The following selected consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) data for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, and consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements that are included in this annual report beginning on page F-1. The following selected consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) data for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013 and consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements that are not included in this annual report.

Our historical results do not necessarily indicate results expected for any future periods.

Non-GAAP Measures

We use non-GAAP EBITDA, non-GAAP net income from continuing operations and non-GAAP diluted EPS from continuing operations, in evaluating our operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes.

We believe that non-GAAP EBITDA, non-GAAP net income from continuing operations and non-GAAP diluted EPS from continuing operations help identify underlying trends in our business that could otherwise be distorted by the effect of certain income or expenses that we include in income from operations from continuing operations, net income from continuing operations and diluted EPS from continuing operations. We believe that non-GAAP EBITDA, non-GAAP net income from continuing operations and non-GAAP diluted EPS from continuing operations provide useful information about our core operating results, enhance the overall understanding of our past performance and future prospects and allow for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by management in our financial and operational decision-making.

Non-GAAP EBITDA, non-GAAP net income from continuing operations and non-GAAP diluted EPS from continuing operations should not be considered in isolation or construed as an alternative to income from operations from continuing operations, net income from continuing operations, diluted EPS from continuing operations, or any other measure of performance or as an indicator of our operating performance. These non-GAAP financial measures presented here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures to our data.

Non-GAAP EBITDA represents income (loss) from continuing operations, excludes interest and financing expenses, interest income, net other income (expenses) and income tax benefit (expenses), and certain non-cash expenses, consisting of share-based compensation expenses, amortization and depreciation that we do not believe are reflective of our core operating performance during the periods presented.

Non-GAAP net income from continuing operations represents net income from continuing operations before share-based compensation expenses, and foreign exchange gain or loss.

Non-GAAP diluted EPS from continuing operations represents non-GAAP net income attributable to ordinary shareholders from continuing operations divided by the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the periods on a diluted basis, including accounting for the effect of the assumed conversion of options.

The table below sets forth a reconciliation of our income (loss) from continuing operations to non-GAAP EBITDA for the periods indicated:

The following table sets forth a reconciliation of our net income from continuing operations to non-GAAP net income from continuing operations for the periods indicated:

The following table sets forth a reconciliation of our diluted EPS from continuing operations to non-GAAP diluted EPS from continuing operations for the periods indicated:

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Risks Related to Our Company

Our business growth relies on our ability to react to infectious disease threats and to continually introduce new vaccine products into the commercial market. Our failure to effectively develop and commercialize new products could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

The biopharmaceutical market in general and the vaccine product market in particular are developing rapidly as a result of ongoing infectious disease threats and new trends in the related research and technology developments. Consequently, our success depends on our ability to react to disease and technology development trends and to identify, develop and commercialize in a timely and cost-effective manner effective vaccine products that meet evolving market needs.

Whether we are successful in developing and commercializing new products is determined by, among other things, our ability to:

Although we are profitable in 2017, we incurred a loss in 2016 as well as in the past years, and may incur losses again in the future.

Biopharmaceutical product development is a highly speculative undertaking and involves a substantial degree of risk. We have incurred substantial losses since our inception. Although we were profitable in 2013, we incurred a loss again in 2014, 2015 and 2016. In the past years, the loss was caused primarily by research and development expenses. None of the research and development expenses incurred were capitalized in our financial statements. We intend to continue to invest in research and development to sustain our long-term growth. We expect our research and development expenses to fluctuate depending on the progress we make on each project, with relatively more spending on clinical studies than preclinical studies. We expect that our spending on research and development will have a negative impact on our future net earnings. As a result, we may incur losses in the future, which will have an adverse impact on our working capital, total assets, shareholders’ equity and cash flow.

We sell vaccines in China through Centers for Disease Control, or CDCs, which are PRC government agencies. This exposes us to risks relating to doing business with the government.

We sell our vaccines to CDCs, which exposes us to various risks relating to doing business with the government. For example, demand and ability to pay for our products may be affected by government budgetary cycles, shifting availability of public funds and changes in policy. Funding reductions, delays in payment or unilateral demands for changes to the terms of our contracts by our government customers could adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition, exacerbate the existing seasonality of our revenues and make it difficult for us to allocate resources or anticipate demand for our products. More importantly, we have little or no control over government procurement decisions, and government agencies that contract to purchase our products may reduce or cancel orders, or demand price adjustments or other changes to their contracts with us without our consent. Changes in the personnel of the PRC government agencies that purchase our products may result in changes or delays to or cancellations of purchase commitments due to, among others, differing policy and budgetary agendas of the personnel involved. Similar changes could occur if CDC or other relevant government agency were to be consolidated with another ministry. Any of the above mentioned actions taken by government agencies could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and expected earnings, or result in our failure to meet, or having to adjust downwards, our sales and gross margin guidance or estimates, which could adversely affect our stock price and result in substantial losses to you. In addition, many of the remedies that are available to us when dealing with private parties, such as making claims for breach of contract or taking other legal actions, may not be available or practicable in our dealings with government agencies.

We currently have limited revenue sources. A reduction in revenues from sales of Inlive, Healive, Bilive or Anflu would cause our revenues to decline and could materially harm our business.

We generate all of our revenues from sales of our vaccine products. We derive a substantial percentage of our revenues from a small number of vaccine products. Inlive (enterovirus 71, or EV71, vaccine) contributed 69.6% and 48.5% of our revenue in 2017 and 2016, respectively. In 2017, 2016 and 2015, 15.7%, 27.7% and 39.8%, respectively, of our revenues were from sales of Healive; 6.0%, 0.8% and 33.5%, respectively, of our revenues were from sales of Bilive; 7.8%, 13.6% and 18.8%, respectively, of our revenues were from sales of Anflu; and nil, 8.8% and 5.7%, respectively, of our revenues were from sales of Panflu (H5N1). However, revenue recognition of Panflu (H5N1) is not recurring due to its government stockpile nature, which may cause fluctuation of our revenue. As a result of this relative lack of product diversification, an investment in our company would be riskier than investments in companies that offer a wide variety of products or services.

We expect our key products, which will likely shift over time, to account for a significant portion of our net revenues for the foreseeable future. As a result, continued market acceptance and popularity of these products are critical to our success and a reduction in demand due to, among other factors, the introduction of competing products by our competitors, the entry of new competitors, or end-users’ dissatisfaction with the quality of our products, could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We could be subject to costly and time-consuming product liability actions and, because our insurance coverage is limited, our exposure to such claims could cause significant financial burden.

Our business exposes us to potential product liability risks that are inherent in the testing, manufacturing and marketing of biopharmaceutical products. We manufacture vaccines that are injected into healthy people to protect against infectious illnesses. If our products do not function as anticipated, whether as a result of flaws in our design, unanticipated health consequences or side effects, misuse or mishandling by third parties, or faulty or contaminated supplies, they could harm the vaccines and, as a result, subject us to product liability lawsuits. Claims against us also could be based on failure to immunize as anticipated. Any product liability claim brought against us, with or without merit, could have a material adverse effect on us. Meritless and unsuccessful product liability claims can be time-consuming and expensive to defend and could result in the diversion of management’s attention from managing our core business or result in associated negative publicity.

Successful assertion of product liability claims against us could require us to pay significant monetary damages. Although we currently carry worldwide product liability insurance for Healive, Bilive, Anflu, Panflu and Inlive worldwide, we cannot assure you that such coverage will be sufficient to cover any liabilities resulting from successful product liability claims. In such a case, we may be required to make substantial payments to cover any losses, damages or liabilities arising from product liability claims. For any amounts covered by insurance, foreign exchange or other regulatory restrictions may prevent the use of insurance proceeds to meet the liabilities. In addition, we do not have or plan to procure clinical trial liability insurance for our clinical trials to mitigate any unsuccessful clinical trial expenses or product liability claims arising therefrom. Any of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Any pandemic threat may abate, or alternative vaccines or technologies may be adopted, before our vaccines achieve significant sales.

We have devoted significant resources to research and develop various vaccines to address the pandemic threat of infectious diseases, including SARS, avian flu and swine flu, and will continue to devote resources to the development of our vaccines to address any new needs.

However, the threat of a pandemic outbreak may subside before we realize any return on our investment in our research and development. For example, although we believe we were the first company to complete a phase I clinical trial of an inactivated SARS vaccine in December 2004, we did not proceed with the phase II and phase III trials as the SARS epidemic subsequently subsided. Other organizations may obtain licenses for their own pandemic vaccines, or government health organizations may acquire adequate stockpiles of pandemic vaccine or adopt other technologies or strategies to prevent or limit outbreaks before our pandemic vaccines achieve significant sales. We may not achieve a return on our investment before the threat of a pandemic outbreak subsides or a competing product is adopted.

Failure to comply with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or the FCPA, and other applicable anti-corruption laws could subject us to penalties and other adverse consequences and corrupt practices by our competitors may place us at a competitive disadvantage.

Our executive officers, employees and other agents may violate applicable laws in connection with the marketing or sale of our products, including the FCPA and applicable anti-corruption laws in China and other jurisdictions in which our products are sold or registered for sale. The FCPA generally prohibits United States issuers from engaging in bribery or other prohibited payments to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business and requires issuers to maintain reasonable internal controls. The PRC also strictly prohibits bribery of government officials. We have adopted a policy regarding compliance with the FCPA and other applicable anti-corruption laws to prevent, detect and correct such corrupt practice. However, corruption, extortion, bribery, pay-offs, theft and other fraudulent practices occur from time to time in the PRC and the countries in which we seek to do business. While we have sought to enhance measures and controls to ensure compliance with the FCPA and other applicable anti-corruption laws by individuals involved with our company, our existing compliance policies and procedures may be insufficient or may fail to prevent our employees or other agents from engaging in inappropriate conduct for which we might be held responsible. If our employees or other agents are found to have engaged in such practices, we could suffer severe penalties and other consequences that may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, our brand and reputation, our sales activities or the price of our common shares could be adversely affected if we become the target of any negative publicity as a result of actions taken by our employees or other agents.

As discussed under “Item 8. Financial Information — A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information — Legal and Administrative Proceedings,” we have conducted an internal investigation regarding FCPA related matters and have informed NASDAQ, the SEC and DOJ regarding these matters. At this time, we are unable to predict, what, if any, action may be taken by NASDAQ, the SEC and/or DOJ or any penalties or remedial measures these agencies may seek. Any determination that our operations or activities are not in compliance with existing laws or regulations could result in the imposition of fines, civil and criminal penalties, disgorgement and equitable remedies, including disgorgement or injunctive relief. The imposition of any of these sanctions or remedial measures could have a material adverse effect on our business.

In addition, there may be corrupt practices in the healthcare industry in China and other countries in which we conduct business. For example, in order to secure agreements with CDCs or hospitals in China, our competitors may engage in corrupt practices in order to influence decision-makers in violation of the anti-corruption laws of China and the FCPA. As competition persists and intensifies in our industry, we may lose potential clients, client referrals and other opportunities to the extent that our competitors engage in such practices or other illegal activities.

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 common shares.

We are subject to the reporting obligations under U.S. securities laws. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and related rules require public companies to include a report of management on their internal control over financial reporting in their annual reports. This report must contain an assessment by management of the effectiveness of a public company’s internal control over financial reporting. In addition, an independent registered public accounting firm for a public company must attest to and report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.

Our management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting is effective as of December 31, 2017. See “Item 15. Controls and Procedures.” Our independent registered public accounting firm has issued an attestation report on our internal control over financial report, which concludes that our internal control over financial reporting is effective in all material aspects. However, we cannot assure you that any material weakness or deficiency in our internal control over financial reporting will not be identified in the future. We may not always be able to maintain an effective internal control over financial reporting. If we fail to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in the future, we and our independent registered public accounting firm may not be able to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting at a reasonable assurance level. This could in turn result in the loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial statements and negatively impact the trading price of our common shares, inhibiting our ability to raise sufficient capital on favorable terms. 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.

