Baozun (BZUN) Risk Analysis

If our VIE or its shareholders fail to perform their respective obligations under the contractual arrangements, we may have to incur substantial costs and expend additional resources to enforce such arrangements. We may also have to rely on legal remedies under PRC law, including seeking specific performance or injunctive relief, and claiming damages. We cannot assure you such remedies will be effective. For example, if the shareholders of Shanghai Zunyi were to refuse to transfer their equity interest in Shanghai Zunyi to us or our designee when we exercise the purchase option pursuant to these contractual arrangements, or if they were otherwise to act in bad faith toward us, we may have to take legal actions to compel them to perform their contractual obligations. All the agreements under our contractual arrangements are governed by PRC law and provide for the resolution of disputes through arbitration in China. Accordingly, these contracts would be interpreted in accordance with PRC law and any disputes would be resolved in accordance with PRC legal procedures. See " - Risks Related to Doing Business in the People's Republic of China - There are uncertainties regarding the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws, rules and regulations." Meanwhile, there are very few precedents and little formal guidance as to how contractual arrangements in the context of a VIE should be interpreted or enforced under PRC law, and as a result it may be difficult to predict how an arbitration panel would view such contractual arrangements. As a result, uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws and regulations could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. Additionally, under PRC law, rulings by arbitrators are final, parties cannot appeal the arbitration results in courts, and if the losing parties fail to carry out the arbitration awards within a prescribed time limit, the prevailing parties may only enforce the arbitration awards in PRC courts through arbitration award enforcement proceedings, which would require additional expenses and delay. Our VIE provides brand e-commerce service to our brand partners and holds the ICP license. In the event we are unable to enforce our contractual arrangements, we may not be able to exert effective control over our VIE, and our ability to conduct the businesses may be negatively affected. Considering that the substantial majority of our revenues are currently generated from our subsidiaries instead of our VIE, we do not believe that any failure by us to exert effective control over our VIE would have an immediate material adverse effect on our overall business operations, financial condition or results of operations. However, the business operation of Shanghai Zunyi, our VIE, may grow in the future, and if we fail to maintain effective control over our VIE, we may not be able to continue to consolidate our VIE's financial results with our financial results, and such failure could in the future materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Mr. Vincent Wenbin Qiu and Mr. Michael Qingyu Zhang are the shareholders of our VIE, Shanghai Zunyi. Mr. Vincent Wenbin Qiu is our founder, chairman and chief executive officer, and Mr. Michael Qingyu Zhang is our co-founder. They may have potential conflicts of interest with us. These shareholders may breach, or cause our VIE to breach, or refuse to renew, the existing contractual arrangements we have with them and our VIE, which would have a material and adverse effect on our ability to effectively control our VIE and receive substantially all the economic benefits from it. For example, the shareholders may be able to cause our agreements with Shanghai Zunyi to be performed in a manner adverse to us by, among other things, failing to remit payments due under the contractual arrangements to us on a timely basis. We cannot assure you that when conflicts of interest arise, any or all of these shareholders will act in our best interests or such conflicts will be resolved in our favor. Currently, we do not have any arrangements to address potential conflicts of interest between these shareholders and us. Mr. Vincent Wenbin Qiu is also a director of our company. We rely on Mr. Vincent Wenbin Qiu and Mr. Michael Qingyu Zhang to abide by the laws of the Cayman Islands and China, which provide that directors owe a fiduciary duty to the company that requires them to act in good faith and in what they believe to be the best interests of the company and not to use their position for personal gains. If we cannot resolve any conflict of interest or dispute between us and the shareholders of Shanghai Zunyi, we would have to rely on legal proceedings, which could result in disruption of our business and subject us to substantial uncertainty as to the outcome of any such legal proceedings.

