Mingteng International Corp., Inc. (MTEN) Risk Analysis

Any funds we transfer to the PRC Subsidiaries, either as a shareholder loan or as an increase in registered capital, are subject to approval by or registration with relevant governmental authorities in China. According to the relevant PRC regulations on foreign-invested enterprises in China, capital contributions to our PRC Subsidiaries are subject to registration with the State Administration for Market Regulation or its local counterpart and registration with a local bank authorized by SAFE. In addition, (i) any foreign loan procured by our PRC Subsidiaries is required to be registered with the SAFE or its local branches and (ii) any of our PRC Subsidiaries may not procure loans that exceed the difference between its total investment amount and registered capital or, as an alternative, only procure loans subject to the calculation approach and limitation as provided by the People's Bank of China. Additionally, any medium or long-term loans to be provided by us to the PRC Subsidiaries must be registered with the National Development and Reform Commission and SAFE or its local branches. We may not be able to obtain these government approvals or complete such registrations in a timely manner, or at all, with respect to future capital contributions or loans by us to our PRC Subsidiaries. If we fail to receive such approvals or complete such registration or filing, our ability to use the proceeds of future offerings to capitalize our PRC operations may be negatively affected, which could adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.

Wuxi Mingteng Mould was formed under and is governed by the laws of the PRC. The PRC legal system is based on written statutes. Prior court decisions may be cited for reference but have limited precedential value. In 1979, the PRC government began to promulgate a comprehensive system of laws and regulations governing economic matters in general, such as foreign investment, corporate organization and governance, commerce, taxation and trade. As a significant part of our business is conducted in China, our operations are principally governed by PRC laws and regulations. However, since the PRC legal system continues to evolve rapidly, the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules are not always uniform and enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules involves uncertainties, which may limit legal protections available to us. Uncertainties due to evolving laws and regulations could also impede the ability of a China-based company, such as our company, to obtain or maintain permits or licenses required to conduct business in China. In the absence of required permits or licenses, governmental authorities could impose material sanctions or penalties on us. In addition, some regulatory requirements issued by certain PRC government authorities may not be consistently applied by other PRC government authorities (including local government authorities), thus making strict compliance with all regulatory requirements impractical, or in some circumstances impossible. For example, we may have to resort to administrative and court proceedings to enforce the legal protection that we enjoy either by law or contract. However, since PRC administrative and court authorities have discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory and contractual terms, it may be more difficult to predict the outcome of administrative and court proceedings and the level of legal protection we enjoy than in more developed legal systems. Furthermore, the PRC legal system is based in part on government policies and internal rules, some of which are not published on a timely basis or at all and may have a retroactive effect. As a result, we may not be aware of our violation of these policies and rules until sometime after the violation. Such uncertainties, including uncertainty over the scope and effect of our contractual, property (including intellectual property) and procedural rights, could materially and adversely affect our business and impede our ability to continue our operations. Furthermore, if China adopts more stringent standards with respect to environmental protection or corporate social responsibilities, we may incur increased compliance costs or become subject to additional restrictions in our operations. Intellectual property rights and confidentiality protections in China may also not be as effective as in the United States or other countries. In addition, we cannot predict the effects of future developments in the PRC legal system on our business operations, including the promulgation of new laws, or changes to existing laws or the interpretation or enforcement thereof. These uncertainties could limit the legal protections available to us and our investors, including you. Moreover, any litigation in China may be protracted and result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources and management attention. The PRC government has significant oversight and discretion over the conduct of our business and may intervene or influence our operations as the government deems appropriate to further regulatory, political and societal goals. The PRC government has recently published new policies that significantly affected certain industries such as the education and internet industries, and we cannot rule out the possibility that it will in the future release regulations or policies regarding our industry that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, the PRC government has recently indicated an intent to exert more oversight and control over securities offerings and other capital markets activities that are conducted overseas and foreign investment in China-based companies like ours. Any such action, once taken by the PRC government, could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or in extreme cases, become worthless.

