to secure their performance under the relevant contractual arrangements. The equity pledges of Shanghai IT under these Equity Pledge Agreements have been registered with the relevant local administration for market regulation pursuant to the PRC Property Rights Law. According to the PRC Property Rights Law and PRC Guarantee Law, the pledgee and the pledgor are prohibited from making an agreement prior to the expiration of the debt performance period to transfer the ownership of the pledged equity to the pledgee when the obligor fails to pay the debt due. However, under the PRC Property Rights Law, when an obligor fails to pay its debt when due, the pledgee may choose to either conclude an agreement with the pledgor to obtain the pledged equity or seek payments from the proceeds of the auction or sell-off of the pledged equity. If Shanghai IT or its shareholders fail to perform their obligations secured by the pledges under the Equity Pledge Agreements, one remedy in the event of default under the agreements is to require the pledgors to sell the equity interests of Shanghai IT in an auction or private sale and remit the proceeds to our wholly-owned subsidiaries in China, net of related taxes and expenses. Such an auction or private sale may not result in our receipt of the full value of the equity interests in Shanghai IT. We consider it very unlikely that the public auction process would be undertaken since, in an event of default, our preferred approach is to ask Hui Ling Computer Technology Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., or Shanghai Hui Ling, our PRC wholly-owned subsidiary and a party to the Call Option Agreement, to replace or designate another PRC person or entity to replace the existing shareholders of Shanghai IT pursuant to the direct transfer option we have under the option agreement.

In addition, in the registration forms of the local branch of State Administration for Market Regulation (formerly known as the State Administration for Industry and Commerce) for the pledges over the equity interests under the Equity Pledge Agreements, the amount of registered equity interests in Shanghai IT pledged to us was stated as RMB23.0 million, which represent 100% of the registered capital of Shanghai IT. The Equity Pledge Agreements with the shareholders of Shanghai IT provide that the pledged equity interest shall constitute continuing security for any and all of the indebtedness, obligations and liabilities under all of the contractual arrangements and the scope of pledge shall not be limited by the amount of the registered capital of Shanghai IT. However, it is possible that a PRC court may take the position that the amount listed on the equity pledge registration forms represents the full amount of the collateral that has been registered and perfected. If this is the case, the obligations that are supposed to be secured under the Equity Pledge Agreements in excess of the amount listed on the equity pledge registration forms could be determined by the PRC court as unsecured debt, which takes last priority among creditors and often does not have to be paid back at all. We do not have agreements that pledge the assets of Shanghai IT for the benefit of us.

The principal shareholders of our affiliated PRC entity have potential conflicts of interest with us, which may adversely affect our business.

Zhimin Lin and Wei Ji, two of our employees, are the principal shareholders of Shanghai IT, our affiliated entity. Thus, there may be conflicts of interest between their respective duties to our company as employees and their respective shareholder interests in our affiliated PRC entity. We cannot assure you that when conflicts of interest arise, these persons will act in our best interests or that conflicts of interests will be resolved in our favor. These persons could violate their legal duties, including duties under their non-competition or employment agreements with us, by engaging in activities that are not in the best interest in our company, such as diverting business opportunities from us. In any such event, we would have to rely on the PRC legal system to enforce these agreements. Any legal proceeding could result in the disruption of our business, diversion of our resources and the incurrence of substantial costs. See “—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could adversely affect us.”

Our contractual arrangements with our affiliated entity may result in adverse tax consequences to us.

We could face material and adverse tax consequences if the PRC tax authorities determine that our contractual arrangements with Shanghai IT were not made on reasonable or arm’s length commercial terms or otherwise. If this were to occur, they may adjust our income and expenses for PRC tax purposes in the form of a transfer pricing adjustment. A transfer pricing adjustment could result in a reduction, for PRC tax purposes, of costs and expenses recorded by our affiliated entity, which could adversely affect us by: (i) increasing the tax liability of our affiliated entity without reducing our other PRC subsidiaries’ tax liability, which could further result in late payment fees and other penalties to our affiliated entity for underpaid taxes; or (ii) limiting the abilities of our affiliated entity to maintain preferential tax treatments and other financial incentives.

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

Our business may be adversely affected by public opinion and government policies in China.

Currently, most of our recurring users are young males, including students. Due to the recent population and higher degree of user loyalty to mobile games, easy access to personal computers and mobile devices, and lack of more appealing forms of entertainment in China, many teenagers frequently play online games. This may result in these teenagers spending less time on, or refraining from, other activities, including education and sports. In April 2007, various governmental authorities, including GAPP, MIIT, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Security, and other relevant authorities jointly issued a circular concerning the mandatory implementation of an “anti-fatigue system” in online games, which aims to protect the physical and psychological health of minors. This circular required all online games to incorporate an “anti-fatigue system” and an identity verification system, both of which have limited the amount of time that a minor or other user may continuously spend playing an online game. We have implemented such “anti-fatigue” and identification systems on all of our online games as required. Since March 2011, various governmental authorities, including MIIT, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Security, and other relevant authorities have jointly launched the “Online Game Parents Guardianship Project for Minors,” which allows parents to require online game operators to take relevant measures to limit the time spent by the minors playing online games and the minors’ access to their online game accounts. On February 5, 2013, the Ministry of Culture, MIIT, GAPP and various other governmental authorities, jointly issued the Working Plan on the Comprehensive Prevention Scheme on Online Game Addiction of Minors, which further strengthens the administration of Internet cafés, reinstates the importance of the “anti-fatigue system” and “Online Game Parents Guardianship Project for Minors” as prevention measures against the online game addiction of minors and orders all relevant governmental authorities to take all necessary actions in implementing such measures. In October 2019, GAPPRFT issued the Notice by the General Administration of Press and Publication of Preventing Minors from Indulging in Online Games, or Anti-indulgence Notice, which imposed an array of restrictive measures to prevent underage users to indulge in online games. For example, game operators are not allowed to provide underage users with any form of access to online games during the period from 22:00 p.m. each day to 8:00 a.m. of the next day and the total length of time for game operators to provide underage users with access to online games cannot exceed three hours a day during statutory holidays or 1.5 hours a day on days other than statutory holidays. In addition, online transactions are capped monthly at RMB200 or RMB400, depending on a minor’s age. Further strengthening of these systems, or enactment by the PRC government of any additional laws to further tighten its administration over the Internet and online games may result in less time spent by customers or fewer customers playing our online games, which may materially and adversely affect our business results and prospects for future growth.

Adverse changes in economic and political policies of the PRC government could have a material adverse effect on the overall economic growth of China, which could adversely affect our business.

We conduct substantially all of our business operations in China. As the gaming industry is highly sensitive to business and personal discretionary spending, it tends to decline during general economic downturns. Accordingly, our results of operations, financial condition and prospects are subject to a significant degree to economic, political and legal developments in China. China’s economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including 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 twenty years, growth has slowed down since 2012 and has been uneven across different regions and among various economic sectors of China. The PRC government has implemented various measures to encourage economic development and guide the allocation of resources. While some of these measures benefit the overall PRC economy, they may also have a negative effect on us. For example, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations that are applicable to us. As the PRC economy is increasingly intricately linked to the global economy, it is affected in various respects by downturns and recessions of major economies around the world. The various economic and policy measures the PRC government enacts to forestall economic downturns or shore up the PRC economy could affect our business.

Although the PRC government has implemented measures emphasizing the utilization of market forces for economic reform, the reduction of state ownership of productive assets and the establishment of improved corporate governance in business enterprises, a substantial portion of productive assets in China are still owned by the PRC government. In addition, the PRC government continues to play a significant role in regulating industry development by imposing industrial policies. The PRC government also exercises significant control over China’s economic growth through the allocation of resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies. These actions, as well as future actions and policies of the PRC government, could materially affect our liquidity and access to capital and our ability to operate our business.

The laws and regulations governing the online game industry in China are developing and subject to future changes. If we fail to obtain or maintain all applicable permits and approvals, our business and operations could be materially and adversely affected.

The online game industry in China is highly regulated by the PRC government. Various regulatory authorities of the PRC central government, such as the State Council, MIIT, GAPPRFT, the Ministry of Culture and the Tourism (formerly known as the Ministry of Culture), or MCT, the Ministry of Public Security, are empowered to issue and implement regulations governing various aspects of the online games industry.

We are required to obtain applicable permits or approvals from different regulatory authorities in order to provide online games to our customers. For example, an Internet content provider must obtain a value-added telecommunications business operating license for ICP, or ICP License, in order to engage in any commercial ICP operations within China. In addition, an online games operator must also obtain a license from the MCT and a license from GAPPRFT in order to distribute games through the Internet. Furthermore, an online game operator is required to obtain approval from the MCT in order to distribute virtual currencies for online games such as prepaid value cards, prepaid money or game points. If we fail to obtain or maintain any of the required filings, permits or approvals in the future, we may be subject to various penalties, including fines and the discontinuation or restriction of our operations. Any such disruption in our business operations would materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

As the online game industry is at an early stage of development in China, new laws and regulations may be adopted from time to time to require additional licenses and permits other than those we currently have, and may address new issues that arise from time to time. As a result, substantial uncertainties exist regarding the interpretation and implementation of current and any future PRC laws and regulations applicable to the online gaming industry. We cannot assure you that we will be able to timely obtain any new license required in the future, or at all. While we believe that we are in compliance in all material respects with all applicable PRC laws and regulations currently in effect, we cannot assure you that we will not be found in violation of any current or future PRC laws and regulations.

Regulation and censorship of information disseminated over the Internet in China may adversely affect our business, and we may be liable for information displayed on, retrieved from, or linked to our Internet websites.

The PRC government has adopted certain regulations governing Internet access and the distribution of news and other information over the Internet. Under these regulations, Internet content providers and Internet publishers are prohibited from posting or displaying over the Internet content that, among other things, violates PRC laws and regulations, impairs the national dignity of China, or is obscene, superstitious, fraudulent or defamatory. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in the revocation of ICP and other required licenses and the closure of the concerned websites. The website operator may also be held liable for such prohibited information displayed on, retrieved from or linked to such website.

MCT has promulgated laws and regulations that reiterate the government’s policies to prohibit the distribution of games with violence, cruelty or other elements that are believed to have the potential effect of instigating crimes, and to prevent the influx of harmful cultural products from overseas.

MCT has promulgated laws and regulations that require, among other things, (i) the review and prior approval of all new online games licensed from foreign game developers and related license agreements, (ii) the review of patches and updates with substantial changes of games which have already been approved, and (iii) the filing of domestically developed online games. Furthermore, online games, regardless of whether imported or domestic, will be subject to content review and approval by GAPPRFT prior to the commencement of games operations in China. Failure to obtain or renew approvals or to complete filings for online games, including mobile games, may materially delay or otherwise affect game operator’s plans to launch new games, and the operator may be subject to fines, restriction or suspension of operations of the related games or revocation of licenses in the event that the relevant governmental authority believes that the violation is severe. We obtained the necessary approvals from and completed necessary filings with the Ministry of Culture and GAPP for operations of our games as applicable. Consistent with the general practice of the mobile and TV game industry in China, we have not yet completed filings with the Ministry of Culture and GAPPRFT for our mobile and TV games before we commenced our operations. If any such negative event occurs, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

In addition, MIIT has published regulations that subject website operators to potential liability for content included on their websites and the actions of users and others using their websites, including liability for violations of PRC laws prohibiting the dissemination of content deemed to be socially destabilizing. The Ministry of Public Security has the authority to order any local Internet service provider to block any Internet website maintained outside China at its sole discretion. Periodically, the Ministry of Public Security has stopped the dissemination over the Internet of information which it believes to be socially destabilizing. The State Secrecy Bureau, which is directly responsible for the protection of State secrets of the PRC government, is authorized to block any website it deems to be leaking state secrets or failing to meet the relevant regulations relating to the protection of state secrets in the dissemination of online information.

As these regulations are subject to interpretation by the relevant authorities, it may not be possible for us to determine in all cases the type of content that could result in liability for us as a website operator. In addition, we may not be able to control or restrict the content of other Internet content providers linked to or accessible through our websites, or content generated or placed on our websites by our users, despite our attempt to monitor such content. To the extent that regulatory authorities find any portion of our content objectionable, they may require us to limit or eliminate the dissemination of such information or otherwise curtail the nature of such content on our websites, which may reduce our user traffic and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we may be subject to significant penalties for violations of those regulations arising from information displayed on, retrieved from or linked to our websites, including a suspension or shutdown of our operations.