Under the EIT Law and its implementation regulations issued by the State Council, a 10% PRC withholding tax is applicable to dividends payable to investors that are non-resident enterprises, which do not have an establishment or place of business in the PRC or which have such establishment or place of business but the dividends are not effectively connected with such establishment or place of business, to the extent such dividends are derived from sources within the PRC. Similarly, any gain realized on the transfer of ADSs or ordinary shares by such investors is also subject to PRC tax at a current rate of 10%, subject to any reduction or exemption set forth in applicable tax treaties or under applicable tax arrangements between jurisdictions, if such gain is regarded as income derived from sources within the PRC. If we are deemed a PRC resident enterprise, dividends paid on our ordinary shares or ADSs, and any gain realized from the transfer of our ordinary shares or ADSs, would be treated as income derived from sources within the PRC and would as a result be subject to PRC taxation. Furthermore, if we are deemed a PRC resident enterprise, dividends payable to individual investors who are non-PRC residents and any gain realized on the transfer of ADSs or ordinary shares by such investors may be subject to PRC tax at a current rate of 20%, subject to any reduction or exemption set forth in applicable tax treaties or under applicable tax arrangements between jurisdictions. It is unclear whether if we or any of our subsidiaries established outside China are considered a PRC resident enterprise, holders of our ADSs or ordinary shares would be able to claim the benefit of income tax treaties or agreements entered into between China and other countries or areas. If dividends payable to our non-PRC investors, or gains from the transfer of our ADSs or ordinary shares by such investors are subject to PRC tax, the value of your investment in our ADSs or ordinary shares may decline significantly.

The trading price of our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares has been and is likely to continue to be volatile and could fluctuate widely due to factors beyond our control. This may happen because of broad market and industry factors, like the performance and fluctuation in the market prices or the underperformance or deteriorating financial results of other companies with business operations located mainly in China that have listed their securities in Hong Kong and/or the United States, or because of the trends in the global economy in general or the Chinese economy in particular, or because of international geopolitical tensions. The securities of some of these companies have experienced significant volatility since their initial public offerings, including, in some cases, substantial price declines in the trading prices of their securities. The trading performances of other Chinese companies' securities after their offerings, including internet and e-commerce companies, may affect the attitudes of investors toward companies with business operations located mainly in China that have listed their securities listed in Hong Kong and/or the United States, which consequently may impact the trading performance of our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares, regardless of our actual operating performance. In addition, any negative news or perceptions about inadequate corporate governance practices or fraudulent accounting, corporate structure or matters of other Chinese companies may also negatively affect the attitudes of investors towards Chinese companies in general, including us, regardless of whether we have conducted any inappropriate activities. In addition, securities markets may from time to time experience significant price and volume fluctuations that are not related to our operating performance, which may have a material and adverse effect on the trading price of our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares. In addition to the above factors, the prices and trading volumes of our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares may be highly volatile due to multiple factors, including the following: - regulatory developments affecting us or our industry, brand partners, suppliers or third-party sellers;- announcements of studies and reports relating to the quality of our product and service offerings or those of our competitors;- changes in the economic performance or market valuations of other e-commerce companies;- actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly results of operations and changes or revisions of our expected results;- changes in financial estimates by securities research analysts;- conditions in the online retail market;- announcements by us or our competitors of new product and service offerings, acquisitions, strategic relationships, joint ventures, capital raisings or capital commitments;- additions to or departures of our senior management;- fluctuations of exchange rates among the RMB , the Hong Kong dollar and the U.S. dollar;- natural disasters or health epidemic;- political or market instability or disruptions, pandemics or epidemics and other disruptions to China's economy or the global economy, and actual or perceived social unrest in the United States, Hong Kong or other jurisdictions;- release or expiry of lock-up or other transfer restrictions on our outstanding shares or ADSs;- litigation, government investigation or other legal or regulatory proceeding;- our share repurchase programs; and - any future issuances of securities, including sales or perceived potential sales of additional ordinary shares or ADSs in certain circumstances. Any of these factors may result in large and sudden changes in the volume and trading price of our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares. In addition, global stock markets have from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that are unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies and industries. These market fluctuations may significantly affect the trading price of our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares.