On March 15, 2019, the National People's Congress approved the PRC Foreign Investment Law, which took effect on January 1, 2020 and replaced three existing laws on foreign investments in China, namely, the PRC Equity Joint Venture Law, the PRC Cooperative Joint Venture Law and the Wholly Foreign-owned Enterprise Law, together with their implementation rules and ancillary regulations. The PRC Foreign Investment Law 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 invested enterprises in China. The PRC Foreign Investment Law establishes the basic framework for the access to and the promotion, protection and administration of foreign investments in view of investment protection and fair competition. According to the PRC Foreign Investment Law, "foreign investment" refers to investment activities directly or indirectly conducted by one or more natural persons, business entities, or otherwise organizations of a foreign country (collectively referred to as "foreign investor") within China, and the investment activities include the following situations: (i) a foreign investor, individually or collectively with other investors, establishes a foreign-invested enterprise within China; (ii) a foreign investor acquires stock shares, equity shares, shares in assets, or other like rights and interests of an enterprise within China; (iii) a foreign investor, individually or collectively with other investors, invests in a new project within China; and (iv) investments in other means as provided by laws, administrative regulations, or the State Council. According to the PRC Foreign Investment Law, the State Council will publish or approve to publish the "negative list" for special administrative measures concerning foreign investment. The PRC Foreign Investment Law grants national treatment to foreign-invested entities, or FIEs, except for those FIEs that operate in industries deemed to be either "restricted" or "prohibited" in the "negative list." Because the "negative list" has yet to be published, it is unclear whether it will differ from the current Special Administrative Measures for Market Access of Foreign Investment (Negative List). The PRC Foreign Investment Law provides that FIEs operating in foreign restricted or prohibited industries will require market entry clearance and other approvals from relevant PRC governmental authorities. If a foreign investor is found to invest in any prohibited industry in the "negative list," such foreign investor may be required to, among other aspects, cease its investment activities, dispose of its equity interests or assets within a prescribed time limit and have its income confiscated. If the investment activity of a foreign investor is in breach of any special administrative measure for restrictive access provided for in the "negative list," the relevant competent department shall order the foreign investor to make corrections and take necessary measures to meet the requirements of the special administrative measure for restrictive access. The PRC government will establish a foreign investment information reporting system, according to which foreign investors or foreign-invested enterprises shall submit investment information to the competent department for commerce concerned through the enterprise registration system and the enterprise credit information publicity system, and a security review system under which the security review shall be conducted for foreign investment affecting or likely affecting the state security. Furthermore, the PRC Foreign Investment Law provides that foreign invested enterprises established according to the existing laws regulating foreign investment may maintain their structure and corporate governance within five years after the implementation of the PRC Foreign Investment Law. In addition, the PRC Foreign Investment Law also provides several protective rules and principles for foreign investors and their investments in the PRC, including, among others, that a foreign investor may freely transfer into or out of China, in RMB or a foreign currency, its contributions, profits, capital gains, income from disposition of assets, royalties of intellectual property rights, indemnity or compensation lawfully acquired, and income from liquidation, among others, within China; local governments shall abide by their commitments to the foreign investors; governments at all levels and their departments shall enact local normative documents concerning foreign investment in compliance with laws and regulations and shall not impair legitimate rights and interests, impose additional obligations onto FIEs, set market access restrictions and exit conditions, or intervene with the normal production and operation activities of FIEs; except for special circumstances, in which case statutory procedures shall be followed and fair and reasonable compensation shall be made in a timely manner, expropriation or requisition of the investment of foreign investors is prohibited; and mandatory technology transfer is prohibited. Notwithstanding the above, the PRC Foreign Investment Law stipulates that foreign investment includes "foreign investors invest through any other methods under laws, administrative regulations or provisions prescribed by the State Council." Therefore, there are possibilities that future laws, administrative regulations or provisions prescribed by the State Council may introduce detailed regulatory policies and establish a security review system to further regulate foreign investment activities in the PRC.