If we are unable to successfully compete in the highly competitive biopharmaceutical industry, our business could be harmed.

We operate in a highly competitive environment and we expect the competition to increase in the future. Our competitors include large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, both domestic and international. Many of these competitors have greater resources than we do. New competitors may also enter into the markets in which we compete. Accordingly, even if we are successful in launching a product, we may not be able to outperform a competing product for any number of reasons, including the possibility that the competitor may:

The technologies applied by our competitors and us are rapidly evolving and new developments frequently result in price competition and product obsolescence. In addition, we may be impacted by competition from generic forms of our products, substitute products or imports of products from lower-priced markets. For a detailed description of our competitors in EV71 vaccine, hepatitis A vaccines, hepatitis A and B vaccines and influenza vaccines, please see “Item 4. Information on the Company — B. Business Overview — Competition.”

We may not be able to maintain market share in China with our commercialized vaccines, which could adversely affect our ability to increase our revenues.

We used to estimate our market share in China based on the batch release number published by the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control, or NIFDC, which represents the market share estimated based on published supply quantity, but not the actual number of sales in the market.

We started to market our EV71 vaccine in 2016. We supplied 18.8% and 52.5% of the EV71 vaccine market in China in 2017 and 2016, respectively.

We supplied 18.0%, 9.7% and 16.9% of the total hepatitis A vaccine market in China, or 75.8%, 76.3% and 89.8% of the inactivated hepatitis A vaccine market in China in 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively, as measured by lot release number. We may not be able to compete with other hepatitis A suppliers for either the private-pay market or public market, which could adversely affect our ability to increase our revenues from hepatitis A vaccine.

We have been marketing and selling seasonal flu vaccines since 2006. We supplied 12.7%, 9.9% and 10.9% of the seasonal flu vaccine market in China in 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. The flu vaccine market in China is highly competitive. Our revenue could be adversely impacted if we are not able to maintain our market share in this highly competitive market.

We may not be able to maintain market share in the government-funded hepatitis A vaccine market, or other government-funded vaccine markets, which could adversely affect our revenues, and if we do maintain or expand market share in these markets, we may need to sell our vaccines at a lower price, which could adversely affect our gross margin.

Hepatitis A vaccines have been included in the Expanded Program on Immunization, or EPI, in China since 2007. The PRC government purchases hepatitis A vaccines for each 18-month-old child.

Although the hepatitis A vaccines have been included in the EPI, most provincial and municipal governments are not able to afford the two shots of inactivated hepatitis A vaccines due to insufficient financial support, which constrains the purchase of inactivated hepatitis A vaccines in government-funded markets. Most provincial and municipal governments prefer to purchase lower-priced live attenuated hepatitis A vaccines; however, a few affluent provincial and municipal governments, such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Jiangsu province, have started to purchase inactivated hepatitis A vaccines. We are supplying vaccines in these markets at a lower price than we do in the private market, which could adversely affect our gross margin. Our revenue could be adversely impacted if we are not able to maintain our market share of the government-funded markets in these cities and provinces. As we are making efforts to breakthrough into additional provincial and municipal public markets, we may be forced to lower our prices to win tenders, which will adversely affect our gross margin.

Since 2007, we have been selected as one of the suppliers by Beijing CDC to supply seasonal influenza vaccines to Beijing citizens. We cannot assure you that we will continue to obtain orders in the future and maintain our market share. If the supply volume continues to decrease, it would negatively impact our sales revenue in the future.

Since 2008, we have received three stockpiling orders for our H5N1 vaccine from China’s central government every two years in an amount of three million doses per order, and three stockpiling orders from Beijing government in an amount of 20,000 doses per order. The latest batch of stockpiled H5N1 vaccines for the central government has expired in the first half of 2016 and we recognized the revenue upon the government inspection. We cannot assure you that we will receive additional stockpiling orders from governments in the future.

If CDCs, hospitals, physicians and vaccinees do not accept our products, we may be unable to generate significant revenue.

Even if we have obtained regulatory approval for commercialization of our vaccines, they still may not gain market acceptance among CDCs, hospitals, physicians, vaccinees and the medical community, which would limit our ability to generate revenue and adversely affect our results of operations. CDCs, hospitals and physicians may not recommend products developed by us or our collaborators until clinical data or other factors demonstrate superior or comparable safety and efficacy of our products as compared to other available treatments. Even if the clinical safety and efficacy of our products are established, CDCs, hospitals and physicians may elect not to recommend these products for a variety of reasons. There are other vaccines and treatment options for the conditions that many of our products and product candidates target, such as EV71, hepatitis A and B and influenza. In order to successfully launch a product, we must educate physicians and vaccinees about the relative benefits of our products. If our products are not perceived as easy and convenient to use, perceived to present a greater risk of side effects or are not perceived to be as effective as other available treatments, CDCs, hospitals, physicians and vaccinees might not adopt our products. A failure of our products to gain commercial acceptance would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our ongoing litigation seeking a determination whether the actions of certain shareholders constitute a trigger event under our shareholder rights plan, or our Rights Plan, could have a material adverse effect on the results of our operations and our financial condition.

On March 5, 2018, our company filed a lawsuit in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware seeking a determination whether certain of our shareholders, including 1Globe Capital LLC, or 1Globe, The Chiang Li Family, OrbiMed Advisors LLC and OrbiMed Capital LLC, or OrbiMed, and certain additional shareholders (collectively, the “Shareholder Group”) had triggered our Rights Plan, by forming a group holding approximately 45% of outstanding shares, in excess of the plan's threshold of 15%, and acting in concert prior to our 2017 annual general meeting of shareholders, or the 2017 AGM. Our Rights Plan is intended to promote the fair and equal treatment of all Sinovac shareholders and ensure that no person or group can gain control of Sinovac through undisclosed voting arrangements, open market accumulation or other tactics potentially disadvantaging the interest of all our shareholders.

On April 12, 2018, 1Globe filed an amended answer to our complaint, counterclaims, and a third-party complaint against Mr. Weidong Yin alleging, among other allegations, that our Rights Plan is not valid, that Mr. Weidong Yin and the Buyer Consortium (described below), had previously triggered our Rights Plan, and that 1Globe did not trigger our Rights Plan. We, and our board of directors, believe that the actions taken by the board of directors were appropriate under the circumstances and in the interest of all our shareholders. We also believe that the allegations of the counterclaim and third-party complaint are without merit. 1Globe asks for various measures of equitable relief and also includes a claim for its costs, including attorneys’ fees.

The litigation is currently in the pre-trial phase with a decision expected before the end of 2018, subject to appeal.

The Company cannot predict the outcome of the litigation, including whether our Rights Plan has been triggered and, if it has been, how the terms of our Rights Plan will be implemented. The Company also cannot predict how the litigation may affect our stock price, which could be volatile during the pendency of the suit and following its conclusion. Preparing for this litigation, or any related litigation or related matters, has caused the Company to incur significant costs and we expect these costs to continue until the litigation concludes. In addition, preparing for this litigation is time-consuming and may disrupt our operations and divert the attention of management and our employees from executing our strategic plan.

Our ongoing litigation against 1Globe and The Chiang Li Family claiming violations of U.S. federal securities laws could have a material adverse effect on the results of our operations and our financial condition.

On March 5, 2018, our company filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for Massachusetts alleging violations of Section 13(d) and Section 13(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act, by 1Globe and The Chiang Li Family. The lawsuit alleges, among other things, that the defendant shareholders failed to make required disclosures on Schedule 13D regarding their intentions to attempt to replace our company’s board of directors.

The litigation is currently in the pre-trial phase and the Company cannot predict when or how the litigation will be resolved. There can be no assurance that our company will prevail in this litigation. Preparing for this litigation, or any related litigation or related matters may result in significant costs to our company or otherwise adversely affect our business.

Our business could be negatively affected as a result of actions of shareholders or others.

On March 5, 2018, we announced the re-election of the members of our board of directors—Mr. Weidong Yin, Mr. Yuk Lam Lo, Mr. Simon Anderson, Mr. Kenneth Lee, and Mr. Meng Mei—at the 2017 AGM held on February 6, 2018. We also announced that we had determined, after consultation with our Antigua legal counsel, that an alternative, pre-printed ballot not made available to all our shareholders and purportedly submitted at our 2017 AGM by the Shareholder Group was invalid. We refer to this ballot as the “Non-Public Submission.”

On March 13, 2018, 1Globe filed a complaint against our company in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in the High Court of Justice, Antigua and Barbuda, or the Antigua Court. The complaint seeks a declaration that the five persons purportedly proposed by the Shareholder Group on the Non-Public Submission at the 2017 AGM were elected as directors of our company at that meeting, an order of the Antigua Court that those directors be installed as our company’s board of directors, and a declaration that any actions taken on behalf of our company at the direction of the board of directors since the 2017 AGM are null and void. On April 10, 2018, 1Globe filed a notice of application in the Antigua Court seeking an order declaring the result of the disputed election, an urgent order restraining our board of directors from acting, pending determination of the dispute, including acting to initiate or continue litigation against the Shareholder Group, and other related relief. Hearings in this litigation are scheduled for May 9 and May 18, 2018.

The Company cannot predict the outcome of the litigation, including whether the Company will prevail. The Company also cannot predict how the litigation may affect our stock price, which could be volatile during the pendency of the suit and following its conclusion. Preparing for this litigation, or any related litigation or related matters, has caused the Company to incur significant costs and we expect these costs to continue until the litigation concludes. In addition, preparing for this litigation is time-consuming and may disrupt our operations and divert the attention of management and our employees from executing our strategic plan. In addition, the uncertainties as to the composition of our board of directors, may materially and adversely affect business in unpredictable ways, which, in turn, could cause our revenue, earnings and operating cash flows to be materially and adversely affected.

Disruptive actions taken by the minority shareholder of Sinovac Biotech Co., Ltd., or Sinovac Beijing, caused suspension of production, destruction of products and disruption of our website, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Sinovac Beijing, our principal operating subsidiary, is a Sino-foreign equity joint venture in which we own a 73.09% interest and Sinobioway Bio-medicine Co., Ltd. (formerly named Xiamen Bioway Group Co., Ltd), or Sinobioway Medicine, owns a 26.91% interest. Recent events suggest that Sinobioway Medicine’s interests are not aligned with our interests. We cannot assure you that Sinobioway Medicine will be cooperative with us in handling matters related to the operations of Sinovac Beijing.

As the minority shareholder of Sinovac Beijing, according to Sinovac Beijing’s articles of association, Sinobioway Medicine has the right to assign a director to the five-director board of Sinovac Beijing. Mr. Aihua Pan, the Chairman of the board of Sinovac Beijing, is the current representative of Sinobioway Medicine on the board of Sinovac Beijing. Accordingly, the representative of Sinobioway Medicine has the ability to take actions that bind Sinovac Beijing or to block any action that requires unanimous board approval. In addition, if we wish to transfer our equity interest in Sinovac Beijing, in whole or in part, to a third party, Sinobioway Medicine has a right of first refusal to purchase our interest in accordance with relevant PRC regulations.

Sinobioway Medicine, the minority shareholder of Sinovac Beijing, has additional rights under the joint venture contract and articles of association of Sinovac Beijing. The joint venture contract and articles of association require the consent of each of Sinovac Beijing’s shareholders and/or unanimous board approval on matters such as a major change in the business line of the company, expansion or amendment of the business scope of the company, transfer of the registered capital by a shareholder, creation of a mortgage or pledge upon the company’s assets, a change in the organizational form of the company and designation or removal of the general manager.

