AIX (AIFU) 20-F2023 FY Annual report (foreign)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 20-F

(Mark One)

☐  REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR 12(g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

OR

☒  ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.

OR

☐  TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

OR

☐  SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of event requiring this shell company report

For the transition period from             to           

Commission file number: 001-33768

FANHUA INC.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

N/A

(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)

Cayman Islands

(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

60/F, Pearl River Tower

No. 15 West Zhujiang Road

Guangzhou, Guangdong 510623

People’s Republic of China

(Address of principal executive offices)

Peng Ge, Chief Financial Officer

Tel: +86 20 83883033

E-mail: gepeng@fanhgroup.com

Fax: +86 20 83883181

60/F, Pearl River Tower

No. 15 West Zhujiang Road

Guangzhou, Guangdong 510623

People’s Republic of China

(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

(Title of Class)

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act:

None

(Title of Class) 

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the Issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report.

1,134,236,184 ordinary shares, par value US$0.001 per share as of December 31, 2023

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes ☐ No ☒

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards † provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow.

Item 17 ☐ Item 18 ☐

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes ☐ No ☒

(APPLICABLE ONLY TO ISSUERS INVOLVED IN BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed all documents and reports required to be filed by Sections 12, 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 subsequent to the distribution of securities under a plan confirmed by a court.

Yes ☐ No ☐

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

In this annual report, unless the context otherwise requires:

Unless otherwise noted, all translations from Renminbi to U.S. dollars and from U.S. dollars to Renminbi in this annual report are made at a rate of RMB7.0999 to US$1.00, the exchange rate in effect as of December 29, 2023 as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. We make no representation that any Renminbi or U.S. dollar amounts could have been, or could be, converted into U.S. dollars or Renminbi, as the case may be, at any particular rate, or at all. All discrepancies in any table between the amounts identified as total amounts and the sum of the amounts listed therein are due to rounding.

Our Corporate Structure

Fanhua Inc. is a Cayman Islands holding company primarily operating in China through (i) its PRC subsidiaries, including Fanhua Zhonglian Enterprise Image Planning (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., or Zhonglian Enterprise, and Fanhua Xinlian Information Technology Consulting (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., or Xinlian Information, and their subsidiaries in which we hold equity ownership interests, and (ii) contractual arrangements among (x) our wholly-owned PRC subsidiaries Fanhua Insurance Sales Service Group Company Limited, or Fanhua Group Company and Beijing Fanlian Investment Co., Ltd., or Fanlian Investment, (y) the consolidated VIEs, namely, Shenzhen Xinbao Investment Management Co., Ltd., or Xinbao Investment, and Fanhua RONS (Beijing) Technologies Co., Ltd., or Fanhua RONS Technologies, two limited liability companies established under PRC law, and (z) the individual nominee shareholders of the consolidated VIEs. Fanhua Inc. holds 49% equity interests in Xinbao Investment. Investors in the ADSs thus are not purchasing, and may never directly hold all equity interests in the consolidated VIEs. PRC laws, regulations, and rules restrict and impose conditions on direct foreign investment in certain types of business, and we therefore operate these businesses in China through the consolidated VIEs. For a summary of these contractual arrangements, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Organizational Structure.” As used in this annual report, “we”, “us”, or “our” refers to Fanhua Inc. and its subsidiaries. 

Our corporate structure is subject to risks relating to our contractual arrangements with Xinbao Investment, Fanhua RONS Technologies and their individual nominee shareholders. If the PRC government finds these contractual arrangements non-compliant with the restrictions on direct foreign investment in the relevant industries, or if the relevant PRC laws, regulations, and rules or the interpretation thereof change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in the consolidated VIEs or forfeit our rights under the contractual arrangements. Fanhua Inc. and investors in the ADSs face uncertainty about potential future actions by the PRC government, which could affect the enforceability of our contractual arrangements with Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Technologies and, consequently, significantly affect the financial condition and results of operations of Fanhua Inc. If we are unable to claim our right to control the assets of the consolidated VIEs, the ADSs may decline in value or become worthless. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure.”

We face various legal and operational risks and uncertainties relating to doing business in China. We operate our business primarily in China, and are subject to complex and evolving PRC laws and regulations. For example, we face risks relating to regulatory approvals in connection with a future offering of our securities to foreign investors, oversight on cybersecurity and data privacy, and the expanding efforts in anti-monopoly enforcement. Uncertainties in the PRC legal system and the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws and regulations could limit the legal protection available to you and us, hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer the ADSs, result in a material adverse effect on our business operations, and damage our reputation, which might further cause the ADSs to significantly decline in value or become worthless. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China.”

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This annual report contains forward-looking statements that reflect our current expectations and views of future events. These forward-looking statements are made under the “safe-harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, including those listed under “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors,” that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

You can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “likely to,” “potential,” “continue” or other similar expressions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about our goals and growth strategies, our future business development, financial condition and results of operations, our expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of our products and services, and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing.