Sales of our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur, could cause the market price of our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares to decline significantly. All of our Class A ordinary shares represented by ADSs were freely transferable by persons other than our "affiliates" without restriction or additional registration under the Securities Act. Some Class A ordinary shares outstanding after our offerings will be available for sale, upon the expiration of the lock-up periods (if applicable to such holder), subject to volume and other restrictions as applicable under Rules 144 and 701 under the Securities Act. Any or all of these ordinary shares may be released prior to the expiration of the applicable lock-up period at the discretion of the designated representatives. To the extent a substantial amount of shares are released before the expiration of the applicable lock-up period and sold into the market, the market price of our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares could decline significantly. In addition, convertible senior notes that we may issue from time to time may also encourage short selling by market participants because the conversion of the convertible senior notes could depress the price of our ADS and/or Class A ordinary shares. The price of our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares could be affected by possible sales of our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares by investors who view the convertible senior notes as a more attractive means of equity participation in us and by hedging or arbitrage trading activity, which we expect to occur involving our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares.

Mr. Vincent Wenbin Qiu, our founder, chairman and chief executive officer, and Mr. Junhua Wu, our co-founder and director, have considerable influence over matters requiring shareholder approval. Due to our dual-class voting structure, our ordinary shares consist of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Based on our dual-class voting structure, on a poll, holders of Class A ordinary shares are entitled to one vote per share in respect of matters requiring the votes of shareholders, while holders of Class B ordinary shares are entitled to ten votes per share. Each Class B ordinary share is convertible into one Class A ordinary share at any time by the holder thereof, while Class A ordinary shares are not convertible into Class B ordinary shares under any circumstances. Upon any sale, transfer, assignment or disposition of beneficial ownership of any Class B ordinary shares by a holder thereof or a beneficial owner of such Class B ordinary shares to any person or entity which is not an affiliate of such holder or beneficial owner, such Class B ordinary shares shall be automatically and immediately converted into an equal number of Class A ordinary shares. The Class B ordinary shares beneficially owned by Mr. Vincent Wenbin Qiu and Mr. Junhua Wu, without including shares that the person has the right to acquire within 60 days, including through the exercise of any option, warrant or other right or the conversion of any other security, represent 31.1% and 12.8% of the aggregate voting power of our company, respectively, as of March 31, 2024. The interests of Mr. Vincent Wenbin Qiu and Mr. Junhua Wu may not coincide with the interests of holders of Class A ordinary shares and ADSs, and they may make decisions with which holders of Class A ordinary shares and ADSs disagree, including decisions on important topics such as the composition of the board of directors, compensation, management succession and our business and financial strategy. To the extent that the interests of Mr. Vincent Wenbin Qiu or Mr. Junhua Wu differ from the interests of holders of Class A ordinary shares and ADSs, holders of Class A ordinary shares and ADSs may be disadvantaged by any action that they may seek to pursue. This concentrated control could also discourage others from pursuing any potential merger, takeover or other change of control transactions, which could have the effect of depriving the holders of our Class A ordinary shares and our ADSs of the opportunity to sell their shares at a premium over the prevailing market price.