In February 2018, Mr. Pan, the representative of Sinobioway Medicine, sent letters without the approval of the full board of Sinovac Beijing, to Mr. Weidong Yin, Ms. Nan Wang, and other senior managers of Sinovac Beijing purporting to terminate their employment. The board of directors of Sinovac Beijing subsequently determined, with the advice of PRC legal counsel, that this action did not conform with the joint venture contract and articles of association and was unlawful. On March 5, 2018, Sinovac Biotech announced actions taken to enhance the corporate governance and management of Sinovac Beijing, including the appointment of Mr. Dawei Mao, Chairman of Zhongke Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd., as a director of Sinovac Beijing. He replaced Ms. Xiaomin Yang, the current President of Sinobioway Group Co., Ltd. In addition, in March 2018, Mr. Weidong Yin, Ms. Nan Wang, and other senior managers of Sinovac Beijing signed new employment agreements with Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and Sinovac Beijing.

On April 17, 2018, Mr. Pan and dozens of unidentified individuals forcibly entered Sinovac Beijing’s corporate offices and limited the physical movements of employees in Sinovac Beijing’s general manager’s office and finance department in an attempt to wrongfully take control of Sinovac Beijing’s official seal, legal documents, accounting seal, financial documents and financial information systems. In addition, these individuals disrupted Sinovac Beijing’s hepatitis A vaccine production and seasonal flu vaccine production by cutting power, seriously impacting Sinovac Beijing’s production and manufacturing processes and possibly damaging product quality. Due to the actions of the representative of Sinobioway Medicine, Sinovac Beijing was forced to destroy the affected products. To maintain product safety, Sinovac Beijing temporarily suspended production at the impacted facility and will continue to take every action to eliminate any biological safety risks due to the power outage. Sinovac Beijing was also forced to destroy the bacterial seeds intended for use in the production of its 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, or PPV, and to suspend all preparations for and ultimately postpone the PRC State Food and Drug Administration, or CFDA, inspection of the manufacturing site necessary for 23-valent PPV production approval.

These and other actions taken by the representative of Sinobioway Medicine may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We also cannot assure you that the representative of Sinobioway Medicine will cease from interfering with our business.

We may not achieve the expected return on our investment in Sinovac (Dalian) Vaccine Technology Co., Ltd., or Sinovac Dalian.

In November 2009, we entered into an agreement with Dalian Jin Gang Group to establish Sinovac Dalian. In January 2010, we established Sinovac Dalian to focus on the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of vaccines, such as mumps and varicella for human use. Pursuant to the joint venture agreement, we made an initial cash contribution of RMB60.0 million ($9.3 million) in exchange for a 30% equity interest in Sinovac Dalian, and Dalian Jin Gang Group made an asset contribution of RMB140.0 million ($21.6 million), including the manufacturing facilities, production lines and land use rights, in exchange for the remaining 70% interest in Sinovac Dalian. In December 2010, we purchased an additional 25% equity interest in Sinovac Dalian from Dalian Jin Gang Group for consideration of RMB50.0 million ($7.7 million). In October 2016, we increased our ownership in Sinovac Dalian to 67.86% by making an additional RMB80.0 million ($12.8 million) capital contribution. We cannot assure you that Sinovac Dalian’s business, covering the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of vaccines, such as mumps and varicella, will be successful. As such, we could incur related impairment charges in the future. Any failure to achieve the expected return on our investment in Sinovac Dalian may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The interests of the minority shareholder of Sinovac Beijing and Sinovac Dalian may diverge from our own, which may adversely affect our ability to manage these subsidiaries.

Under China’s joint venture regulations, the unanimous approval of members of a joint venture’s board of directors who are present at a board meeting is required for any amendment to the joint venture’s articles of association, the termination or dissolution of the joint venture company, an increase or decrease in the registered capital of the joint venture company or a merger or de-merger of the joint venture. If our interests diverge from those of our minority shareholders, they may exercise their rights under PRC laws to protect their own interests, which may be adverse to ours. As a result, our ability to manage these subsidiaries may be adversely affected, which in turn may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Recent disruptive actions taken by Sinobioway Medicine suggest that its interests are not aligned with our interests. We cannot assure you that Sinobioway Medicine will be cooperative with us in handling matters related to the operations of Sinovac Beijing. To date, Dalian Jin Gang Group has been cooperative with us in handling matters with respect to the business of Sinovac Dalian. We cannot assure you, however, that Dalian Jin Gang Group will continue to act in a cooperative manner in the future.

Our growth may be adversely affected if market demand for our vaccine products and product candidates does not meet our expectations. We may encounter problems of inadequate supply or oversupply, which would materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations and would also damage our reputation and brand.

The production of vaccine products is a lengthy and complex process. As a result, our inability to match our production to market demand may result in a failure to meet market demand, which could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations and could also damage our reputation and corporate brand. For example, many vaccinees receive their seasonal flu vaccinations in the three-month period from September to November in anticipation of an upcoming flu season and we expect this period to be one of the most significant sales periods for this product each year. In anticipation of the flu season, we intend to build up inventory of our Anflu product in line with what we believe will be the anticipated demand for the product. If actual demand does not meet our expectations, we may be required to write off significant inventory and may otherwise experience adverse consequences in our financial condition. If we overestimate demand, we may purchase more raw materials than required. If we underestimate demand, our third-party suppliers may have inadequate raw material inventories, which could interrupt our manufacturing, delay shipments and result in lost sales.

If we are unable to enroll sufficient vaccinees and identify clinical investigators for our clinical trials, our development programs could be delayed or terminated.

The rate of completion of our clinical trials significantly depends on the rate of enrollment of volunteers. Vaccinees enrollment is a function of many factors, including:

We may have difficulty in obtaining sufficient volunteer subjects enrollment or finding qualified investigators to conduct our clinical trials as planned and we may need to expend substantial funds to obtain access to resources or delay or modify our plans significantly. These considerations may lead us to consider the termination of development of a product for a particular indication.

A setback in any of our clinical trials could adversely affect our share price.

Clinical trials are an important part of vaccine research before any vaccine is approved for commercial use in humans. Setbacks in any phase of the clinical trials of our product candidates could have a material adverse effect on our business and our prospects and financial results and would likely cause a decline in the price of our common shares. We may not achieve our projected development goals in the time frames we announce and expect. If we fail to achieve one or more milestones as contemplated, the market price of our common shares could decline.

We set goals for and make public statements regarding our anticipated timing of the accomplishment of objectives material to our success, such as the commencement and completion of clinical trials and other milestones. The actual timing of these events can vary significantly due to factors such as delays or failures in our clinical trials, the uncertainties inherent in the regulatory approval process and delays in achieving manufacturing or marketing arrangements sufficient to commercialize our products. We may not complete our clinical trials or make regulatory submissions or receive regulatory approvals as planned. Also, we may not be able to adhere to our anticipated schedule for the launch of any of our products. If we fail to achieve one or more milestones as contemplated, the market price of our shares could decline. We obtained the approval to conduct clinical trials for our Sabin inactivated polio vaccine, or sIPV, in December 2015 and phase I and II trials were completed in April 2017. The phase III trial was commenced in August 2017 and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2018.

We rely on third parties to conduct clinical trials, who may not perform their duties satisfactorily.

After we obtain approval to conduct clinical trials for our product candidates, we rely on qualified research organizations, medical institutions and clinical investigators to enroll qualified vaccinees and conduct clinical trials. Our reliance on these third parties for clinical development activities reduces our control over the clinical trial process. Furthermore, these third parties may also have relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors. If these third parties do not fulfill their contractual obligations, including failing to meet expected deadlines, we may not succeed or may experience delays in our efforts to obtain regulatory approvals and commercialize our vaccine candidates.

If any of our third-party suppliers or manufacturers cannot adequately meet our needs, our business could be harmed.

While we use raw materials and other key material supplies that are generally available from multiple commercial sources, certain raw materials that we use to cultivate our influenza vaccines, such as embryonated eggs, are in short supply or difficult for suppliers to produce in accordance with our specifications. If third-party suppliers were to cease production or otherwise fail to supply us with quality raw materials, and if we were unable to contract on acceptable terms for these materials with alternative suppliers, our ability to deliver our products to the market would be adversely affected.

In addition, if we fail to secure long-term supply sources for some of the raw materials we use, our business could be harmed. For example, we do not have a long-term agreement for the supply of hepatitis B antigens used for Bilive production. We source hepatitis B antigens entirely from Beijing Tiantan Biological Products Co., Ltd., or Beijing Tiantan. Although we are developing our own hepatitis B vaccine, before it is approved to be commercialized, we have to rely on the supplier to receive hepatitis B antigen. We and Beijing Tiantan agreed to enter into annual hepatitis B antigens supply agreements after our previous ten-year exclusive supply framework agreement expired in October 2012. Beijing Tiantan supplied hepatitis B antigens to us from July 2013 to June 2015 based on the annual supply agreement. Thereafter, Beijing Tiantan ceased its hepatitis B antigens production due to facilities renovation until 2018. To ensure sufficient storage, we procured an abundant amount of hepatitis B antigens from Beijing Tiantan and produced a significant amount of Bilive in 2015. Beijing Tiantan could delay its renovation schedule and cease to supply us with hepatitis B antigens in the future, in which case our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

From time to time, concerns are raised with respect to potential contamination of biological materials supplied to us. These concerns can tighten market conditions for materials that may be in short supply or available from limited sources. Moreover, regulatory approvals to market our products may be conditioned upon obtaining certain materials from specified sources. Any efforts to substitute material from an alternate source may be delayed by pending regulatory approval of such alternate source. Although we work to mitigate the risks associated with relying on sole suppliers, material shortages could impact product development and production.

Our business is highly seasonal. This seasonality will contribute to our operating results fluctuating considerably throughout the year.

The seasonality in our business is expected to result in significant quarterly fluctuations in our ongoing operating results. For example, the influenza season generally runs from November through March of the next year and the largest percentage of influenza vaccinations is administered between September and November of each year. As a result, we expect to realize most of our annual revenues from Anflu during this period.

We rely on a limited number of facilities for the manufacturing of our products in accordance with relevant regulatory requirements. Any disruption to our existing manufacturing facilities or in the development of new facilities could reduce or restrict our sales and harm our reputation.

According to the China GMP guidelines, each vaccine product can only be produced in a dedicated production facility. In Beijing, we conduct the primary production of each vaccine in a dedicated production plant at our Shangdi site or Changping site, and secondary filling and packaging at our Changping site. In Dalian, we manufacture mumps vaccine at one facility. We do not maintain back-up facilities for our currently available products, so we are dependent on our existing facilities for the continued operation of our business.

As described more fully above, a representative of Sinobioway Medicine, who is the Chairman of the board of directors of Sinovac Beijing, and dozens of unidentified individuals forcibly entered Sinovac Beijing’s corporate offices and disrupted Sinovac Beijing’s hepatitis A vaccine production and seasonal flu vaccine production by cutting power to our Shangdi site, seriously impacting Sinovac Beijing’s production and manufacturing processes and possibly damaging product quality. Due to the actions of the representative of Sinobioway Medicine, Sinovac Beijing was forced to destroy the affected products. To maintain product safety, Sinovac Beijing temporarily decided to stop production at the impacted facility and will continue to take every action to eliminate any biological safety risks due to the power outage.

Natural disasters or other unanticipated catastrophic events, including power interruptions, water shortages, storms, fires, earthquakes and terrorist attacks, could significantly impair our ability to manufacture our products and operate our business and could also delay our research and development activities. Our facilities and certain equipment located in these facilities would be difficult to replace and could require substantial replacement lead-time. Catastrophic events may also destroy any inventory located in our facilities.

We do not maintain any business interruption insurance to cover lost income as a result of any such events. The occurrence of such events could materially and adversely affect our business. We may build additional manufacturing facilities in the future. There can be no assurance, however, that we will be able to expand our manufacturing capabilities to or realize the anticipated benefits of our new facilities. Any of these factors could reduce or restrict our sales, harm our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We will need additional capital to upgrade the production plant for our existing products or expand the facility, to continue development of our product pipeline and to market existing and future products on a large scale. We cannot guarantee that we will find adequate sources of capital in the future.