Although we believe that our expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, our expectations may later be found to be incorrect. Our actual results could be materially different from our expectations. Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. New risk factors and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for our management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made in this annual report relate only to events or information as of the date on which the statements are made in this annual report. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. You should read this annual report and the documents that we refer to in this annual report and exhibits to this annual report completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

PART I

Item 1. Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisers

Not Applicable.

Item 2. Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable

Not Applicable.

Item 3. Key Information

The Consolidated VIEs and China Operations

Fanhua Inc. is a Cayman Islands holding company primarily operating in China through (i) its PRC subsidiaries, including Zhonglian Enterprise and Xinlian Information, and their subsidiaries in which we hold equity ownership interests, and (ii) contractual arrangements among (x) our wholly-owned PRC subsidiary Fanhua Group Company and Fanlian Investment, (y) the consolidated VIEs, Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Technologies, limited liability companies established under PRC law, and (z) the individual nominee shareholders of the consolidated VIEs. Fanhua Inc. holds 49% equity interests in Xinbao Investment. Investors in the ADSs thus are not purchasing, and may never directly hold all equity interests in the consolidated VIEs. PRC laws, regulations, and rules restrict and impose conditions on direct foreign investment in certain types of business, and we therefore operate these businesses in China through the consolidated VIEs.

We commenced a restructuring in August 2021 to re-establish the VIE structure for our online insurance business where our direct equity interests in Xinbao Investment were reduced from 100% to 49% and the remaining 51% was nominally held by an employee of the Company on behalf of the Company. The restructuring completed in December 2021. Concurrently, our wholly-owned PRC subsidiary, Fanhua Group Company, entered into contractual arrangements with Xinbao Investment and the individual nominee shareholder. These agreements include:(i) a technology consulting and service agreement, which enables us to receive all of the economic benefits of Xinbao investment and its subsidiaries, (ii) a loan agreement, powers of attorney and an equity pledge agreement, which provide us with effective control over Xinbao Investment, and (iii) an exclusive purchase option agreement, which provides us with the option to purchase part of the equity interests in Xinbao Investment.

On June 24, 2022, our wholly owned subsidiary Fanlian Investment transferred all of the equity interests in Fanhua RONS Technologies to Mr. Peng Ge, our chief financial officer to hold the shares of Fanhua RONS Technologies nominally on behalf of the Company. Concurrently, Fanlian Investment entered into contractual arrangements with Fanhua RONS Technologies and Mr. Ge. The contractual arrangements are substantially similar to those among Fanhua Group Company, Xinbao Investment and its individual nominee shareholder.

For more details of the restructuring and the contractual arrangements, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Organizational Structure.”

In the opinion of the Company’s PRC legal counsel, (i) the ownership structure relating to the consolidated VIEs of the Company is in compliance with existing PRC laws and regulations; (ii) the contractual arrangements with the consolidated VIEs and the individual shareholders are legal, valid and binding obligation of such party, and enforceable against such party in accordance with their respective terms; and (iii) the execution, delivery and performance of the consolidated VIEs and its shareholders do not result in any violation of the provisions of the articles of association and business licenses of the consolidated VIEs, and any violation of any current PRC laws and regulations.

However, control through these contractual arrangements may be less effective than direct ownership, and we could face heightened risks and costs in enforcing these contractual arrangements, because there are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current and future PRC laws, regulations, and rules relating to these contractual arrangements, and these contractual arrangements have not been tested in a court of law. If the PRC government finds such agreements non-compliant with relevant PRC laws, regulations, and rules, or if these laws, regulations, and rules or the interpretation thereof change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Technologies or forfeit our rights under the contractual arrangements. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure—If the PRC government finds that the contractual arrangements that establish the structure for operating part of our China business does not comply with applicable PRC laws and regulations, we could be subject to severe penalties.” and “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure—We rely on contractual arrangements with our consolidated VIEs, Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Technologies, and their shareholders to conduct a small part of our China operations, which may not be as effective in providing operational control as direct ownership, and these contractual arrangements have not been tested in a court of law.” 

The following diagram illustrates the corporate structure of us and the consolidated VIEs, including the names, places of incorporation and the proportion of ownership interests in our and the consolidated VIEs’ significant subsidiaries and their respective subsidiaries as of March 31, 2024:

The diagram above omits the names of subsidiaries that are immaterial individually and in the aggregate. For a complete list of our subsidiaries as of March 31, 2024, see Exhibit 8.1 to this annual report.