The audit report included in this prospectus is prepared by an auditor who is not inspected by the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and as such, our investors are deprived of the benefits of such inspection. In addition, various legislative and regulatory developments related to U.S.-listed China-based companies due to lack of PCAOB inspection and other developments due to political tensions between the United States and China may have a material adverse impact on our listing and trading in the U.S. and the trading prices of our ADSs.

As an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and as an audit firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB, our independent registered public accounting firm is required by the laws of the United States to undergo regular inspections by the PCAOB. As our auditor is located in the PRC, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB is currently unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the PRC authorities, our auditor, like other independent registered public accounting firms operating in the PRC, is not currently inspected by the PCAOB.

In May 2013, the PCAOB announced that it had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on Enforcement Cooperation with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, or CSRC, and the PRC Ministry of Finance, which establishes a cooperative framework between the parties for the production and exchange of audit documents relevant to investigations undertaken by the PCAOB, the CSRC or the PRC Ministry of Finance in the United States and the PRC, respectively. The PCAOB continues to be in discussions with the CSRC, and the PRC 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. On April 21, 2020, the SEC and the PCAOB issued another joint statement reiterating the greater risk that disclosures will be insufficient in many emerging markets, including China, compared to those made by U.S. domestic companies. In discussing the specific issues related to the greater risk, the statement again highlights the PCAOB’s inability to inspect audit work paper and practices of accounting firms in China, with respect to their audit work of U.S. reporting companies.

On June 4, 2020, the U.S. President issued a memorandum ordering the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets, or the PWG, to submit a report to the President within 60 days of the memorandum that includes recommendations for actions that can be taken by the executive branch and by the SEC or the PCAOB on Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges and their audit firms, in an effort to protect investors in the U.S. On August 6, 2020, the PWG released a report recommending that the SEC take steps to implement the five recommendations outlined in the report. In particular, to address companies from jurisdictions that do not provide the PCAOB with sufficient access to fulfill its statutory mandate, or NCJs, the PWG recommended that enhanced listing standards on U.S. stock exchanges. This would require, as a condition to initial and continued exchange listing, PCAOB access to work papers of the principal audit firm for the audit of the listed company. Companies unable to satisfy this standard as a result of governmental restrictions on access to audit work papers and practices in NCJs may satisfy this standard by providing a co-audit from an audit firm with comparable resources and experience where the PCAOB determines it has sufficient access to audit work papers and practices to conduct an appropriate inspection of the co-audit firm. The report permits the new listing standards to provide for a transition period until January 1, 2022 for listed companies. If we fail to meet the new listing standards before the deadline specified thereunder due to factors beyond our control, we could face possible de-listing from the Nasdaq, deregistration from the SEC and/or other risks, which may materially and adversely affect, or effectively terminate, our ADS trading in the United States.

The lack of direct PCAOB inspections in China prevents the PCAOB from regularly evaluating audit documentation located in China and its related quality control procedures. As a result, our investors may be deprived of the benefits of the PCAOB’s oversight of our auditors through such inspections. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of our auditors’ work papers 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 consequently lose confidence in our reported financial information and procedures and the quality of our financial statements.

On December 18, 2020, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the Act, was enacted. In essence, the Act requires the SEC to prohibit securities of any foreign companies from being listed on U.S. securities exchanges or traded ‘‘over-the-counter’’ if a company retains a foreign accounting firm that cannot be inspected by the PCAOB for three consecutive years, beginning in 2021. The enactment of the Act and any additional rulemaking efforts to increase U.S. regulatory access to audit information in China could cause investor uncertainty for affected SEC registrants, including us, the market price of our ADSs could be materially adversely affected, and our securities could be delisted or prohibited from being traded ‘‘over-the-counter’’ if we are unable to meet the PCAOB inspection requirement in time.

Future movements in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the RMB may adversely affect the value of our ADSs.

The conversion of Renminbi into foreign currencies, including U.S. dollars, is based on rates set by the People’s Bank of China. The Renminbi has fluctuated against the U.S. dollar, at times significantly and unpredictably. The value of Renminbi 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. We cannot assure you that Renminbi will not appreciate or depreciate significantly in value against the U.S. dollar in the future. It is difficult to predict how market forces or PRC or U.S. government policy may impact the exchange rate between Renminbi and the U.S. dollar in the future.

Any significant appreciation or depreciation of Renminbi 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. 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 Renminbi into foreign currency. As a result, fluctuations in exchange rates may have a material adverse effect on your investment.

Restrictions on currency exchange in China limit our ability to utilize our revenues effectively, make dividend payments and meet our foreign currency denominated obligations.

Currently, a significant portion of our revenues are denominated in RMB. Restrictions on currency exchange in China limit our ability to utilize revenues generated in RMB to fund our business activities outside China, make dividend payments in U.S. dollars, or obtain and remit sufficient foreign currency to satisfy our foreign currency-denominated obligations, such as paying license fees and royalty payments. The principal regulation governing foreign currency exchange in China is the Foreign Exchange Administration Rules (1996), as amended. Under such rules, the RMB is generally freely convertible for trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions, but not for direct investment, loans or investment in securities outside China unless the prior approval of SAFE or designated banks is obtained. Although the PRC government regulations now allow greater convertibility of RMB for current account transactions, significant restrictions still remain. For example, foreign exchange transactions under our PRC subsidiaries’ capital account, including principal payments in respect of foreign currency-denominated obligations, remain subject to significant foreign exchange controls and the approval and filing procedures of SAFE or authorized banks, as applicable. These limitations could affect our ability to obtain foreign exchange for capital expenditures. We cannot be certain that the PRC regulatory authorities will not impose more stringent restrictions on the convertibility of the RMB, especially with respect to foreign exchange transactions.

PRC regulations relating to the establishment of offshore special purpose companies by PRC residents may subject our PRC resident shareholders or us to penalties and fines, and limit our ability to inject capital into our PRC subsidiaries, limit our subsidiaries’ ability to increase their registered capital, distribute profits to us, or otherwise adversely affect us.

On July 4, 2014, SAFE issued the Circular on Several Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Administration of Domestic Residents Engaging in Overseas Investment, Financing and Round-Trip Investment via Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 37. SAFE Circular 37 and its detailed guidelines require PRC residents to register with the local branch of SAFE before contributing their legally owned onshore or offshore assets or equity interest into any special purpose vehicle, or SPV, directly established, or indirectly controlled, by them for the purpose of investment or financing. SAFE Circular 37 further requires that when there is (a) any change to the basic information of the SPV, such as any change relating to its individual PRC resident shareholders, name or operation period or (b) any material change, such as increase or decrease in the share capital held by its individual PRC resident shareholders, a share transfer or exchange of the shares in the SPV, or a merger or split of the SPV, the PRC resident must register such changes with the local branch of SAFE on a timely basis.

We have requested all of our shareholders who, based on our knowledge, are PRC residents or whose ultimate beneficial owners are PRC residents to comply with all applicable SAFE registration requirements. However, we have no control over our shareholders. We cannot assure you that the PRC beneficial owners of our company and our subsidiaries have completed the required SAFE registrations or complied with other related requirements. Nor can we assure you that they will be in full compliance with the SAFE registration in the future. Any non-compliance by the PRC beneficial owners of our company and our subsidiaries may subject us or such PRC resident shareholders to fines and other penalties. It may also limit our ability to contribute additional capital to our PRC subsidiaries and our subsidiaries’ ability to distribute profits or make other payments to us.

PRC regulation of direct investment and loans by offshore holding companies to PRC entities may delay or limit us from using offshore assets, including the proceeds of our initial public offering and other 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 subsidiaries, variable interest entity and its subsidiaries. We may make loans to our PRC subsidiary, variable interest entity and its subsidiaries, subject to the approval from governmental authorities and limitation of amount, or we may make additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary.

Any loans to our PRC subsidiaries in China, which are treated as foreign-invested enterprises under PRC laws, are subject to foreign exchange loan registrations. In addition, a foreign-invested enterprises shall use its capital pursuant to the principle of authenticity and self-use within its business scope. The capital of an foreign invested enterprise shall not be used for the following purposes: (i) direct or indirect payment beyond the business scope of the enterprises or the payment prohibited by relevant laws and regulations; (ii) direct or indirect investment in securities or investments other than banks’ principal-secured products unless otherwise provided by relevant laws and regulations; (iii) the granting of loans to non-affiliated enterprises, except where it is expressly permitted in the business license; and (iv) paying the expenses related to the purchase of real estate that is not for self-use (except for the foreign-invested real estate enterprises).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.

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.

In February 2012, SAFE promulgated the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on the Relevant Issues Concerning the Administration of Foreign Exchange for Domestic Individuals’ Participation in Equity Incentive Programs of Overseas Listed Companies, or Circular 7. Under Circular 7, PRC residents who participate in stock incentive plan in an overseas publicly-listed company are required to register with SAFE or its local branches and complete certain other procedures. Participants of a stock incentive plan who are PRC residents must retain a qualified PRC agent, which could be a PRC subsidiary of such overseas publicly listed company or another qualified institution selected by such PRC subsidiary, to conduct the SAFE registration and other procedures with respect to the stock incentive plan on behalf of its participants. Such participants must also retain an overseas entrusted institution to handle matters in connection with their exercise of stock options, the purchase and sale of corresponding stocks or interests and fund transfers. In addition, the PRC agent is required to amend the SAFE registration with respect to the stock incentive plan if there is any material change to the stock incentive plan, the PRC agent or the overseas entrusted institution or other material changes. We and our PRC employees who have been granted stock incentive awards are be subject to these regulations. However, neither our PRC plan participants nor we have completed such requisite registration and other procedures. In addition, we cannot assure you that we will be able to complete the relevant registration for new employees who participate in such stock incentive plan in the future in a timely manner or at all. Failure of our PRC plan participants to complete their SAFE registrations may subject these PRC residents or us to fines and legal sanctions and may also limit our ability to contribute additional capital into our PRC subsidiary, limit our PRC subsidiary’s ability to distribute dividends to us, or otherwise materially adversely affect our business. We also face regulatory uncertainties that could restrict our ability to adopt additional incentive plans for our directors and employees under PRC law.

Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could adversely affect us.

We conduct our business primarily through our subsidiaries and consolidated affiliated entity incorporated in China. Our PRC subsidiaries are generally subject to laws and regulations applicable to foreign investment in China and, in particular, laws applicable to wholly-foreign-owned enterprises. We entered into a series of contractual arrangements with our consolidated affiliated entity in PRC to exercise effective control over these entities. Almost all of the agreements under those contractual arrangements are governed by PRC law and disputes arising out of these agreements are expected to be decided by arbitration in China. The PRC legal system is based on written statutes. Prior court decisions may be cited for reference but have limited precedential value. PRC legislation and regulations have significantly enhanced the protections afforded to various forms of foreign investments in China for the past decades. However, since 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, which may limit legal protections available to us. In addition, any litigation in China may be protracted and result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention.

We may not be able to pursue growth through strategic acquisitions in China due to complicated procedures under PRC laws and regulations for foreign investors to acquire PRC companies.

In recent years, certain PRC laws and regulations have established procedures and requirements that are expected to make merger and acquisition activities in China by foreign investors more time-consuming and complex. These laws and regulations include, without limitation, the Rules on the Merger and Acquisition of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors, or the M&A Rules, and the Anti-Monopoly Law and the MOFCOM Security Review Rules. In some instances, MOFCOM needs to be notified in advance of any change-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of a PRC domestic enterprise. The approval by MOFCOM may also need to be obtained in circumstances where overseas companies established or controlled by PRC enterprises or residents acquire affiliated domestic companies. PRC laws and regulations also require certain merger and acquisition transactions to be subject to merger control review or security review. The MOFCOM Security Review Rules, effective from September 1, 2011, provide that, when deciding whether a specific merger or acquisition of a domestic enterprise by foreign investors shall be subject to the security review by MOFCOM, the principle of substance over form shall be applied. In particular, foreign investors are prohibited from bypassing the security review requirement by structuring transactions through proxies, trusts, indirect investments, leases, loans, control through contractual arrangements or offshore transactions.