We closed a public offering of our common shares on February 2, 2010, and received net proceeds of approximately $61.8 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses payable by us. We have invested approximately $29.2 million in incorporation of Sinovac Dalian and invested $26.8 million in Sinovac Research & Development Co., Ltd. or Sinovac R&D to conduct research and development and other operating activities of operational entities in PRC. We have used the remaining net proceeds from the offering for the research and development of our product candidates and other general corporate purposes.

In the long run, we will need to raise additional funds to finance equipment expenditures, to acquire intellectual property, to expand the production facility for our pipeline products, to continue the development and commercialization of our product candidates and to fund other corporate purposes. As of December 31, 2017, we had approximately $114.4 million in cash and cash equivalents. We expect to undertake significant future financings in order to:

In the past, we funded most of our research and development and other expenditures through government grants, working capital, bank loans and proceeds from private placements and public offerings of our common shares. We may raise additional funds in the future because our current operating and capital resources may be insufficient to meet future requirements.

If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, it will result in further dilution to our existing shareholders because the shares may be sold when the market price is low and shares issued in equity financing transactions will normally be sold at a discount to the current market price. Any additional equity securities issued also may provide for rights, preferences or privileges senior or otherwise preferential to those of holders of our existing common shares. Unforeseen problems including materially negative developments relating to, among other things, disease developments, product sales, new product rollouts, clinical trials, research and development programs, our strategic relationships, our intellectual property, litigation, regulatory changes in our industry, the Chinese market generally or general economic conditions, could interfere with our ability to raise additional funds or materially and adversely affect the terms upon which such funding is available.

If we raise additional funds by issuing debt securities, these debt securities would have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of holders of our common shares, and the terms of the debt securities issued could impose significant restrictions on our operations. If we raise additional funds through collaborations and licensing arrangements, we might be required to relinquish significant rights to certain of our technologies, marketing territories, product candidates or products that we would otherwise seek to develop or commercialize ourselves, or be required to grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us. In the past, we have received different types of grants from the PRC government to finance the research and development and facility investment of our vaccine products. We may not receive additional grants in the future.

As described above, the actions of the Shareholder Group leading up to and at our 2017 AGM resulted in uncertainties as to the future direction of our company and the composition of our board of directors. As a result of these uncertainties, we do not know whether additional financing will be available to us on commercially acceptable terms when needed. If adequate funds are not available or are not available on commercially acceptable terms, we may be unable to continue developing our products. In any such event, our ability to bring a product to market and obtain revenues could be delayed and competitors could develop products sooner than we do. As a result, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

If we are unable to attract, train, retain and motivate our direct sales force and third-party marketing agents, sales of our products may be materially and adversely affected.

We rely on our direct sales force and third-party marketing agents, who are dispersed across China, to market our products to CDCs and other healthcare institutions. We believe that our future success will depend on the dedication, efforts and performance of our direct sales force and third-party marketing agents. There are only limited numbers of competent and qualified marketing agents in the China vaccine industry. Our competitors may provide commissions or other economic incentives to third-party marketing agents significantly above the market standard, which may cause such agents to cease marketing our products. If we are unable to attract, train, retain and motivate our direct sales force and marketing agents, sales of our products may be materially and adversely affected.

Anti-corruption measures taken by the PRC government to correct corruptive practices in the vaccine industry could adversely affect our sales and reputation.

The PRC government has taken anti-corruption measures to correct corrupt practices. In the vaccine industry, such practices include, among others, acceptance of kickbacks, bribery or other illegal gains or benefits by the CDCs in connection with the prescription of a certain vaccine. We do not control our third-party marketing agents, who may engage in corrupt practices to promote our products. While we maintain strict anti-corruption policies applicable to our internal sales force and third-party marketing agents, these policies may not be completely effective. If our sales staff or any of our third-party marketing agents engage in such practices and the PRC government takes enforcement action, our products may be seized and our own practices, and involvement in the market agents’ practices may be investigated. If this occurs, our sales and reputation may be materially and adversely affected.

Some of the predecessor shareholders of Sinovac Beijing were enterprises owning state-owned assets, or EOSAs. Their failures to comply with PRC legal requirements in asset or share transfers could, under certain circumstances, result in such transfers being invalidated by government authorities. If this occurs, we could lose our ownership of intellectual property rights that are vital to our business as well as our equity ownership in Sinovac Beijing.

Sinovac Beijing is currently owned 73.09% by us and 26.91% by Sinobioway Medicine (formerly named Xiamen Bioway Group Co., Ltd). The technologies related to our hepatitis A vaccine, hepatitis A and B vaccine and influenza vaccine that are vital to our business were directly or indirectly transferred to us by Tangshan Yian Biological Engineering Co., Ltd., or Tangshan Yian. Some of the predecessor shareholders of Sinovac Beijing, including Shenzhen Kexing Biological Engineering Ltd., or Shenzhen Kexing, Sinobioway Medicine, Tangshan Medicine Biotech Co., Ltd., Tangshan Yikang Biotech Co., Ltd. and Tangshan Yian, were EOSAs.

Under applicable PRC laws, when EOSAs sell, transfer or assign assets or equity investments in their possession or under their control to third parties, they are required to obtain an independent appraisal of the transferred assets or shares and file such appraisal with or obtain approval of such appraisal from PRC government authorities. Since 2004, EOSAs have also been required to make such assets or equity transfers at government-designated marketplaces. Certain of our acquisitions of intellectual property rights and some equity interests were subject to these requirements.

Tangshan Yian failed to file with the government authorities the appraisal of the hepatitis A vaccine technology that it transferred to Sinovac Beijing in 2001 as its capital contribution to Sinovac Beijing. Under PRC laws, Tangshan Yian also failed to:

These failures subject us to the risk of losing ownership or control of these vaccine technologies.

In addition, before we acquired our 73.09% equity interest in Sinovac Beijing, it had undergone multiple changes in its shareholders and the amounts held by the same. Some of the EOSA shareholders of Sinovac Beijing have sold, transferred or assigned their respective equity interests in Sinovac Beijing without fully complying with laws to appraise the equity interests, to file such appraisals with or obtain regulatory approval of such appraisals from PRC government authorities or to make equity interest transfers at the government-designated marketplaces as required for transactions completed after 2004. Similar to the asset transfers, such failures subject us to the risk of losing the ownership or control of our equity interest in Sinovac Beijing.

PRC government authorities may take court actions to invalidate the transfers of the assets or equity investments discussed above for non-compliance with applicable appraisal, filing, approval and designated marketplace requirements. The government authorities could take such legal actions and such legal actions, if commenced, could be successful. If these transfers are invalidated, we would lose title to these assets and investments. Because we depend on these technologies and because Sinovac Beijing constitutes core part of our operations, our loss of these technologies or equity interest in Sinovac Beijing would materially and adversely affect our operations and financial condition.

There can be no assurance that the going private transaction will be successfully consummated. Potential uncertainty involving the going private transaction may adversely affect our business and the market price of our common shares, and we are restricted from soliciting or, subject to certain exceptions, engaging in negotiations with third parties regarding competing proposals.

On June 26, 2017, we entered into a definitive amalgamation agreement, or the Amalgamation Agreement, with Sinovac (Cayman) Limited, or Parent, and Sinovac Amalgamation Sub Limited, or Amalgamation Sub, a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent. On March 26, 2018, we amended the Amalgamation Agreement to extend its termination date to April 26, 2018. On April 26, 2018, we further amended the Amalgamation Agreement to extend its termination date to May 26, 2018. Pursuant to the Amalgamation Agreement, Parent will acquire Sinovac Biotech Ltd. for cash consideration equal to $7.00 per common share. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Amalgamation Agreement, at the effective time of the amalgamation, Amalgamation Sub will be amalgamated with and into Sinovac Biotech Ltd., with Sinovac Biotech Ltd. continuing as the surviving corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent, or the Amalgamation. Our board of directors, acting upon the unanimous recommendation of the special committee formed by the board of directors, or the Special Committee, unanimously approved the Amalgamation Agreement and the transactions contemplated by the Amalgamation Agreement, including the Amalgamation, and resolved to recommend that our shareholders authorize and approve the Amalgamation Agreement and the transactions contemplated by the Amalgamation Agreement, including the Amalgamation. Immediately following the consummation of the transaction contemplated by the Amalgamation Agreement, Parent would be beneficially owned by a consortium, or the Buyer Consortium, comprising Mr. Weidong Yin, our chairman, president and chief executive officer, SAIF partners IV L.P., or SAIF, C-Bridge Healthcare Fund II, L.P., Advantech Capital L.P., Vivo Capital Fund VIII, L.P. and Vivo Capital Surplus Fund VIII, L.P.

The Amalgamation is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by an affirmative vote of holders of our common shares representing at least two-thirds of the shares present and voting in person or by proxy as a single class at a meeting of our shareholders, which will be convened to consider the authorization and approval of the Amalgamation Agreement and the transactions contemplated by the Amalgamation Agreement, including the Amalgamation, and the other closing conditions specified in the Amalgamation Agreement. If completed, the Amalgamation will result in Sinovac Biotech Ltd. becoming a privately-held company and our common shares will no longer be listed on NASDAQ. The going private transaction, whether or not consummated, presents a risk of diverting management focus, employee attention and resources from other strategic opportunities and from operational matters. Potential uncertainty involving the going private transaction may adversely affect our business and the market price of our common shares.

In addition, the Amalgamation Agreement restricts our ability, until the effective time of the Amalgamation or, if earlier, the extended termination of the Amalgamation Agreement, to solicit or, subject to certain exceptions, engage in discussions or negotiations with third parties regarding certain competing proposals or transactions as described in the Amalgamation Agreement, and if the Amalgamation Agreement is terminated under certain circumstances, we may be required to pay Parent a termination fee of $15.0 million.

Our Rights Plan and certain provisions of our By-laws may discourage a change of control.

In March 2016, we adopted our Rights Plan that provides for the issuance of one right, or the Right, for each of our outstanding common shares. We amended our Rights Plan twice to extend its term for an additional 12-month period in March 2017 and again amended it to extend its term for an additional 12-month period in March 2018. The Rights are designed to assure that all of our shareholders receive fair and equal treatment in the event of any proposed takeover and to guard against partial tender offers, open market accumulations, undisclosed voting arrangements and other abusive or coercive tactics to gain control of our company or our board of directors without paying all shareholders a control premium. The Rights will cause substantial dilution to a person or group that acquires 15% or more of the common shares on terms not approved by our board of directors. In June 2017, we amended our Rights Plan in connection with the execution of the Amalgamation Agreement.

As described above, 1Globe seeks a determination by the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware that our Rights Plan is invalid. If 1Globe is successful, our shareholders will not benefit from the protections of our Rights Plan and our company may be subject to abusive or coercive tactics by certain shareholders to gain control of our company or our board of directors without paying all shareholders a control premium.

Some provisions of our By-laws may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company or management that shareholders may consider favorable, including provisions that authorize our board of directors to issue preferred shares in one or more series and to designate the price, rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of such preferred shares without any further vote or action by our shareholders.

These provisions could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if the third party’s offer may be considered beneficial by many shareholders. As a result, shareholders may be limited in their ability to obtain a premium for their shares.

We depend on our key personnel, the loss of whom would adversely affect our operations. If we fail to attract and retain the talent required for our business, our business will be materially harmed.

We are a small company with 644 full-time employees as of December 31, 2017 and we depend to a great extent on principal members of our management and scientific teams. If we lose the services of any key personnel, in particular Mr. Weidong Yin, the loss could significantly impede the key decision making on strategic choices and operational issues, which in turn will harm our business achievement. We do not have any key man life insurance policies. We have entered into employment agreements with our executive officers, under which they have agreed to restrictive covenants relating to non-competition and non-solicitation. These employment agreements do not, however, guarantee that we will be able to retain the services of our executive officers in the future.