The Chinese government has exercised and continues to exercise substantial control over virtually every sector of the Chinese economy through regulation and state ownership. Our ability to operate in China may be harmed by changes in its laws and regulations, including those relating to taxation, environmental regulations, land use rights, property and other matters. The central or local governments of these jurisdictions may impose new, stricter regulations or interpretations of existing regulations that would require additional expenditures and efforts on our part to ensure our compliance with such regulations or interpretations. Accordingly, government actions in the future, including any decision not to continue to support recent economic reforms and to return to a more centrally planned economy or regional or local variations in the implementation of economic policies, could have a significant effect on economic conditions in China or particular regions thereof and could require us to divest ourselves of any interest we then hold in Chinese properties. For example, the Chinese cybersecurity regulator announced on July 2, 2021 that it had begun an investigation of Didi Global Inc. (NYSE: DIDI) and two days later ordered that the company's app be removed from smartphone app stores. As such, the Company's business segments may be subject to various government and regulatory interference in the provinces in which they operate. The Company could be subject to regulation by various political and regulatory entities, including various local and municipal agencies and government sub-divisions. The Company may incur increased costs necessary to comply with existing and newly adopted laws and regulations or penalties for any failure to comply. The Chinese government may intervene or influence our operations at any time with little advance notice, which could result in a material change in our operations and the value of our Ordinary Shares. Any actions by the Chinese government to exert more oversight and control over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China-based issuers could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or be worthless. Furthermore, it is uncertain when and whether the Company will be required to obtain permission from the PRC government to list on U.S. exchanges in the future, and even when such permission is obtained, whether it will be denied or rescinded. Although the Company is currently not required to obtain permission from the PRC government to obtain such permission and has not received any denial to list on the U.S. exchange, our operations could be adversely affected, directly or indirectly, by existing or future laws and regulations relating to its business or industry. As a result, our Ordinary Shares may decline in value dramatically or even become worthless should we become subject to new requirements to obtain permission from the PRC government to list on U.S. exchanges in the future. Recently, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council jointly issued the Opinions on Severe and Lawful Crackdown on Illegal Securities Activities, which was available to the public on July 6, 2021. These opinions emphasized the need to strengthen the administration over illegal securities activities and the supervision of overseas listings by China-based companies. These opinions proposed to take effective measures, such as promoting the construction of relevant regulatory systems, to deal with the risks and incidents facing China-based overseas-listed companies and the demand for cybersecurity and data privacy protection. Moreover, On January 4, 2022, thirteen PRC regulatory agencies, namely, the CAC, the NDRC, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of State Security, the Ministry of Finance, MOFCOM, SAMR, CSRC, the People's Bank of China, the National Radio and Television Administration, National Administration of State Secrets Protection and the National Cryptography Administration, jointly adopted and published the Measures for Cybersecurity Review (2021), which became effective on February 15, 2022. The Measures for Cybersecurity Review (2021) required that, among others, in addition to "operator of critical information infrastructure" any "operator of network platform" holding personal information of more than one million users who seek to list in a foreign stock exchange should also be subject to cybersecurity review. The aforementioned policies and any related implementation rules to be enacted may subject us to additional compliance requirement in the future. As these opinions were recently issued, official guidance and interpretation of the opinions remain unclear in several respects at this time. Therefore, we cannot assure you that we will remain fully compliant with all new regulatory requirements of these opinions or any future implementation rules on a timely basis, or at all. See "Item 3. Key Information - 3.D. Risk Factors – Risks Relating to Doing Business in China – We may become subject to a variety of laws and regulations in the PRC regarding privacy, data security, cybersecurity, and data protection. We may be liable for improper use or appropriation of personal information" and "Item 3. Key Information - 3.D. Risk Factors – Risks Relating to Doing Business in China – The Opinions, the Trial Measures, and the revised Provisions recently issued by the PRC authorities may subject us to additional compliance requirements in the future."

Along with the growth and expansion of our business, we may be involved in litigation, regulatory proceedings, and other disputes arising outside the ordinary course of our business. Such litigation and disputes may result in claims for actual damages, freezing of our assets, diversion of our management's attention and reputational damage to us and our management, as well as legal proceedings against our directors, officers, or employees, and the probability and amount of liability, if any, may remain unknown for long periods of time. Given the uncertainty, complexity, and scope of many of these litigation matters, their outcome generally cannot be predicted with any reasonable degree of certainty. Therefore, our reserves for such matters may be inadequate. Moreover, even if we eventually prevail in these matters, we could incur significant legal fees or suffer significant reputational harm.