If the business of any target company that we expect to acquire becomes subject to the security review, we may not be able to successfully complete the acquisition of such company, either by equity or asset acquisition, capital contribution or through any contractual arrangement. Complying with the requirements of the PRC laws and regulations to complete acquisition transactions could become more time-consuming and complex. Any required approval, such as approval by MOFCOM, may delay or inhibit our ability to complete such transactions, which could affect our ability to grow our business or increase our market share. Furthermore, it is uncertain whether the M&A Rules, security review rules or the other PRC regulations regarding the acquisitions of PRC companies by foreign investors will be amended when the FIL becomes effective in the future.

The approval of the China Securities Regulatory Commission may be required in connection with this offering, and, if required, we cannot predict whether we will be able to obtain such approval.

The M&A Rules require an overseas special purpose vehicles that are controlled by PRC companies or individuals formed for the purpose of seeking a public listing on an overseas stock exchange through acquisitions of PRC domestic companies using shares of such special purpose vehicles or held by its shareholders as considerations 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. However, the application of the M&A Rules remains unclear. 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 has advised us based on their understanding of the current PRC laws, rules and regulations that the CSRC’s approval may not be required for the listing and trading of our ADSs on Nasdaq in the context of this offering, given that: (i) our PRC subsidiary was incorporated as wholly foreign-owned enterprises by means of direct investment rather than by merger or acquisition of equity interest or assets of a PRC domestic company owned by PRC companies or individuals as defined under the M&A Rules that are our beneficial owners using our shares as consideration, and (ii) we do not constitute a “special purpose vehicle,” to which the relevant provisions of the M&A Rules are applicable.

However, our PRC 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. There can be no assurance that relevant PRC government 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 subsidiaries in China, 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. In addition, if the CSRC or other regulatory agencies later promulgate new rules or explanations requiring that we obtain their approvals for this offering, we may be unable to obtain a waiver of such approval requirements, if and when procedures are established to obtain such a waiver.

The continued growth of China’s Internet market depends on the establishment of adequate telecommunications infrastructure.

Although private sector Internet service providers currently exist in China, almost all access to the Internet is maintained through state-owned telecommunication operators under the administrative control and regulatory supervision of China’s MIIT. In addition, the national networks in China connect to the Internet through government-controlled international gateways. These government-controlled international gateways are the only channel through which a domestic PRC user can connect to the international Internet network. We rely on this infrastructure to provide data communications capacity primarily through local telecommunications lines. Although the government has announced plans to aggressively develop the national information infrastructure, we cannot assure you that this infrastructure will be developed as planned or at all. In addition, we will have no access to alternative networks and services, on a timely basis if at all, in the event of any infrastructure disruption or failure. The Internet infrastructure in China may not support the demands necessary for the continued growth in Internet usage.

You may experience difficulties in effecting service of legal process, enforcing foreign judgments or bringing actions in China against us or our management named in the prospectus based on foreign laws.

We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, however, we conduct substantially all of our operations in China and substantially all of our assets are located in China. In addition, all our senior executive officers reside within China for a significant portion of the time. As a result, it may be difficult for you to effect service of process upon us or our management residing in China. In addition, China does not have treaties providing for reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments of courts with the Cayman Islands and many other countries and regions. Therefore, recognition and enforcement in China of judgments of a court in any of these non-PRC jurisdictions in relation to any matter not subject to a binding arbitration provision may be difficult or impossible.

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

Shareholder claims or regulatory investigation that are common in the United States generally are difficult to pursue as a matter of law or practicality in China. For example, in China, there are significant legal and other obstacles to providing information needed for regulatory investigations or litigation initiated outside China. Although the authorities in China may establish a regulatory cooperation mechanism with the securities regulatory authorities of another country or region to implement cross-border supervision and administration, such cooperation with the securities regulatory authorities in the Unities States may not be efficient in the absence of mutual and practical cooperation mechanism. Furthermore, according to Article 177 of the PRC Securities Law, or Article 177, which became effective in March 2020, no overseas securities regulator is allowed to directly conduct investigation or evidence collection activities within the territory of the PRC. While detailed interpretation of or implementation rules under Article 177 have yet to be promulgated, the inability for an overseas securities regulator to directly conduct investigation or evidence collection activities within China may further increase difficulties faced by you in protecting your interests. See also “—Risks Related to our ADSs, Warrants and this Offering—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” for risks associated with investing in us as a Cayman Islands company.

Our subsidiaries in China are subject to restrictions on paying dividends or making other payments.

We may rely on dividends paid by our subsidiaries in China to fund our operations, such as paying dividends to our shareholders or meeting obligations under any indebtedness incurred by us or our overseas subsidiaries. Current PRC regulations restrict our subsidiaries in China from paying dividends in the following two principal aspects: (i) our subsidiaries in China are only permitted to pay dividends out of their respective after-tax profits, if any, determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations, and (ii) these entities are required to allocate at least 10% of their respective after-tax profits each year, if any, to fund statutory reserve funds until the cumulative total of the allocated reserves reaches 50% of registered capital, and a portion of their respective after-tax profits to their staff welfare and bonus reserve funds as determined by their respective boards of directors or shareholders. These reserves are not distributable as dividends. See “Regulations.” Further, if these entities incur debt on their behalf in the future, the instruments governing such debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other payments. Our inability to receive dividends or other payments from our PRC subsidiaries may adversely affect our ability to continue to grow our business and make cash or other distributions to the holders of our ordinary shares and ADSs. In addition, failure to comply with relevant State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, regulations may restrict the ability of our subsidiaries to make dividend payments to us. See “—PRC regulations relating to the establishment of offshore special purpose companies by PRC residents may subject our PRC resident shareholders or us to penalties and fines, and limit our ability to inject capital into our PRC subsidiaries, limit our subsidiaries’ ability to increase their registered capital, distribute profits to us, or otherwise adversely affect us.”

The PRC income tax laws may increase our tax burden or the tax burden on the holders of our shares or ADSs, and tax benefits available to us may be reduced or repealed, causing the value of your investment in us to decrease.

Our subsidiaries and affiliated entity in the PRC are subject to enterprise income tax, or EIT, on the taxable income as reported in their respective statutory financial statements adjusted in accordance with the Enterprise Income Tax Law of the PRC, or EIT Law, which was approved by the National People’s Congress on March 16, 2007. The EIT Law went into effect as of January 1, 2008 and was amended on February 24, 2017 and December 29, 2018, which unified the tax rate generally applicable to both domestic and foreign-invested enterprises in the PRC. Our subsidiaries and affiliated entity in the PRC are generally subject to EIT at a statutory rate of 25%. Shanghai IT, our affiliated entity which holds a High and New Technology Enterprise, or HNTE, qualification is entitled to enjoy a 15% preferential EIT rate till November 23, 2020. However, we cannot assure you that Shanghai IT will meet these criteria and continue to be qualified as an HNTE if we apply to the tax authorities in the future.

Moreover, unlike the tax regulations effective before 2008, which specifically exempted withholding taxes on dividends payable to non-PRC investors from foreign-invested enterprises in the PRC, the EIT Law and its implementation rules provide that a withholding income 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 the governments of other countries or regions. While the Tax Agreement between the PRC and Hong Kong provides dividends paid by a foreign-invested enterprise in the PRC to its corporate shareholder, which is considered a Hong Kong tax resident, will be subject to withholding tax at the rate of 5% of total dividends, this is limited to instances where the corporate shareholder directly holds at least 25% of the shares of the company that is to pay dividends for at least twelve consecutive months immediately prior to receiving the dividends and meets certain other criteria prescribed by the relevant regulations. Under the Administrative Measures for Non-Resident Taxpayer to Enjoy Treatments under Tax Treaties, which became effective in January 2020, non-resident taxpayers shall determine whether they are eligible for treaty benefits and file a relevant report and materials with the tax authorities. Meanwhile, the reduced withholding tax rate also applies if the conditions stipulated by other tax rules and regulations are met.

In February 2018, the State Administration of Taxation, or SAT issued the Announcement of the State Administration of Taxation on Issues Relating to “Beneficial Owner” in Tax Treaties on issues relating to “beneficial owner” in tax treaties, or Circular No. 9, which took effect on April 1, 2018. Circular No. 9 provides detailed guidance to determine whether the applicant engages in substantive business activities to constitute a “beneficial owner”. When determining the applicant’s status of the “beneficial owner” regarding tax treatments in connection with dividends, interests or royalties in the tax treaties, several factors, including without limitation, whether the applicant is obligated to pay more than 50% of his or her income in the past twelve months to residents in third country or region, whether the business operated by the applicant constitutes the actual business activities, and whether the other country or region to the tax treaties does not levy any tax or grant tax exemption on relevant incomes at all or levy tax at an extremely low rate, will be taken into account, and it will be analyzed according to the actual circumstances of the specific cases. If the non-resident taxpayer does not apply to the withholding agent for the tax treaty benefits, or such taxpayer does not satisfy the criteria to be entitled to tax treaty benefits, the withholding agent should withhold tax pursuant to the provisions of PRC tax laws. We cannot assure you that any dividends to be distributed by our subsidiaries to us or by us to our non-PRC shareholders and ADS holders, whose jurisdiction of incorporation has a tax treaty with China providing a different withholding arrangement, will be entitled to the benefits under the relevant withholding arrangement.

In addition, the EIT Law deems an enterprise established offshore but having its management organ in the PRC as a “resident enterprise” that will be subject to PRC tax at the rate of 25% of its global income. Under the Implementation Rules of the EIT Law, the term “management organ” is defined as “an organ which has substantial and overall management and control over the manufacturing and business operation, personnel, accounting, properties and other factors.” On April 22, 2009, the SAT further issued a notice regarding recognizing an offshore-established enterprise controlled by PRC shareholders as a resident enterprise according to its management organ, or Circular 82. According to Circular 82, a foreign enterprise controlled by a PRC company or a PRC company group shall be deemed a PRC resident enterprise, if (i) the senior management and the core management departments in charge of its daily operations are mainly located and function in the PRC; (ii) its financial decisions and human resource decisions are subject to the determination or approval of persons or institutions located in the PRC; (iii) its major assets, accounting books, company seals, minutes and files of board meetings and shareholders’ meetings are located or kept in the PRC; and (iv) more than half of the directors or senior management with voting rights reside in the PRC. On July 27, 2011, SAT issued the Administrative Measures of Enterprise Income Tax of Chinese-Controlled Offshore Incorporated Resident Enterprises (Trial), or SAT Bulletin 45, which was amended in April 2015, June 2016 and June 2018. SAT Bulletin 45 further clarified the detailed procedures for determining resident status under Circular 82, competent tax authorities in charge and post-determination administration of such resident enterprises. Although our offshore companies are not controlled by any PRC company or PRC company group, we cannot assure you that we will not be deemed to be a “resident enterprise” under the EIT Law and thus be subject to PRC EIT on our global income.

According to the EIT Law and its implementation rules, dividends are exempted from income tax if such dividends are received by a resident enterprise on equity interests it directly owns in another resident enterprise. However, foreign corporate holders of our shares or ADSs may be subject to taxation at a rate of 10% on any dividends received from us or any gains realized from the transfer of our shares or ADSs if we are deemed to be a resident enterprise or if such income is otherwise regarded as income from “sources within the PRC.” The EIT Law empowers the PRC State Council to enact appropriate implementing rules and measures and there is no guarantee that we or our subsidiaries will be entitled to any of the preferential tax treatments. Nor can we assure you that the tax authorities will not, in the future, discontinue any of our preferential tax treatments, potentially with retroactive effect. Any significant increase in the EIT rate under the EIT Law applicable to our PRC subsidiaries and affiliated entity, or the imposition of withholding taxes on dividends payable by our subsidiaries to us, or an EIT levy on us or any of our subsidiaries or affiliated entity registered outside the PRC, or dividends or capital gains received by our shareholders due to shares or ADSs held in us will have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and financial conditions and the value of investments in us.

We are required to pay value added tax as a result of tax reforms in various regions in China and we may be subject to similar tax treatments elsewhere in China.

