We are a holding company that conducts our primary businesses through
our PRC subsidiaries and operating entities (the “VIEs”). We primarily operate a one-stop services for our clients
on our integrated service platform, primarily including Omni-channel precision advertising and marketing system, CloudX and data
analysis management system. Our Omni-channel precision advertising and marketing system, primarily consists of digital advertising
and marketing portals, include internet and mobile, and our other non-digital advertising units, such as TV. We provide and monitor
varieties of advertising and marketing campaigns through this service system which generates effective sales leads through the
combination of the Internet, mobile, content and others, including TV and schemes, we also provide search engine marketing services
through this system to maximize market exposure and effectiveness for our clients. Our data analysis management system is an information
and data analysis portal for small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”) or entrepreneurs who plan to start their own
business, helping them for a higher survival and faster deal closing rate. It is built to further expand our service and data-link
to assist our clients in developing their sales both online and offline, so that the overall service platform can create a traceable
looped online to offline (O2O) ecosystem for our clients in their ground sales expansion throughout the cities in the PRC.
We derive our revenue principally by:
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providing search engine marketing services to increase the sales lead conversion rate for our clients’ business promotion
on both mobile and PC searches;
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selling internet advertising space on our web portals and providing related data service and other value-added services to
our clients through the internet advertising management systems and platforms developed and managed by us;
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selling effective sales lead information; and
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selling advertising time slots on our television shows.
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We generated total revenues of US$46.6 million
for the year ended December 31, 2017, compared with US$34.8 million in 2016. Excluding net loss incurred from the discontinued
operation, i.e. our brand management and sale channel building business segment, which was terminated in the fourth quarter of
2015, of approximately US$0.06 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, we incurred a net loss (before allocation to the noncontrolling
interest shareholders) of US$10.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, compared with a net loss (before allocation to
the noncontrolling interest shareholders) of US$6.3 million in 2016.
In January 2018, we announced our strategic partnership with Wuxi
Jingtum Network Technology ("Jingtum”), the credible blockchain ecology builder and announced the expansion into the
blockchain industry and the related technology. This strategic partnership between Jingtum and us is focused on blockchain technology
to build a credible, fair and transparent platform for business opportunities and transactions. We will aim to develop credible,
traceable, and highly secured blockchain applications for the large demand from the SMEs. We believe that the application of blockchain
in the field of business development and marketing can help SMEs to build a new business ecosystem based on algorithmic trust.
With the introduction of blockchain technology, the platform-centric services in the past will gradually shift towards decentralization,
solving trust issues in business cooperation and services and enhancing user vitality and stickiness. We will also gradually shift
from information services to transaction services for business opportunities to create a multi-industry cross-chain value-based
internet sharing entity.
Our Corporate History, Subsidiaries, Variable Interest Entities (VIEs)
and Equity Investment Affiliates
As of December 31, 2017, our corporate structure is set forth below:
We were incorporated in the State of Texas in April 2006 and re-domiciled
to become a Nevada corporation in October 2006. From the date of our incorporation until June 26, 2009, when we consummated the
Share Exchange (as defined below), our business development activities were primarily concentrated in web server access and company
branding in hosting web based e-games.
Our wholly owned subsidiary, China Net Online Media Group Limited,
was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands on August 13, 2007 (“China Net BVI”). On April 11, 2008, China Net BVI
became the parent holding company of a group of companies comprised of CNET Online Technology Limited, a Hong Kong company (“China
Net HK”), which established, and is the parent company of, Rise King Century Technology Development (Beijing) Co., Ltd.,
a wholly foreign-owned enterprise (“WFOE”) established in the People's Republic of China (“Rise King WFOE”).
We refer to the transactions that resulted in China Net BVI becoming an indirect parent company of Rise King WFOE as the “Offshore
Restructuring.”
Restructuring
In October 2008, a restructuring plan was developed (the “Restructuring”).
The Restructuring was accomplished in two steps. The first step was for Rise King WFOE to acquire control over Business Opportunity
Online (Beijing) Network Technology Co., Ltd. (“Business Opportunity Online”) and Beijing CNET Online Advertising Co.,
Ltd. (“Beijing CNET Online”) (collectively the “PRC Operating Entities” or the “VIEs”) by entering
into a series of contracts (the “Contractual Agreements” or the “VIE Agreements”), which enabled Rise King
WFOE to operate the business and manage the affairs of the PRC Operating Entities. Both of the PRC Operating Entities at that time
were, and currently are, owned by Messrs. Handong Cheng, Xuanfu Liu and Ms. Li Sun (the “PRC Shareholders” or the “Control
Group”). Mr. Cheng is now our Chief Executive Officer. After the PRC Restructuring was consummated, the second step was for
China Net BVI to enter into and complete a transaction with a U.S. public reporting company, whereby that company would acquire
China Net BVI, China Net HK and Rise King WFOE, and control the PRC Operating Entities (the “China Net BVI Companies”).
Business Opportunity Online and Beijing CNET Online were incorporated on December 8, 2004 and January 27, 2003, respectively.
Legal Structure of the PRC Restructuring
The PRC Restructuring was consummated in a manner so as not
to violate PRC laws relating to restrictions on foreign ownership of businesses in certain industries in the PRC and the PRC M&A
regulations.
The Foreign Investment Industrial Guidance Catalogue jointly issued
by the Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) and the National Development and Reform Commission in 2007, which latest amendment
became effective on July 28, 2017, classified various industries/business into three different categories: (i) encouraged for foreign
investment, (ii) restricted to foreign investment and (iii) prohibited from foreign investment. For any industry/business not covered
by any of these three categories, they will be deemed to be industries/business permitted to have foreign investment. Except for
those expressly provided restrictions, encouraged and permitted industries/businesses are usually open to foreign investment and
ownership. With regard to those industries/businesses restricted to or prohibited from foreign investment, there is always a limitation
on foreign investment and ownership.
The business of the PRC Operating Entities falls under the class
of a business that provides Internet content or information services, a type of value-added telecommunication services, for which
restrictions upon foreign ownership apply. The latest Foreign Investment Industrial Guidance Catalogue, which became effective
in July 2017, retains the restrictions on foreign ownership related to value-added telecommunication services. As a result, Rise
King WFOE is not allowed to do the business the PRC Operating Entities companies are currently pursuing. Advertising business is
open to foreign investment but used to require that the foreign investors of a WFOE should have been carrying out advertising business
for over three years pursuant to the Foreign Investment Advertising Measures as amended by MOFCOM and the State Administration
of Industry and Commerce (“SAIC”) on August 22, 2008, which was repealed in June 29, 2015. Rise King WFOE was not allowed
to engage in the advertising business because its shareholder, China Net HK, did not meet such requirements. In order to control
the business and operations of the PRC Operating Entities, and consolidate the financial results of the two companies in a manner
that does not violate the related PRC laws, Rise King WFOE executed the Contractual Agreements with the PRC Shareholders and each
of the PRC Operating Entities. The Contractual Agreements allow us, through Rise King WFOE, to, among other things, secure significant
rights to influence the two companies’ business operations, policies and management, approve all matters requiring shareholder
approval, and receive 100% of the income earned by the PRC Operating Entities. In return, Rise King WFOE provides consulting services
to the PRC Operating Entities. In addition, to ensure that the PRC Operating Entities and the PRC Shareholders perform their obligations
under the Contractual Arrangements, the PRC Shareholders have pledged all of their equity interests in the PRC Operating Entities
to Rise King WFOE. They have also entered into an option agreement with Rise King WFOE which provides that at such time as when
the related restrictions under PRC law on foreign ownership of Chinese companies engaging in the Internet content or information
services in China are lifted, Rise King WFOE may exercise its option to purchase the equity interests in the PRC Operating Entities,
directly.
Each of the PRC Shareholders entered into a share transfer agreement
(the “Share Transfer Agreement”) with Mr. Yang Li, the sole shareholder of Rise King Investment Limited, a British
Virgin Islands company (“Rise King BVI”), which was a 55% shareholder of China Net BVI at that time. In entering into
the Share Transfer Agreement, Ms. Li Sun was acting as the nominee of Mr. Zhige Zhang, our chief financial officer. Mr. Zhang did
not report his indirect ownership of ChinaNet BVI’s common stock by virtue of Ms. Li acting as his nominee on his original
Form 3 filed with the SEC. The PRC Shareholders were granted the incentive options for the contributions that they made and continue
to make to Rise King BVI. Under the Share Transfer Agreements Mr. Li granted each of the PRC Shareholders an option to acquire,
in the aggregate 10,000 shares of Rise King BVI, representing 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Rise King BVI, provided
that certain financial performance thresholds were met by the China Net BVI Companies. The Share Transfer Agreement was formalized
and entered into on April 28, 2009. There is no prohibition under PRC laws for the PRC Shareholders to earn an interest in Rise
King BVI after the PRC Restructuring is consummated in compliance with PRC law.
On March 30, 2011, Ms. Li Sun transferred
the Option Shares held by her to Mr. Zhang. On March 30, 2011, pursuant to the terms of the Share Transfer Agreement, each of Mr.
Cheng, Mr. Liu and Mr. Zhang exercised their rights to acquire the Option Shares. Due to the fact that the China Net BVI Companies
had achieved the performance targets set forth in the Share Transfer Agreement, each of Mr. Cheng, Mr. Liu and Mr. Zhang paid an
exercise price of $1.00 per share to Mr. Yang Li. As a result of this exercise, Mr. Cheng, Mr. Liu and Mr. Zhang became the shareholders
of Rise King BVI. As of April 12, 2018, through Rise King BVI, Mr. Cheng, Mr. Liu and Mr. Zhang collectively hold 18% of the issued
and outstanding shares of our common stock.
Summary of the material terms of the VIE Agreements:
Exclusive Business Cooperation Agreements:
Pursuant to the Exclusive Business Cooperation Agreements entered
into by and between Rise King WFOE and each of the PRC Operating Entities, Rise King WFOE has the exclusive right provide to the
PRC Operating Entities complete technical support, business support and related consulting services during the term of these agreements,
which includes but is not limited to technical services, business consultations, equipment or property leasing, marketing consultancy,
system integration, product research and development, and system maintenance. In exchange for such services, each PRC Operating
Entity has agreed to pay a service fee to Rise King WFOE equal to 100% of the net income of each PRC Operating Entity. Adjustments
may be made upon approval by Rise King WFOE based on services rendered by Rise King WFOE and operational needs of the PRC Operating
Entities. The payment shall be made on a monthly basis, if at year end, after an audit of the financial statements of any PRC Operating
Entities, there is determined to be any shortfall in the payment of 100% of the annual net income, such PRC Operating Entity shall
pay such shortfall to Rise King WFOE. Each agreement has a ten-year term. The term of these agreements may be extended if confirmed
in writing by Rise King WFOE, prior to the expiration of the term. The extended term shall be determined by Rise King WFOE, and
the PRC Operating Entities shall accept such extended term unconditionally.
Exclusive Option Agreements:
Under the Exclusive Option Agreements entered into by and among Rise
King WFOE, each of the PRC Shareholders irrevocably granted to Rise King WFOE, or its designated person, an exclusive option to
purchase, to the extent permitted by PRC law, a portion or all of their respective equity interest in any PRC Operating Entities
for a purchase price of RMB10, or a purchase price to be adjusted to be in compliance with applicable PRC laws and regulations.
Rise King WFOE, or its designated person, has the sole discretion to decide when to exercise the option, whether in part or in
full. Each of these agreements has a ten-year term, subject to renewal at the election of Rise King WFOE.
Equity Pledge Agreements:
Under the Equity Pledge Agreements entered into by and among Rise
King WFOE, the PRC Operating Entities and each of the PRC Shareholders, the PRC Shareholders pledged all of their equity interests
in the PRC Operating Entities to guarantee the PRC Operating Entities’ performance of its obligations under the Exclusive
Business Cooperation Agreements. If the PRC Operating Entities or any of the PRC Shareholders breaches its/his/her respective contractual
obligations under these agreements, or upon the occurrence of one of the events regarded as an event of default under each such
agreement, Rise King WFOE, as pledgee, will be entitled to certain rights, including the right to dispose of the pledged equity
interests. The PRC Shareholders of the PRC Operating Entities agreed not to dispose of the pledged equity interests or take any
actions that would prejudice Rise King WFOE's interest, and to notify Rise King WFOE of any events or upon receipt of any notices
which may affect Rise King WFOE's interest in the pledge. Each of the equity pledge agreements will be valid until all the payments
related to the services provided by Rise King WFOE to the PRC Operating Entities due under the Exclusive Business Cooperation Agreements
have been fulfilled. Therefore, the equity pledge agreements shall only be terminated when the payments related to the ten-year
Exclusive Business Cooperation Agreement are paid in full and the WFOE does not intend to extend the term of the Exclusive Business
Cooperation Agreement.
Irrevocable Powers of Attorney:
The PRC Shareholders have each executed an irrevocable power of attorney
to appoint Rise King WFOE as their exclusive attorneys-in-fact to vote on their behalf on all PRC Operating Entities matters requiring
shareholder approval. The term of each power of attorney is valid so long as such shareholder is a shareholder of the respective
PRC Operating Entity.
As a result of these VIE Agreements, we through our wholly-owned
subsidiary, Rise King WFOE, was granted with unconstrained decision making rights and power over key strategic and operational
functions that would significantly impact the PRC Operating Entities or the VIEs’ economic performance, which includes, but
is not limited to, the development and execution of the overall business strategy; important and material decision making; decision
making for merger and acquisition targets and execution of merger and acquisition plans; business partnership strategy development
and execution; government liaison; operation management and review; and human resources recruitment and compensation and incentive
strategy development and execution. Rise King WFOE also provides comprehensive services to the VIEs for their daily operations,
such as operational technical support, OA technical support, accounting support, general administration support and technical support
for products and services. As a result of the Exclusive Business Cooperation Agreements, the Equity Pledge Agreements and the Exclusive
Option Agreements, we will bear all of the VIEs’ operating costs in exchange for 100% of the net income of the VIEs. Under
these agreements, we have the absolute and exclusive right to enjoy economic benefits similar to equity ownership through the VIE
Agreements with our PRC Operating Entities and their shareholders.