We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. We conduct a substantial portion of our operations in the PRC and substantially all of our assets are located outside the United States and Hong Kong. In addition, a majority of our directors and officers are nationals or residents of jurisdictions other than the United States and Hong Kong and a substantial portion of their assets are located outside the United States and Hong Kong. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for our shareholders to effect service of process or bring an action against us or against them in the United States or in Hong Kong in the event that our shareholders believe that their rights have been infringed under the securities laws of the United States, Hong Kong or otherwise. Even if our shareholders are successful in bringing an action of this kind, the laws of the Cayman Islands, the PRC or other relevant jurisdiction may render our shareholders unable to enforce a judgment against our assets or the assets of our directors and officers. In addition, the SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice and other U.S. authorities may also have difficulties in bringing and enforcing actions against us or our directors or officers in the PRC. In addition, shareholder claims that are common in the United States, including class action securities law and fraud claims, may be difficult to pursue as a matter of law or practicality in the PRC. Under the PRC Civil Procedures Law, foreign shareholders may originate actions based on PRC law against a company in the PRC for disputes if they can establish sufficient nexus to the PRC for a PRC court to have jurisdiction, and meet other procedural requirements, including, among others, the plaintiff must have a direct interest in the case and there must be a concrete claim, a factual basis and a cause for the suit. It will be, however, difficult for U.S. and other shareholders to originate actions against us in the PRC in accordance with PRC laws because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands and it will be difficult for U.S. and other shareholders, by virtue only of holding the ADSs and/or our ordinary shares, to establish a connection to the PRC for a PRC court to have jurisdiction as required under the PRC Civil Procedures Law. For a discussion of significant differences between the provisions of the Companies Act of the Cayman Islands and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders, see "Item 10. Additional Information - B. Memorandum and Articles of Association - Differences in Corporate Law."

Our ADSs are currently traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and our Class A ordinary shares are currently traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Subject to compliance with U.S. securities law and the terms of the deposit agreement, holders of our Class A ordinary shares may deposit Class A ordinary shares with the depositary in exchange for the issuance of our ADSs. Any holder of ADSs may also withdraw the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by the ADSs pursuant to the terms of the deposit agreement for trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In the event that a substantial number of Class A ordinary shares are deposited with the depositary in exchange for ADSs or vice versa, the liquidity and trading price of our Class A ordinary shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and our ADSs on the Nasdaq Global Select Market may be adversely affected.

There is no direct trading or settlement between the Nasdaq Global Select Market and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on which our ADSs and the Class A ordinary shares are traded. In addition, the time differences between Hong Kong and New York and unforeseen market circumstances or other factors may delay the deposit of Class A ordinary shares in exchange of ADSs or the withdrawal of Class A ordinary shares underlying the ADSs. Investors will be prevented from settling or effecting the sale of their securities during such periods of delay. In addition, there is no assurance that any exchange of Class A ordinary shares into ADSs (and vice versa) will be completed in accordance with the timelines investors may anticipate. Furthermore, the depositary for the ADSs is entitled to charge holders fees for various services, including for the issuance of ADSs upon deposit of Class A ordinary shares, cancelation of ADSs, distributions of cash dividends or other cash distributions, distributions of ADSs pursuant to share dividends or other free share distributions, distributions of securities other than ADSs and annual service fees. As a result, shareholders who exchange Class A ordinary shares into ADSs, and vice versa, may not achieve the level of economic return the shareholders may anticipate.

Under the laws of some jurisdictions in the United States, majority and controlling shareholders generally have certain fiduciary responsibilities to the minority shareholders. Shareholder action must be taken in good faith, and actions by controlling shareholders which are obviously unreasonable may be declared null and void. Cayman Islands law protecting the interests of minority shareholders may not be as protective in all circumstances as the law protecting minority shareholders in some U.S. jurisdictions. In addition, the circumstances in which a shareholder of a Cayman Islands company may sue the company derivatively, and the procedures and defenses that may be available to the company, may result in the rights of shareholders of a Cayman Islands company being more limited than those of shareholders of a company organized in the United States. Moreover, our directors have the power to take certain actions without shareholder approval which would require shareholder approval under the laws of most U.S. jurisdictions or the Hong Kong law, subject to the requirements as stipulated under the Hong Kong Listing Rules. The directors of a Cayman Islands company, without shareholder approval, may implement a sale of any assets, property, part of the business, or securities of the company, except as otherwise required under the Hong Kong Listing Rules. Our ability to create and issue new classes or series of shares without shareholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing a change in control of our company without any further action by our shareholders, including a tender offer to purchase our Class A ordinary shares at a premium over prevailing market prices. Furthermore, our articles of association are specific to us and include certain provisions that may be different from common practices in Hong Kong.