On March 23, 2016, the Ministry of Finance and the SAT jointly issued the Circular on the Pilot Program for Overall Implementation of the Collection of Value Added Tax Instead of Business Tax, or Circular 36, which took effect on May 1, 2016. Pursuant to Circular 36, all companies operating in construction, real estate, finance, modern service or other sectors which were required to pay business tax are required to pay value added tax, or VAT, in lieu of business tax. As a result of Circular 36, the services provided by Shanghai IT, Shanghai Hui Ling, China The9 Interactive (Beijing) Limited, or C9I Beijing and Wuxi QuDong, as general VAT payers are subject to VAT at the rate of 6%, and the services provided by our other PRC subsidiaries and affiliated PRC entity as small-scale VAT payers are subject to VAT at the rate of 3%. While as general VAT payers may reduce their VAT payable amount by the VAT which they paid in connection with their purchasing activities, or the Input VAT, those companies as small-scale VAT payers may not reduce their VAT payable amount by their Input VAT. As a result, some of our subsidiaries and affiliated PRC entity may be subject to more unfavorable tax treatment as a result of the tax reform, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Strengthened scrutiny over acquisition transactions by the PRC tax authorities may have a negative impact on our acquisition strategy.

In connection with the EIT Law, the SAT issued, on February 3, 2015, the Notice on Several Issues regarding Enterprise Income Tax for Indirect Property Transfer by Non-resident Enterprises, or SAT Circular 7, which further specifies the criteria for judging reasonable commercial purpose, and the legal requirements for the voluntary reporting procedures and filing materials in the case of indirect property transfer. SAT Circular 7 has listed several factors to be taken into consideration by tax authorities in determining whether an indirect transfer has a reasonable commercial purpose. However, despite these factors, an indirect transfer satisfying all the following criteria shall be deemed to lack reasonable commercial purpose and be taxable under the PRC laws: (i) 75% or more of the equity value of the intermediary enterprise being transferred is derived directly or indirectly from the PRC taxable properties; (ii) at any time during the one year period before the indirect transfer, 90% or more of the asset value of the intermediary enterprise (excluding cash) is comprised directly or indirectly of investments in the PRC, or 90% or more of its income is derived directly or indirectly from the PRC; (iii) the functions performed and risks assumed by the intermediary enterprise and any of its subsidiaries that directly or indirectly hold the PRC taxable properties are limited and are insufficient to prove their economic substance; and (iv) the foreign tax payable on the gains derived from the indirect transfer of the PRC taxable properties is lower than the potential PRC tax on the direct transfer of such assets. Nevertheless, the indirect transfer falling into the scope of the safe harbor under SAT Circular 7 may not be subject to PRC tax and such safe harbor includes qualified group restructuring, public market trading and tax treaty exemptions. According to SAT Circular 7, where the payer fails to withhold tax in a sufficient amount, the transferor can declare and pay such tax to the tax authority by itself within the statutory time period. Late payment of applicable tax will subject the transferor to default interest.

On October 17, 2017, the SAT released the Public Notice Regarding Issues Concerning the Withholding of Non-resident Enterprise Income Tax at Source, or SAT Public Notice 37, which further elaborates the relevant implementation rules regarding the calculation, reporting and payment obligations of the withholding tax by the non-resident enterprises.

Under SAT Circular 7 and SAT Public Notice 37, the entities or individuals obligated to pay the transfer price to the transferor shall be the withholding agent and shall withhold the PRC tax from the transfer price. If the withholding agent fails to do so, the transferor shall report to and pay the PRC tax to the PRC tax authorities. In case neither the withholding agent nor the transferor complies with the obligations under SAT Circular 7 and SAT Public Notice 37, other than imposing penalties such as late payment interest on the transferors, the tax authority may also hold the withholding agent liable and impose a penalty of 50% to 300% of the unpaid tax on the withholding agent, provided that such penalty imposed on the withholding agent may be reduced or waived if the withholding agent has submitted the relevant materials in connection with the indirect transfer to the PRC tax authorities in accordance with SAT Circular 7 and SAT Public Notice 37.

Since we may pursue acquisition as one of our growth strategies, and have conducted and may conduct acquisitions involving complex corporate structures, the PRC tax authorities may, at their discretion, adjust the capital gains and impose tax return filing obligations on us or request us to submit additional documentation for their review in connection with any of our acquisitions, thus causing us to incur additional acquisition costs.

General Risks Related to our ADSs, Warrants and this Offering

Our ADSs may be delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market as a result of our failure of meeting the Nasdaq Capital Market continued listing requirements.

Our ADSs are currently listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “NCTY.” We must continue to meet the requirements set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550 to remain listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The listing standards of the Nasdaq Capital Market provide that a company, in order to qualify for continued listing, must maintain a minimum ADS price of US$1.00 and satisfy standards relative to minimum shareholders’ equity, minimum market value of publicly held shares, or MVPHS, minimum MVLS, and various additional requirements. On October 3, 2018, we received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of Nasdaq, pursuant to which Nasdaq informed us that due to our failure to regain compliance with the continued listing requirement of US$50 million minimum MVLS for the Nasdaq Global Market as set in the Nasdaq Listing Rule 5450(b)(2)(A), our ADSs would be delisted from the Nasdaq Global Market unless measures are taken prior to a certain timeline. We later transferred our listing venue to Nasdaq Capital Market with which we fully comply with the continued listing standards. On March 6, 2020, we received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of Nasdaq, notifying us that the minimum bid price per ADS was below US$1.00 for a period of 30 consecutive business days and we did not meet the minimum bid price requirement set forth in Rule 5550(a)(2) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules. Due to the tolling of compliance period through June 30, 2020, as determined by Nasdaq, we had until November 16, 2020, to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum bid price requirement. On April 13, 2020, we received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of Nasdaq, notifying us that we no longer met the continued listing standards of MVLS for the Nasdaq Capital Market, as set forth in the Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(2) because the market value of our securities listed on Nasdaq for the last 30 consecutive business days was below the minimum MVLS requirement of US$35.0 million. Pursuant to the Rule 5810(c)(3)(C) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules, we have a compliance period of 180 calendar days, or until October 12, 2020, to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum MVLS requirement. On August 5, 2020, we received a notification letter from Nasdaq stating that we have regained compliance with the minimum MVLS requirement. On November 2, 2020, we received a notification letter from Nasdaq stating that we have regained compliance with the minimum bid price requirement. On November 12, 2020, we received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of Nasdaq, notifying us that we no longer met the continued listing standards of MVLS for the Nasdaq Capital Market, as set forth in the Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(2) because the market value of our securities listed on Nasdaq for the last 30 consecutive business days was below the minimum MVLS requirement of US$35.0 million. Pursuant to the Rule 5810(c)(3)(C) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules, we have a compliance period of 180 calendar days, or until May 11, 2021, to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum MVLS requirement. On January 21, 2021, we received a notification letter from Nasdaq stating that we have regained compliance with the minimum MVLS requirement. If we fail to satisfy Nasdaq Capital Market’s continued listing requirements going forward and fail to regain compliance on a timely basis, our ADSs could be delisted from Nasdaq Capital Market.

However, there can be no assurance that our ADSs will be eligible for trading on any such alternative exchanges or markets in the United States. If Nasdaq determines to delist our ordinary shares, or if we fail to list our ADSs on other stock exchanges or find alternative trading venue for our ADSs, the market liquidity and the price of our ADSs and our ability to obtain financing for our operations could be materially and adversely affected.

As a foreign private issuer, we are exempt from a number of rules under the U.S. securities laws and are permitted to file less information with the SEC than U.S. public companies.

We are a “foreign private issuer” as defined in the SEC rules and regulations and, consequently, we are not subject to all of the disclosure requirements applicable to companies organized within the United States. For example, we are exempt from certain rules under the Exchange Act that regulate disclosure obligations and procedural requirements related to the solicitation of proxies, consents or authorizations applicable to a security registered under the Exchange Act. In addition, our officers and directors are exempt from the reporting and “short-swing” profit recovery provisions of Section 16 of the Exchange Act and related rules with respect to their purchases and sales of our securities. Further, we are not required to comply with Regulation FD, which restricts the selective disclosure of material information. Moreover, we are not required to file periodic reports and financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as U.S. public companies. Accordingly, there may be less publicly available information concerning our company than there is for U.S. public companies.

As a foreign private issuer, we file annual reports on Form 20-F within four months of the close of each fiscal year ended December 31 and reports on Form 6-K relating to certain material events promptly after we publicly announce these events. However, because of the above exemptions for foreign private issuers, our shareholders are not afforded the same protections or information generally available to investors holding shares in public companies organized in the United States.

While we are a foreign private issuer, we are not subject to certain Nasdaq corporate governance listing standards applicable to U.S. listed companies. We are entitled to rely on a provision in the Nasdaq corporate governance listing standards that allows us to elect to follow Cayman Islands “home county” corporate law with regard to certain aspects of corporate governance. This allows us to follow certain corporate governance practices that differ in significant respects from the corporate governance requirements applicable to U.S. companies listed on the Nasdaq. For example, in each of November 2015 and August 2016, our board of directors approved an increase in the total number of ordinary shares reserved for issuance under our then effective stock option plan, for which we have followed “home country practice” in lieu of obtaining a shareholder approval pursuant to Nasdaq Market Rule 5635(c). In June 2020, we also followed “home country practice” in lieu of obtaining a shareholder approval pursuant to Nasdaq Market Rule 5635(a) with respect to issuance of securities in excess of 20% of our total issued and outstanding shares prior to such issuance. We also followed “home country practice” in lieu of the requirement under Nasdaq rule 5635(d) to seek shareholder approval in connection with certain transactions involving the sale, issuance or potential issuance by the company of common stock (or securities convertible into or exercisable for common stock) at a price less than certain references price equals 20% or more of common stock or 20% or more of the voting power outstanding before the issuance. We may also rely on other exemptions available to foreign private issuers in the future, and to the extent that we choose to do so in the future, our shareholders may be afforded less protection than they otherwise would under the Nasdaq corporate governance listing standards applicable to U.S. domestic issuers.

We expect to be a passive foreign investment company for our current taxable year and the foreseeable future, which could subject United States investors in the ADSs, Warrants or ordinary shares to significant adverse United States income tax consequences.

A non-U.S. corporation will be a “passive foreign investment company,” or PFIC, for any taxable year if either (1) at least 75% of its gross income for such year consists of certain types of passive income, or (2) at least 50% of the value of its assets (generally determined on the basis of a quarterly average) during such year is attributable to assets that produce or are held for the production of passive income. We must make a separate determination after the close of each taxable year as to whether we were a PFIC for that year. Because the value of our assets for purposes of the PFIC test will generally be determined by reference to the market price of our ADSs, our PFIC status will depend in part on the market price of the ADSs, which may fluctuate significantly, and the composition of our assets and liabilities.

Based on the market price of our ADSs and the composition of income and assets, we expect to be a PFIC for United States federal income tax purposes for our current taxable year and the foreseeable future unless the market price of our ADSs increases, the portion of our gross income attributable to the passive types decreases, and/or we invest a substantial amount of the cash and other passive assets we hold in assets that produce or are held for the production of active income. Further, as previously disclosed, although not free from doubt, we believed that we were a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes for prior years. In addition, it is possible that one or more of our subsidiaries were also PFICs for such year for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

If we were treated as a PFIC for any taxable year during which a U.S. Holder (as defined in “Taxation—United States Federal Income Tax Considerations”) holds our ADSs, Warrants or ordinary shares, such U.S. Holders will generally be subject to reporting requirements and may incur significantly increased U.S. income tax on gain recognized on the sale or other disposition of the ADSs, Warrants or ordinary shares and on the receipt of distributions on the ADSs, Warrants or ordinary shares to the extent such gain or distribution is treated as an “excess distribution” under the U.S. federal income tax rules. Further, a U.S. Holder will generally be treated as holding an equity interest in a PFIC in the first taxable year of the U.S. Holder’s holding period in which we become classified as a PFIC and in subsequent taxable years even if we cease to be a PFIC in subsequent taxable years. See “Taxation—United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—Passive Foreign Investment Company Considerations.”