We are required to comply with applicable environmental regulations, health quality standards, and production safety standards in relation to our operations and production processes. In order to comply with the rules and regulations of the relevant public health authorities and quality and technical supervision authorities, we are subject to regular and random inspections. Failure to pass such inspections and comply with regulatory requirements could result in termination of the manufacture and sale of our products, forfeiture of related revenues, revocation of business licenses, or potential criminal liability, which would have a material adverse effect on our reputation and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

The Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Companies by Foreign Investors, or the M&A Rules, adopted by six PRC regulatory agencies in 2006 and amended in 2009, and some other regulations and rules concerning mergers and acquisitions established complex procedures and requirements for some acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors, including requirements in some instances that the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC ("MOFCOM"), be notified in advance of any change-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of a PRC domestic enterprise. Moreover, the Anti-Monopoly Law promulgated by the Standing Committee of the PRC National People's Congress, which became effective in 2008 requires that transactions that are deemed concentrations and involve parties with specified turnover thresholds must be cleared by MOFCOM before they can be completed. On February 7, 2021, the Anti-Monopoly Committee of the State Council published the Anti-Monopoly Guidelines for the Internet Platform Economy Sector, which stipulates that any concentration of undertakings involving variable interest entities shall fall within the scope of anti-monopoly review. If a concentration of undertakings meets the thresholds for clearance under the applicable laws, an internet platform operator shall report such concentration of undertakings to the anti-monopoly law enforcement agency under the State Council in advance. Therefore, our acquisitions of other entities that we make in the future (whether by ourselves or our subsidiaries) and that meet the thresholds for clearance may be required to be reported to and approved by the anti-monopoly law enforcement agency in the PRC and we may be subject to penalty including but not limited to a fine of no more than RMB500,000 if we fail to comply with such requirement. In addition, the security review rules issued by MOFCOM that became effective in September 2011 specify that mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors that raise "national defense and security" concerns and mergers and acquisitions through which foreign investors may acquire de facto control over domestic enterprises that raise "national security" concerns are subject to strict review by MOFCOM, and the rules prohibit any activities attempting to bypass a security review, including by structuring the transaction through a proxy or contractual control arrangement. On December 19, 2020, the Measures for the Security Review for Foreign Investment was jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC") and MOFCOM and took effect on January 18, 2021. The Measures for the Security Review for Foreign Investment specified provisions concerning the security review mechanism on foreign investment, including the types of investments subject to review, review scopes and procedures, among others. In the future, we may pursue potential strategic acquisitions that are complementary to our business and operations. Complying with the requirements of the above-mentioned regulations and other relevant rules to complete such transactions could be time-consuming, and any required approval processes, including obtaining approval or clearance from MOFCOM or its local counterparts or other relevant governmental authorities, may delay or inhibit our ability to complete such transactions, which could affect our ability to expand our business or maintain our market share.

Our leasehold interests in leased properties have not been registered with the relevant PRC government authorities as required by PRC law, which may expose us to potential fines if we fail to remediate them after receiving any notice from the relevant PRC government authorities. Failure to complete the lease registration will not affect the legal effectiveness of the lease agreements according to PRC law, but the real estate administrative authorities may require the parties to the lease agreements to complete lease registration within a prescribed period of time, and the failure to do so may subject the parties to fines from RMB1,000 to RMB10,000 for each of such lease agreements. As of the date of this annual report, we are not aware of any actions, claims or investigations threatened against us or our lessors with respect to the defects in our leasehold interests. However, if any of our lease is terminated as a result of challenges by third parties or governmental authorities for lack of title certificates or proof of authorization to lease, we do not expect to be subject to any fines or penalties, but we may be forced to relocate the affected offices and incur additional expenses relating to such relocation.

Any funds we transfer to the PRC Subsidiaries, either as a shareholder loan or as an increase in registered capital, are subject to approval by or registration with relevant governmental authorities in China. According to the relevant PRC regulations on foreign-invested enterprises in China, capital contributions to our PRC Subsidiaries are subject to registration with the State Administration for Market Regulation or its local counterpart and registration with a local bank authorized by SAFE. In addition, (i) any foreign loan procured by our PRC Subsidiaries is required to be registered with the SAFE or its local branches and (ii) any of our PRC Subsidiaries may not procure loans that exceed the difference between its total investment amount and registered capital or, as an alternative, only procure loans subject to the calculation approach and limitation as provided by the People's Bank of China. Additionally, any medium or long-term loans to be provided by us to the PRC Subsidiaries must be registered with the National Development and Reform Commission and SAFE or its local branches. We may not be able to obtain these government approvals or complete such registrations in a timely manner, or at all, with respect to future capital contributions or loans by us to our PRC Subsidiaries. If we fail to receive such approvals or complete such registration or filing, our ability to use the proceeds of future offerings to capitalize our PRC operations may be negatively affected, which could adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.