Permissions and Licenses for Our Operations in PRC

We conduct our business primarily through our subsidiaries, the VIEs, and their subsidiaries in China. As of the date of this annual report, our subsidiaries, the VIEs, and their subsidiaries in China have obtained the requisite licenses and permits from the PRC government authorities that are material for our operations in China, including, among others, the business license, insurance distribution licenses, insurance broker licenses and insurance claims adjusting licenses. The business license is a permit issued by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation that allows a company to conduct specific business within the government’s geographical jurisdiction. Insurance distribution licenses, insurance broker licenses and insurance claims adjusting licenses are issued by the National Financial Regulatory Administration or NFRA or by Hong Kong SAR Insurance Authority, allowing enterprises to engage in insurance agency, brokerage or claims adjusting services, respectively. Theses licenses are the only permissions and approvals that our PRC subsidiaries are required to obtain to conduct our business in China. However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain, renew and/or convert all of the approvals, licenses, and permits required for our existing business operations upon their expiration in a timely manner or duly complete necessary registration or filings with the relevant governmental authorities for any of our new business.

The following chart sets forth a summary of the licenses and permissions obtained by the principal PRC subsidiaries and VIEs as of the date of this annual report:

The PRC government has issued statements and regulatory actions relating to areas such as approvals on offshore offerings, anti-monopoly regulatory actions, and oversight on cybersecurity and data privacy. For example, on February 17, 2023, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (the “CSRC”) released the Trial Administrative Measures of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Enterprises (the “New Overseas Listing Rules”) with five interpretive guidelines, which took effect on March 31, 2023. We may be required to make filings with the CSRC for applicable securities offerings. In connect with our pending registration statement on Form F-3, as advised by our PRC legal counsel, Hai Run Law Firm, (i) although we are required to complete the filing procedure three days after the completion of the overseas offering, no relevant PRC laws or regulations in effect require that we obtain permission from any PRC authorities to issue securities to foreign investors, and we have not received any inquiry, notice, warning, sanction, or any regulatory objection to this offering from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”), the Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”), or any other PRC authorities that have jurisdiction over our operations; (ii) we are not required to obtain permissions from the CSRC; (iii) we are not required to file for a cybersecurity review with the CAC; and finally (iv) we have not received or were denied such requisite permissions by any other PRC authority.

Nonetheless, applicable laws and regulations may be tightened, and new laws or regulations may be introduced to impose additional government approval, license, and permit requirements. If we inadvertently conclude that such permissions and approvals relating to the operations of our business are not required, fail to obtain and maintain such approvals, licenses or permits required for our business, or fail to respond to changes in the applicable laws, regulations, interpretations and regulatory environment, we could be subject to liabilities, monetary penalties and even operational disruption, which may materially and adversely affect our business, operating results, and our financial condition. For more detailed information, see “Item 3. Key Information - D. Risk Factors - Risks Relating to Doing Business in China.”

Implication of The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the “HFCA Act”)

Our auditor, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Certified Public Accountants LLP, is located in mainland China. Our financial statements contained in this annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 have been audited by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Certified Public Accountants LLP, or Deloitte, an independent registered public accounting firm that is headquartered in Mainland China and is on such lists.

Pursuant to the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which was enacted on December 18, 2020 and further amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 signed into law on December 29, 2022, or the HFCA Act, if the SEC determines that we have filed audit reports issued by a registered public accounting firm that has not been subject to inspections by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB, for two consecutive years, the SEC shall prohibit our shares or ADSs from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over-the-counter trading market in the United States. Trading in our securities on U.S. markets, including the Nasdaq Global Select Market, will be prohibited under the HFCA Act if the PCAOB determines that it is unable to inspect or investigate completely our auditor for two consecutive years.

On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued the HFCA Act Determination Report to notify the SEC of its determinations that the PCAOB was unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong SAR, or the 2021 Determinations, including our auditor. On December 29, 2022, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 was signed into law, which, among others, amended the HFCA Act to reduce the number of consecutive years an issuer can be identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer before the SEC must impose an initial trading prohibition on the issuer’s securities from three years to two. Therefore, once an issuer is identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer for two consecutive years, the SEC is required under the HFCA Act to prohibit the trading of the issuer’s securities on a national securities exchange and in the over-the-counter market.

On May 26, 2022, we were conclusively identified by the Commission as a Commission-Identified Issuer under the Holding Foreign Company Accountable Act, or the HFCA Act. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB issued a report that vacated its December 16, 2021 determination and removed mainland China and Hong Kong SAR from the list of jurisdictions where it was unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms. Therefore, our auditor is currently able to be fully inspected and investigated by the PCAOB. Accordingly, until such time as the PCAOB issues any new determination, our securities are not subject to a trading prohibition under the HFCA Act.