You are strongly urged to consult your tax advisors regarding the impact of our being a PFIC in any taxable year on your investment in our ADSs, Warrants and ordinary shares as well as the application of the PFIC rules.

Substantial future sales or the perception of sales of our ADSs or Class A ordinary shares could adversely affect the price of our ADSs.

Sales of substantial amounts of our ADSs in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur, could adversely affect the market price of our ADSs and could materially impair our ability to raise capital through equity offerings in the future. The ADSs to be sold in this offering will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, and shares held by our existing shareholders may also be sold in the public market in the future subject to the restrictions in Rule 144 and Rule 701 under the Securities Act and the applicable lock-up agreements. We cannot predict what effect, if any, market sales of securities held by our significant shareholders or any other shareholder or the availability of these securities for future sale will have on the market price of our ADSs.

In addition, if our shareholders sell or are perceived by the market to sell substantial amounts of our ADSs, including those issued upon the exercise of outstanding options, in the public market, the market price of our ADSs could fall. Such sales also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and price that we deem appropriate. If any existing shareholder or shareholders sell or are perceived by the market to sell a substantial amount of Class A ordinary shares, the prevailing market price for our ADSs could be adversely affected.

We may issue additional ordinary shares or ADSs for future acquisitions. If we pay for our future acquisitions in whole or in part with additionally issued ordinary shares or ADSs, your ownership interest in our company would be diluted and this, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on the price of our ADSs.

The market price for our ADSs may be volatile.

The market price for our ADSs is likely to be highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations in response to factors including the following:

In addition, the securities market has from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that are not related to the operating performance of particular companies. These market fluctuations may also materially and adversely affect the market price of our ADSs.

The Warrants are speculative in nature.

The Warrants offered by us do not confer any rights of ordinary share ownership on their holders, such as voting rights or the right to receive dividends, but rather merely represent the right to acquire our Class A ordinary shares at a fixed price. Specifically, as of the date of this prospectus, each Warrant represent the right of the holders thereof to purchase 0.1 ADS at an exercise price of US$3.7 per ADS, each ADS representing thirty Class A ordinary shares. The numbers of the ADSs and the exercise price of the Warrants have reflected the adjustments as the result of the change in ADS-to-Class A ordinary shares ratio from each ADS representing three Class A ordinary shares to each ADS representing thirty Class A ordinary shares effected on October 19, 2020.

There is no public market for the Warrants offered by us and we do not expect one to develop.

There is presently no established public trading market for the Warrants offered by us and we do not expect a market to develop. In addition, we do not intend to apply to list the Warrants or on any securities exchange or nationally recognized trading system, including the Nasdaq. Without an active market, the liquidity of the Warrants will be limited.

Purchasers of our Warrants will not have any rights of common shareholders until such Warrants are exercised.

The Warrants offered by us do not confer any rights of common share ownership on their holders, such as voting rights or the right to receive dividends, but rather merely represent the right to acquire common shares at a fixed price.

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

We have a dual-class share structure such that our ordinary shares consist of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Holders of our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares shall at all times vote together as one class on all resolutions submitted to a vote by our shareholders. Each Class A ordinary share shall entitle the holder thereof to one vote on all matters subject to vote at our general meetings, and each Class B ordinary share shall entitle the holder thereof to fifty votes on all matters subject to vote at our general meetings. Each Class B ordinary share is convertible into one Class A ordinary share at any time by the holder thereof, while Class A ordinary shares are not convertible into Class B ordinary shares under any circumstances. Upon any sale, transfer, assignment or disposition of any Class B ordinary share by the holder of such Class B ordinary share to any person who is not an affiliate of such shareholder, such Class B ordinary share shall be automatically and immediately converted into one Class A ordinary share.

Mr. Jun Zhu, our chairman and chief executive officer, beneficially owns all of our outstanding Class B ordinary shares. As of the date of this prospectus, Mr. Jun Zhu beneficially owned approximately 72.2% of the aggregate voting power of our company. As a result of the dual-class share structure and the concentration of ownership, holders of our Class B ordinary shares have considerable influence over matters such as decisions regarding mergers, consolidations and the sale of all or substantially all of our assets, election of directors and other significant corporate actions. They may take actions that are not in the best interest of us or our other shareholders. This concentration of ownership may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company, which could have the effect of depriving our other shareholders of the opportunity to receive a premium for their shares as part of a sale of our company and may reduce the price of our ADSs. This concentrated control will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could discourage others from pursuing any potential merger, takeover or other change of control transactions that holders of Class A ordinary shares and ADSs may view as beneficial. In addition, we may incur incremental compensation expenses to the holders of Class B ordinary share as a result of their becoming entitled to high votes on each Class B ordinary share.

The dual-class structure of our ordinary shares may adversely affect the trading market for our ADSs.

S&P Dow Jones and FTSE Russell have changed their eligibility criteria for inclusion of shares of public companies on certain indices, including the S&P 500, to exclude companies with multiple classes of shares and companies whose public shareholders hold no more than 5% of total voting power from being added to such indices. In addition, several shareholder advisory firms have announced their opposition to the use of multiple class structures. As a result, the dual class structure of our ordinary shares may prevent the inclusion of our ADSs representing Class A ordinary shares in such indices and may cause shareholder advisory firms to publish negative commentary about our corporate governance practices or otherwise seek to cause us to change our capital structure. Any such exclusion from indices could result in a less active trading market for our ADSs. Any actions or publications by shareholder advisory firms critical of our corporate governance practices or capital structure could also adversely affect the value of our ADSs.

Our shareholders may not have the same protections generally available to stockholders of other Nasdaq-listed companies because we are currently a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq Listing Rules.

Because Mr. Jun Zhu holds a majority of the total outstanding voting power in our company for the election of our board of directors, we are a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq Listing Rule 5615(c). As a controlled company, we qualify for, and our board of directors, the composition of which is controlled by Incsight Ltd. and Mr. Jun Zhu, may rely upon, exemptions from several of Nasdaq’s corporate governance requirements, including requirements that:

Accordingly, to the extent that we may choose to rely on one or more of these exemptions, our shareholders would not be afforded the same protections generally as shareholders of other Nasdaq-listed companies for so long as Mr. Zhu is able to control the composition of our board and our board determines to rely upon one or more of such exemptions.

The rights of our shareholders may differ from the rights typically offered to shareholders of a U.S. corporation.

We are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. The rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares and, therefore, certain of the rights of holders of our ADSs, are governed by Cayman Islands law, including the provisions of the Companies Act (2020 Revision) and by our Second Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association. These rights differ in certain respects from the rights of shareholders in typical U.S. corporations. See “Description of Share Capital — Differences in Corporate Law” in this prospectus for a description of certain key differences between the provisions of the Companies Act (2020 Revision) applicable to us and, for example, the Delaware General Corporation Law relating to shareholders’ rights and protections.

Our Second Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association contain anti-takeover provisions that could have a material adverse effect on the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares and ADSs.

Our Second Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association contain provisions to limit the ability of others to acquire control of our company or cause us to engage in change-of-control transactions. These provisions could have the effect of depriving our shareholders of an opportunity to sell their shares at a premium over prevailing market prices by discouraging third parties from seeking to obtain control of our company in a tender offer or similar transaction. Our dual-class voting structure gives disproportionate voting power to the holders of our Class B ordinary shares. In addition, our board of directors will have the authority, without further action by our shareholders, to issue preferred shares in one or more series and to fix their designations, powers, preferences, privileges, and relative participating, optional or special rights and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions, including dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption and liquidation preferences, any or all of which may be greater than the rights associated with our Class A ordinary shares, including Class A ordinary shares represented by ADS. Preferred shares could be issued quickly with terms calculated to delay or prevent a change in control of our company or make removal of management more difficult. If our board of directors decides to issue preferred shares, the price of our ADSs may fall and the voting and other rights of the holders of our Class A ordinary shares and ADSs may be materially and adversely affected.

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

Our corporate affairs are governed by our Second Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association and by the Companies Act (2020 Revision) and common law of 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 precedents in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a less developed body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and provides significantly less protection to investors. Therefore, our public shareholders may have more difficulties protecting their interests in the face of actions by our management, directors or controlling shareholders than would shareholders of a corporation incorporated in a jurisdiction in the United States. In addition, shareholders of Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholder derivative action before the federal courts of the United States. As a result, our shareholders may not be able to protect their interests if they are harmed in a manner that would otherwise enable them to sue in a United States federal court.

Your ability to bring an action against us or against our directors and officers, or to enforce a judgment against us or them, will be limited because we are incorporated in the Cayman Islands, because we conduct a substantial portion of our operations in China and because the majority of our directors and officers reside outside of the United States.

We are an exempted company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, substantially all of our assets are located in China and we conduct a substantial portion of our operations through our wholly-owned subsidiaries and affiliated entity in China. Most of our directors and officers reside outside of the United States and most of the assets of those persons are located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for you to bring an action against us or against these individuals in the United States in the event that you believe that your rights have been infringed under the securities laws or otherwise. Even if you are successful in bringing an action of this kind, the laws of the Cayman Islands and of China may render you unable to enforce a judgment against our assets or the assets of our directors and officers. See “Enforceability of Civil Liabilities.”

You may not be able to exercise your right to vote.

As a holder of ADSs, you will not have any direct right to attend general meetings of our shareholders or to cast any votes at such meetings. You may give voting instructions to the depositary of our ADSs to vote the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by your ADSs. Otherwise, you will not be able to exercise your right to vote with respect to the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by your ADSs unless you withdraw the shares and become the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date for the general meeting. However, you may not receive sufficient advance notice of a shareholders’ meeting to enable you to withdraw the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by your ADSs and become the registered holder of such shares to allow you to attend the general meeting and to vote directly with respect to any specific matter or resolution to be considered and voted upon at the general meeting. Pursuant to our Second Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, a shareholders’ meeting may be convened by us on seven business days’ notice. If we ask for your instructions, the depositary will notify you of the upcoming vote and arrange 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 the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by your ADSs. In addition, the depositary and its agents are not responsible for failing to carry out your voting instructions or for the manner of carrying out your voting instructions, if any such action or non-action is in good faith. This means that you may not be able to exercise your right to direct how the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by your ADSs are voted and you may have no legal remedy if the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by your ADSs are not voted as you requested.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or publish negative reports about our business, our share price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our ADSs depends, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts or the content that they publish about us. If our financial performance fails to meet analyst estimates or one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our ADSs or change their opinion of our ADSs, our ADS price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our ADS price or trading volume to decline.

Because we do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future, you must rely on a 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 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 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 our board of directors decides to declare and pay dividends, the timing, amount and form of future dividends, if any, will depend on 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 in the future 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.

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.

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 rights available to you in the United States unless we register the rights and the securities to which the rights relate under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, or an exemption from the registration requirements is available. Also, under the deposit agreement, the depositary will not make rights available to you unless the distribution to ADS holders of both the rights and any related securities 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. Moreover, we may not be able to establish an exemption from registration under the Securities Act. The depositary may, but is not required to, sell such undistributed rights to third parties in this situation. Accordingly, you may be unable to participate in our rights offerings and may experience dilution in your holdings.

You may not receive distributions on Class A ordinary shares or 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 Class A ordinary shares or other deposited securities after deducting its fees and expenses. You will receive these distributions in proportion to the number of Class A 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. We have no obligation to register ADSs, Class A ordinary shares, rights or other securities under U.S. securities laws. We also have no obligation to take any other action to permit the distribution of ADSs, Class A ordinary shares, rights or anything else to holders of ADSs. This means that you may not receive the distribution we make on our Class A ordinary shares or any value for them if it is illegal or impractical for us to make them available to you. These restrictions may have a material adverse effect on the value of your ADSs.

ADS 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 provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, ADS holders waive the right to a jury trial of 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 opposed a jury trial demand based on the waiver, the court would determine whether the waiver was enforceable based on the facts and circumstances of that case in accordance with the 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. In determining whether to enforce a contractual pre-dispute jury trial waiver provision, courts will generally consider whether a party knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily waived the right to a jury trial. We believe that this is 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 ADS holders 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 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 and / or the depositary. If a lawsuit is brought against us and/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 had, including results that could be less favorable to the plaintiffs in any such action.

Nevertheless, if this jury trial waiver provision is not permitted by applicable law, an action could proceed under the terms of the deposit agreement with a jury trial.