Accounting Treatment of the Restructuring:
The Restructuring is accounted for as a transaction between entities
under common control in a manner similar to pooling of interests, with no adjustment to the historical basis of the assets and
liabilities of the PRC Operating Entities. The operations of the PRC Operating Entities are consolidated as if the current corporate
structure had been in existence throughout the period presented in the audited financial statements. The Restructuring is accounted
for in this manner because, pursuant to an Entrustment Agreement dated June 5, 2009 (the “Entrustment Agreement”) between
Rise King BVI and the PRC Shareholders, Rise King BVI granted to the PRC Shareholders, on a collective basis, managerial control
over each of the China Net BVI Companies by delegating the PRC Shareholders its shareholder rights, including the right to vote,
and its rights to designate management of China Net BVI. The Entrustment Agreement, together with the Contractual Arrangements
demonstrates the ability of the PRC Shareholders to continue to control Business Opportunity Online and Beijing CNET Online, which
are under our common control. On March 30, 2011, in connection with the exercise of the options pursuant to the Share Transfer
Agreement, the Entrustment Agreement was terminated.
Share Exchange and Name Change
On June 26, 2009, we entered into a Share Exchange Agreement (the
“Exchange Agreement”), with (i) ChinaNet BVI, (ii) ChinaNet BVI’s shareholders, who together own shares constituting
100% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares of ChinaNet BVI (the “ChinaNet BVI Shares”), and (iii) G. Edward
Hancock, the former principal stockholder of the Company. Pursuant to the terms of the Exchange Agreement, the ChinaNet BVI Shareholders
transferred to the Company all of the ChinaNet BVI Shares in exchange for the issuance of 13,790,800 (the “Exchange Shares”)
shares of Common Stock (the “Share Exchange”). As a result of the Share Exchange, ChinaNet BVI became a wholly owned
subsidiary of our company. Prior to July 14, 2009, our company name was Emazing Interactive, Inc. On July 14, 2009, our company
formed a corporation under the laws of the State of Nevada called ChinaNet Online Holdings, Inc. (the "Merger Sub") and
acquired one hundred shares of its common stock for cash. As such, Merger Sub was merged with and into our company. As a result
of the merger, the separate corporate existence of the Merger Sub ceased. As a further result of the merger, our corporate name
was changed to “ChinaNet Online Holdings, Inc.” We are the surviving corporation in the merger and, except for the
name change provided for in the Agreement and Plan of Merger, there was no change in our directors, officers, capital structure
or business.
Our VIEs, VIEs’ subsidiaries and other investment affiliates
As discussed above, through Rise King WFOE we beneficially own two
VIEs: Business Opportunities Online and Beijing CNET Online. Business Opportunities Online is primarily engaged in providing internet
advertising, O2O precision marketing and related data service to the SMEs. Beijing CNET Online is primarily engaged in providing
TV advertising services to the SMEs.
As of December 31, 2017, Business Opportunity Online has the following
directly or indirectly wholly-owned subsidiaries: Business Opportunity Online (Hubei) Network Technology Co., Ltd. (“Business
Opportunity Online Hubei”), Hubei CNET Advertising Media Co., Ltd. (“Hubei CNET”), Sheng Tian Network Technology
(Hubei) Co., Ltd. (“Sheng Tian Hubei”), Beijing Chuang Shi Xin Qi Advertising Media Co., Ltd. (“Beijing Chuang
Shi Xin Qi”), Beijing Hong Da Shi Xing Network Technology Co., Ltd. (“Beijing Hong Da Shi Xing”) and Beijing
Shi Ji Cheng Yuan Advertising Media Co., Ltd. (“Beijing Shi Ji Cheng Yuan”). Business Opportunity Online also beneficially
owns 51% equity interest in Beijing Chuang Fu Tian Xia Network Technology Co., Ltd. (“Beijing Chuang Fu Tian Xia”).
Except Hubei CNET, Sheng Tian Hubei and Chuang Shi Xin Qi, which are currently dormant, the rest subsidiaries of Business Opportunity
Online are all engaged in providing internet advertising, O2O precision marketing and related data service and other value-added
services to the SMEs.
As of December 31, 2017, Business Opportunities Online also beneficially
owns 23.18%, 25.5% and 19% equity interest in Shenzhen City Mingshan Network Technology Co., Ltd. (“Shenzhen Mingshan”),
Zhao Shang Ke Network Technology (Hubei) Co., Ltd. (“Zhao Shang Ke Hubei”) and Guohua Shiji (Beijing) Communication
Co., Ltd. (“Guohua Shiji”), respectively. Guohua Shiji is primarily engaged in providing internet and information technical
services. The business of Shenzhen Mingshan and Zhao Shang Ke Hubei are currently dormant.
As of December 31, 2017, Beijing CNET Online beneficially owns 10%
equity interest in Beijing Saturday Education Technology Co., Ltd. (“Beijing Saturday”), which is primarily engaged
in children’s playground operation management and franchise business and 10% equity interest in Chuangshi Meiwei (Beijing)
International Investment Management Co., Ltd. (“Chuangshi Meiwei”), which is primarily engaged in franchise investment
consulting and management business. The business of Beijing Saturday and Chuangshi Meiwei are currently dormant. Beijing CNET Online
also beneficially owns 51% equity interest in Shanghai Borongdingsi Computer Technology Co., Ltd. (“Shanghai Borongdingsi”),
primarily engaged in providing bank kiosks advertising services, which business we had exited in late 2015.
As of December 31, 2017, we also control two wholly-owned investment
holding companies, ChinaNet Investment Holding Ltd, a British Virgin Islands company (“ChinaNet Investment BVI”), and
ChinaNet Online Holdings Co., Ltd., a PRC company (“ChinaNet Online PRC”). ChinaNet Online PRC co-incorporated ChinaNet
Chuang Tou (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (“ChinaNet Chuang Tou”) with two unaffiliated individuals and beneficially own 19%
equity interest in ChinaNet Chuang Tou. ChinaNet Investment BVI co-incorporated ChinaNet Online Holdings Korea (“ChinaNet
Korea”) with four unaffiliated individuals and beneficially own 15% equity interest in ChinaNet Korea. The business of ChinaNet
Koran is currently dormant.
Recent development
We consummated a registered direct offering of 2,150,001 shares of
common stock of the Company to three institutional investors at a purchase price of $5.15 per share. As part of the transaction,
the Company also issued to the investors warrants for the purchase of up to 645,000 shares of common stock of the Company at an
exercise price of $6.60 per share. The warrants have a term of 30 months from the date of issuance. The closing took place on January
17, 2018 and we received gross proceeds of approximately $11.1 million.
Industry and Market Overview
Overview of the Advertising Market in China
According to Dentsu Aegis Network in January 2018, the global advertising
market will reach US$589.5 billion in 2018 as growth accelerates to 3.6%, up from 3.1% in 2017. China’s advertising market
is slowing in step with its economy, however, still remains one of the key drivers of global growth. China is projected to account
for 22.8% of the total growth of global advertising spending in 2018, which amounts to approximately US$4.6 billion. Dentsu Aegis
Network also forecasts that China’s advertising spending will grow by 5.4% in 2018 and is expected to reach US$89.6 billion,
or 15.2% of the global advertising market in the year. In 2019, driven by digital media and outdoor media, China's advertising
spending is expected to grow another 5.3%.
The growth of China’s advertising market is driven by a number
of factors, including the sustained economic growth and increases in disposable income and consumption in China. China was the
second largest economy in the world in terms of gross domestic product (“GDP”), which amounted to US$12.3 trillion
in 2017. According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the annual disposable income per capita in urban households increased
to RMB36,396 in 2017, adjusted by the price factors, the actual increase was 6.5%.
Overview of the Internet Advertising Industry
According to Dentsu Aegis Network, digital media channels continue
to disrupt advertising spending in 2018:
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Digital media channels will continue to power advertising spending growth, growing globally by 12.6% in 2018, versus 15% in
2017, to reach US$220.3 billion.
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Mobile will go from strength to strength, reaching US$121.1 billion having overtaken desktop as a share of total digital spend
in 2017.
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Digital overtakes TV, digital advertising spending will account for 38.3% share of total advertising spending, TV 35.5%.
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Within China, the internet advertising market growth is expected
to stem primarily from a higher internet penetration rate of just 55.8% by the end of 2017. (The 41st China Internet Network Development
Statistical Report issued by China Internet Network Information Center (the “CNNIC”), January 2018), the use of search
engine, rich media and video and game embedded advertisements. According to the 41st CNNIC report, as of December 2017, the mobile
internet user reached 753 million people, which accounted for 97.5% of the total internet users, as compared with 95.1% as of December
2016.
According to iResearch Consulting Group (January 2018), China online
advertising revenue reached RMB290.2 billion Yuan (approximately US$44 billion) in 2016 and is estimated to hit RMB382.9 billion
Yuan (approximately US$58.6 billion) in 2017, up 31.9% year-over-year. Its growth is forecasted to slow in step with its economy
in the next few years. China’s mobile advertising revenue reached RMB175.02 billion Yuan (approximately US$26.3 billion)
in 2016 and it’s estimated to hit RMB264.88 billion Yuan (approximately US$40.5 billion) in 2017, jumping 51.3% year-over-year.
China’s mobile advertising revenue is expected to top 485 billion Yuan by 2019. As the sector matures, its growth will also
stabilize in the few years to come. The latest data from iResearch show that mobile advertising will account for an increasing
share of online advertising revenue in the following few years, which is projected to approach 80% by 2019.
The diagram below depicts the Market Scale of China’s Online
Advertising from 2013 to 2020:
High Demand for the Internet Advertising from SMEs and O2O Business in China
We believe that the Internet advertising market in China also has
significant potential for future growth due to high demand from the rapid development of SMEs and O2O business.
The development of the SME market is still in its early stages in
China and since their sales channels and distribution networks are still underdeveloped, they are driven to search for new participants
by utilizing Internet advertising and precision marketing. The SMEs tend to be smaller, less-developed brands primarily focused
on restaurants, garments, building materials, home appliances, and entertainment with low start-up costs. The Chinese government
has promulgated a series of laws and regulations to protect and promote the development of SMEs which appeals to entrepreneurs
looking to benefit from the central government’s support of increased domestic demand. SMEs are now responsible for
about 60% of China’s industrial output and employment of approximately 80% of the urban Chinese workforce. SMEs are creating
new urban jobs, and they are the main destination for new graduates entering the workforce and workers laid-off from state-owned
enterprises (SOEs) that re-enter the workforce.
In recent years, the capital market, internet giants and traditional
offline services business in China have all accelerated their O2O business arrangement and development. With the advent of the
mobile Internet era, the innovation of user needs and applications have become the main trend of the Internet, including online
payments, location-based services, online and offline interaction and more. Due to the decline of China’s economy since the
second half of 2011, the competitive market pressure within the local life services industry has increased. Under these circumstances,
more and more traditional offline service providers started to use the internet (PC, tablet and mobile) to market and promote their
products and services. The rapid development of social media and tools, such as: Wechat and Webo, also have had a very important
influence on the development of the O2O market, using social media and tools to promote brands and maintain customer relationships
has become an important adverting and marketing tool for all offline business.
Rapid development of Big Data Marketing
Massive amounts of data profoundly changed the way people describe
objective things, but also provided people with new tools to explore the objective laws behind the data. Advertising as a marketing
activity based on in-depth analysis on a target audience to locate, process and precisely release the related information, has
resulted in strong sensitivity to the value of Big Data application. According to Gfk, one of the largest international market
research companies, 62% of marketing service providers have begun to change their role and use the new Big Data tools for marketing,
and 86% said that in future will continue to rely on Big Data for market development planning and execution.
Our Principal Products and Services
Internet Advertising, Precision Marketing and Related Data and
Value-added Services
Founded in 2003, 28.com is a leading Internet portal for information
relating to small business opportunities in China, which is one of the earliest entrants in this sector. Besides 28.com, we also
have Internet advertising portals including liansuo.com etc., which in the aggregate enable our customers to invest in their online
advertising and marketing campaign through multi-channel to maximize market exposure and effectiveness. In the past few years,
we further developed and upgraded the system and tools of our website portals, including customer user interface, and integrated
our mobile function and cloud-based search engine marketing and optimization in preparation for mobile search marketing and mobile
search optimization.
Our internet advertising, precision marketing and related data and
value-added services provide advertisers with tools to build sales channels directly in the form of franchisees, sales agents,
distributors, and/or resellers, and have the following features which enable them to be attractive to the advertisers:
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Allowing potential entrepreneurs interested in inexpensive franchise and other business ventures
to find in-depth details about these businesses in various industries and business categories, with real-time and online assistance
through an instant messenger;
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Providing one-stop integrated internet marketing and advertising services for SMEs by offering
customized services such as design, website and mini-site setup, and advertisement placement on various communication channels
through intelligent based promotion systems;
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Generating effective sales leads information; and
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Bundling with advanced traffic generation techniques, search-engine optimization and marketing
and other internet advertising management tools to assist our clients with monitoring, analyzing and managing their advertising
and data collected on our web portal.
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We typically charge our clients a fixed monthly or annual membership
fee for the internet advertising services and the related data and value-added services that we provide. For search engine marketing
service, we charge our clients a certain percentage as service fee based on the related direct cost consumed for providing this
service. A certain group of our clients also purchase effective sales lead information collected by our online advertising system.
Separately, we charge a fixed fee, which varies for different business types, for each effective sales lead information delivered
to clients. As of December 31, 2017, we have approximately 800 clients who used our internet advertising, marketing and data services.
During 2017, we continued to place a persistent effort in integrating and upgrading our internet advertising, marketing and data
services to our SME clients. we optimized our online promotion analysis and cost control system to provide more data and feedback
to our users, which is especially helpful to our larger clients, we also optimized our online promotion tactics to improve cost
efficiency, which helped our clients achieve more accurate promotion and placement effects with acceptable costs, thereby increasing
sales lead conversion rate and overall client satisfaction with our services. We also continued to invest in developing new services
for our clients. We believe that the launch of new services in future periods will help to increase our market penetration in the
SME segment, thereby increasing our recurring revenues in the future. We achieved approximately US$46.3 million and US$34.8 million
of internet advertising, marketing and the related data and value-added services net revenue for the years ended December 31, 2017
and 2016, respectively. The overall gross profit margin of this business segment decreased to 10% for the year ended December
31, 2017 from 22% for the year ended December 31, 2016, due to a higher proportion of revenues from search engine marketing service
with relatively lower gross margin generated in 2017.