As described above, a representative of Sinobioway Medicine, who is the Chairman of the board of directors of Sinovac Beijing, sent letters without the approval of the full board of Sinovac Beijing, to Mr. Weidong Yin, Ms. Nan Wang, and other senior managers of Sinovac Beijing purporting to terminate their employment. The board of directors of Sinovac Beijing subsequently determined, with the advice of PRC legal counsel, that this action did not conform with the joint venture contract and articles of association and was unlawful. As also described above, the representative of Sinobioway Medicine and dozens of unidentified individuals forcibly entered Sinovac Beijing’s corporate offices and limited the physical movements of employees in Sinovac Beijing’s general manager’s office and finance department in an attempt to wrongfully take control of Sinovac Beijing’s official seal, legal documents, accounting seal, financial documents and financial information systems. As a result of these actions, our ability to attract and retain the talent required for our business may be materially harmed.

In addition, recruiting and retaining additional qualified scientific, technical and managerial personnel and research partners will be critical to our success. Competition among biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for qualified employees in China is intense and turnover rates are high. There is a shortage of employees in China with expertise in our areas of research and clinical and regulatory affairs, and this shortage is likely to continue. We may not be able to retain existing personnel or attract and retain qualified staff in the future. If we fail to hire and retain personnel in key positions, we may be unable to develop or commercialize our product candidates in a timely manner.

We may encounter difficulties in managing our growth, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

We have experienced rapid and substantial growth and, if such growth continues, will place a strain on our administrative and operational infrastructure. We also plan to introduce new products to market that, if successful, could place a strain on our administrative and operational infrastructure. If we are unable to manage this growth effectively, our business, results of operations or financial condition may be materially and adversely affected. Our ability to manage our operations and growth effectively requires us to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures and hiring programs. We may not be able to successfully implement these required improvements.

International expansion may be costly, time-consuming and difficult. If we do not successfully expand internationally, our growth strategy and prospects would be materially and adversely affected.

We have entered into selected international markets and intend to continue to expand the sales of our products into new international markets. In expanding our business internationally, we have entered, and intend to continue to enter, markets in which we have limited or no experience and in which our brand may be less recognized. To promote our brand and generate demand for our products to attract distributors in international markets, we expect to spend significantly more on marketing and promotion than we do in our existing domestic markets when appropriate. We may be unable to attract a sufficient number of distributors, and our selected distributors may not be suitable for selling our products.

In new markets, we may fail to anticipate competitive conditions that are different from those in our existing markets. These competitive conditions may make it difficult or impossible for us to effectively operate in these markets. If our expansion efforts in existing and new internal markets are unsuccessful, our growth strategy and prospects would be materially and adversely affected.

We are exposed to other risks associated with international operations, including:

We may undertake acquisitions which may have a material adverse effect on our ability to manage our business and may end up being unsuccessful.

Our growth strategy may involve the acquisition of new production lines, technologies, businesses, products or services or the creation of strategic alliances in areas in which we do not currently operate. These acquisitions could require that our management develop expertise in new areas or new geographies, manage new business relationships and attract new types of customers. Furthermore, acquisitions may require significant attention from our management, and the diversion of our management’s attention and resources could have a material adverse effect on our ability to manage our business. We may experience difficulties integrating acquisitions into our existing business and operations. Future acquisitions may also expose us to potential risks, including risks associated with:

We may be unable to ensure compliance with United States economic sanctions laws, especially when we sell our products to distributors over which we have limited control.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control administers certain laws and regulations that impose penalties upon U.S. persons and, in some instances, foreign entities owned or controlled by U.S. persons, for conducting activities or transacting business with certain countries, governments, entities or individuals subject to U.S. economic sanctions, or U.S. Economic Sanctions Laws. We will not use any proceeds, directly or indirectly, from sales of our common shares, to fund any activities or business with any country, government, entity or individual with respect to which U.S. persons or, as appropriate, foreign entities owned or controlled by U.S. persons, are prohibited by U.S. Economic Sanctions Laws from conducting such activities or transacting such business.

However, we sell our products in international markets through independent non-U.S. distributors which are responsible for interacting with the end-users of our products. We may not be able to ensure that such non-U.S. distributors comply with all applicable U.S. Economic Sanctions Laws. Moreover, if a U.S. distributor conducts activities or transacts business with a country, government, entity or individual subject to U.S. economic sanctions, such actions may violate U.S. Economic Sanctions Laws. As a result of the foregoing, actions could be taken against us that could materially and adversely affect our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We may be classified as a passive foreign investment company, which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. Holders of our common shares.

Based on the market price of our common shares, the value of our assets and the composition of our income and assets, we do not believe we were a “passive foreign investment company,” or PFIC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes for our taxable year ended December 31, 2017. However, the application of the PFIC rules is subject to uncertainty in several respects, and we cannot assure you we will not be a PFIC for any taxable year. A non-U.S. corporation will be a PFIC for any taxable year if either (i) at least 75% of its gross income for such year is passive income or (ii) at least 50% of the value of its assets (based on a quarterly average) during such year is attributable to assets that produce passive income or are held for the production of passive income. We must make a separate determination after the close of each year as to whether we were a PFIC for that year. The composition of our income and assets will be affected by how, and how quickly, we use any cash we generate from our operations or raise in any offering. Because the value of our assets for purposes of the PFIC test will generally be determined by reference to the market price of our common shares, fluctuations in the market price of our common shares may cause us to become a PFIC for any subsequent year. If we are a PFIC for any year during which a U.S. Holder (as defined in “Item 10. Additional Information — E. Taxation — United States Federal Income Taxation”) holds our common shares, certain adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences could apply to such U.S. Holder. Please see “Item 10. Additional Information — E. Taxation — United States Federal Income Taxation — Passive Foreign Investment Company.”

Negative publicity regarding vaccinations in China may lead to lower demand for vaccination, which could in turn negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In December 2013, it was reported that several infants died shortly after receiving inoculations of hepatitis B vaccine produced by a domestic company in China. The PRC State Food and Drug Administration, or CFDA, and National Health and Family Planning Commission have determined that the inoculated hepatitis B vaccines comply with the applicable regulatory standards. In March 2016, media reported on improperly stored vaccines illegally sold in Shandong province and all across China. The illegal distribution started in 2010 and two suspects were detained by police in 2015. Although experts from the World Health Organization, or WHO, has confidence in China’s vaccine industry and publicly clarified their position several times since news of this scandal broke, public concerns remain. Such negative publicity may lead to lower demand for vaccination in China, which could in turn negatively affect the vaccine industry and our business, financial condition and results of operations.

As a foreign private issuer, we are subject to different U.S. securities laws and NASDAQ listing rules than domestic U.S. issuers.

As a foreign private issuer, we are exempt from the rules under the Exchange Act prescribing the furnishing and content of quarterly reports and proxy statements, and officers, directors and principal shareholders are exempt from the reporting and short-swing profit recovery provisions contained in Section 16 of the Exchange Act. In addition, as an Antigua and Barbuda company listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, we are subject to NASDAQ's corporate governance requirements. However, NASDAQ listing rules permit a foreign private issuer like us to elect to follow home country corporate governance practices in lieu of certain NASDAQ corporate governance standards, subject to certain conditions. Certain corporate governance practices in Antigua and Barbuda, which is our home country, may differ significantly from the NASDAQ standards. As a result of our status as a foreign private issuer, you may not be afforded the same information or protections that would be made available to you were you investing in a domestic U.S. issuer.

Risks Related to Government Regulation

We may not be able to comply with applicable GMP standards and other regulatory requirements, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are required to comply with applicable GMP regulations, which include, among other things, requirements relating to personnel, premises and equipment, raw material and products, qualification and validation, document management, production management, quality control and assurance and product distribution and recall. Manufacturing facilities must be approved by governmental authorities before they can be used to commercially manufacture our products and are subject to inspection by regulatory agencies. We have been required to comply with the new GMP standards implemented by CFDA since March 1, 2011. All vaccine manufacturers were required to meet the new GMP standards and obtain certifications for their manufacturing facilities by December 31, 2013. Any manufacturer that failed to meet the deadline would be forced to suspend production.

We have obtained the new GMP certificates for all of our commercial production facilities. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to meet the applicable GMP standards and other regulatory requirements in the future. In addition, in light of the incident where vaccines were illegally sold and distributed in Shandong province and other provinces around China in 2016, the government has changed policies and regulations related to the vaccine sales and distribution in China. Before the policy was issued, human vaccine sales were halted in China for months. Although the vaccine purchase and delivery was resumed in second half of 2016, we are not able to estimate whether any other change of policies and regulations on our business will negatively impact on business in the future.

If we fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements at any stage during the regulatory process, including following any product approval, we may be subject to sanctions, including:

We can only sell products that have received regulatory approvals. Many factors affect our ability to obtain such approvals.

Pre-clinical and clinical trials of our products, and the manufacturing and marketing of our products, are subject to extensive, costly and rigorous regulation by governmental authorities in the PRC and in other countries. Even if we complete pre-clinical and clinical trials successfully, we may not be able to obtain applicable regulatory approvals. We cannot market any product candidate until we have both completed our clinical trials and obtained the necessary regulatory approvals for that product candidate.

Conducting clinical trials and obtaining regulatory approvals are uncertain, time-consuming and expensive processes. The process of obtaining required regulatory approvals from the CFDA and other regulatory authorities often takes many years and can vary significantly based on the type, complexity and novelty of the product candidates. For example, it took us approximately ten years to develop and obtain regulatory approval to commercialize Healive, and it took us five and a half years and four and a half years to develop and obtain regulatory approvals to commercialize Bilive and Anflu, respectively. EV71 vaccine, above all, took us eight years from 2008 to 2016 to develop and obtain regulatory approvals.

There can be no assurance that all of the clinical trials pertaining to our vaccines in development will be completed within the timeframes currently anticipated by us. We could encounter difficulties in enrolling vaccinees for clinical trials or encounter setbacks while conducting clinical trials that result in delays or cancellation. Data obtained from pre-clinical and clinical studies are subject to varying interpretations that could delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval, and failure to observe regulatory requirements or inadequate manufacturing processes are examples of other problems that could prevent approval. In addition, we may encounter delays or rejections in the event of additional regulation from future legislation, administrative action or changes in the CFDA policy or if unforeseen health risks become an issue with the participants of clinical trials.

Clinical trials may also fail at any stage. Results of early trials frequently do not predict results of later trials, and acceptable results in early trials may not be repeated. For these reasons, we do not know whether regulatory authorities will grant approval for any of our product candidates in the future. In addition, production permits for our products are valid for only five years and we need to apply for renewal six months prior to their expiration. The process to approve our renewal applications could be lengthy and there is no assurance that we will be granted renewal in a timely manner or at all.

Delays in obtaining CFDA or foreign approvals of our products could result in substantial additional costs and adversely affect our ability to compete with other companies. Even if regulatory approval is ultimately granted, we may not maintain the approval and the approval may be withdrawn. Any approval received may also restrict the intended use and marketing of the product we want to commercialize.

Outside the PRC, our ability to market some of our potential products is contingent upon receiving marketing authorizations from the appropriate foreign regulatory authorities. For example, our hepatitis A vaccine, Healive, can be supplied to certain international organizations and is eligible to participate into the tender process in some countries as it has passed the WHO prequalification assessment, or WHO PQ. However, there are still many other countries that require additional marketing authorization to sell in such countries despite the WHO PQ status. These foreign regulatory approval processes include the risks associated with the CFDA approval process described above and may include additional risks.

Because the medical conditions that our vaccines are intended to prevent represent significant public health threats, we are at risk of governmental actions detrimental to our business, such as product seizure, compulsory licensing and additional regulations.