No provision of the deposit agreement or ADSs serves as a waiver by any ADS holder 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.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that reflect our current expectations and views of future events. The forward looking statements are contained principally in the sections entitled “Prospectus Summary,” “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Business.” Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those listed under “Risk Factors,” may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

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

These forward-looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties. Although we believe that our expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, our expectations may later be found to be incorrect. Our actual results could be materially different from our expectations. Important risks and factors that could cause our actual results to be materially different from our expectations are generally set forth in “Prospectus Summary—Our Challenges,” “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Business,” “Regulation” and other sections in this prospectus. You should thoroughly read this prospectus and the documents that we refer to with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from and worse than what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

The forward-looking statements made in this prospectus relate only to events or information as of the date on which the statements are made in this prospectus. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. You should read this prospectus and the documents that we refer to in this prospectus and have filed as exhibits to the registration statement, of which this prospectus is a part, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect.

USE OF PROCEEDS

We estimate that we will receive gross cash proceeds of approximately US$10.5 million if all of the Warrants and the Representative’s Warrants are exercised in full on a cash basis. We intend to use the proceeds from such exercise for (i) mobile games development and general corporate working capital, (ii) game license fee payment, and (iii) hyper-casual game operation.

Although we may use a portion of the net proceeds to acquire businesses, products, services or technologies, we do not have agreements or commitments for any material acquisitions as of the date of this prospectus. The amounts and timing of any expenditures will vary depending on the amount of cash generated by our operations, and the rate of growth, if any, of our business.

The foregoing represents our current intentions based upon our present plans and business conditions to use and allocate the proceeds of this offering. Our management, however, will have significant flexibility and discretion to apply the net proceeds of this offering. If an unforeseen event occurs or business conditions change, we may use the proceeds of this offering differently than as described in this prospectus. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to our ADSs, Warrants and this Offering—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.”

In using the proceeds of this offering, we are permitted under PRC laws and regulations as an offshore holding company to provide funding to our wholly foreign-owned subsidiary in China only through loans or capital contributions and to our variable interest entity only through loans, subject to the approval of government authorities and limit on the amount of capital contributions and loans, subject to satisfaction of applicable government registration and approval requirements. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain these government registrations or approvals on a timely basis, if at all. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—PRC regulation of direct investment and loans by offshore holding companies to PRC entities may delay or limit us from using offshore assets, including the proceeds of our initial public offering and this offering, to make additional capital contributions or loans to our PRC subsidiary.”

DIVIDEND POLICY

Our board of directors has discretion on whether to distribute dividends, subject to certain restrictions under Cayman Islands law, namely that our company may only pay dividends out of profits or share premium, and provided always that in no circumstances may a dividend be paid if this would result in our company being unable to pay its debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. In addition, our shareholders may by ordinary resolution declare a dividend, but no dividend may exceed the amount recommended by our board of directors. Even if our board of directors decides to pay dividends on our ordinary shares, the form, frequency and amount will depend upon our future operations and earnings, capital requirements and surplus, general financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant.

We do not have any present plan to pay any cash dividends on our ordinary shares in the foreseeable future after this offering. We currently intend to retain most, if not all, of our available funds and any future earnings to operate and expand our business.

We are a holding company incorporated in the Cayman Islands. We may rely on dividends from our subsidiary in China for our cash requirements, including any payment of dividends to our shareholders. PRC regulations may restrict the ability of our PRC subsidiary to pay dividends to us. See “Regulation—Regulations on Foreign Currency Exchange and Dividend Distribution” and “Taxation—People’s Republic of China Taxation.”

If we pay any dividends, we will pay those dividends which are payable in respect of the Class A ordinary shares underlying our ADSs to the depositary, as the registered holder of such Class A ordinary shares, and the depositary then will pay such amounts to our ADS holders in proportion to the Class A ordinary shares underlying the ADSs held by such ADS holders, subject to the terms of the deposit agreement, including the fees and expenses payable thereunder. See “Description of American Depositary Shares and Warrants.” Cash dividends on our Class A ordinary shares, if any, will be paid in U.S. dollars.

CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our capitalization as of June 30, 2020:

You should read this table together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus and the information under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

The above discussion and table are based on 153,597,691 Class A ordinary shares and 9,192,011 Class B ordinary shares outstanding ordinary shares as of June 30, 2020 and exclude the following:

ENFORCEABILITY OF CIVIL LIABILITIES

We are incorporated in the Cayman Islands to take advantage of certain benefits associated with being a Cayman Islands exempted company, such as:

However, certain disadvantages accompany incorporation in the Cayman Islands. These disadvantages include, but are not limited to:

Our constituent documents do not contain provisions requiring that disputes, including those arising under the securities laws of the United States, between us, our officers, directors and shareholders, be arbitrated.

Substantially all of our operations are conducted in China, and substantially all of our assets are located in China. Most of our directors and executive officers are nationals or residents of jurisdictions other than the United States and most of their assets are located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult for a shareholder 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 that your rights have been infringed under the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States.

We have appointed Puglisi & Associates located at 850 Library Avenue, Suite 204, Newark, Delaware 19711 as our agent upon whom process may be served in any action brought against us under the securities laws of the United States.

Maples and Calder (Hong Kong) LLP, our legal counsel as to Cayman Islands law, and Grandall Law Firm, our legal counsel as to PRC law, have advised us, respectively, that there is uncertainty as to whether the courts of the Cayman Islands and China, respectively, would:

We have been advised by our Cayman Islands legal counsel, Maples and Calder (Hong Kong) LLP, that although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the federal or state courts of the United States and that the Cayman Islands are not a party to any treaties for the reciprocal enforcement or recognition of such judgments, the courts of the Cayman Islands will, at common law, recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without re-examination of the merits of the underlying disputes based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the liquidated sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For such a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty and not obtained in a manner and is not of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands. A Cayman Islands court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.

Grandall Law Firm has further advised us that the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments are provided for under the PRC Civil Procedures Law. PRC courts may recognize and enforce foreign judgments in accordance with the requirements of the PRC Civil Procedures Law based either on treaties between China and the country where the judgment is made or on principles of reciprocity between jurisdictions. China does not have any treaties or other form of reciprocity with the United States or the Cayman Islands that provide for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. In addition, according to the PRC Civil Procedures Law, courts in the PRC will not enforce a foreign judgment against us or our directors and officers if they decide that the judgment violates the basic principles of PRC law or national sovereignty, security or public interest. As a result, it is uncertain whether and on what basis a PRC court would enforce a judgment rendered by a court in the United States or the Cayman Islands. Under the PRC Civil Procedures Law, foreign shareholders may originate actions based on PRC law against us in the PRC, if they can establish sufficient nexus to the PRC for a PRC court to have jurisdiction, and meet other procedural requirements, including, among others, the plaintiff must have a direct interest in the case, and there must be a concrete claim, a factual basis and a cause for the suit. However, it would be difficult for foreign shareholders to establish sufficient nexus to the PRC by virtue only of holding our ADSs or Class A ordinary shares.

CORPORATE HISTORY AND STRUCTURE

We were incorporated in the Cayman Islands on December 22, 1999 under the name GameNow.net Limited as an exempted company limited by shares and were renamed The9 Limited in February 2004. We formed GameNow, on January 17, 2000 in Hong Kong, as a wholly-owned subsidiary. We have historically conducted our operations in large part through The9 Computer, previously a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of GameNow in China that we disposed in February 2020. We now conduct our operations through Hui Ling Computer Technology Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of GameNow in China.

Our ADSs, each currently representing thirty Class A ordinary shares, are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. Our ADSs are traded under the symbol “NCTY.” Our ADSs had been listed on the Nasdaq Global Market from December 15, 2004 to October 2018. Effective October 19, 2020, we effected a change of the ratio of the ADS to our Class A ordinary shares from one ADS representing three Class A ordinary shares to one ADS representing thirty Class A ordinary shares. The change in the ratio of the ADS to our Class A ordinary shares had no impact on our underlying Class A ordinary shares, and no Class A ordinary shares were issued or cancelled in connection with the change in the ratio of the ADS to our Class A ordinary shares. As a result of such ADS ratio change, the exercise rate and the exercise price of the Warrants were adjusted from each Warrant representing the right of the holders thereof to purchase one ADS at an exercise price of US$0.37 per ADS, each ADS then representing three Class A ordinary shares, to each Warrant representing the right of the holders thereof to purchase 0.1 ADS at an exercise price of US$3.7 per ADS, each ADS representing thirty Class A ordinary shares, effective at the closing of business on October 19, 2020.

In September 2018, we completed a share exchange transaction with Leading Choice Holding Limited, or Leading Choice, a company incorporated in Hong Kong, and the shareholder of Leading Choice for the issuance and sale of 21,000,000 ordinary shares of our company to Leading Choice in exchange for 20% equity interest in Leading Choice at that time as consideration. In June 2020, we entered into a definitive agreement with a third party to sell the shares we held in Leading Choice for consideration of US$25,000. The transaction was closed in July 2020.

In September 2018, we completed a share exchange transaction with Plutux Limited, or Plutux, a company incorporated in Gibraltar, and a shareholder of Plutux for the issuance and sale of 21,000,000 ordinary shares of our company to the participating shareholder of Plutux in exchange for 8% equity interest in Plutux at that time as consideration.

In March 2019, we signed a joint venture agreement with F&F to establish a joint venture to manufacture, market, distribute, and sell electric vehicles in China. We subsequently amended the joint venture agreement in June, July and September 2019, respectively. Pursuant to the joint venture agreement and the amendments with F&F, we are obligated to make a total of US$600.0 million in total capital contribution to the joint venture which are payable in three installments as follows: (i) the first installment in the amount of US$200.0 million shall be contributed in in accordance with the payment schedule of license fees to be agreed in the license agreement with F&F, (ii) the second installment in the amount of US$200.0 million shall be contributed within two months (subject to an extension for one month at our discretion) after the definitive arrangement relating to the use right in a piece of land in China, and (iii) the third installment in the amount of US$200.0 million shall be contributed within two months (subject to an extension for one month at our discretion) after the achievement of certain car model design milestone by F&F. In March 2019, we borrowed an interest-free loan in a principal amount of US$5.0 million from Ark Pacific Associates Limited. In April 2019, the entire principal amount was paid out by Ark Pacific Associates Limited to F&F as non-refundable deposit, upon our request and on our behalf. In November 2020, we converted our initial deposit of US$5.0 million with F&F into 2,994,011 Class B ordinary shares of FF Intelligent Mobility Global Holdings Ltd. (formally known as Smart King Limited), the holding company of F&F that operates its electric vehicles business, at a pre-agreed conversion price set forth in the joint venture agreement. As a result of such conversion, the joint venture agreement and all amendments thereto with F&F were deemed to be terminated in accordance with the provisions thereof. We may consider to cooperate with F&F to the extent possible in the future.

We undertook a corporate restructure to facilitate the sale of the equity interests in certain subsidiaries that collectively held the properties previously mortgaged to secure the Convertible Notes. In September 2019, we entered into a definitive agreement with Kapler Pte. Ltd, an indirect subsidiary of Keppel Corporation Limited, a multi-business company providing solutions for sustainable urbanization, pursuant to which 100% equity interest in several then subsidiaries of our company in China, namely China The9 Interactive (Shanghai) Ltd., The9 Computer Technology Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Kaie Information Technology Co., Ltd., that collectively own Zhangjiang Micro-electronic Port Block #3 were sold to Kapler Pte. Ltd in exchange for consideration of RMB493.0 million. Other assets and liabilities previously held by the subsidiaries sold were transferred to Shanghai Hui Ling. We terminated the contractual arrangements between The9 Computer and Shanghai IT, and Shanghai Hui Ling entered into new contractual arrangements with Shanghai IT, replacing The9 Computer. The share pledge over the equity interest in The9 Computer to secure the Convertible Notes was released and de-registered in May 2019. This transaction was completed in February 2020.