Television Advertising
As part of our advertising and marketing services, we produced
and distributed television shows that were comprised of advertisements similar to infomercials. Our clients paid us for advertising
spots, production and editorial coverage. The shows produced by our TV unit are distributed during airtime purchased from provincial
satellite television stations. Due to the rapid development of Internet and mobile advertising and the further restriction on content,
air time and duration of these infomercials imposed by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television
of the PRC in recent years, the demands of our TV advertising service decreased accordingly. For the year ended December 31, 2017,
we recognized approximately US$0.34 million TV advertising revenues. We did not generate any TV advertising revenue in 2016. We
will continue to monitor our clients’ needs of this service. In consideration of the sustained and steady development of
Internet advertising and the rapid development in mobile advertising, we expect future revenues contributed from this segment will
be insignificant.
Our Competitive Strengths
Over our fifteen-year operating history, we believe that we have
built a strong track record of significant competitive strengths. We believe that these competitive strengths include:
Innovative Operations
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·
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Client-based innovation.
Our advertising, marketing and data services are intended to be a one-stop shop for advertising
and marketing solutions to our clients. These services are based on the needs of our existing clients. All of our value-added services,
including lead generation and capture, online messaging and consulting, search engine marketing and optimization, mini-site hosting,
content management, marketing and operational management tools and related data services, simplify the business process for our
clients by allowing them to effectively allocate their resources and budget for various advertising and marketing tools and channels.
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Target market innovation and expansion of audience base
. We believe that by offering
a multichannel communication platform, we enable SMEs to reach a wide range of consumers with complementary and mutually reinforcing
advertising and marketing campaigns. We are better able to attract business owners who want to reach targeted consumer groups through
a number of different advertising channels in different venues and regions, and at different times of the day.
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Strong Technological Advantages
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·
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Advanced campaign tracking, monitoring & data collection and analysis tools
. We have
deployed advanced tracking, search engine optimization, resource scheduling and content management and ad campaign management tools
to achieve effective and efficient advertising effects. We have also deployed cloud technology and Big Data collection and analysis
technology into our intelligent operation and marketing data service applications to provide effective and efficient precision
marketing and O2O sales channel expansion services to our clients.
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Valuable intellectual property.
We have twenty-four copyright certificates in connection
with the online advertising, marketing and data service business, most of which were developed by our research and development
team.
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Experienced management team
. We have an experienced management team. In particular, Handong
Cheng, our founder, chairman and chief executive officer has over fifteen years’ experience in management. He demonstrated
his entrepreneurship and business leadership by starting our business and he has successfully grown our business to become a leader
in online media marketing and advertising services. George Chu, our Chief Operating Officer, has diversified and international
industry experience that will help us to scale to the next level. Zhige Zhang, our Chief Financial Officer has over fifteen
years’ experience in software development and Internet ad technology.
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First Mover Advantages
We have over twelve years of operations as a vertically integrated
ad portal and ad agency. We have fifteen years of experience as an Internet advertising agency. We commenced our Internet advertising
services business in 2003 and were among the first companies in China to create a site and a business focused on Internet advertising.
We rapidly established a sizeable national network, secured a significant market share and enhanced awareness of our brand. Our
early entry into the market has also enabled us to accumulate a significant amount of knowledge, experience and data in this segment
of the advertising industry to be able to maintain a strong market share position. We are also the first company that is providing
O2O (online-to-offline) sales channel expansion services in China to small business.
Growth Strategy
Our objectives are to strengthen our position as the leading diversified
one-stop O2O sales channel expansion, precision marketing and related data services provider to SMEs and entrepreneurial management
and network services provider for entrepreneurs in China, and to continue to achieve sustainable and healthy growth on a consistent
basis. We expect to grow from a business opportunities platform to a comprehensive one on one digital advertising, precision marketing
and related data services provider, with a total solution for the business to business to customer (“B2b2c”) ecosystem,
helping businesses expand sales and customers through mobile and the Internet. We intend to achieve these objectives by implementing
the following strategies:
Continue expanding the size of our potential client base with online advertising and
marketing solution provided by us
We have been expanding our target client group to the non-franchised
SMEs in recent years with a focus on enterprises which have been in the manufacturing and exporting business. These businesses
all experienced sharp decline in sales account of slow economic recovery and lower consumption demand in Europe and United States.
We estimate that there are four million businesses that fall into the category of non-franchised SMEs, and we aim to assist them
in expanding their business nationally in China.
Monetizing the existing customer base through the addition of cloud technology based
mobile services and management tools
Due to the overall decline of Chinese economy in recent years, the
competitive market pressure within the local life services industry has increased. Under these circumstances, more and more traditional
offline services providers started to use the Internet to market and promote their products and services. Using social media and
tools, like WeChat, to promote brands and maintain customer relationships has become an important adverting and marketing tool
for all offline business. With the advent to mobile Internet era, we intend to launch integrated cloud technology based mobile
services, intelligent marketing management tools and/or solutions to our existing clients. These tools include, among other
things, elite point of sales (POS), inventory supply chain management, office automation (OA) and customer relationship management
(CRM) and related data collection, storage and analysis solutions. These services are intended to increase our recurring revenues
and enhance the loyalty and service satisfaction of our clients.
Building up a competitive barrier by means of technology and strategic partnerships
with key internet and mobile players in China or globally
Technology and strategic partnerships will allow us to solidify our
industry’s leading position and broaden our client base through higher customer satisfaction and market awareness for our
services. It will also enhance our ability to target discrete consumer groups. These technologies include mobile advertising with
location based functionality, advertising tracking and conversion, database mining and management. Strategic partnerships include
partnerships with key Internet and mobile search engines in China, key social media platforms as well as other Internet portals.
Gradually grow to comprehensive one on one digital advertising and marketing services
provider with a total solution for the B2b2c ecosystem through Big Data Collecting and Analysis System
We intend to launch more value-added services to our existing and
potential clients, including cloud technology based mobile services, intelligent marketing management tools and/or solutions to
enable our clients to experience multi-channel, management systems and data collection and analysis based advertising and marketing
services. We expect that launching these services will increase our recurring revenues and service satisfaction from clients. Most
importantly, it will enable us to build our Big Data collection and analysis system, which is intended to collect all relevant
information from clients, franchisers and entrepreneurs to form effective and reliable research reports to be further utilized
by our clients to physically expand their business and client base offline.
Sales and Marketing
For the year ended December 31, 2017, we derived 99.3% of total net
revenues from our Internet advertising and the provision of related data services, compared with 100% for the year ended December
31, 2016.
The following table sets forth a breakdown of our revenue from Internet
advertising and related technical services, by industry, for the year ended December 31, 2017:
Industry
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Percentage of total revenue
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Food and Beverage
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51.2
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%
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Women Accessories
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0.4
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%
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Footwear, Apparel and Garments
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2.1
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%
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Home Goods and Construction Materials
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19.6
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%
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Environmental Protection Equipment
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12.8
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%
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Cosmetic and Health Care
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1.0
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%
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Education Network
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3.0
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%
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Others
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9.9
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%
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Total
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100
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%
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We employ experienced advertising sales people. We provide in-house
education and training to our sales people to ensure that they provide our current and prospective clients with comprehensive information
about our services, the benefits of using our advertising, marketing and data services and relevant information regarding the advertising
industry. We also market our advertising services from time to time by placing advertisements on television and other well-known
portals in China, participating in domestic and international franchise exhibitions in China and other countries and acting as
a sponsor to third-party programming and shows.
We believe our clients derive substantial value from our ability
to provide advertising, marketing and data services targeted at specific segments of consumer markets. Market research is an important
part of evaluating the effectiveness and value of our business to our clients. We conduct market research, consumer surveys, demographic
analysis and other advertising industry research for internal use to evaluate new and existing advertising and marketing channels.
We also purchase or commission studies containing relevant market data from reputable third-party market research firms when necessary.
We typically consult such studies to assist us in evaluating the effectiveness of our network to our advertisers. A number of these
studies contain research on the numbers and socio-economic and demographic profiles of the people who visit our network.
Suppliers
Our suppliers are major search engines,
other internet gateways and regional television stations. Among these suppliers, for the year ended December 31, 2017, resources
purchased from two of the largest search engines in China counted for approximately 64% and 26% of our internet resource cost,
respectively, compared with both 39% for the year ended December 31, 2016, respectively. For television, we had one provincial
satellite television station which supplied us with television airtime in 2017. We did not finalize any advertising resources contracts
with suppliers in 2016.
Research and Development
We intend to continue to optimize our Standard Operating Environment
(the “SOE”) technology in order to reduce costs and the time to deploy, configure, maintain, support and manage computer
servers and systems. Whether we continue to further deploy newer technology will depend upon cost and network security. We also
continue to develop proprietary software and systems in connection with the operation of and provision of services through our
portal websites, mobile advertising applications and intelligent operation and marketing data service applications to enhance ease
of use by both operators and clients. We focus on enhancing related software systems enabling us to track and monitor advertiser
demands and the related data collection and analysis. With the introduction of cloud-compute technology, we will continue to integrate
this technology into our online marketing management tool services through self-development and also by entering into alliances,
partnerships, and/or mergers and acquisitions. In the next few years, we intend to move our research and development efforts to
mobile-based application system and data collection and analysis tools more aggressively.
In accordance with our strategic layout, we target to expand into
blockchain industry and the related technology in 2018, as a result, we will invest in the research and development activities
in this area to utilize the blockchain technology and develop related applications for the large demand from the SMEs.
Intellectual Property
As of December 31, 2017, we had twenty-four software copyright certificates
issued by the State Copyright Office of the PRC (“SCO”), including, but not limited to, software systems covering monitoring
and management platforms on internet advertising effects, analysis systems on internet traffic statistics and internet user behavior,
analysis systems on log-based visit hotspot and browsing trails, analysis systems on search engine marketing, mobile advertising
platform and cloud-compute technology.
With this intellectual property, we can continue to provide value-added
services that are in demand by our clients and can track end users and process and analyze data collected to help our clients assess
and adjust their marketing strategies and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of their advertisements placed through our multi-channel
advertising and marketing service platforms on both PC and mobile devices.
We plan to continue increasing expenditures to enhance the safety
of our hardware and server which we depend on to support our network and manage and monitor programs on the network. We also plan
to continue increasing investment in research and development as we continue to expand, optimize and enhance the technologies of
our portal websites and mobile advertising platform, upgrade our advertising and internet management software and the related data
analysis and cloud-compute technologies.
Competition
We compete with other internet advertising companies for business
opportunities in China, including companies that operate Internet advertising portals, such as u88.cn, 3158.com and 78.cn. We compete
for clients primarily on the basis of network size and coverage, location, price, the range of services that we offer and our brand
name. We also compete for overall advertising spending with other alternative advertising media companies, such as wireless telecommunications,
street furniture, billboards, frame and public transport advertising companies, and with traditional advertising media, such as
newspapers, magazines and radio.
Government Regulation
The PRC government imposes extensive controls and regulations over
the media industry, including on internet, television, radio, newspapers, magazines, advertising, media content production, and
the market research industry. This section summarizes the principal PRC regulations that are relevant to our lines of business.
Regulations on the Value-added Telecommunication
Services and Advertising Industry in China
Foreign Investments in Value-added Telecommunication Services
The Foreign Investment Industrial Guidance Catalogue restricts foreign
investments in value-added telecommunication services, including providing Internet information services (“ICP”). In
accordance with the Regulations for the Administration of Foreign-Invested Telecommunications Enterprises (“FITE Regulations”),
which were issued by the State Council of the PRC on December 11, 2001, became effective on January 1, 2002 and was subsequently
amended on September 10, 2008 and February 6, 2016, respectively. The FITE Regulations stipulate that foreign invested
telecommunications enterprises in the PRC (“FITEs”) must be established as Sino-foreign equity joint ventures. Under
the FITE Regulations and in accordance with WTO-related agreements, the foreign party to a FITE engaging in value-added telecommunications
services may hold up to 50% of the equity of the FITE, with no geographic restrictions on the FITE’s operations. On June 30,
2016, the MIIT issued an Announcement of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (the “MIIT”) on Issues
concerning the Provision of Telecommunication Services in the Mainland by Service Providers from Hong Kong and Macao, which provides
that investors from Hong Kong and Macau may hold more than 50% of the equity in FITEs engaging in certain specified categories
of value-added telecommunications services.
For a FITE to acquire any equity interest in a value-added telecommunications
business in China, it must satisfy a number of stringent performance and operational experience requirements, including demonstrating
a track record and experience in operating a value-added telecommunications business overseas. FITEs that meet these requirements
must obtain approvals from the MIIT and the MOFCOM or their authorized local counterparts, which retain considerable discretion
in granting approvals.
On July 13, 2006, the Notice of the Ministry of Information
Industry on Intensifying the Administration of Foreign Investment in Value-added Telecommunications Services (the “MIIT Notice”),
which reiterates certain provisions of the FITE Regulations, was issued. Under the MIIT Notice, if a FITE intends to invest in
a PRC value-added telecommunications business, the FITE must be established and must apply for a telecommunications business license
applicable to the business. Under the MIIT Notice, a domestic company that holds a license for the provision of Internet content
services, or an ICP license, is considered to be a type of value-added telecommunications business in China, and is prohibited
from leasing, transferring or selling the license to foreign investors in any form, and from providing any assistance, including
providing resources, sites or facilities, to foreign investors to conduct value-added telecommunications businesses illegally in
China. Trademarks and domain names that are used in the provision of Internet content services must be owned by the ICP license
holder or its shareholders. On November 27, 2017, the MIIT promulgated the Notice Regulating the Use of Domain Names in the
Provision of Internet-based Information Services, or the Domain Names Notice, which became effective on January 1, 2018. Under
the Domain Names Notice, a domain name used by a provider of Internet-based information services must be registered and owned by
the provider or, if the provider is an entity, by a shareholder or senior management of the provider.