Our sixth amended and restated articles of association contain provisions which have the potential to limit the ability of others to acquire control of our company or cause us to engage in change-of-control transactions. These provisions could have the effect of depriving our shareholders of an opportunity to sell their shares at a premium over prevailing market prices by discouraging third parties from seeking to obtain control of our company in a tender offer or similar transaction. For example, our board of directors has the authority, without further action by our shareholders, to issue preferred shares in one or more series and to fix their designations, powers, preferences, privileges and other rights, including dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption and liquidation preferences, any or all of which may be greater than the rights associated with our Class A ordinary shares, in the form of ADS or otherwise, at such time and on such terms as they may think appropriate. In the event these preferred shares have better voting rights than our Class A ordinary shares, in the form of ADSs or otherwise, they could be issued quickly with terms calculated to delay or prevent a change in control of our company or make removal of management more difficult. If our board of directors decides to issue preferred shares, the price of our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares may fall and the voting and other rights of the holders of our Class A ordinary shares and ADSs could be materially and adversely affected.

Our Company is controlled through weighted voting rights. Each Class A ordinary share entitles the holder to exercise one vote, and each Class B ordinary share entitles the holder to exercise ten votes, respectively, on any resolution tabled at our Company's general meetings, except as may otherwise be required by law or the Hong Kong Listing Rules or provided for in our memorandum and articles of association. Our weighted voting rights structure is specific to us and contain certain features that are different from the requirements under Chapter 8A of the Hong Kong Listing Rules. In particular, our weighted voting rights, or WVR, beneficiaries do not own collectively at least 10% of the underlying economic interest in our total issued share capital at the time of the listing of our Class A ordinary shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Our weighted voting rights structure does not contain sunset provisions under Rule 8A.17 of the Hong Kong Listing Rules which require cessation of weighted voting rights under certain circumstances. Rule 8A.24 of the Hong Kong Listing Rules requires weighted voting rights to be disregarded on any resolution to approve certain matters including (i) changes to the listed issuer's constitutional documents, however framed; (ii) variation of rights attached to any class of shares; (iii) the appointment or removal of an independent non-executive director; (iv) the appointment or removal of auditors; and (v) the voluntary winding-up of the listed issuer. Under our WVR structure, each Class B ordinary share shall be entitled to ten votes on all matters subject to vote at general meetings of our Company, except as may otherwise be required by law or provided for in our memorandum and articles of association. As we are a "Grandfathered Greater China Issuer" as defined in Chapter 1 of the Hong Kong Listing Rules and satisfy the qualification requirements under rule 8A.06 and has a track record of good regulatory compliance of at least two full financial years on a "Qualifying Exchange" (as defined in Chapter 1 of the Hong Kong Listing Rules) of primary listing, by virtue of Rule 8A.46(a) of the Hong Kong Listing Rules, the requirements under Rules 8A.07 to 8A.36, 8A.43 and 8A.44 of the Hong Kong Listing Rules are not applicable to us. Under paragraph 3.48 of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's Guidance Letter HKEX-GL112-22, we, as a Grandfathered Greater China Issuer, are allowed to retain our existing weighted voting rights structure after we became primary listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on November 1, 2022. We have relied on and intend to continue to rely on these exemptions. As a result, our shareholders may not be provided with the benefits of certain corporate governance requirements of the Hong Kong Listing Rules.

The trading market for our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If research analysts do not establish and maintain adequate research coverage or if one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the market price for our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which, in turn, could cause the market price or trading volume for our ADSs and/or Class A ordinary shares to decline.