On May 6, 2019, we held an extraordinary general meeting at which our shareholders approved, among other things, to adjust our authorized share capital and to adopt a dual-class share structure, consisting of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Each Class A ordinary share is entitled to one vote per share on all matters subject to vote at general meetings of our company. Each Class B ordinary share is entitled to fifty (50) votes per share on all matters subject to vote at general meetings of our company. The issued and outstanding ordinary shares then held by Incsight Limited, a British Virgin Islands business company, which is wholly owned by Mr. Jun Zhu, our chairman and chief executive officer, and the issued and outstanding ordinary shares then held by Mr. Jun Zhu himself, were re-designated and re-classified as Class B ordinary shares. All other ordinary shares then issued and outstanding were re-designated and re-classified as Class A ordinary shares. On the same date, we amended and restated our then effective Amended and Restated Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association in their entirety and adopted our Second Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association which reflect, among other things, the changes to our capital structure. As a result of such changes, Mr. Jun Zhu holds the majority of our outstanding voting power and we became a “controlled company” as defined under Nasdaq Stock Market Rules.

In May 2019, we entered into a joint venture agreement with EN+, to establish a joint venture to engage in sales of electric vehicle charging equipment, investment, construction and operation of charging stations, and provision of operational services relating to charging equipment and platforms for electric vehicles. Pursuant to the joint venture agreement, we will make a cash investment of RMB50.0 million in the joint venture in exchange for 80% equity interest in the joint venture, and EN+ will contribute its current and future proprietary electric vehicle charging technologies to the joint venture in exchange for 20% equity interest of the joint venture. Currently, we do not expect to pursue such joint venture opportunity with EN+.

In May 2019, we incorporated The9 EV Limited in Hong Kong, and The9 EV Limited holds 50% interest in FF The9 China Joint Venture Limited, the joint venture we established with F&F under the laws of Hong Kong in September 2019.

In June 2019, we and our wholly-owned subsidiary entered into a share purchase agreement with Comtec Windpark Renewable (Holdings) Co., Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Comtec Solar Systems Group Limited (SEHK: 00712). Pursuant to the share purchase agreement, we issued 3,444,882 Class A ordinary shares to purchase 9.9% equity interest in Zhenjiang Kexin Power System Design and Research Company, a lithium battery management system and power storage system supplier.

In July 2019, we entered into a convertible note purchase agreement with Jupiter Excel Limited, pursuant to which we agreed to sell and Jupiter agreed to purchase 12% convertible notes in an aggregate principal amount of US$30 million. The 2019 Convertible Notes would be funded in two tranches. The principal amount of tranche A and tranche B of the 2019 Convertible Notes would be US$10 million and US$20 million, respectively. The closing of the transaction was subject to certain closing conditions. Due to unfavorable market conditions and failure to satisfy the closing conditions, the proposed transaction was not closed and the convertible note purchase agreement was terminated in March 2020.

In July 2019, we entered in an amendment to the amended and restated license agreement dated October 31, 2017 with Smilegate and other parties thereto to extend the license period for game development till October 31, 2020. The license period for CrossFire New Mobile Game has expired and we are in the process of negotiating with Smilegate to re-gain the license for such game development. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain such license from Smilegate or launch CrossFire New Mobile Game. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to our Business and Industry—If we or our joint ventures fail to renew or acquire new online game licenses on favorable terms or at all, our future results of operations and profitability may be materially impacted” and “Risk Factors—Risks Related to our Business and Industry—If we are unable to successfully re-gain license for CrossFire New Mobile Game, launch or operate CrossFire New Mobile Game or other licensed games in China, our future results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.”

In February 2020, we issued and sold (i) a one-year convertible note in a principal amount of US$500,000, (ii) 70,000 ADSs, and (iii) 3,300,000 Class A ordinary shares, for an aggregate consideration of US$500,000 to Iliad. The convertible note bears interest at a rate of 6.0% per year, compounded daily. The convertible note was fully repaid and settled in December 2020.

On March 6, 2020, we received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of Nasdaq, notifying us that the minimum bid price per ADS was below US$1.00 for a period of 30 consecutive business days and we did not meet the minimum bid price requirement set forth in Rule 5550(a)(2) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules. Due to the tolling of compliance period through June 30, 2020, as determined by Nasdaq, we had until November 16, 2020, to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum bid price requirement. On November 2, 2020, we received a notification letter from Nasdaq stating that we have regained compliance with the minimum bid price requirement.

On April 13, 2020, we received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of Nasdaq, notifying us that we no longer met the continued listing standards of MVLS for the Nasdaq Capital Market, as set forth in the Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(2) because the market value of our securities listed on Nasdaq for the last 30 consecutive business days was below the minimum MVLS requirement of US$35.0 million. Pursuant to the Rule 5810(c)(3)(C) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules, we have a compliance period of 180 calendar days, or until October 12, 2020, to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum MVLS requirement. On August 5, 2020, we received a notification letter from Nasdaq stating that we have regained compliance with the minimum MVLS requirement.

In December 2018, we failed to repay the senior convertible notes issued and sold by us in December 2015 upon the maturity date and later entered into a deed of settlement and several amendments with Splendid Days, the holder of the Convertible Notes in relation to the repayment schedule for the overdue Convertible Notes. On May 29, 2020, we entered into a Settlement Deed with Splendid Days and other parties named therein relating to Convertible Notes repayment. Pursuant to the Settlement Deed, the interest rate on the Convertible Notes was retrospectively lowered from 12% to 7% per annum for the period commencing from the original Convertible Notes issuance date until February 21, 2020, the date on which interest stopped to accrue on the Convertible Notes. We settled approximately US$50.0 million of the total outstanding amount due to Splendid Days and its affiliates primarily relating to Convertible Notes in aggregate by cash and further settled the remaining portion on June 12, 2020 by an initial issuance of 32,400,000 Class A ordinary shares to Splendid Days. Those Class A ordinary shares are subject to certain lock-up conditions and the number of Class A ordinary shares held or to be held by Splendid Days may also be subject to quantitative adjustments based on the market value of our shares, as set forth in the Settlement Deed. In accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the Settlement Deed, the interest-free loan of US$5.0 million extended by Ark Pacific Associates Limited, an affiliate of Splendid Days, was waived in December 2020.

On June 17, 2020, our board of directors and board committees authorized and approved the issuance of an aggregate number of 29,100,000 restricted Class A ordinary shares of our company to certain directors, officers, employees and consultants of our company as share incentive awards for their services to us pursuant to our Eighth Amended and Restated 2004 Stock Option Plan. Among those restricted Class A ordinary shares grants, 15,600,000 restricted Class A ordinary shares are subject to restrictions on transferability that would be removed once certain pre-agreed performance targets are met, and 13,500,000 restricted Class A ordinary shares are subject to restrictions on transferability for a six-month period that would be removed in installments once certain service period conditions are met. As of the date of this prospectus, all the restrictions attached to those shares have been removed upon the satisfaction of the underlying targets and conditions.

In September 2020, we entered into a master cooperation and publishing agreement with Voodoo, a French game developer and publisher, to cooperate on the publishing and operations of casual games in China. In December 2020, we entered into an amendment to the master cooperation and publishing agreement to adjust the total consideration thereunder. Pursuant to the master cooperation and publishing agreement and its amendment, we obtained exclusive licenses of several games developed by Voodoo. Voodoo granted us an exclusive, sub-licensable license to test, perform, market, promote, distribute, reproduce, modify, support and/or otherwise use or exploit such games directly or through authorized contractors in China for a maximum period of three years, commencing upon the upload and distribution of the underlying games on any platform. In consideration for the exclusive license granted to us and as a minimum guarantee payment, as amended by the amendment to the master cooperation and publishing agreement, we should pay Voodoo an aggregate amount of US$13.0 million in cash based on the agreed timetable, including an upfront payment of US$3.0 million that we paid already.

In October 2020, we completed an offering by issuing 70,500,000 Class A ordinary shares and 27,025,000 Warrants to purchase 2,702,500 ADSs, each ADS representing thirty Class A ordinary shares and each warrant exercisable for the purchase of 0.1 ADS, including 3,525,000 Warrants to purchase an additional 352,500 ADSs, each ADS representing thirty Class A ordinary shares, pursuant to the over-allotment option granted to the underwriter to purchase additional warrants to cover over-allotments. In connection with such offering, we also issued Representative’s Warrants to purchase 117,500 ADSs, each representing thirty Class A ordinary shares, to the underwriter of the offering. We received net proceeds of US$8.1 million from such offering.

On November 12, 2020, we received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of Nasdaq, notifying us that we no longer met the continued listing standards of MVLS for the Nasdaq Capital Market, as set forth in the Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(2) because the market value of our securities listed on Nasdaq for the last 30 consecutive business days was below the minimum MVLS requirement of US$35.0 million. Pursuant to the Rule 5810(c)(3)(C) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules, we have a compliance period of 180 calendar days, or until May 11, 2021, to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum MVLS requirement. On January 21, 2021, we received a notification letter from Nasdaq stating that we have regained compliance with the minimum MVLS requirement.

On January 25, 2021, we entered into a Purchase Agreement with several investors in the cryptocurrencies mining industry, including Jianping Kong, the former Director and Co-Chairman of Canaan Inc. (Nasdaq: CAN), a Bitcoin mining machine manufacturer listed on Nasdaq, Qifeng Sun, Li Zhang and Enguang Li, based on the pre-agreed legally-binding term sheet. Those investors are collectively referred to as the Investors in this prospectus. Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, we issued 8,108,100 Class A ordinary shares in aggregate at US$0.1233 per Class A ordinary share and 207,891,840 warrants in aggregate, each warrant representing the right to purchase one Class A ordinary share, to the Investors in February 2020. The warrants are divided into four equal tranches: Tranche I Warrants, Tranche II Warrants, Tranche III Warrants and Tranche IV Warrants. The exercise price of each of the Tranche I Warrants, Tranche II Warrants and Tranche III Warrants is US$0.1233 per Class A ordinary share while the exercise price of the Tranche IV Warrants is US$0.2667 per Class A ordinary share. Each tranche of the warrants will only be exercisable upon the satisfaction of its respective condition in connection with the market capitalization of our company reaching US$100 million, US$300 million, US$500 million and US$1 billion within the timeframes of 6 months, 12 months, 24 months and 36 months from its issuance date, respectively. In addition, the Tranche III Warrants will be automatically forfeited with nil consideration in the event that the Tranche II Warrants fail to become exercisable within the specified timeframe and the Tranche IV Warrants will be automatically forfeited with nil consideration in the event that Tranche II or the Tranche III Warrants fail to become exercisable within the specified timeframe. The Investors shall make payment of the purchase price and the exercise price for the warrants in (i) cash, (ii) cryptocurrencies, or (iii) a combination of both, at our election. Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, upon the satisfaction of the market capitalization condition of Tranche III Warrants, the Investors will be entitled to collectively appoint one director to our board of directors. Such appointment right will automatically terminate on the later of (i) the third anniversary of the closing date, and (ii) the date on which the Investors collectively hold less than 5% of our total number of ordinary shares on a fully diluted basis. The Investors are expected to devote cryptocurrencies mining industry resources to us for our development of cryptocurrencies mining business.

In February 2021, we issued and sold (i) a one-year convertible note in a principal amount of US$5,000,000, (ii) 50,000 ADSs, and (iii) 10,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, for an aggregate consideration of US$5,000,000 to Streeterville. The convertible note bears interest at a rate of 6.0% per year, computed on the basis of a 360-day year. Streeterville has the right at any time after six months have elapsed since the purchase date until the outstanding balance has been paid in full, at its election, to convert all or any portion of the outstanding balance into ADSs of our company at an initial conversion price of US$14 per ADS, each ADS representing thirty Class A ordinary shares, subject to adjustment. Beginning on the date that is six months from the note purchase date, Streeterville has the right, exercisable at any time in its sole and absolute discretion, to redeem any portion of the convertible note up to US$840,000 per calendar month. Payment of the redemption amount could be in cash or our ADSs, provided that any redemptions made in cash which exceed half of the original principal amount will be subject to a ten percent (10%) premium. In the event the principal amount and interest accrued for the convertible note issued to Streeterville are fully repaid, we have the right to repurchase the remaining Class A ordinary shares held by Streeterville that are unsold at US$0.0001 per share.