Foreign Investments in Advertising
In accordance with the Administrative Provision on Foreign Investment
in the Advertising Industry, jointly promulgated by the SAIC and MOFCOM on August 22, 2008 and became effective on October 1, 2008,
foreign investors can invest in PRC advertising companies either through wholly owned enterprises or joint ventures with Chinese
parties. However, the foreign investor must have at least three years of direct operations outside China in the advertising industry
as its core business. This requirement was reduced to two years if foreign investment in the advertising company is in the form
of a joint venture. The Administrative Provision on Foreign Investment in the Advertising Industry was subsequently repealed by
the SAIC and MOFCOM on June 29, 2015.
In consideration of the above discussed restrictions on foreign investments
in ICP and advertising business, our whole-owned subsidiary in China, Rise King WFOE, is ineligible to apply for the required licenses
for providing Internet information services and was ineligible to apply for the required licenses for providing advertising services
in China before June 29, 2015. Our ICP business and advertising business are operated by Business Opportunity Online and Beijing
CNET Online in China. We have been, and are expected to continue to be, dependent on these companies to operate our ICP business
and advertising business. We do not have any equity interest in our PRC Operating Entities, but Rise King WFOE, receives the economic
benefits of the same through the Contractual Arrangements.
We have been advised by our PRC counsel, that each of the Contractual
Agreements complies, and immediately after the completion of the transactions contemplated herein, with all existing applicable
PRC laws and regulations and does not violate, breach, contravene or otherwise conflict with any existing applicable PRC laws,
rules or regulations.
However, there exist substantial uncertainties regarding the application,
interpretation and enforcement of current and future PRC laws and regulations and their potential effect on corporate structure
and contractual arrangements. The MOFCOM published a discussion draft of the proposed Foreign Investment Law (the “Draft”)
in January 2015 aiming to, upon its enactment, replace the trio of existing laws regulating foreign investment in China. The Draft
embodies an expected PRC regulatory trend to rationalize its foreign investment regulatory regime in line with prevailing international
practice and the legislative efforts to unify the corporate legal requirements for both foreign and domestic investments. The Draft,
if enacted as proposed, may materially impact the viability of our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business
operations. The Draft expands the definition of foreign investment and introduces the principle of "actual control" in
determining whether a company is considered a Foreign Investment Enterprise (“FIE”). Under the Draft, VIEs that are
controlled via contractual arrangement would be deemed as FIEs, if they are ultimately "controlled" by foreign investors.
Therefore, for any companies with a VIE structure in an industry category that falls under restricted to foreign investment or
prohibited from foreign investment, the VIE structure may be deemed legitimate only if the ultimate controlling person(s) is/are
of PRC nationality (either PRC companies or PRC citizens). Conversely, if the actual controlling person(s) is/are of foreign nationalities,
then the VIEs will be treated as FIEs and any operation in the industry category falls under restricted to foreign investment or
prohibited from foreign investment, without market entry clearance may be considered as illegal. Moreover, for the enterprises
which are not incorporated under the laws of China (foreign investors) but are "controlled" by Chinese investors, they
may submit documentary evidence to apply for identifying their investment as the investment by Chinese investors when they applying
for the market entry clearance to engage in any investment as set out in industries restricted to foreign investment or prohibited
from foreign investment in China. The competent authorities of foreign investment will grant the review opinion on whether the
said investment is identified as the investment by Chinese investors. In conclusion, if the Draft enacted as proposed, it is possible
that the conduct of certain of our operations and businesses through the VIEs could be found by PRC authorities to be in violation
of PRC laws and regulations prohibiting or restricting foreign ownership of companies that engage in such operations and businesses.
The MOFCOM is currently soliciting comments on the Draft and substantial
uncertainties exist with respect to its enactment timetable, interpretation and implementation, in accordance with relevant legislative
requirements in the PRC, the next step is for MOFCOM to gather comments, revise the Draft EIT Law and prepare the Draft EIT Law
for examination. MOFCOM will then prepare a bill, which will be deliberated and revised by the National Peoples’ Congress,
and finally put forward for a vote. If the bill is passed, it will become law. Therefore, we do not anticipate the above discussed
proposed provisions in this Draft will have an immediate impact on our current VIE arrangements in the next two to three years.
However, we cannot assure you the progress of the promulgation and implementation of the Draft will be consistent with our expectations.
We are currently evaluating the potential impacts of this Draft to our business and our company and looking at all of the options
available with respect to eliminate the adverse impacts could be resulted from the proposed new law.
Business License and permits for ICP and Advertising Companies
All PRC legal entities may commence operations only upon obtaining
a business license from the relevant local branch of the SAIC.
On October 27, 1994, the Tenth Session of the Standing Committee
of the Eighth National People’s Congress adopted the Advertising Law, which became effective on February 1, 1995, and was
subsequently amended on April 24, 2015 by the Fourteenth Session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People’s
Congress, which adopted the Revised Advertising Law. The Revised Advertising Law became effective on September 1, 2015. According
to the Revised Advertising Law and its various implementing rules, companies engaging in advertising activities must obtain from
the SAIC or its local branches a business license which specifically includes within its scope the operation of an advertising
business. Companies conducting advertising activities without such a license may be subject to penalties, including fines, confiscation
of advertising income and orders to cease advertising operations. The business license of an advertising company is valid for the
duration of its existence, unless the license is suspended or revoked due to a violation of any relevant law or regulation. We
have obtained such a business license from the local branches of the SAIC as required by existing PRC regulations. We do not expect
to encounter any difficulties in maintaining the business license. However, if we seriously violate the relevant advertising laws
and regulations, the SAIC or its local branches may revoke our business licenses.
On September 25, 2000, the State Council issued the Measures
for the Administration of Internet Information Services (“ICP Measures”). Under the ICP Measures, entities that provide
information to online users on the Internet, or ICPs, are obliged to obtain an operating permit from the “MIIT or its local
branch. ICP permits are subject to annual inspection. Our PRC operating VIEs engaged in ICP business have obtained their respective
ICP permits and comply with the annual inspection and other related provisions. We do not expect to encounter any difficulties
in maintaining the ICP operating permits. However, if we seriously violate the relevant ICP laws and regulations, the SAIC or its
local branches may revoke our permits.
Advertising Content
PRC advertising laws, rules and regulations set forth certain content
requirements for advertisements in China including, among other things, prohibitions on false or misleading content, superlative
wording, socially destabilizing content or content involving obscenities, superstition, violence, discrimination or infringement
of the public interest. Advertisements for anesthetic, psychotropic, toxic or radioactive drugs are prohibited. There are also
specific restrictions and requirements regarding advertisements that relate to matters such as patented products or processes,
pharmaceutical products, medical procedures, alcohol, tobacco, and cosmetics. In addition, all advertisements relating to pharmaceuticals,
medical instruments, agrochemicals and veterinary pharmaceuticals, together with any other advertisements which are subject to
censorship by administrative authorities according to relevant laws or regulations, must be submitted to relevant authorities for
content approval prior to dissemination.
Advertisers, advertising operators, including advertising agencies,
and advertising distributors are required by PRC advertising laws and regulations to ensure that the content of the advertisements
they prepare or distribute is true and in full compliance with applicable laws. In providing advertising services, advertising
operators and advertising distributors must review the supporting documents provided by advertisers for advertisements and verify
that the content of the advertisements complies with applicable PRC laws, rules and regulations. Prior to distributing advertisements
that are subject to government censorship and approval, advertising distributors are obligated to verify that such censorship has
been performed and approval has been obtained. Violation of these regulations may result in penalties, including fines, confiscation
of advertising income, orders to cease dissemination of the advertisements and orders to publish an advertisement correcting the
misleading information. In circumstances involving serious violations, the SAIC or its local branches may revoke violators’
licenses or permits for their advertising business operations. Furthermore, advertisers, advertising operators or advertising distributors
may be subject to civil liability if they infringe on the legal rights and interests of third parties in the course of their advertising
business.
In October 2013, the SARFT issued a notice to enhance the management
of TV shopping infomercials broadcasted in provincial satellite television stations, which further restricts the contents, air
time and duration of these infomercials. These restrictions have had and may continue to have a negative impact on our TV advertising
business.
We do not believe that advertisements containing content subject
to restriction or censorship comprise a material portion of the advertisements displayed on our media network. However, there can
be no assurance that each advertisement displayed on our network complies with relevant PRC advertising laws and regulations. Failure
to comply with PRC laws and regulations relating to advertisement content restrictions governing the advertising industry in China
may result in severe penalties.
Regulation on Intellectual Property
Regulation on Trademark
The Trademark Law of the PRC was adopted at the 24th meeting of the
Standing Committee of the Fifth National People’s Congress on August 23, 1982 and amended on February 22, 1993, October 27,
2001 and August 30, 2013, respectively. The Trademark Law sets out the guidelines on administration of trademarks and protection
of the exclusive rights of trademark owners. In order to enjoy an exclusive right to use a trademark, one must register the trademark
with the Trademark Bureau of the SAIC and obtain a registration certificate.
Regulation on Patents
The Patent Law of the PRC was adopted at the 4th Meeting of the Standing
Committee of the Sixth National People’s Congress on March 12, 1984 and subsequently amended in 1992 and 2000 and 2008. The
Patent Law extends protection to three kinds of patents: invention patents, utility patents and design patents. According to the
Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law, promulgated by the State Council of the PRC on June 15, 2001, and subsequently amended
in December 28, 2002 and January 9, 2010, respectively, an invention patent refers to a new technical solution relating to a product,
a process or improvement. When compared to existing technology, an invention patent has prominent substantive features and represents
notable progress. A utility patent refers to any new technical solution relating to the shape, the structure, or their combination,
of a product. Utility patents are granted for products only, not processes. A design patent (or industrial design) refers to any
new design of the shape, pattern or color of a product or their combinations, which creates an aesthetic feeling and are suitable
for industrial application. Inventors or designers must register with the State Intellectual Property Office to obtain patent protection.
The term of protection is twenty years for invention patents and ten years for utility patents and design patents. Unauthorized
use of patent constitutes an infringement and the patent holders are entitled to claims of damages, including royalties, to the
extent reasonable, and lost profits.
Regulation on Copyright
The Copyright Law of the PRC was adopted at the 15th Meeting of the
Standing Committee of the Seventh National People’s Congress on September 7, 1990 and amended on October 27, 2001and February
26, 2010, respectively. Unlike patent and trademark protection, copyrighted works do not require registration for protection in
China. However, copyright owners may wish to voluntarily register with China’s National Copyright Administration to establish
evidence of ownership in the event enforcement actions become necessary. Consent from the copyright owners and payment of royalties
are required for the use of copyrighted works. Copyrights of movies or other audio or video works usually expire fifty years after
their first publication. The amended Copyright Law extends copyright protection to Internet activities, products disseminated over
the Internet and software products. The amended Copyright Law also requires registration of the pledge of a copyright.
Regulations on Foreign Currency Exchange
Foreign Currency Exchange
Pursuant to the Foreign Currency Administration Rules promulgated
on August 25, 2008 and various regulations issued by SAFE and other relevant PRC government authorities, the Renminbi is freely
convertible only to the extent of current account items, such as trade-related receipts and payments, interest and dividends. Capital
account items, such as direct equity investments, loans and repatriation of investment, require the prior approval from SAFE or
its local branch for conversion of the Renminbi into a foreign currency, such as U.S. dollars, and remittance of the foreign currency
outside the PRC. Payments for transactions that take place within the PRC must be made in Renminbi. Domestic companies or individuals
can repatriate foreign currency payments received from abroad or deposit these payments abroad subject to applicable regulations
that expressly require repatriation within certain period. Foreign-invested enterprises may retain foreign exchange in accounts
with designated foreign exchange banks subject to a cap set by SAFE or its local branch. Foreign currencies received under current
account items can be either retained or sold to financial institutions engaged in the foreign exchange settlement or sales business
without prior approval from SAFE by complying with relevant regulations. Foreign exchange income under capital account can be retained
or sold to financial institutions engaged in foreign exchange settlement and sales business, with prior approval from SAFE unless
otherwise provided.
Our business operations, which are subject to the foreign currency
exchange regulations, have all been implemented in accordance with these regulations. We will take steps to ensure that our future
operations comply with these regulations.
Dividend Distribution
The principal laws, rules and regulations governing dividends paid
by PRC operating subsidiaries and VIEs include the Company Law of the PRC (1993), as amended in 2013, the Foreign Investment Enterprise
Law (1986), as amended in 2016, and the Foreign Investment Enterprise Law Implementation Rules (1990), as amended in 2014. Under
these laws and regulations, PRC subsidiaries and VIEs, including wholly owned foreign enterprises, or WFOEs, and domestic companies
in China, may pay dividends only out of their accumulated profits, if any, determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards
and regulations. In addition, its PRC significant subsidiaries and VIEs, including WFOEs and domestic companies, are required to
set aside at least 10% of their after-tax profit based on PRC accounting standards each year to their statutory capital reserve
fund until the cumulative amount of such reserve reaches 50% of their respective registered capital. These reserves are not distributable
as cash dividends.
Tax
On March 16, 2007, the Fifth Session of the Tenth National People’s
Congress of PRC passed the Enterprise Income Tax Law of the People’s Republic of China, or EIT Law, which became effective
on January 1, 2008 and was subsequently amended on February 24, 2017. On November 28, 2007, the State Council at the 197th Executive
Meeting passed the Regulation on the Implementation of the Income Tax Law of the People’s Republic of China, which became
effective on January 1, 2008. The EIT Law adopted a uniform tax rate of 25% for all enterprises (including foreign-invested
enterprises) and revoked the existing tax exemption, reduction and preferential treatments applicable to foreign-invested enterprises.
Under the EIT Law, enterprises are classified as either “resident
enterprises” or “non-resident enterprises.” Pursuant to the EIT Law and the Implementation Rules, enterprises
established under PRC laws, or enterprises established outside China whose “de facto management bodies” are located
in China, are considered “resident enterprises” and subject to the uniform 25% enterprise income tax rate for their
global income. According to the Implementation Rules, “de facto management body” refers to a managing body that in
practice exercises overall management and control over the production and business, personnel, accounting and assets of an enterprise.