In response to a pandemic or the perceived risk of a pandemic, governments in the PRC and other countries may take actions to protect their citizens that could affect our ability to control the production and export of pandemic vaccines or otherwise impose burdensome regulations on our business. For example, an outbreak of influenza could subject our manufacturing locations to seizure by the PRC government. The PRC government may also grant compulsory licenses to allow competitors to manufacture products that are protected by our patents or use our technology developed using funds received from government agencies.

We deal with hazardous materials that may cause injury to others. These materials are regulated by environmental laws that may impose significant costs and restrictions on our business.

Our research and development programs and manufacturing operations involve the controlled use of potentially harmful biological materials and other hazardous materials. We cannot eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or injury to our employees or others from the use, manufacture, storage, handling or disposal of hazardous materials and certain waste products. In the event of contamination or injury, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources or any applicable insurance coverage we may have.

We are also subject to PRC laws and regulations governing the construction and operation of production facilities that may have an impact on the environment and the use, manufacture, storage, handling or disposal of hazardous materials and waste products, such as the PRC Environmental Impact Assessment Law, the PRC Prevention and Control of Water Pollution Law and the PRC Environmental Protection Law, as well as waste-disposal standards set by relevant governmental agencies. It is likely that China will adopt stricter pollution controls as the country is experiencing increasingly serious environmental pollution. Although we passed an environmental examination of our facilities conducted in 2004 by the Beijing Municipal Environment Protection Bureau on our hepatitis A vaccine production line and passed the same examination on our seasonal flu vaccine production line and filling and packaging line in 2005 and 2008, respectively, we cannot assure you that we will continue to pass similar environmental examinations on any future production facilities that we may construct. In addition, according to the PRC Environmental Impact Assessment Law, after the approval of previous environmental impact assessment report, if there is any material change in the nature, scale, location, production technology used and measures adopted to prevent damages to ecology, new environmental impact assessment reports need to be filed for approval.

We have already obtained the approval of the environmental impact assessment report from the Beijing Municipal Environment Protection Bureau for the construction plan of our facilities in Changping District, Beijing. We produce Bilive vaccine at our production facility for hepatitis A vaccine and produce Panflu and Panflu.1 vaccines at our production facility for seasonal flu or Anflu vaccine. We have canceled the construction plan for our influenza vaccine production facility in Changping. A new environmental impact assessment report regarding the change has been submitted to the relevant environment protection authorities and has passed the government inspection. We also added a sIPV production facility to the Changping construction plan. The relevant environmental impact assessment report was submitted to the relevant government authorities and passed the government evaluation. The approval on this report was already obtained. Once the construction of sIPV is completed, we will apply for government inspection on the completion of the plant.

In addition, we have obtained approval for the environmental impact assessment report for PPV production facility at our Shangdi site. We are required to pass the government inspection to launch the commercial production of PPV. If we fail to pass the inspection, we cannot commence commercial production of the product. Moreover, we do not currently have a pollution and remediation insurance policy to mitigate any risk related to environmental pollution or violation of environmental law.

Failure to commence development of land which we have been granted right to use within the required timeframe may cause us to lose our land use rights.

Sinovac Dalian was granted land use rights to two parcels of land, with an aggregate area of 95,686 square meters (approximately 1,030,000 square feet) located in the Economic and Technical Development Zone of Dalian, Liaoning province by the local government. According to the relevant PRC regulations, a parcel of land may be treated as idle land if development of the land has not been commenced within one year after the commencement date stipulated in the land use rights grant contract or the issuance date of the construction land approval certificate. Land users can extend the deadline for commencing the construction work for one year.

All of our current facilities of Sinovac Dalian are located at one of the two parcels of the land with an aggregated area of 55,606 square meters (598,582 square feet). However, as of the date of this annual report, we have not commenced development of the other parcel of the land with 40,080 square meters (431,418 square feet), which Sinovac Dalian was granted the right to use. The PRC government may treat the land as idle land, in which case we may be required to pay idle land fees or penalties, change the intended use of the land, find another parcel of land, or even be required to forfeit the land to PRC government, any of which would adversely affect our financial condition.

Negative publicity regarding China-based companies listed in the United States may affect the trading price of our common shares and result in increased regulatory scrutiny of our business.

In the past, litigation and negative publicity surrounding companies with operations in China listed in the United States have resulted in declining stock prices for such companies. Various equity research organizations have published reports on China-based companies after examining their corporate governance practices, related party transactions, sales practices and financial statements that have led to special investigations and stock suspensions on national exchanges. Any similar scrutiny of us, regardless of merit, could result in a diversion of our management’s attention from managing our core business, negative publicity, potential costs to defend ourselves against rumors, volatility and loss in the trading price of our common shares and increased directors’ and officers’ insurance premiums, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property

If we are unable to protect our technologies from competitors with patents or other forms of intellectual property protection, our business may be harmed.

Our success depends, in part, on our ability to protect our proprietary technologies. We try to protect the technology that we consider important to our business by filing PRC patent applications and relying on trade secret and pharmaceutical regulatory protection.

We have a total of 51 issued patents and a number of pending patent applications relating to our vaccines in China. The process of seeking patent protection in China can be lengthy and expensive and we cannot assure you that our pending patent applications, or any patent applications we may make in the future with respect to other products, will result in issued patents, or that any patents issued in the future will be able to provide us with meaningful protection or commercial advantage. Our patent applications may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented in the future.

In addition to patents, we rely on trade secrets and proprietary know-how to protect our intellectual property. We have entered into confidentiality agreements (which include, in the case of employees, non-competition provisions) with many of our employees, consultants, outside scientific collaborators, sponsored researchers and other advisors. These agreements provide that all confidential information developed or made known to the individual during the course of the individual’s relationship with us is to be kept confidential and not disclosed to third parties except in specific circumstances. In the case of our employees, the agreements provide that all of the technology which is conceived by the individual during the course of employment is our exclusive property. These agreements may not provide meaningful protection or adequate remedies in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of our proprietary information. In addition, third parties could independently develop information and techniques substantially similar to ours or otherwise gain access to our trade secrets.

Our current or potential competitors, many of whom have substantial resources and have made substantial investments in competing technologies, could develop products that compete directly with our products despite our intellectual property rights.

Intellectual property rights and confidentiality protections in China may not be as effective as in the United States or other countries. Policing unauthorized use of proprietary technology is difficult and expensive, and we might need to resort to litigation to enforce or defend patents issued to us or to determine the enforceability, scope and validity of our proprietary rights or those of others. The experience and capabilities of PRC courts in handling intellectual property litigation varies, and outcomes are unpredictable. Further, such litigation may require significant expenditures of cash and management efforts and could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. An adverse determination in any such litigation could materially impair our intellectual property rights and may harm our business, prospects and reputation.

We may be exposed to infringement or misappropriation claims by third parties which, if determined adversely to us, could cause substantial liabilities to us, or we may be unable to sell some of our products. Please see “Item 4. Information on the Company — B. Business Overview — Intellectual Property and Proprietary Technology.”

Third parties may bring intellectual property infringement claims against us in the future.

Our commercial success depends significantly on our ability to operate without infringing the patents and other proprietary rights of third parties. Even after reasonable investigation, we may not know with certainty whether we have infringed upon a third party’s patent due to the complexity of patent claims, the inadequacy of patent clearance search procedures in the PRC and the fact that a third party may have filed a patent application without our knowledge while that product was under development by us.

Patent applications are maintained in secrecy until their publication 18 months after the filing date. The publication of discoveries in the scientific or patent literature frequently occurs substantially later than the date on which the underlying discoveries were made and patent applications were filed. China, similar to many other countries, adopts the first-to-file system under which the first party to file a patent application (instead of the first to invent the subject invention) may be awarded a patent. There may also be technologies licensed to us or acquired by us that are subject to infringement, misappropriation or other claims by others which could damage our ability to rely on such technologies.

If a third party claims that we infringe upon its proprietary rights, any of the following may occur:

If any of these events occurs, our business will suffer and the market price of our common shares could decline.

The success of our business may depend on licensing vaccine components from, and entering into collaboration arrangements with, third parties. We cannot be certain that our licensing or collaboration efforts will succeed or that we will realize any revenue from them.

The success of our business strategy depends, in part, on our ability to enter into licensing and collaboration arrangements and to effectively manage the resulting relationships. Our ability to enter into agreements with commercial partners depends in part on our ability to convince them of the value of our technology and know-how. This may require substantial time and effort. While we anticipate expending substantial funds and management effort, we cannot assure you that strategic relationships will result or that we will be able to negotiate additional strategic agreements in the future on acceptable terms, if at all.

We may incur significant financial commitments to collaborators in connection with potential licenses and sponsored research agreements. In addition, we may not be able to control the areas of responsibility undertaken by our strategic partners and may be adversely affected should these partners prove to be unable to carry a product candidate forward to full commercialization or should they lose interest in dedicating the necessary resources toward developing any such product quickly.

Third parties may terminate our licensing and other strategic arrangements if we do not perform as required under these arrangements. Generally, we expect that agreements for rights to develop technologies will require us to exercise diligence in bringing product candidates to market and may require us to make milestone and royalty payments that, in some instances, could be substantial. Our failure to exercise the required diligence or make any required milestone or royalty payments could result in the termination of the relevant license agreement, which could have a material adverse effect on us and our operations. In addition, these third parties breach or terminate their agreements with us or otherwise fail to conduct their activities in connection with our relationships in a timely manner. If we or our partners terminate or breach any of our licenses or relationships, we may:

Licensing arrangements and strategic relationships in our industry can be complex, particularly with respect to intellectual property rights. Disputes may arise in the future regarding ownership rights to technology developed by or with other parties. These and other possible disagreements between us and third parties with respect to our licenses or our strategic relationships could lead to delays in the research, development, manufacture and commercialization of our product candidates. These disputes could also result in litigation or arbitration, both of which are time-consuming and expensive. Moreover, These third parties may pursue alternative technologies or product candidates either on their own or in strategic relationships with others in direct competition with us.

Any cessation or suspension of our collaborations with scientific advisors and academic institutions may increase our costs in research and development, lengthen our new vaccines development process and lower our efficiency in new products development.

We work with scientific advisors and academic collaborators who assist us in some of our research and development efforts. Some of our pre-clinical and research programs rely heavily on such collaborators and we generally benefit considerably from the resources, technology and experience these collaborations can provide. These scientists are not, however, our employees and may have other commitments that limit their availability to us. If a conflict of interest arises between their work for us and their work for another entity, we may lose the services of these scientists and institutions. Any cessation or suspension of our collaborations with scientific advisors and academic institutions may increase our research and development costs, lengthen our new vaccines development process and lower our efficiency in new products development. In addition, although our scientific advisors and academic collaborators generally sign agreements not to disclose our confidential information, valuable proprietary knowledge may become publicly known which would compromise our competitive advantage.

We may lose the right to use “科兴” (Kexing) on our vaccine products and/or as part of our trade name.

We currently use “科兴” (Kexing) as part of Sinovac Beijing’s Chinese trade name in the PRC. We also use “科兴” (Kexing) as part of the Chinese trade name of Sinovac Dalian in the PRC. Shenzhen Kexing currently owns the “科兴” trademark registered in China for Class 5 (Pharmaceuticals) under the International Classification of Goods and Services. To protect our interest in using “科兴” in our trade name, we applied to register “科兴” in China for Class 42 (Scientific & Technological Services &Research) in 2006 and the PRC Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce approved our application in 2010. The “科兴” trademark owned by Shenzhen Kexing has not been identified as “Well-known Trademark” by the relevant PRC authorities since we first started using “科兴” in the trade name of Sinovac Beijing in 2001. If the “科兴” trademark owned by Shenzhen Kexing is ever officially identified as a “Well-Known Trademark,” however, we may be subject to trademark infringement claim for the use of “科兴” in our trade name. Although the trademark application and the trade name approval systems are administered separately in China, it is possible that we may lose our ability to use the “科兴” trademark in our trade name due to a successful trademark infringement claim, which may adversely affect our ability to maintain and protect our brands, cause us to incur litigation costs and divert resources and management attention.