In February 2021, NBTC Limited, our wholly-owned subsidiary, signed a strategic cooperation framework purchase agreement, or the Cooperation Agreement, with Shenzhen MicroBT Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., the manufacturer of WhatsMiner bitcoin mining machines. Pursuant to the Cooperation Agreement, upon the payment of a deposit, NBTC Limited has the right of first offer to purchase 5,000 WhatsMiner bitcoin mining machines from MicroBT within one year, including but not limited to models M32 and M31S. We completed first batch purchase of 440 WhatsMiner M32 machines in February 2020. Other than WhatsMiner bitcoin mining machines, we also plan to continue purchasing different types of cryptocurrency mining machines in the near future.

In February 2021. we entered into a standby equity distribution agreement, or the SEDA, with YA II PN, LTD., a Cayman Islands exempt limited partnership managed by Yorkville Advisor Global, LP, or the Purchaser, pursuant to which we are able to sell up to US$100.0 million of our ADSs solely at our request at any time during the 36 months following the date of the SEDA. Pursuant to the SEDA, the preliminary purchase price per ADS, or the Preliminary Purchase Price, shall initially be 90% of the average of the 3 lowest daily volume weighted average price of our ADSs during the five consecutive trading days immediately prior to the delivery of an advance notice by us, or the Preliminary Pricing Period (the date of payment of Preliminary Purchase Price being the Preliminary Closing Date), which shall be adjusted to the greater of (A) 90% of the average of the 3 lowest daily volume weighted average price of our ADSs during the Preliminary Pricing Period and during the five consecutive trading days commencing on the trading day immediately following the Preliminary Closing Date, or commencing on the Preliminary Closing Date if the ADSs are received by the Purchaser prior to the close of trading on the Preliminary Closing Date, or the Secondary Pricing Period, or (B) 85% of the average of the five daily volume weighted average price of our ADSs during the Secondary Pricing Period, or the Final Purchase Price. If the Final Purchase Price is less than the Preliminary Purchase Price, we shall deliver additional shares to the Purchaser. If the Final Purchase Price is greater than the Preliminary Purchase Price, the Purchaser shall make payment of the additional amount to us. The purchase would be subject to certain ownership limitations as provided under the SEDA. The Purchaser has agreed that, during the term of the SEDA, neither the Purchaser nor its affiliates will engage in any short sales or hedging transactions with respect to the Company’s Class A ordinary shares or ADSs. We intend to use the proceeds from the potential offering of the ADSs pursuant to the SEDA to fund our business growth.

In February 2021, we entered into purchase agreements with five Bitcoin mining machine owners to purchase Bitcoin mining machines by issuance of our Class A ordinary shares. Pursuant to the purchase agreements, we issued an aggregate of 26,838,360 Class A ordinary shares in exchange for 26,007 Bitcoin mining machines, with a total hash rate of approximately 549PH/S, accounting for about 0.36% of the global hash rate of Bitcoin. Majority of these mining machines have already been deployed in Xinjiang, Sichuan and Gansu in China. The number of Class A ordinary shares issued to each owner was determined based on the fair market value of Bitcoin mining machines, as apprised by an independent valuation firm prior to the execution of the purchase agreements, at a pre-agreed per share price of approximately US$0.37 per Class A ordinary share (equivalent to US$11.18 per ADS).

On February 8, 2021, we further entered into six legally-binding memoranda of understanding, or collectively, MOUs, with six unrelated Bitcoin mining machine owners to purchase Bitcoin mining machines by issuance of our Class A ordinary shares. This batch of Bitcoin mining machines includes different brands such as WhatsMiner, AntMiner and AvalonMiner, with a total number of 10,489 units and a total hash rate of approximately 251PH/S. These Bitcoin mining machines have already been deployed in Qinghai, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia in China. Pursuant to the MOUs, we may issue approximately 7,178,160 Class A ordinary shares based on a per share price of approximately US$0.78 (equivalent toUS$23.35 per ADS). The underlying shares will be subject to a lock-up period of six months. We will designate a third-party valuation firm to conduct examination and assessment of the fair market price of the Bitcoin mining machines. The definitive agreements and transactions are expected to be executed and completed within one month after the signing of the MOUs. We expect to begin cryptocurrency mining activities in the first quarter of 2021.

Due to the current restrictions on foreign ownership of ICP and Internet culture operation in China, currently, we primarily rely on Shanghai The9 Information Technology Co., Ltd., or Shanghai IT, our affiliated PRC entity, in holding certain licenses and approvals necessary for our business online game operations through a series of contractual arrangements with Shanghai IT and its shareholders. See “Corporate History and Structure—Arrangements with Affiliated PRC Entity” for details of the contractual arrangements with Shanghai IT and its shareholders. We do not hold any equity interest in Shanghai IT.

The following diagram summarizes our corporate structure chart, including our significant subsidiaries, variable interest entity and its subsidiaries, as of the date of this prospectus.

Arrangements with Affiliated PRC Entity

Current PRC laws and regulations impose substantial restrictions on foreign ownership of entities involved in ICP, Internet culture operation and Internet publishing businesses, including online game operations, in China. Therefore, we conduct part of our activities through a series of agreements with Shanghai IT, our key affiliated PRC entity. Shanghai IT holds the requisite licenses and approvals for conducting ICP, Internet culture operation and Internet publishing businesses in China. Shanghai IT is owned by our employee Wei Ji, who acquired his equity interests in Shanghai IT from Jun Zhu in November 2011, and our employee Zhimin Lin, who acquired his equity interests in Shanghai IT from Yong Wang in April 2014.

We have obtained the exclusive right to benefit from Shanghai IT’s licenses and approvals. In addition, through a series of contractual arrangements with Shanghai IT and its shareholders, we are able to direct and control the operation and management of Shanghai IT. We believe that the individual shareholders of Shanghai IT will not receive material personal benefits from these agreements except as shareholders or employees of The9 Limited.

We do not believe we could have obtained these agreements, taken as a whole, from unrelated third parties. Because of the uncertainty relating to the legal and regulatory environment in China, the terms of most of the agreements were not defined unless terminated by the parties thereto. According to our PRC counsel, Grandall Law Firm, subject to the interpretation and implementation of the GAPP Circular and the Network Publication Measures, these agreements, except those that have already been terminated, are valid, binding and enforceable under the current laws and regulations of China. The principal provisions of these agreements are described below.

Exclusive Technical Service Agreement. We provide Shanghai IT with technical services for the operation of computer software and related businesses, including the provision of systematic solutions for the operation of Internet websites, the rental of computer and Internet facilities, daily maintenance of Internet servers and databases, the development and update of relevant computer software, and all other related technical and consulting services. Shanghai IT pays service fees to us on a monthly basis. We are the exclusive provider of these services to Shanghai IT. According to the relevant PRC rules and regulations, related party transactions should be negotiated at the arm’s length basis and apply reasonable transfer pricing methods. However, the determination of service fees is under the sole discretion of us. This agreement shall remain in force indefinitely unless the parties agree in writing to terminate in advance.

Shareholder Voting Proxy Agreement. Each of the shareholders of Shanghai IT has entered into a shareholder voting proxy agreement with us, under which each shareholder of Shanghai IT irrevocably grants any third parties designated by us the power to exercise all voting rights to which he/she is entitled as a shareholder of Shanghai IT, including the right to attend shareholders meetings, to exercise voting rights and to appoint directors, a general manager, and other senior management of Shanghai IT. The power of proxy is irrevocable and may only be terminated at our discretion.

Call Option Agreement. We entered into a call option agreement with each of the shareholders of Shanghai IT, under which the parties irrevocably agreed that, at our sole discretion, we and/or any third parties designated by us will be entitled to acquire all or part of the equity interests in Shanghai IT, to the extent permitted by the then-effective PRC laws and regulations. The consideration for such acquisition will be the price equal to the lower of the amount of the registered capital of Shanghai IT and the minimum amount permissible by the then-applicable PRC law. The shareholders of Shanghai IT have also agreed not to enter into any transaction, or fail to take any action, that would substantially affect the assets, liabilities, equity, operations or other legal rights of Shanghai IT without our prior written consent, including, without limitation, declaration and distribution of dividends and profits; sale, assignment, mortgage or disposition of, or encumbrances on, Shanghai IT’s equity; merger or consolidation; creation, assumption, guarantee or incurrence of any indebtedness; entering into other materials contracts. This agreement shall not expire until such time as we acquire all equity interests of Shanghai IT subject to applicable PRC laws.

Loan Agreement. From 2002 to May 2005, we provided an aggregate of RMB23.0 million in loan to the then shareholders of Shanghai IT, namely Jun Zhu and Yong Wong, for the purposes of capitalizing and increasing the registered capital of Shanghai IT. Such loan agreement was assumed by the current shareholders of Shanghai IT when Jun Zhu transferred the equity interest in Shanghai IT to Wei Ji in 2011 and Yong Wang transferred the equity interests in Shanghai IT to Zhimin Lin in 2014. In May 2019, we terminated such loan agreement and entered into a new loan agreement among the shareholders of Shanghai IT and Shanghai Hui Ling, a subsidiary of us. Pursuant to the terms of this new loan agreement, we granted an interest-free loan to each shareholder of Shanghai IT for the explicit purpose of making a capital contribution to Shanghai IT. The loans have an unspecified term and will remain outstanding for the shorter of the duration of Shanghai Hui Ling or that of the Shanghai IT, or until such time that we elect to terminate the agreement (which is at our sole discretion) at which point the loans are payable on demand. Such loan shall only become immediately due and payable when we send a written notice to the borrowers requesting repayment. Currently, Zhimin Lin and Wei Ji have pledged all of their equity interests in Shanghai IT in favor of us under the equity pledge agreements. In the event of a breach of any term in the loan agreement or any other agreements by either Shanghai IT or its shareholders, we will be entitled to enforce our rights as a pledgee under the agreement.

Equity Pledge Agreements. To secure the full performance by Shanghai IT or its shareholders of their respective obligations under the Shareholder Voting Proxy Agreement, the Call Option Agreement and the Loan Agreement, the shareholders of Shanghai IT have pledged all of their equity interests in Shanghai IT in favor of us under two equity pledge agreements. In addition, the dividend distributions to the shareholders of Shanghai IT, if any, will be deposited in an escrow account over which we have exclusive control. The pledge shall remain effective until all obligations under such agreements have been fully performed. The shareholder has the obligation to maintain ownership and effective control over the pledged equity. Under no circumstances, without our prior written consent, may the shareholder transfer or otherwise encumber any equity interests in Shanghai IT. If any event of default as provided for therein occurs, Shanghai Hui Ling, as the pledgee, will be entitled to dispose of the pledged equity interests through transfer or assignment and use the proceeds to repay the loans or make other payments due under the above loan agreement up to the loan amounts. Each of the shareholders of Shanghai IT has registered the pledge of its equity interests with the relevant local administration for market regulation pursuant to the PRC Property Rights Law. In the event of a breach of any term in the above agreements by either Shanghai IT or its shareholders, we will be entitled to enforce our pledge rights over such pledged equity interests to compensate for any and all losses suffered from such breach.

In the opinion of Grandall Law Firm, our PRC counsel:

However, there are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current and future PRC laws, regulations and rules. The PRC regulatory authorities may in the future take a view that is contrary to the above opinion of our PRC counsel. If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating our business do not comply with PRC government restrictions on foreign investment in value-added telecommunications services business, such as the internet content provision services, we could be subject to severe penalties, including being prohibited from continuing operations. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure—Our current corporate structure and business operations may be affected by the Foreign Investment Law.”

SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

The following selected consolidated statement of operation data for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019, selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2018 and 2019 and selected consolidated cash flow data for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The following selected consolidated statement of operation data for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2016, the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017 and the selected consolidated cash flow data for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements not included in this prospectus. The following summary consolidated statements of operation data for the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2020, summary consolidated balance sheet data as of June 30, 2020 and summary consolidated cash flow data for the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2020 are derived from our unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus and have been prepared on the same basis as our audited consolidated financial statements and include all adjustments, consisting only of normal and recurring adjustments, that we consider necessary for a fair statement of our financial position and results of operations for the periods presented. Our audited consolidated financial statements are prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our historical results do not necessarily indicate results expected for any future periods. You should read this Selected Consolidated Financial Data section together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The following table presents our selected consolidated statement of operation data for the year ended December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019 and the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2020.