Our management is currently based in China and is expected to remain in China in the future. In addition, although the EIT Law
provides that “dividends, bonuses and other equity investment proceeds between qualified resident enterprises” is exempted
income, and the Implementation Rules refer to “dividends, bonuses and other equity investment proceeds between qualified
resident enterprises” as the investment proceeds obtained by a resident enterprise from its direct investment in another
resident enterprise, however, it is unclear whether our circumstance is eligible for exemption.
Furthermore, the EIT Law and Implementation Rules provide that the
“non-resident enterprises” are subject to the enterprise income tax rate of 10% on their income sourced from China,
if such “non-resident enterprises” (i) do not have establishments or premises of business in China or (ii) have establishments
or premises of business in China, but the relevant income does not have actual connection with their establishments or premises
of business in China. Such income tax may be exempted or reduced by the State Council of the PRC or pursuant to a tax treaty between
China and the jurisdictions in which its non-PRC shareholders reside. Under the Double Tax Avoidance Arrangement between Hong Kong
and Mainland China, if the Hong Kong resident enterprise owns more than 25% of the equity interest in a company in China, the 10%
withholding tax on the dividends the Hong Kong resident enterprise received from such company in China is reduced to 5%. If China
Net HK is considered to be a Hong Kong resident enterprise under the Double Tax Avoidance Arrangement and is considered to be a
“non-resident enterprise” under the EIT Law, the dividends paid to us by Rise King WFOE may be subject to the reduced
income tax rate of 5% under the Double Tax Avoidance Arrangement. However, based on the Notice on Certain Issues with Respect to
the Enforcement of Dividend Provisions in Tax Treaties, issued on February 20, 2009 by the State Administration of Taxation, if
the relevant PRC tax authorities determine, in their discretion, that a company benefits from such reduced income tax rate due
to a structure or arrangement that is primarily tax-driven, such PRC tax authorities may adjust the preferential tax treatment.
Provisions Regarding Mergers and Acquisitions
of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors
On August 8, 2006, six PRC regulatory agencies, including CSRC, MOC,
SAT, SASAC, SAIC and SAFE, jointly promulgated the M&A Rules, which became effective on September 8, 2006, and was subsequently
amended on June 22, 2009, to regulate foreign investment in PRC domestic enterprises. The M&A Rules provide that the MOC
must be notified in advance of any change-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of a PRC domestic enterprise
and any of the following situations exist: (i) the transaction involves an important industry in China; (ii) the transaction may
affect national “economic security”; or (iii) the PRC domestic enterprise has a well-known trademark or historical
Chinese trade name in China. The M&A Rules also contain a provision requiring offshore SPVs formed for the purpose of the overseas
listing of equity interests in PRC companies and controlled directly or indirectly by PRC companies or individuals, to obtain the
approval of the CSRC prior to publicly listing their securities on an overseas stock exchange. On September 21, 2006, the CSRC
issued a clarification that sets forth the criteria and procedures for obtaining any required approval from the CSRC.
To date, the application of the M&A Rules is unclear. Our PRC
counsel has advised us that:
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the CSRC approval requirement applies to SPVs that acquire equity interests in PRC companies through share exchanges and cash,
and seek overseas listings; and
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based on their understanding of the current PRC laws, rules and regulations and the M&A Rules, unless there are new PRC
laws and regulations or clear requirements from the CSRC in any form that require the prior approval of the CSRC for the listing
and trading of any overseas SPV’s securities on an overseas stock exchange, the M&A Rules do not require that we obtain
prior CSRC approval because: (i) the Share Exchange is a purely foreign related transaction governed by foreign laws,
not subject to the jurisdiction of PRC laws and regulations; (ii) we are not a special purpose vehicle formed or controlled by
PRC companies or PRC individuals; and (iii) we are owned or substantively controlled by foreigners.
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However, the interpretation and application of the M&A Rules
remain unclear, and the PRC government authorities have the sole discretion to determine whether the transaction is subject to
the approval of the CSRC, especially when taking into consideration of the performance-based incentive option arrangement by way
of the Share Transfer Agreements. If the CSRC or another PRC regulatory agency subsequently determines that CSRC approval is required
for the transaction, we cannot predict how long it would take to obtain the approval. In addition, we may need to apply for a remedial
approval from the CSRC and may be subject to certain administrative or other sanctions from these regulatory agencies.
Further, new rules and regulations or relevant interpretations may
be issued from time to time that may require us to obtain retroactive approval from the CSRC in connection with the business combination.
If this were to occur, our failure to obtain or delay in obtaining the CSRC approval for the business combination would subject
us to sanctions imposed by the CSRC and other PRC regulatory agencies. These sanctions could include fines and penalties on our
operations in China, restrictions or limitations on our ability to pay dividends outside of China, and other forms of sanctions
that may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
If the CSRC or another PRC regulatory agency subsequently determines
that CSRC approval is required for the business combination, we may need to apply for a remedial approval from the CSRC and may
be subject to certain administrative punishments or other sanctions from these regulatory agencies. New rules and regulations or
relevant interpretations may require that we retroactively obtain approval from the CSRC in connection with the business combination.
If this were to occur, our failure to obtain or delay in obtaining the CSRC approval for the transaction would subject us to sanctions
imposed by the CSRC and other PRC regulatory agencies. These sanctions could include fines and penalties on our operations in China,
restrictions or limitations on our ability to pay dividends outside of China, and other forms of sanctions that may materially
and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The M&A Rules also established additional procedures and requirements
expected to make merger and acquisition activities in China by foreign investors more time-consuming and complex, including requirements
in some instances that the MOC be notified in advance of any change-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control
of a PRC domestic enterprise. These rules may also require the approval from the MOC where overseas companies established or controlled
by PRC enterprises or residents acquire affiliated domestic companies. Complying with the requirements of the new regulations to
complete such transactions could be time-consuming, and any required approval processes, including MOC approval, may delay or inhibit
our ability to complete such transactions, which could affect our ability to expand our business.
Employees
As of December 31, 2017, we had 128 full-time employees, 29 of whom
are in sales and marketing, 61 of whom are in operations and support, 30 of whom are in management and administration and 8 of
whom are in technology support and R&D.
We are compliant with local prevailing wage, contractor licensing
and insurance regulations, and have good relations with our employees.
As required by PRC regulations, we participate in various employee
benefit plans that are organized by municipal and provincial governments, including pension, work-related injury benefits, maternity
insurance, medical and unemployment benefit plans. We are required under PRC laws to make contributions to the employee benefit
plans at specified percentages of the salaries, bonuses and certain allowances of our employees, up to a maximum amount specified
by the local government from time to time. Members of the retirement plan are entitled to a pension equal to a fixed proportion
of the salary prevailing at the member’s retirement date.
Generally, we enter into a standard employment contract with our
officers and managers for a set period of years and a standard employment contract with other employees for a set period of years.
According to these contracts, all of our employees are prohibited from engaging in any activities that compete with our business
during the period of their employment with us. Furthermore, the employment contracts with officers or managers include a
covenant that prohibits officers or managers from engaging in any activities that compete with our business for two years after
the period of employment.
Corporation Information
Our principal executive offices are located at No. 3 Min Zhuang Road,
Building 6, Yu Quan Hui Gu Tuspark, Haidian District, Beijing, PRC. Our telephone number at this address is (86 10) 60846616
and our fax number is (86 10) 88857816. For more information, see www.chinanet-online.com.
In addition to the other information in this Form 10-K, readers
should carefully consider the following important factors. These factors, among others, in some cases have affected, and in the
future could affect, our financial condition and results of operations and could cause our future results to differ materially
from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements that appear in this on Form 10-K or that we have made or will
make elsewhere.
Risks Related to Our Business
The decline of global and Chinese economy has had, and may continue
to have, a negative effect on our business, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results
of operations and cash flow.
The Chinese economy is starting
to slow after years of blistering growth with increasing housing price and inflation, which has impacted overall consumer spending
power. With lower consumption, small businesses or so-called small and medium enterprises, have less incentive to spend more on
their advertising as they look to slow down their expansion plans. The global and Chinese economy slowdown has caused the tightening
in the credit markets, lower levels of liquidity, higher default and bankruptcy rates for small businesses, lower consumer and
business spending, and lower consumer net worth, in China and other parts of the world. These global economic uncertainties and
the slowdown of the Chinese economy have had, and may continue to have, a negative effect on the market price of our business,
the volatility of which has increased as a result of the disruption in the financial markets. It may also impair our ability to
borrow funds or enter into other financial arrangements, if and when additional founds become necessary for our operations. We
believe many of our advertisers have also been affected by the current economic slowdown in China. Current or potential advertisers
may no longer be in business, may be unable to continue to purchase advertising, or further reduce their spending. All of which
would lead to reduced demand for our advertising and data services, reduced gross margins, and increased delays of payments of
accounts receivable or defaults of payments. We are also limited in our ability to reduce costs to offset the results of a prolonged
or severe economic downturn given our fixed costs associated with our operations. Therefore, the global uncertainties and the downward
trend of the Chinese economy could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and
cash flow. In addition, the timing and nature of any recovery in the credit and financial markets remains uncertain, and there
can be no assurance that market conditions will improve in the near future or that our results will not continue to be materially
and adversely affected.
We operate in a fast-evolving industry, which may make it difficult
to evaluate our business and prospects.
We began our Internet advertising service via 28.com in 2003, our
Internet advertising and data service platforms are primarily targeting SME clients. The SME market in China is still in its early
stages and is rapidly developing. Accordingly, the early stage of development of the markets in which we operate makes it difficult
to evaluate the viability and sustainability of our business and its acceptance by advertisers and clients. We cannot assure you
that we will be profitable every year. We expect that our operating expenses will increase as we expand. Any significant failure
to realize anticipated revenue growth could result in operating losses.
We may be subject to, and may expend significant resources in defending
against, government actions and civil suits based on the content and services we provide through our Internet advertising and data
service platforms.
PRC advertising laws and regulations require advertisers, advertising
operators and advertising distributors, including businesses such as ours, to ensure that the content of the advertisements they
prepare or distribute is fair, accurate and in full compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. Although we comply
with the requirements by reviewing the business licenses and the profiles of our clients, clients may post advertisements about
business opportunities that are not legitimate and over which we have no control. On April 24, 2015, the Fourteenth Session of
the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People’s Congress adopted the Revised Advertising Law, which became effective
on September 1, 2015. The Revised Advertising Law further established the advertisement standards and restrictions of certain industries,
such as: medical instruments, education and training, franchise and investments; defined separate standards and restrictions for
Internet advertisements and reinforced the regulatory responsibilities of the related competent authorities. We cannot assure you
that our operating entities will be fully in compliance with these new rules during normal course of business. Violation of these
laws, rules or regulations may result in penalties, including fines, confiscation of advertising fees, orders to cease dissemination
of the advertisements and orders to publish an advertisement correcting the misleading information. In circumstances involving
serious violations, the PRC government may revoke a violator’s license for its advertising business operations.
We operate in the advertising and data service industry, which is
particularly sensitive to changes in economic conditions and advertising trends.
Advertising and data service spending by our clients is particularly
sensitive to changes in general economic conditions. For example, advertising and data service expenditures typically decrease
during periods of economic downturn. Advertisers may reduce the amount of money they spend to advertise and obtain precision marketing
data and data analysis on/from our advertising and data service platforms for a number of reasons, including:
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a general decline in economic conditions;
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a decline in economic conditions in the particular cities where we conduct business;
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a decision to shift advertising and marketing expenditures to other available less expensive advertising media; and
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a decline in advertising and marketing spending in general.
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A decrease in the demand for advertising media in general, and for
our advertising and marketing services in particular, would materially and adversely affect our ability to generate revenues, and
have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
We face significant competition, and if we do not compete successfully
against new and existing competitors, we may lose our market share, and our profitability may be adversely affected.
Increased competition could reduce our profitability and result in
a loss of market share. Some of our existing and potential competitors may have competitive advantages, such as significantly greater
financial, marketing or other resources, and may successfully mimic and adopt our business models. Moreover, increased competition
will provide advertisers with a wider range of media and advertising and marketing service alternatives, which could lead to lower
prices and decreased revenues, gross margins and profits. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully compete against
new or existing competitors.
Failure to manage our growth could strain our management, operational
and other resources, which could materially and adversely affect our business and prospects.
We have been expanding our operations and plan to continue to expand
in China. To meet the demand of advertisers for broader coverage, we must continue to expand our platforms and expanding the capacity
and enhancing the technology advantages of our internet advertising portals. The continued growth of our business has resulted
in, and will continue to result in, substantial demand on our management, operational and other resources. In particular, the management
of our growth will require, among other things:
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increased sales and sales support activities;
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improved administrative and operational systems;
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enhancements to our information technology system;
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stringent cost controls and sufficient working capital;
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strengthening of financial and management controls; and
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hiring and training of new personnel.
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As we continue this effort, we may incur substantial costs and expend
substantial resources. We may not be able to manage our current or future operations effectively and efficiently or compete effectively
in new markets we enter. If we are not able to manage our growth successfully, our business and prospects would be materially and
adversely affected.
Key employees are essential to growing our business.
Handong Cheng, our chief executive officer and president, Zhige Zhang,
our chief financial officer and George K. Chu, our chief operating officer are essential to our ability to continue to grow our
business. They have established relationships within the industries in which we operate. If they were to leave us, our growth strategy
might be hindered, which could limit our ability to increase revenue.
In addition, we face competition for attracting skilled personnel
with increasing labor cost. If we fail to attract and retain qualified personnel to meet current and future needs, this could slow
our ability to grow our business, which could result in a decrease in market share.
We may need additional capital and we may not be able to obtain it
at acceptable terms, or at all, which could adversely affect our liquidity and financial position.
We may need additional cash resources due to changed business conditions
or other future developments. If these sources are insufficient to satisfy our cash requirements, we may seek to sell additional
equity or debt securities or obtain a credit facility. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased debt service obligations
and could result in operating and financing covenants that would restrict our operations and liquidity.