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

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

We conduct all our operations in China, and generate approximately 99.2% of our sales in China. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects are affected significantly by economic, political and legal developments in China. The Chinese economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including:

While the Chinese economy has experienced significant growth in the past 30 years, growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. The PRC government has implemented measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures benefit the overall Chinese economy, but 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.

The Chinese economy has been transitioning from a planned economy to a more market-oriented economy. Although in recent years 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 sound corporate governance in business enterprises, the Chinese government still owns a substantial portion of the productive assets in China. The continued control of these assets and other aspects of the national economy by the PRC government could materially and adversely affect our business. The PRC government also exercises significant control over Chinese economic growth by allocating of resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies. Efforts by the PRC government to slow the pace of growth of the Chinese economy could result in hospitals spending less, which in turn could reduce demand for our products.

The political relationship among foreign countries and China is subject to sudden fluctuations and periodic tensions. Changes in political conditions in China and changes in the state of foreign relations are difficult to predict and could adversely affect our product export and international collaborations. This could lead to a decline in our profitability in the future.

Although the Chinese economy has grown significantly in the past decade, that growth may not continue, as evidenced by the slowing of the growth of the Chinese economy since 2012. Any adverse change in the economic conditions or government policies in China could have a material adverse effect on overall economic growth and the level of healthcare investments and expenditures in China, which in turn could lead to a reduction in demand for our products and consequently have a material adverse effect on our businesses.

Future changes in laws, regulations or enforcement policies in China could adversely affect our business.

Laws, regulations and enforcement policies in China, including those regulating our business, are evolving and subject to future change. Future changes in laws, regulations or administrative interpretations, or stricter enforcement policies by the PRC government, could impose more stringent requirements on us, including fines or other penalties. Changes in applicable laws and regulations may also increase our operating costs. Compliance with such requirements could impose substantial additional costs or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. These changes may relax some requirements, which could be beneficial to our competitors or could lower market entry barriers and increase competition. Further, regulatory agencies in China may, sometimes abruptly, change their enforcement practices.

Prior enforcement activity, or lack of enforcement activity, is not necessarily predictive of future actions. Any enforcement actions against us could have a material adverse effect on us and the market price of our common shares. In addition, any litigation or governmental investigation or enforcement proceedings in China may be protracted and may result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention, negative publicity, damage to our reputation and decline in the price of our common shares.

We rely on dividends paid by our PRC subsidiaries for our cash needs. If they are unable to pay us sufficient dividends due to statutory or contractual restrictions on their abilities to distribute dividends to us, our various cash needs may not be met.

We are a holding company, and we rely on the dividends paid by our PRC subsidiaries, including majority-owned subsidiaries Sinovac Beijing and Sinovac Dalian and our wholly owned subsidiaries Sinovac R&D (formerly known as Sinovac Biological) and Sinovac Biomed for our cash needs, including the funds necessary to pay any dividends and other cash distributions to our shareholders, service any debt we may incur and pay our operating expenses. The payment of dividends in the PRC is subject to limitations. Regulations in the PRC currently permit payment of dividends by our PRC subsidiaries only out of accumulated profits as determined in accordance with accounting standards and regulations in China. For instance, in accordance with the regulations in China, Sinovac Beijing, Sinovac Dalian, Sinovac R&D and Sinovac Biomed are required to set aside at least 10% of its after-tax profits each year to contribute to its reserve fund until the accumulated balance of such reserve fund reaches 50% of the registered capital of each company.

As described above, a representative of Sinobioway Medicine, who is the Chairman of the board of directors of Sinovac Beijing, and dozens of unidentified individuals forcibly entered Sinovac Beijing’s corporate offices and limited the physical movements of employees in Sinovac Beijing’s general manager’s office and finance department in an attempt to wrongfully take control of Sinovac Beijing’s official seal, legal documents, accounting seal, financial documents and financial information systems. As a result of these actions, the ability of Sinovac Beijing to pay dividends for our cash needs may be materially impacted.

Sinovac Beijing, Sinovac Dalian, Sinovac R&D and Sinovac Biomed are required to set aside, at the discretion of their respective board of directors, a portion of their annual income after taxes to their employee welfare and bonus funds. These funds reduce the ability of the subsidiaries to pay dividends in cash. In addition, if Sinovac Beijing, Sinovac Dalian, Sinovac R&D or Sinovac Biomed incurs debt on its own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict either company’s ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to us.

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

We receive over 99% of our revenues in renminbi, which currently is not a freely convertible currency. A portion of our revenues may be converted into other currencies to meet our foreign currency obligations, including, among others, payment of dividends declared by our subsidiaries. Under China’s existing foreign exchange regulations, Sinovac Beijing, Sinovac R&D, Sinovac Dalian and Sinovac Biomed are able to pay dividends in foreign currencies without prior approval from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, by complying with certain procedural requirements. However, the PRC government could not take future measures to restrict access to foreign currencies for current account transactions.

Our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to obtain foreign exchange is subject to significant foreign exchange controls and, in the case of amounts under the capital account, requires the approval of and/or registration with PRC government authorities, including SAFE. In particular, if we finance our PRC subsidiaries by means of foreign currency from us or other foreign lenders, the amount is not allowed to exceed the difference between the amount of total investment and the amount of the registered capital as approved by the Ministry of Commerce and registered with SAFE. Such loans must also be registered with SAFE. If we finance our PRC subsidiaries by means of additional capital contributions, the amount of these capital contributions must first be approved by the relevant government approval authority. These limitations could affect the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to obtain foreign exchange through debt or equity financing.

Fluctuation in the value of the renminbi may have a material adverse effect on your investment.

The value of the renminbi against the U.S. dollar, Euro and other currencies is affected by, among other things, changes in China’s political and economic conditions and China’s foreign exchange policies. The PRC government allows the renminbi to fluctuate within a narrow and managed band against a basket of certain foreign currencies. In recent years, the exchange rate between the renminbi and U.S. dollar has been relatively stable and consequently the renminbi has sometimes fluctuated sharply against other freely traded currencies, in tandem with the U.S. dollar.

Since June 2010, the Renminbi has fluctuated against the U.S. dollar. Since October 1, 2016, the RMB has joined the International Monetary Fund’s basket of currencies that make up the Special Drawing Right, along with the U.S. dollar, the Euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound. In the fourth quarter of 2016, the RMB depreciated significantly in the backdrop of a surging U.S. dollar and persistent capital outflows of China. With the development of the foreign exchange market and progress towards interest rate liberalization and Renminbi internationalization, the PRC government may announce further changes to the exchange rate system and the RMB could appreciate or depreciate significantly in value against the U.S. dollar.

It is difficult to predict how long such depreciation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar may last and when and how the relationship between the renminbi and the U.S. dollar may change again. The PRC government indicated that it will make the foreign exchange rate of the renminbi more flexible and widen the trading band of renminbi, which increases the possibility of sharp fluctuations in renminbi’s value in the future as well as the unpredictability associated with renminbi’s exchange rate. There remains significant international pressure on the PRC government to adopt an even more flexible currency policy, which could result in further and more significant fluctuations of the renminbi against foreign currencies.

As the majority of our costs and expenses are denominated in renminbi, a resumption of the appreciation of the renminbi against the U.S. dollar would further increase our costs in U.S. dollar terms. In addition, as our operating subsidiaries in China receive revenues in renminbi, any significant depreciation of the renminbi against the U.S. dollar may have a material adverse effect on our revenues in U.S. dollar terms and financial condition, and the value of, and any dividends payable on, our common shares. For example, to the extent that we need to convert U.S. dollars into renminbi for our operations, appreciation of the renminbi against the U.S. dollar would have an adverse effect on the renminbi amount we receive from the conversion. Conversely, if we decide to convert our renminbi into U.S. dollars for the purpose of making payments for dividends on our common shares or for other business purposes, appreciation of the U.S. dollar against the renminbi would have a negative effect on the U.S. dollar amount available to us.

Our business benefits from certain government tax incentives. Expiration, reduction or elimination of these incentives will increase our tax expenses and in turn decrease our net income.

Pursuant to the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law, or the EIT Law, and its implementation rules, both domestic companies and the foreign invested enterprises, or the FIEs, are subject to a unified income tax rate of 25%. Tax exemption or reduction with fixed terms enjoyed by enterprises including us will continue until the expiration of the prescribed period. Preferential tax treatments will continue to be granted to high and new technology enterprises that conduct business in encouraged sectors, whether FIEs or domestic companies.

Sinovac Beijing reconfirmed its “High and New Technology Enterprises,” or HNTE, status and obtained the corresponding certificate in 2014 for a period of three years. As a result, subject to satisfaction of applicable criteria as confirmed by the competent authorities, Sinovac Beijing was entitled to a reduced enterprise income tax, or EIT, rate of 15% from 2014 to 2016. Sinovac Beijing reconfirmed its HNTE status in 2017 for another three-year period, which is from 2017 to 2019. Sinovac Dalian, being confirmed as a HNTE in 2017 for a period of 3 years, is subject to the preferential EIT of 15% from 2017 to 2019. The PRC government could eliminate any of these preferential tax treatments before their scheduled expiration. Expiration, reduction or elimination of such tax incentives will increase our tax expenses and in turn decrease our net income.

Under the EIT Law, dividends payable by us and gains on the disposition of our shares may be subject to PRC taxation.

If we were considered a PRC resident enterprise under the EIT Law, our shareholders who are deemed non-resident enterprises may be subject to the EIT at the rate of 10% upon the dividends payable by us or upon any gains realized from the transfer of our shares, if such income is deemed derived from China, provided that (i) such foreign enterprise investor has no establishment or premises in China or (ii) it has an establishment or premises in China but its income derived from China has no real connection with such establishment or premises. If we were required under the EIT Law to withhold PRC income tax on our dividends payable to our non-PRC enterprise shareholders, or if any gains realized from the transfer of our shares by our non-PRC enterprise shareholders were subject to the EIT, such shareholders’ investment in our shares would be materially and adversely affected.

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

SAFE promulgated the Circular on Relevant Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Control on Domestic Residents’ Offshore Investment and Financing and Roundtrip Investment through Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 37, on July 4, 2014, which replaced the former circular commonly known as “SAFE Circular 75” promulgated by SAFE on October 21, 2005. SAFE Circular 37 requires PRC residents to register with the local branches of SAFE in connection with their direct establishment or indirect control of an offshore entity, for the purpose of overseas investment and financing, with such PRC residents’ legally owned assets or equity interests in domestic enterprises or offshore assets or interests, referred to in SAFE Circular 37 as a “special purpose vehicle.”

SAFE Circular 37 further requires amendment to the registration in the event of any significant changes with respect to the special purpose vehicle, such as increase or decrease of capital contributed by PRC individuals, share transfer or exchange, merger, division, or other material events. In the event that a PRC shareholder holding interests in a special purpose vehicle fails to fulfill the required SAFE registration, the PRC subsidiaries of that special purpose vehicle may be prohibited from making profit distributions to the offshore parent and from carrying out subsequent cross-border foreign exchange activities, and the special purpose vehicle may be restricted in its ability to contribute additional capital into its PRC subsidiary.

Failure to comply with the various SAFE registration requirements described above could result in liability under PRC law for evasion of foreign exchange controls. According to the Notice on Further Simplifying and Improving Policies for the Foreign Exchange Administration of Direct Investment released on February 13, 2015 by SAFE, local banks will examine and handle foreign exchange registration for overseas direct investment, including the initial foreign exchange registration and amendment registration, under SAFE Circular 37 from June 1, 2015. However, since this notice has not yet come into force, significant uncertainty exists with respect to its interpretation and implementation by governmental authorities and banks.