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

Holders of ADSs do not have the same rights as our registered shareholders. The holders of our ADSs will not have any direct right to attend general meetings of our shareholders or to directly cast any votes at such meetings. The holders of our ADSs will only be able to exercise the voting rights which are carried by the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by their ADSs indirectly by giving voting instructions to the depositary in accordance with the provisions of the deposit agreement. Under the deposit agreement, the holders of our ADSs may vote only by giving voting instructions to the depositary. Upon receipt of the voting instructions from the holders of our ADSs, the depositary will vote the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by their ADSs in accordance with these instructions. The holders of our ADSs will not be able to directly exercise their right to vote with respect to the underlying Class A ordinary shares unless they withdraw such shares and become the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date for the general meeting. Under our articles of association, the minimum notice period required to be given by us to our registered shareholders to convene an annual general meeting is 21 calendar days, and the minimum notice period to be given by us to our registered shareholders to convene any extraordinary general meeting is 14 calendar days. When a general meeting is convened, the holders of our ADSs may not receive sufficient advance notice of the meeting to permit the holders of our ADSs to withdraw the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by their ADSs and become the registered holder of such shares to allow the holders of our ADSs to attend the general meeting and to cast their vote directly with respect to any specific matter or resolution to be considered and voted upon at the general meeting. Furthermore, under our articles of association, for the purposes of determining those shareholders who are entitled to attend and vote at any general meeting, our directors may close our register of members and/or fix in advance a record date for such meeting, and such closure of our register of members or the setting of such a record date may prevent the holders of our ADSs from withdrawing the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by their ADSs and becoming the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date, so that they would not be able to attend the general meeting or to vote directly. If we ask for their instructions, the depositary will notify the holders of our ADSs of the upcoming vote and will arrange to deliver our voting materials to them. We cannot assure the holders of our ADSs that they will receive the voting materials in time to ensure that they can instruct the depositary to vote the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by their ADSs. In addition, the depositary and its agents will not be responsible for any failure to carry out any instructions to vote any of the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by the ADSs, for the manner in which any voting instructions are given, including instructions to give a discretionary proxy to a person designated by us, for the manner in which any vote is cast, including, without limitation, any vote cast by a person to whom the depositary is instructed to grant a discretionary proxy, or for the effect of any such vote. This means that the holders of our ADSs may not be able to exercise their right to direct how the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by their ADSs are voted and they may have no legal remedy if the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by their ADSs are not voted as they requested. In addition, in their capacity as an ADS holder, the holders of our ADSs will not be able to call a shareholders' meeting.

As a foreign private issuer in the U.S., we are exempt from, among other things, the rules prescribing the furnishing and content of proxy statements under the Exchange Act. In addition, our executive officers, directors and principal shareholders are exempt from the reporting and short-swing profit and recovery provisions contained in Section 16 of the Exchange Act. We are also not required under the Exchange Act to file periodic reports and financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as domestic U.S. companies with securities registered under the Exchange Act. As a result, holders of our ADSs and ordinary shares may be afforded less protection than they would under the Exchange Act rules applicable to domestic U.S. companies.

We are exempted from certain corporate governance requirements of the Nasdaq Stock Market Rules by virtue of being a foreign private issuer in the U.S. We are required to provide a brief description of the significant differences between our corporate governance practices and the corporate governance practices required to be followed by domestic U.S. companies listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market. The standards applicable to us are considerably different than the standards applied to domestic U.S. issuers. For instance, we are not required to: - have a majority of the board be independent;- have a nominating and corporate governance committee consisting entirely of independent directors;- solicit proxies and hold an annual general meeting of shareholders no later than one year after the end of the issuer's fiscal year-end;- have regularly scheduled executive sessions with only independent/for non-management directors; or - have executive sessions of solely independent directors each year. We followed our home country practice that does not require us to solicit proxy and hold an annual general meeting of shareholders for the years of 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. The Nasdaq Stock Market Rules require that a majority of a Nasdaq-listed company's board of directors be independent directors. Our Cayman Islands counsel has provided a letter to The Nasdaq Stock Market dated August 10, 2020 certifying that under Cayman Islands law, we are not required to follow or comply with the requirement that a majority of our board members be independent directors. As of the date of this annual report, our board of directors consists of seven directors, three of which meet the "independence" requirements of the Nasdaq Stock Market Rules. We have relied on and intend to continue to rely on some of these exemptions. As a result, our shareholders may not be provided with the benefits of certain corporate governance requirements of the Nasdaq Stock Market Rules.