Our ability to obtain additional capital on acceptable terms is subject
to a variety of uncertainties, including:
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investors’ perception of, and demand for, securities of alternative advertising media companies;
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conditions of the U.S. and other capital markets in which we may seek to raise funds;
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our future results of operations, financial condition and cash flow;
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PRC governmental regulation of foreign investment in advertising service companies in China;
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economic, political and other conditions in China; and
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PRC governmental policies relating to foreign currency borrowings.
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Our failure to protect our intellectual property rights could have
a negative impact on our business.
We believe our brand, trade name, copyrights, domain name and other
intellectual property are critical to our success. The success of our business depends in part upon our continued ability to use
our brand, trade names and copyrights to further develop and increase brand awareness. The infringement of our trade names and
copyrights could diminish the value of our brand and its market acceptance, competitive advantages or goodwill. In addition, our
information and operational systems, which have not been patented or otherwise registered as our property, are a key component
of our competitive advantage and our growth strategy.
Monitoring and preventing the unauthorized use of our intellectual
property is difficult. The measures we take to protect our brand, trade names, copyrights, domain name and other intellectual property
rights may not be adequate to prevent their unauthorized use by third parties. Furthermore, application of laws governing intellectual
property rights in China and abroad is uncertain and evolving, and could involve substantial risks to us. If we are unable to adequately
protect our brand, trade names, copyrights, domain name and other intellectual property rights, we may lose these rights and our
business may suffer materially. Further, unauthorized use of our brand, domain name or trade names could cause brand confusion
among advertisers and harm our reputation. If our brand recognition decreases, we may lose advertisers and fail in our expansion
strategies, and our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.
We rely on computer software and hardware systems in managing our
operations, the failure of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are dependent upon our computer software and hardware systems
in supporting our network and managing and monitoring programs on the network. In addition, we rely on our computer hardware for
the storage, delivery and transmission of the data on our network. Any system failure that interrupts the input, retrieval and
transmission of data or increases the service time could disrupt our normal operation. Any failure in our computer software or
hardware systems could decrease our revenues and harm our relationships with advertisers and consumers, which in turn could have
a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we are unable to maintain appropriate internal financial reporting
controls and procedures, it could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, result in the restatement of our financial
statements, harm our operating results, subject us to regulatory scrutiny and sanction, cause investors to lose confidence in our
reported financial information and have a negative effect on the market price for shares of our Common Stock.
Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable
financial reports and effectively prevent fraud. We maintain a system of internal control over financial reporting, which is defined
as a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, or persons
performing similar functions, and effected by our board of directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance
regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles.
As a public company, we have significant additional requirements
for enhanced financial reporting and internal controls. We are required to document and test our internal control procedures
in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which requires annual management assessments
of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. The process of designing and implementing effective
internal controls is a continuous effort that requires us to anticipate and react to changes in our business and the economic and
regulatory environments and to expend significant resources to maintain a system of internal controls that is adequate to satisfy
our reporting obligations as a public company.
Our management will continue to evaluate the effectiveness of our
overall control environment and will continue to refine existing controls as they, in conjunction with the Audit Committee of our
Board of Directors, chief executive officer and chief financial officer, consider necessary. We cannot assure you that we will
not, in the future, identify areas requiring improvement in our internal control over financial reporting. We cannot assure
you that the measures we will take to remediate any areas in need of improvement will be successful or that we will implement and
maintain adequate controls over our financial processes and reporting in the future as we continue our growth. If we are
unable to maintain appropriate internal financial reporting controls and procedures, it could cause us to fail to meet our reporting
obligations, result in the restatement of our financial statements, harm our operating results, subject us to regulatory scrutiny
and sanction, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and have a negative effect on the market
price for shares of our Common Stock.
Our planed blockchain project is at an early stage and
the PRC laws and regulations may have a potential effect.
We are planning to promote a project based
on the blockchain technology to develop our company’s business and we may establish the separate legal structure to initiate
an ICO out of the PRC. The laws and regulations governing the blockchain in China are developing and evolving and subject to changes.
The PRC government adopts a positive attitude
to the blockchain technology and it has been mentioned several times in the national strategy reports. However, for the initial
coin offering (the “ICO”) which may appear in the most blockchain projects, the PRC government authorities have strictly
prohibited the initial coin offering (the “ICO”) and any similar activities within the PRC by issuing the Announcement
of the People's Bank of China, the Office of the Central Leading Group for Cyberspace Affairs, the Ministry of Industry and Information
Technology and Other Departments on Preventing the Financing Risks of Initial Coin Offerings (the “Announcement”) on
September 4, 2017.
The Internet Finance Association of China
also issued a series of notices to remind the potential risks of ICO and the cryptocurrency trading to the PRC residents, including
the Risk Warning on Guarding against the "Virtual Currency" such as Bitcoin on September 13, 2017, Risk Warning on Guarding
against the Disguised Initial Coin Offering Activities on January 12,2018 and Risk Warning on Guarding against the Offshore Initial
Coin Offering Activities and the Cryptocurrency Trading on January 26, 2018.
Although our ICO structure will be set up
out of the PRC, given we are a PRC based company, the PRC government may still have jurisdiction over the project and it may require
us to suspend the ICO if the PRC government deems there are huge potential risks to the PRC residents.
If our practice is deemed to violate any
PRC law or regulations, the project would be materially and adversely affected. Given its short operating history and the continuing
changing of the regulation regime and the government policy of this area in the PRC, our ability to generate substantial revenue
from the blockchain technology remains unproven. It may be difficult for you to evaluate its performance and prospects.
Risks Relating to Regulation of Our Business
and to Our Structure
If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the
structure for operating our China business do not comply with PRC governmental restrictions on foreign investment in the advertising
industry, we could be subject to severe penalties.
Our operations are substantially conducted through our PRC Operating
Entities, or VIEs, and through our contractual agreements with each of our PRC Operating Entities in China. PRC regulations restrict
foreign investments in value-added telecommunication services, including providing Internet information services (“ICP”)
and used to have restrictions on foreign investments in advertising business, which was lifted on June 29, 2015. In consideration
of the restrictions on foreign investments in ICP and advertising business, our whole-owned subsidiary in China, Rise King WFOE,
is ineligible to apply for the required licenses for providing Internet information services and was ineligible to apply for the
required licenses for providing advertising services in China before June 29, 2015. Our PRC Operating Entities hold the requisite
licenses and permits to provide Internet information services and advertising services in China. We have been and are expected
to continue to be dependent on these PRC Operating Entities to operate our ICP and advertising business for the foreseeable future.
We have entered into Contractual Agreements with the PRC Operating Entities, pursuant to which we, through Rise King WFOE, provide
technical support and consulting services to the PRC Operating Entities. In addition, we have entered into agreements with our
PRC Operating Entities and each of their shareholders which provide us with the substantial ability to control these affiliates.
The MOFCOM published a discussion draft of the proposed Foreign Investment
Law (the “Draft”) in January 2015 aiming to, upon its enactment, replace the trio of existing laws regulating foreign
investment in China. The Draft embodies an expected PRC regulatory trend to rationalize its foreign investment regulatory regime
in line with prevailing international practice and the legislative efforts to unify the corporate legal requirements for both foreign
and domestic investments. The MOFCOM is currently soliciting comments on the Draft and substantial uncertainties exist with respect
to its enactment timetable, interpretation and implementation. The Draft, if enacted as proposed, may materially impact the viability
of our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business operations. The Draft expands the definition of foreign investment
and introduces the principle of "actual control" in determining whether a company is considered a Foreign Investment
Enterprise (“FIE”). Under the Draft, VIEs that are controlled via contractual arrangement would be deemed as FIEs,
if they are ultimately "controlled" by foreign investors. Therefore, for any companies with a VIE structure in an industry
category that falls under restricted to foreign investment or prohibited from foreign investment, the VIE structure may be deemed
legitimate only if the ultimate controlling person(s) is/are of PRC nationality (either PRC companies or PRC citizens). Conversely,
if the actual controlling person(s) is/are of foreign nationalities, then the VIEs will be treated as FIEs and any operation in
the industry category falls under restricted to foreign investment or prohibited from foreign investment, without market entry
clearance may be considered as illegal. Moreover, for the enterprises which are not incorporated under the laws of China (foreign
investors) but are "controlled" by Chinese investors, they may submit documentary evidence to apply for identifying their
investment as the investment by Chinese investors when they applying for the market entry clearance to engage in any investment
as set out in industries restricted to foreign investment or prohibited from foreign investment in China. The competent authorities
of foreign investment will grant the review opinion on whether the said investment is identified as the investment by Chinese investors.
In conclusion, if the Draft enacted as proposed, it is possible that the conduct of certain of our operations and businesses through
the VIEs could be found by PRC authorities to be in violation of PRC laws and regulations prohibiting or restricting foreign ownership
of companies that engage in such operations and businesses.
If we or our existing or future PRC Operating Entities are found
to be in violation of any existing or future PRC laws or regulations or fail to obtain or maintain any of the required permits
or approvals, the relevant PRC regulatory authorities, including the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, or SAIC, which
regulates ICP and advertising companies, would have broad discretion in dealing with such violations, including:
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revoking the business and operating licenses of Rise King WFOE and/or the PRC Operating Entities;
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discontinuing or restricting the operations of Rise King WFOE and/or the PRC Operating Entities;
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imposing conditions or requirements with which we, Rise King WFOE and/or our PRC Operating Entities may not be able to comply;
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requiring us or Rise King WFOE and/or PRC Operating Entities to restructure the relevant ownership structure or operations;
or
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restricting or prohibiting our use of the proceeds of this offering to finance our business and operations in China.
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The imposition of any of these penalties would result in a material
and adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business and would have a material adverse impact on our cash flows, financial
position and operating performance.
We rely on contractual arrangements with the PRC Operating Entities
and their shareholders for our China operations, which may not be as effective in providing operational control as direct ownership.
We rely on contractual arrangements with our PRC Operating Entities
and their shareholders to operate our ICP and advertising business. These contractual arrangements may not be as effective in providing
us with control over the PRC Operating Entities as direct ownership. If we had direct ownership of the PRC Operating Entities,
we would be able to exercise our rights as a shareholder to effect changes in the board of directors of those companies, which
in turn could affect changes, subject to any applicable fiduciary obligations, at the management level. However, under the current
contractual arrangements, as a legal matter, if the PRC Operating Entities or any of their subsidiaries and shareholders fail to
perform its or their respective obligations under these contractual arrangements, we may have to incur substantial costs and resources
to enforce such arrangements, and rely on legal remedies under PRC laws, including seeking specific performance or injunctive relief,
and claiming damages, which we cannot assure you to be effective. Accordingly, it may be difficult for us to change our corporate
structure or to bring claims against the PRC Operating Entities if they do not perform their obligations under its contracts with
us or if any of the PRC citizens who hold the equity interest in the PRC Operating Entities do not cooperate with any such actions.
Many of these contractual arrangements are governed by PRC laws and
provide for the resolution of disputes through either arbitration or litigation in the PRC. Accordingly, these contracts would
be interpreted in accordance with PRC laws and any disputes would be resolved in accordance with PRC legal procedures. The legal
environment in the PRC is not as developed as in other jurisdictions, such as the United States. As a result, uncertainties in
the PRC legal system could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. In the event we are unable to enforce these
contractual arrangements, we may not be able to exert effective control over our operating entities, and our ability to conduct
our business may be negatively affected. In addition, a PRC court or arbitration tribunal may refuse to enforce the contractual
arrangements on the grounds that they are designed to circumvent PRC foreign investment restrictions and therefore are against
PRC public policy.
Contractual arrangements we have entered into among the PRC Operating
Entities may be subject to scrutiny by the PRC tax authorities and a finding that we owe additional taxes or are ineligible for
our tax exemption, or both, could substantially increase our taxes owed, and reduce our net income and the value of your investment.
Under PRC law, arrangements and transactions among related parties
may be subject to audit or challenge by the PRC tax authorities. If any of the transactions we have entered into among our subsidiaries
and affiliated entities are found not to be on an arm’s-length basis, or to result in an unreasonable reduction in tax under
PRC law, the PRC tax authorities have the authority to disallow our tax savings, adjust the profits and losses of our respective
PRC entities and assess late payment interest and penalties.
If any of our PRC Operating Entities incurs debt on its own behalf
in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to us.
In addition, the PRC tax authorities may require us to adjust our taxable income under the contractual arrangements with the PRC
Operating Entities we currently have in place in a manner that would materially and adversely affect the PRC Operating Entities’
ability to pay dividends and other distributions to us. Furthermore, relevant PRC laws and regulations permit payments of dividends
by the PRC Operating Entities only out of their retained earnings, if any, determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards
and regulations. Under PRC laws and regulations, each of the PRC Operating Entities is also required to set aside a portion of
its net income each year to fund specific reserve funds. These reserves are not distributable as cash dividends. In addition, subject
to certain cumulative limits, the statutory general reserve fund requires annual appropriations of 10% of after-tax income to be
set aside prior to payment of dividends. As a result of these PRC laws and regulations, the PRC Operating Entities are restricted
in their ability to transfer a portion of their net assets to us whether in the form of dividends, loans or advances. Any limitation
on the ability of the PRC Operating Entities to pay dividends to us could materially and adversely limit our ability to grow, make
investments or acquisitions that could be beneficial to our businesses, pay dividends, or otherwise fund and conduct our business.
Risks Associated With Doing Business In China
There are substantial risks associated with doing business in China, as set forth in
the following risk factors.
Our operations and assets in China are subject to significant political
and economic uncertainties.
Changes in PRC laws and regulations, or their interpretation, or
the imposition of confiscatory taxation, restrictions on currency conversion, imports and sources of supply, devaluations of currency
or the nationalization or other expropriation of private enterprises could have a material adverse effect on our business, results
of operations and financial condition. Under its current leadership, the Chinese government has been pursuing economic reform policies
that encourage private economic activity and greater economic decentralization. There is no assurance, however, that the Chinese
government will continue to pursue these policies, or that it will not significantly alter these policies from time to time without
notice.
We derive a substantial portion of our sales from China.