Mr. Weidong Yin has made the required SAFE registration with respect to his investments in our company. However, we may not be aware of the identities of all of our beneficial owners who are PRC residents. We do not control our beneficial owners and cannot assure you that all of our PRC-resident beneficial owners will comply with SAFE Circular 37 and subsequent implementation rules. The failure of our beneficial owners who are PRC residents to register or amend their foreign exchange registrations in a timely manner pursuant to SAFE Circular 37 and subsequent implementation rules, or the failure of future beneficial owners of our company who are PRC residents to comply with the registration procedures set forth in SAFE Circular 37 and subsequent implementation rules, may subject such beneficial owners or our PRC subsidiaries to fines and legal sanctions.

Furthermore, since SAFE Circular 37 was recently promulgated and it is unclear how this regulation, and any future regulation concerning offshore or cross-border transactions, will be interpreted, amended and implemented by the relevant PRC government authorities, we cannot predict how these regulations will affect our business operations or future strategy. Failure to register or comply with relevant requirements may also limit our ability to contribute additional capital to our PRC subsidiaries and limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to distribute dividends to our company. These risks may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Any failure to comply with PRC regulations regarding our employee equity incentive plans may subject the PRC plan participants or us to fines and other legal or administrative sanctions.

Pursuant to SAFE Circular 37, PRC residents who participate in share incentive plans in overseas non-publicly-listed companies due to their position as director, senior management or employees of the PRC subsidiaries of the overseas companies may submit applications to SAFE or its local branches for the foreign exchange registration with respect to offshore special purpose companies. Our directors, executive officers and other employees who are PRC residents and who have been granted options and restricted shares were able to follow SAFE Circular 37 to apply for the foreign exchange registration before our company became an overseas listed company.

Since our company has become an overseas listed company, we and our directors, executive officers and other employees who are PRC residents and who have been granted options are subject to the Notice on Issues Concerning the Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in Stock Incentive Plan of Overseas Publicly Listed Company, issued by SAFE in February 2012, according to which, employees, directors, supervisors and other management members participating in any stock incentive plan of an overseas publicly listed company who are PRC residents are required to register with SAFE through a domestic qualified agent, which could be a PRC subsidiary of such overseas listed company, and complete certain other procedures.

Failure to complete SAFE registrations may subject them to fines and legal sanctions and may also limit the ability to make payments under our equity incentive plans or receive dividends or sales proceeds related thereto, or our ability to contribute additional capital into our wholly-foreign owned enterprises in China and limit our wholly-foreign owned enterprises’ ability to distribute dividends to us. We also face regulatory uncertainties that could restrict our ability to adopt additional equity incentive plans for our directors and employees under PRC law.

In addition, the State Administration for Taxation has issued circulars concerning employee share options or restricted shares. Under these circulars, employees working in the PRC who exercise share options, or whose restricted shares or restricted share units, or RSUs, vest, will be subject to PRC individual income tax. The PRC subsidiaries of an overseas listed company have obligations to file documents related to employee share options or restricted shares with relevant tax authorities and to withhold individual income taxes of those employees related to their share options, restricted shares or RSUs. If the employees fail to pay, or the PRC subsidiaries fail to withhold, their income taxes according to relevant laws, rules and regulations, the PRC subsidiaries may face sanctions imposed by the tax authorities or other PRC government authorities.

PRC regulation of loans and direct investment by offshore holding companies to PRC entities may delay or prevent us from making loans or additional capital contributions to our PRC operating subsidiaries and affiliated entities.

In funding our PRC subsidiaries, we must comply with PRC legal requirements relating to foreign debt registration and to PRC foreign-investment companies’ “registered capital” and “total investment.” “Registered capital” refers to the capital contributed to or paid into a PRC foreign-investment company in cash or in kind, and “total investment” refers to the amount of a PRC foreign-investment company’s registered capital plus all external borrowings by such company. The amounts of a PRC foreign-investment company’s registered capital and total investment are set forth in the company’s constitutional documents and approved by the competent government authority in advance and, in the case of Sinovac Beijing and Sinovac Dalian, must be approved by their minority shareholders, as well as Sinobioway Medicine (formerly named Xiamen Bioway Group Co., Ltd) or Dalian Jin Gang Group, respectively, as well.

Loans by us or Sinovac Hong Kong to Sinovac Beijing, Sinovac R&D, Sinovac Dalian or Sinovac Biomed cannot exceed the difference between such company’s registered capital and total investment, unless the company has obtained the approval of the approval authority and, in the case of Sinovac Beijing or Sinovac Dalian, the approval of Sinobioway Medicine or Dalian Jin Gang Group, respectively, to increase the amount of total investment. Further, such loans must be registered with SAFE or its local counterpart.

We may also decide to finance our PRC subsidiaries by making additional capital contributions. These additional contributions must be approved by the government approval authority and, in the case of Sinovac Beijing or Sinovac Dalian, by Sinobioway Medicine or Dalian Jin Gang Group, respectively. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain these government registrations or approvals, or the approval of Sinobioway Medicine or Dalian Jin Gang Group, on a timely basis, if at all, with respect to future loans or additional capital contributions by us to our subsidiaries or affiliates. If we fail to obtain such registrations or approvals, our ability to capitalize our PRC operations would be negatively affected, which could adversely and materially affect the liquidity of our subsidiaries and our ability to expand our business.

Because we are incorporated under Antigua and Barbuda law, substantially all of our operations, property and assets are located in China and all of our directors and officers and substantially all of their assets are located outside of the United States, you may be unable to protect your shareholder rights under U.S. law in a court in the United States.

We are incorporated in Antigua and Barbuda. Our corporate affairs are governed by our Articles of Incorporation and By-laws and by the International Business Corporations Act and common law of Antigua and Barbuda. The rights of shareholders to take legal action against our directors, officers and us, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us are to a large extent governed by the International Business Corporations Act and common law of Antigua and Barbuda. The common law of Antigua and Barbuda is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in Antigua and Barbuda as well as from English common law, which has persuasive, but not binding, authority on a court in Antigua and Barbuda.

The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Antigua and Barbuda law are not as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedents in the United States. Among other things, Antigua and Barbuda has a less developed body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and provides significantly less protection to investors. Further, Antigua and Barbuda’s body of securities law, and the experience of its courts in addressing corporate and securities law issues of a type often experienced by public companies, is likely less developed than that of some of the other jurisdictions where publicly traded China-based companies are incorporated, such as the Cayman Islands.

It may be difficult or impossible for you to bring an action against us or our directors or officers in Antigua and Barbuda or to enforce or protect your rights under U.S. securities laws or otherwise. Even if you are successful in bringing an action of this kind, you may be unable to enforce a judgment against our assets or the assets of our directors and officers under the laws of Antigua and Barbuda.

There is doubt as to whether Antigua and Barbuda courts would enforce judgments of United States courts obtained in actions against us or our directors or officers that are predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the Securities Act, or in original actions brought against us or such persons predicated upon the Securities Act. There is no treaty in effect between the United States and Antigua and Barbuda providing for such enforcement, and there are grounds upon which Antigua and Barbuda courts may not enforce judgments of United States courts. In addition, Antigua and Barbuda corporations may not have standing to initiate a shareholder derivative action before the federal courts of the United States.

PRC courts may recognize and enforce foreign judgments in accordance with the PRC Civil Procedures Law based either on treaties between the PRC and the country where the judgment is made or on reciprocity between jurisdictions. If there are no treaties or reciprocity arrangements between the PRC and a foreign jurisdiction where a judgment is rendered, matters relating to the recognition and enforcement of the foreign judgment in the PRC may be resolved through diplomatic channels. The PRC does not have any treaties or other arrangements with the United States or Antigua and Barbuda that provide for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. As a result, it is generally difficult to enforce in the PRC a judgment rendered by a U.S. or Antigua and Barbuda court.

As a result of all of the above, as well as the fact that substantially all of our property, assets and operations are located in China and all of our directors and officers and substantially all of their assets are located outside of the United States, you may be unable to protect your shareholder interests through actions against us or our management, directors or major shareholders.

We may be adversely affected by the final outcome of the administrative proceedings brought by the SEC against Ernst & Young Hua Ming LLP and other accounting firms in China.

In December 2012, the SEC initiated administrative proceedings against the China affiliates of five accounting firms, including our independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young Hua Ming LLP, alleging that they refused to produce audit work papers and other documents related to certain China-based companies under investigation by the SEC for potential accounting fraud, and thus violated U.S. securities laws and SEC rules and regulations. On January 22, 2014, an SEC administrative law judge ruled in favor of the SEC, issuing an initial decision which censured each of the accounting firms for failure to provide their audit work papers to the SEC and ordered a six-month suspension of Ernst & Young Hua Ming LLP’s and the other China-based affiliates of the Big Four accounting firms’ right to practice before the SEC. On February 12, 2014, four of these China-based accounting firms appealed to the SEC against this decision. In February 2015, each of the four China-based accounting firms agreed to a censure and to pay a fine to the SEC to settle the dispute and avoid suspension of their ability to practice before the SEC.

The firms’ ability to continue to serve all their respective clients is not affected by the settlement. The settlement stays the current proceeding for four years, during which time the firms are required to follow detailed procedures to seek to provide the SEC with access to Chinese firms’ audit documents via China Securities Regulatory Commission. If a firm does not follow the procedures, the SEC could impose penalties such as suspensions, or it could restart the administrative proceedings or commence a new, expedited administrative proceeding against the non-compliant firm. The settlement did not require the firms to admit to any violation of law and preserves the firms’ legal defenses in the event the administrative proceeding is restarted.

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

If, as a result of this or any other action, the SEC suspends the right of Ernst & Young Hua Ming LLP to practice before the SEC, our ability to file financial statements in compliance with SEC requirements could be impacted. If none of the China-based auditors are able to continue to act as auditors for Chinese companies listed in the U.S., we may not be able to meet the reporting requirements under the Exchange Act, which may ultimately result in our deregistration by the SEC and delisting from the NASDAQ Stock Market, which would substantially reduce or effectively terminate the trading of our common shares in the United States. Moreover, any negative news about the proceedings against these audit firms may erode investor confidence in China-based, United States listed companies and the market price of our common shares may be adversely affected.

We and our investors may be adversely affected by the inability of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB, to carry out inspections of Ernst & Young Hua Ming LLP and other accounting firms in China.

Under the Sarbanes Oxley Act, auditors of companies whose shares are publicly traded in the United States, including our independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young Hua Ming LLP, are required to register with PCAOB and to undergo regular inspections by PCAOB to assess compliance with applicable U.S. legal and accounting professional standards. As PCAOB is currently unable to conduct inspections in China, Ernst & Young Hua Ming LLP has not yet been inspected by PCAOB. PCAOB inspections of other audit firms in other jurisdictions have identified deficiencies in the audit and quality control procedures of those firms, which may be addressed to improve future audit quality. The inability of PCAOB to conduct inspections of independent registered public accounting firms operating in China makes it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our auditor’s audit or quality control procedures. As a result, investors in our common shares may have less confidence in our publicly reported financial information and procedures and the quality of our financial statements.

In addition, PCAOB may choose to impose sanctions or take other actions against Ernst & Young Hua Ming LLP, including suspending or revoking Ernst & Young Hua Ming LLP’s registration with PCAOB. If Ernst & Young Hua Ming LLP and other China-based auditors are unable to maintain registration with PCAOB, we may be unable to meet the ongoing reporting requirements under the Exchange Act, which ultimately may result in the termination of the registration of our common shares and ordinary shares under the Exchange Act or the delisting of our common shares from NASDAQ, or both, which would substantially reduce or effectively terminate the trading of our common shares in the United States.