Substantially all of our sales are generated in China. We anticipate
that sales of our services in China will continue to represent a substantial proportion of our total sales in the near future.
Any significant decline in the condition of the PRC economy could adversely affect consumer demand of our services, among other
things, which in turn would have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
Currency fluctuations and restrictions on currency exchange may adversely
affect our business, including limiting our ability to convert Chinese Renminbi into foreign currencies and, if Chinese Renminbi
were to decline in value, reducing our revenue in U.S. dollar terms.
Our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar and our operations in China
use the local currency as their functional currencies. Substantially all of our revenue and expenses are in Chinese Renminbi. We
are subject to the effects of exchange rate fluctuations with respect to any of these currencies. For example, the value of the
Renminbi depends to a large extent on Chinese government policies and China’s domestic and international economic and political
developments, as well as supply and demand in the local market. On July 21, 2005, the Chinese government changed its policy of
pegging the value of Chinese Renminbi to the U.S. dollar. Under the new policy, Chinese Renminbi may fluctuate within a narrow
and managed band against a basket of certain foreign currencies. It is possible that the Chinese government could adopt a more
flexible currency policy, which could result in more significant fluctuation of Chinese Renminbi against the U.S. dollar. We can
offer no assurance that Chinese Renminbi will be stable against the U.S. dollar or any other foreign currency.
The income statements of our operations are translated into U.S.
dollars at the average exchange rates in each applicable period. To the extent the U.S. dollar strengthens against foreign currencies,
the translation of these foreign currencies denominated transactions results in reduced revenue, operating expenses and net income
for our international operations. Similarly, to the extent the U.S. dollar weakens against foreign currencies, the translation
of these foreign currency denominated transactions results in increased revenue, operating expenses and net income for our international
operations. We are also exposed to foreign exchange rate fluctuations as we convert the financial statements of our foreign operating
subsidiaries and VIEs into U.S. dollars in consolidation. If there is a change in foreign currency exchange rates, the conversion
of the foreign subsidiaries and VIEs’ financial statements into U.S. dollars will lead to a translation gain or loss which
is recorded as a component of other comprehensive income. In addition, we have certain assets and liabilities that are denominated
in currencies other than the relevant entity’s functional currency. Changes in the functional currency value of these assets
and liabilities create fluctuations that will lead to a transaction gain or loss. We have not entered into agreements or purchased
instruments to hedge our exchange rate risks, although we may do so in the future. The availability and effectiveness of any hedging
transaction may be limited and we may not be able to successfully hedge our exchange rate risks.
Although Chinese governmental policies were introduced in 1996 to
allow the convertibility of Chinese Renminbi into foreign currency for current account items, conversion of Chinese Renminbi into
foreign exchange for capital items, such as foreign direct investment, loans or securities, requires the approval of the State
Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, which is under the authority of the People’s Bank of China. These approvals,
however, do not guarantee the availability of foreign currency conversion. We cannot be sure that we will be able to obtain all
required conversion approvals for our operations or those Chinese regulatory authorities will not impose greater restrictions on
the convertibility of Chinese Renminbi in the future. Because a significant amount of our future revenue may be in the form of
Chinese Renminbi, our inability to obtain the requisite approvals or any future restrictions on currency exchanges could limit
our ability to utilize revenue generated in Chinese Renminbi to fund our business activities outside of China, or to repay foreign
currency obligations, including our debt obligations, which would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and
results of operations.
We may have limited legal recourse under PRC laws if disputes arise
under our contracts with third parties.
The Chinese government has enacted laws and regulations dealing with
matters such as corporate organization and governance, foreign investment, commerce, taxation and trade. However, their experience
in implementing, interpreting and enforcing these laws and regulations is limited, and our ability to enforce commercial claims
or to resolve commercial disputes is unpredictable. If our new business ventures are unsuccessful, or other adverse circumstances
arise from these transactions, we face the risk that the parties to these ventures may seek ways to terminate the transactions,
or, may hinder or prevent us from accessing important information regarding the financial and business operations of these acquired
companies. The resolution of these matters may be subject to the exercise of considerable discretion by agencies of the Chinese
government, and forces unrelated to the legal merits of a particular matter or dispute may influence their determination. Any rights
we may have to specific performance, or to seek an injunction under PRC law, in either of these cases, are severely limited, and
without a means of recourse by virtue of the Chinese legal system, we may be unable to prevent these situations from occurring.
The occurrence of any such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We must comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
We are required to comply with the United States Foreign Corrupt
Practices Act, which prohibits U.S. companies from engaging in bribery or other prohibited payments to foreign officials for the
purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Foreign companies, including some of our competitors, are not subject to these prohibitions.
Corruption, extortion, bribery, pay-offs, theft and other fraudulent practices occur from time-to-time in mainland China. If our
competitors engage in these practices, they may receive preferential treatment from personnel of some companies, giving our competitors
an advantage in securing business or from government officials who might give them priority in obtaining new licenses, which would
put us at a disadvantage. Although we inform our personnel that such practices are illegal, we cannot assure you that our employees
or other agents will not engage in such conduct for which we might be held responsible. If our employees or other agents are found
to have engaged in such practices, we could suffer severe penalties.
Changes in foreign exchange regulations in the PRC may affect our
ability to pay dividends in foreign currency or conduct other foreign exchange business.
The Renminbi is not a freely convertible currency, and the restrictions
on currency exchanges may limit our ability to use revenues generated in Renminbi to fund our business activities outside the PRC
or to make dividends or other payments in United States dollars. The PRC government strictly regulates conversion of Renminbi into
foreign currencies. Over the years, foreign exchange regulations in the PRC have significantly reduced the government’s control
over routine foreign exchange transactions under current accounts. In the PRC, the State Administration for Foreign Exchange,
or the SAFE, regulates the conversion of the Renminbi into foreign currencies. Pursuant to applicable PRC laws and regulations,
foreign invested enterprises incorporated in the PRC are required to apply for “Foreign Exchange Registration Certificates.” Currently,
conversion within the scope of the “current account” (e.g. remittance of foreign currencies for payment of dividends,
etc.) can be effected without requiring the approval of SAFE. However, conversion of currency in the “capital account”
(e.g. for capital items such as direct investments, loans, securities, etc.) still requires the approval of SAFE.
Recent PRC regulations relating to mergers and acquisitions of domestic
enterprises by foreign investors may increase the administrative burden we face and create regulatory uncertainties.
On August 8, 2006, the Ministry of Commerce (the “MOC”),
joined by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (the “CSRC”), State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration
Commission of the State Council (the “SASAC”), the State Administration of Taxation (the “SAT”), the State
Administration of Industry and Commerce (the “SAIC”), and SAFE, jointly promulgated a rule entitled the Provisions
Regarding Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors (the “M&A Rules”), which took effect
as of September 8, 2006 and was subsequently amended on June 22, 2009. This regulation, among other things, has certain
provisions that require special purpose vehicles, or SPVs, formed for the purpose of acquiring PRC domestic companies and controlled
by PRC individuals, to obtain the approval of the CSRC prior to publicly listing their securities on an overseas stock market.
However, the regulation does not expressly provide that approval from the CSRC is required for the offshore listing of the SPV
which acquires, directly or indirectly, equity interest or shares of domestic PRC entities held by domestic companies or individuals
by cash payment, nor does it expressly provide that approval from CSRC is not required for the offshore listing of a SPV which
has fully completed its acquisition of equity interest of domestic PRC equity prior to September 8, 2006. On September 21, 2006,
the CSRC published on its official website a notice specifying the documents and materials that are required to be submitted for
obtaining CSRC approval.
It is not clear whether the provisions in the regulation regarding
the offshore listing and trading of the securities of a SPV applies to an offshore company such as us which owns controlling contractual
interest in the PRC Operating Entities. We believe that the M&A Rules and the CSRC approval are not required in the context
of the share exchange under our transaction because (i) such share exchange is a purely foreign related transaction governed by
foreign laws, not subject to the jurisdiction of PRC laws and regulations; (ii) we are not a SPV formed or controlled by PRC companies
or PRC individuals; and (iii) we are owned or substantively controlled by foreigners. However, we cannot be certain that the
relevant PRC government agencies, including the CSRC, would reach the same conclusion, and we still cannot rule out the possibility
that CSRC may deem that the transactions effected by the share exchange circumvented the M&A rules, the PRC Securities Law
and other rules and notices.
If the CSRC or another PRC regulatory agency subsequently determines
that the CSRC’s approval is required for the transaction, we may face sanctions by the CSRC or another PRC regulatory agency.
If this happens, these regulatory agencies may impose fines and penalties on our operations in the PRC, limit our operating privileges
in the PRC, delay or restrict the repatriation of the proceeds from this offering into the PRC, restrict or prohibit payment or
remittance of dividends to us or take other actions that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition,
results of operations, reputation and prospects, as well as the trading price of our shares. The CSRC or other PRC regulatory agencies
may also take actions requiring us, or making it advisable for us, to delay or cancel the transaction.
The M&A Rules, along with foreign exchange regulations discussed
in the above subsection, will be interpreted or implemented by the relevant government authorities in connection with our future
offshore financings or acquisitions, and we cannot predict how they will affect our acquisition strategy. For example, our operating
companies’ ability to remit dividends to us, or to engage in foreign-currency-denominated borrowings, may be conditioned
upon compliance with the SAFE registration requirements by such Chinese domestic residents, over whom we may have no control. In
addition, such Chinese domestic residents may be unable to complete the necessary approval and registration procedures required
by the SAFE regulations. Such uncertainties may restrict our ability to implement our acquisition strategy and adversely affect
our business and prospects.
Future inflation in China may inhibit our activity to conduct business
in China.
In recent years, the Chinese economy has experienced periods of rapid
expansion and high rates of inflation. These factors have led to the adoption by Chinese government, from time to time, of
various corrective measures designed to restrict the availability of credit or regulate growth and contain inflation. High
inflation may in the future cause Chinese government to impose controls on credit and/or prices, or to take other action, which
could inhibit economic activity in China, and thereby harm the market for our services.
The enforcement of the PRC Labor Contract Law and other labor-related
regulations in the PRC may adversely affect our business and results of operations.
The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress enacted
the Labor Contract Law in 2008, and amended it on December 28, 2012. The Labor Contract Law introduced specific provisions
related to fixed-term employment contracts, part-time employment, probationary periods, consultation with labor unions and employee
assemblies, employment without a written contract, dismissal of employees, severance, and collective bargaining to enhance previous
PRC labor laws. Under the Labor Contract Law, an employer is obligated to sign an unlimited-term labor contract with any employee
who has worked for the employer for ten consecutive years. Further, if an employee requests or agrees to renew a fixed-term labor
contract that has already been entered into twice consecutively, the resulting contract, with certain exceptions, must have an
unlimited term. With certain exceptions, an employer must pay severance to an employee where a labor contract is terminated or
expires. In addition, PRC governmental authorities have continued to introduce various new labor-related regulations since the
effectiveness of the Labor Contract Law.
Under the PRC Social Insurance Law and the Administrative Measures
on Housing Fund, employees are required to participate in pension insurance, work-related injury insurance, medical insurance,
unemployment insurance, maternity insurance and housing funds and employers are required, together with their employees or separately,
to pay the social insurance premiums and housing funds for their employees.
These laws designed to enhance labor protection tend to increase
our labor costs. In addition, as the interpretation and implementation of these regulations are still evolving, our employment
practices may not be at all times be deemed in compliance with the regulations. As a result, we could be subject to penalties or
incur significant liabilities in connection with labor disputes or investigations, which could have a material adverse effect on
our results of operations and financial condition.
We may have difficulty establishing adequate management, legal and
financial controls in the PRC.
We may have difficulty in hiring and retaining a sufficient number
of qualified employees to work in the PRC. As a result of these factors, we may experience difficulty in establishing management,
legal and financial controls, collecting financial data and preparing financial statements, books of account and corporate records
and instituting business practices that meet Western standards. We may have difficulty establishing adequate management, legal
and financial controls in the PRC.
You may experience difficulties in effecting service of legal process,
enforcing foreign judgments or bringing original actions in China based on United States or other foreign laws against us and our
management.
We conduct substantially all of our operations in China and substantially
all of our assets are located in China. In addition, some of our directors and executive officers reside within China. As a result,
it may not be possible to effect service of process within the United States or elsewhere outside China upon some of our directors
and senior executive officers, including with respect to matters arising under U.S. federal securities laws or applicable state
securities laws. It would also be difficult for investors to bring an original lawsuit against us or our directors or executive
officers before a Chinese court based on U.S. federal securities laws or otherwise. Moreover, China does not have treaties with
the United States or many other countries providing for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgment of courts.
PRC enterprise income tax law could adversely affect our business
and our net income.
On March 16, 2007, the National People’s Congress of the PRC
passed the revised Enterprise Income Tax Law (or EIT Law), which took effect on of January 1, 2008 and was subsequently amended
on February 24, 2017. The EIT Law imposes a unified income tax rate of 25% on all companies established in China. Under the EIT
Law, an enterprise established outside of the PRC with “de facto management bodies” within the PRC is considered as
a resident enterprise and will normally be subject to the enterprise income tax at the rate of 25% on its global income. The EIT
Law, however, does not define the term “de facto management bodies.” If the PRC tax authorities subsequently determine
that we should be classified as a resident enterprise, then our global income will be subject to PRC income tax at a tax rate of
25%.
With the introduction of the EIT Law, China has resumed imposition
of a withholding tax (10% in the absence of a bilateral tax treaty or new domestic regulation reducing such withholding tax rate
to a lower rate). Per the Double Tax Avoidance Arrangement between Hong Kong and Mainland China, a Hong Kong company as the
investor, which is considered a “non-resident enterprise” under the EIT Law, may enjoy the reduced withholding tax
rate of 5% if it holds more than 25% equity interest in its PRC subsidiary. As China Net HK is the sole shareholder of Rise
King WFOE, substantially all of our income will derive from dividends we receive from Rise King WFOE through China Net HK.
When we declare dividends from the income in the PRC, we cannot assure whether such dividends may be taxed at a reduced withholding
tax rate of 5% per the Double Tax Avoidance Arrangement between Hong Kong and Mainland China as the PRC tax authorities may regard
our China Net HK as a shell company formed only for tax purposes and still deem Rise King WFOE in the PRC as the subsidiary directly
owned by us. Based on the Notice on Certain Issues with respect to the Enforcement of Dividend Provisions in Tax Treaties, issued
on February 20, 2009 by the State Administration of Taxation, if the relevant PRC tax authorities determine, in their discretion,
that a company benefits from such reduced income tax rate due to a structure or arrangement that is primarily tax-driven, such
PRC tax authorities may adjust the preferential tax treatment.
Investors should note that the EIT Law provides only a framework
of the enterprise tax provisions, leaving many details on the definitions of numerous terms as well as the interpretation and specific
applications of various provisions unclear and unspecified. Any increase in our tax rate in the future could have a material
adverse effect on our financial conditions and results of operations.
Under the EIT Law, we may be classified as a “resident enterprise”
of China. Such classification will likely result in unfavorable tax consequences to us and holders of our securities.
Under the EIT Law, an enterprise established outside of China with
its “de facto management body” in China is considered a “resident enterprise,” meaning that it can be treated
the same as a Chinese enterprise for enterprise income tax purposes. The implementing rules of the EIT Law defines “de facto
management body” as an organization that exercises “substantial and overall management and control over the production
and operations, personnel, accounting, and properties” of an enterprise. Currently no interpretation or application of the
EIT Law and its implementing rules is available, therefore it is unclear how tax authorities will determine tax residency based
on the facts of each case.
If the PRC tax authorities determine that China Net is a “resident
enterprise” for PRC enterprise income tax purposes, a number of unfavorable PRC tax consequences could follow. First, we
will be subject to enterprise income tax at a rate of 25% on our worldwide income as well as PRC enterprise income tax reporting
obligations. This would mean that income such as interest on offering proceeds and other non-China source income would be subject
to PRC enterprise income tax at a rate of 25%. Second, although under the EIT Law and its implementing rules dividends paid to
us by our PRC subsidiaries would qualify as “tax-exempt income,” we cannot guarantee that such dividends will not be
subject to a 10% withholding tax, as the PRC foreign exchange control authorities, which enforce the withholding tax, have not
yet issued guidance with respect to the processing of outbound remittances to entities that are treated as resident enterprises
for PRC enterprise income tax purposes. Finally, a 10% withholding tax will be imposed on dividends we pay to our non-PRC shareholders.
Our Chinese operating companies are obligated to withhold and pay
PRC individual income tax in respect of the salaries and other income received by their employees who are subject to PRC individual
income tax. If they fail to withhold or pay such individual income tax in accordance with applicable PRC regulations, they may
be subject to certain sanctions and other penalties, which could have a material adverse impact on our business.
Under PRC laws, Rise King WFOE and the PRC Operating Entities will
be obligated to withhold and pay individual income tax in respect of the salaries and other income received by their employees
who are subject to PRC individual income tax. Such companies may be subject to certain sanctions and other liabilities under PRC
laws in case of failure to withhold and pay individual income taxes for its employees in accordance with the applicable laws.
In addition, the SAT has issued several circulars concerning employee
stock options. Under these circulars, employees working in the PRC (which could include both PRC employees and expatriate employees
subject to PRC individual income tax) are required to pay PRC individual income tax in respect of their income derived from exercising
or otherwise disposing of their stock options. Our PRC entities will be obligated to file documents related to employee stock options
with relevant tax authorities and withhold and pay individual income taxes for those employees who exercise their stock options.
While tax authorities may advise us that our policy is compliant, they may change their policy, and we could be subject to sanctions.
Because Chinese laws will govern almost all of our business’
material agreements, we may not be able to enforce our rights within the PRC or elsewhere, which could result in a significant
loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
The Chinese legal system is similar to a civil law system based on
written statutes. Unlike common law systems, it is a system in which decided legal cases have little precedential value. Although
legislation in the PRC over the past 35 years has significantly improved the protection afforded to various forms of foreign investment
and contractual arrangements in the PRC, these laws, regulations and legal requirements are relatively new. Due to the limited
volume of published judicial decisions, their non-binding nature, the short history since their enactments, the discrete understanding
of the judges or government agencies of the same legal provision, inconsistent professional abilities of the judicators, and the
inclination to protect local interest in the court rooms, interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws and regulations involve uncertainties,
which could limit the legal protection available to us, and foreign investors, including you. The inability to enforce or obtain
a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital and
could have a material adverse impact on our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, the
PRC legal system is based in part on government policies and internal rules (some of which are not published on a timely basis
or at all) that may have a retroactive effect. As a result, we may not be aware of our violation of these policies and rules until
a period of time after the violation. In addition, any litigation in the PRC, regardless of outcome, may be protracted and result
in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention.
The non-U.S. activities of our non-U.S. subsidiaries and VIEs may
be subject to U.S. taxation.
Substantially all of our operating subsidiaries and VIEs are based
in China and are subject to income tax in the PRC. These China-based subsidiaries and VIEs conduct substantially all of our operations,
and generate all of our income in China. ChinaNet Online Holdings, Inc. is a Nevada corporation and is subject to income tax in
the United States. New U.S. federal tax legislation, commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “U.S. Tax Reform”),
was signed into law on December 22, 2017. The U.S. Tax Reform significantly modified the U.S. Internal Revenue Code by, among
other things, reducing the statutory U.S. federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% for taxable years beginning after December 31,
2017; limiting and/or eliminating many business deductions; migrating the U.S. to a territorial tax system with a one-time transition
tax on a mandatory deemed repatriation of previously deferred foreign earnings of certain foreign subsidiaries; subject to certain
limitations, generally eliminating U.S. corporate income tax on dividends from foreign subsidiaries; and providing for new taxes
on certain foreign earnings. Taxpayers may elect to pay the one-time transition tax over eight years, or in a single lump-sum payment.
The U.S. Tax Reform also includes provisions for a new tax on global
intangible low-taxed income (“GILTI”) effective for tax years of non-U.S. corporations beginning after December 31,
2017. The GILTI provisions impose a tax on foreign income in excess of a deemed return on tangible assets of CFCs, subject to the
possible use of foreign tax credits and a deduction equal to 50 percent to offset the income tax liability, subject to some
limitations.
Risks Related to our Securities
Insiders have substantial control over us, and they could delay or
prevent a change in our corporate control even if our other stockholders wanted it to occur.
Our executive officers, directors, and principal stockholders hold
approximately 35% of our outstanding Common Stock. Accordingly, these stockholders are able to exert substantial influence
over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. This
could delay or prevent an outside party from acquiring or merging with us even if our other stockholders wanted it to occur.
There may not be sufficient liquidity in the market for our securities
in order for investors to sell their securities.
There is currently only a limited public
market for our Common Stock and there can be no assurance that a trading market will develop further or be maintained in the future. As
of April 12, 2018, the closing trade price of our Common Stock was $2.56 per share. As of April 12, 2018,
we had approximately 600 shareholders of record of our Common Stock, not including shares held in street name. In addition,
during the past two fiscal years our Common Stock has had a trading range with a low price of $0.92 per share and a high price
of $2.08 per share.
The market price of our Common Stock may be volatile.
The market price of our Common Stock has been and will likely continue
to be highly volatile, as is the stock market in general. Some of the factors that may materially affect the market price of our
Common Stock are beyond our control, such as changes in financial estimates by industry and securities analysts, conditions or
trends in the industry in which we operate or sales of our common stock. These factors may materially adversely affect the market
price of our Common Stock, regardless of our performance. In addition, the public stock markets have experienced extreme price
and trading volume volatility particularly for companies whose primary operations are located in the PRC. This volatility has significantly
affected the market prices of securities of many companies for reasons frequently unrelated to the operating performance of the
specific companies. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock.
The outstanding options and warrants may adversely affect us in the
future and cause dilution to existing stockholders.
We currently have common stock purchase options outstanding to purchase
up to 835,216 shares of our Common Stock in the aggregate issued to our management, executive directors and employees, subject
to forfeiture upon an employee's cessation of employment at the discretion of the Company. The exercise price of these options
ranges from $2.10 to $3.08 per share, of which 80,000 shares of the common stock purchase options will expire on December 29, 2019,
277,976 shares of common stock purchase options will expire on November 29, 2021, and the remaining 477,240 shares of common stock
purchase options will expire on September 14, 2020. We also have warrants outstanding to purchase up to 645,000 shares of our Common
Stock. These warrants have a term of 2.5 years (or 30 months) starting from January 17, 2018 with an exercise price of $6.60 per
share, subject to adjustment in certain circumstances. Exercise of these options and warrants may cause dilution in the interests
of other stockholders as a result of the additional Common Stock that would be issued upon exercise. In addition, sales of the
shares of our Common Stock issuable upon exercise of these options and warrants could have a depressive effect on the price of
our stock, particularly if there is not a coinciding increase in demand by purchasers of our Common Stock. Further, the terms on
which we may obtain additional financing during the period any of these options and warrants remain outstanding may be adversely
affected by the existence of these options and warrants as well.
We may need additional capital and may sell additional securities
or other equity securities or incur indebtedness, which could result in additional dilution to our shareholders or increase our
debt service obligations.
We may require additional cash resources due to changed business
conditions or other future developments, including any investments or acquisitions we may decide to pursue. If our cash resources
are insufficient to satisfy our cash requirements, we may seek to sell additional equity or debt securities or obtain a credit
facility. The sale of additional equity securities or equity-linked debt securities could result in additional dilution to our
shareholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased debt service obligations and could result in operating and
financing covenants that would restrict our operations. We cannot assure you that financing will be available in amounts or on
terms acceptable to us, if at all.
We have not paid dividends in the past and do not expect to pay dividends
in the future, and any return on investment may be limited to the value of our stock.
We have never paid any cash dividends on our Common Stock and do
not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future and any return on investment may be limited
to the value of our stock. We plan to retain any future earning to finance growth.
Techniques employed by manipulative short sellers in Chinese small
cap stocks may drive down the market price of our common stock.
Short selling is the practice of selling securities that the seller
does not own but rather has, supposedly, borrowed from a third party with the intention of buying identical securities back at
a later date to return to the lender. The short seller hopes to profit from a decline in the value of the securities between the
sale of the borrowed securities and the purchase of the replacement shares, as the short seller expects to pay less in
that purchase than it received in the sale. As it is therefore in the short seller’s best interests for the price of
the stock to decline, many short sellers (sometime known as “disclosed shorts”) publish, or arrange for the publication
of, negative opinions regarding the relevant issuer and its business prospects in order to create negative market momentum and
generate profits for themselves after selling a stock short. While traditionally these disclosed shorts were limited in their
ability to access mainstream business media or to otherwise create negative market rumors, the rise of the Internet and technological
advancements regarding document creation, videotaping and publication by weblog (“blogging”) have allowed many disclosed
shorts to publicly attack a company’s credibility, strategy and veracity by means of so-called research reports that mimic
the type of investment analysis performed by large Wall Street firm and independent research analysts. These short attacks
have, in the past, led to selling of shares in the market, on occasion in large scale and broad base. Issuers with business
operations based in China and who have limited trading volumes and are susceptible to higher volatility levels than U.S. domestic
large-cap stocks, can be particularly vulnerable to such short attacks.
These short seller publications are not regulated by any governmental,
self-regulatory organization or other official authority in the U.S., are not subject to the certification requirements imposed
by the Securities and Exchange Commission in Regulation AC (Regulation Analyst Certification) and, accordingly, the opinions they
express may be based on distortions of actual facts or, in some cases, fabrications of facts. In light of the limited risks
involved in publishing such information, and the enormous profit that can be made from running just one successful short attack,
unless the short sellers become subject to significant penalties, it is more likely than not that disclosed shorts will continue
to issue such reports.
While we intend to strongly defend our public filings against any
such short seller attacks, oftentimes we are constrained, either by principles of freedom of speech, applicable state law (often
called “Anti-SLAPP statutes”), or issues of commercial confidentiality, in the manner in which we can proceed against
the relevant short seller. You should be aware that in light of the relative freedom to operate that such persons enjoy –
oftentimes blogging from outside the U.S. with little or no assets or identity requirements – should we be targeted for such
an attack, our stock will likely suffer from a temporary, or possibly long term, decline in market price should the rumors created
not be dismissed by market participants.
The NASDAQ may delist our securities from quotation on its exchange
which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
Our Common Stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“NASDAQ”),
a national securities exchange. We cannot assure you that our securities will meet the continued listing requirements be listed
on the NASDAQ in the future.
On September 8, 2015, we received a letter from NASDAQ. NASDAQ
indicated in its letter that, based upon the closing bid price for the last 30 consecutive business days, we no longer met the
requirement set forth in Listing Rule 5550, which requires listed securities to maintain a minimum bid price of $1.0 per share.
According to the Listing Rule 5810, we had a period of 180 calendar days from the date of the letter, or until March 7, 2016, to
regain compliance. On March 8, 2016, we received a letter from NASDAQ, which indicated that we had not regained compliance with
the minimum $1.0 bid price per share requirement. However, NASDAQ determined that we were eligible for an additional 180 calendar
day period, or until September 6, 2016, to regain compliance. On August 18, 2016, we filed a Certificate of Amendment to our Articles
of Incorporation with the Secretary of State of Nevada to effect a one-for-two and one-half (1 for 2.5) reverse stock split of
our common stock (the “Common Stock”), which became effective on August 19, 2016 (the “Reverse Stock Split”).
On September 2, 2016, we received a letter from the NASDAQ notifying us that Nasdaq had determined that for 10 consecutive business
days, from August 19, 2016 to September 1, 2016, the closing bid price of our Common Stock had been at $1.00 per share or greater.
Accordingly, we regained compliance with Listing Rule and this matter was closed.
Although we have regained compliance with NASDAQ Listing Rules, as
discussed above, we cannot assure you we will meet all applicable continued listing requirements to be listed on NASDAQ in the
future. If NASDAQ delists our Common Stock from trading on its exchange, we could face significant material adverse consequences
including:
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a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;
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a determination that our Common Stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Common Stock
to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly resulting in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market
for our Common Stock;
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a limited amount of news and analyst coverage for our company; and
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a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.
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