Each year, the PCAOB determines whether it can inspect and investigate completely audit firms in mainland China and Hong Kong SAR, among other jurisdictions. If the PCAOB determines in the future that it no longer has full access to inspect and investigate completely accounting firms in mainland China and Hong Kong SAR and we use an accounting firm headquartered in one of these jurisdictions to issue an audit report on our financial statements filed with the SEC, we would be identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer following the filing of the annual report on Form 20-F for the relevant fiscal year. In accordance with the HFCA Act, our securities would be prohibited from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over-the-counter trading market in the United States if we are identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer for two consecutive years in the future. There can be no assurance that we would not be identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer for any future fiscal year, and if we were so identified for two consecutive years, we and our investors may be deprived of the benefits of such PCAOB inspections. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of auditors in China makes it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our independent registered public accounting firm’s audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of China that are subject to the PCAOB inspections, which could cause investors and potential investors in our securities to lose confidence in the audit procedures and reported financial information and the quality of our financial statements. If we fail to meet the new listing standards specified in the HFCA Act, we could face possible delisting from the Nasdaq, cessation of trading in the “over-the-counter” market, deregistration from the Commission and/or other risks, which may materially and adversely affect, or effectively terminate, our ADSs trading in the United States.

Fund Flows between Fanhua Inc., its Subsidiaries and the Consolidated VIEs

Under PRC law, we may provide funding to our PRC subsidiaries only through capital contributions or loans, and to the consolidated VIEs only through loans, subject to the satisfaction of applicable government registration and approval requirements. We rely on dividends and other distributions from our PRC subsidiaries to satisfy part of our liquidity requirement. Under the contractual arrangements among Fanhua Group Company, the consolidated VIEs, and the shareholders of the consolidated VIEs, Fanhua Group Company is entitled to all of the economic benefits of the consolidated VIEs and its subsidiaries in the form of service fees. For risks relating to the fund flows of our China operations, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—We rely principally on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have, and any limitation on the ability of our subsidiaries to make payments to us could have a material adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business.”

Assets Transfer Occurred Between Fanhua Inc., its Subsidiaries and the Consolidated VIEs

Under the Contractual Arrangements, Fanhua Group Company and Fanlian Investment provide consultation and training services to the consolidated VIEs and are entitled to receive service fees from the consolidated VIEs in exchange. The Contractual Arrangements provide that the consolidated VIEs shall pay a quarterly fee calculated primarily based on a percentage of its revenues.

Technology consulting and service agreements were entered into between (i) Fanhua Group Company and (ii) Xinbao Investment and each of its subsidiaries on March 1, 2022 and consulting and service agreements were entered into between (i) Fanlian Investment and (ii) Fanhua RONS Technologies and each of its subsidiaries. No service fees have been incurred in 2023. The cash flows occurred between our subsidiaries and the consolidated VIEs included the following: (1) cash received by the VIEs from our subsidiaries as inter-company advances amounted to RMB89.8 million, RMB43.0 million, and RMB39.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively; and (2) net commissions received by our subsidiaries from the VIEs offset by technology services paid by our subsidiaries to the VIEs amounted to RMB16.2 million, RMB94.9 million, and RMB56.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively. 

Dividends or Distributions on Our ADSs or Ordinary Shares Made to the U.S. Investors and Their Tax Consequences

Our board of directors has discretion as to whether to distribute dividends, subject to applicable laws. Although Fanhua Inc. has previously paid dividends on a quarterly basis, the amount and form of future dividends will depend on, among other things, our future results of operations and cash flow, our capital requirements and surplus, the amount of distributions, if any, received by us from our subsidiaries, our financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. See “Item 8. Financial Information—A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information—Dividend Policy.”

In addition, subject to the passive foreign investment company rules discussed in detail under “Item 10. Additional Information—E. Taxation—United States Federal Income Taxation—Passive Foreign Investment Company”, the gross amount of any distribution that we make to investors with respect to our ADSs or ordinary shares (including any amounts withheld to reflect PRC or other withholding taxes) will be taxable as a dividend, to the extent paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined under United States federal income tax principles. Furthermore, if we are considered a PRC tax resident enterprise for tax purposes, any dividends we pay to our overseas shareholders may be regarded as China-sourced income and as a result may be subject to PRC withholding tax. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Our global income or the dividends we receive from our PRC subsidiaries may be subject to PRC tax under the EIT Law, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.” For further discussion on PRC and United States federal income tax considerations of an investment in the ADSs, see “Item 10—Additional Information—E. Taxation.”

Restrictions on Foreign Exchange and the Ability to Transfer Cash between Entities, Across Borders and to U.S. Investors

Our cash dividends were paid in U.S. dollars. The PRC government imposes controls on the convertibility of Renminbi into foreign currencies and, in certain cases, the remittance of currency out of China. The majority of our income is received in Renminbi and shortages in foreign currencies may restrict our ability to pay dividends or other payments, or otherwise satisfy our foreign-currency-denominated obligations, if any. Under existing PRC foreign exchange regulations, payments of current account items, including profit distributions, interest payments and expenditures from trade-related transactions, can be made in foreign currencies without prior approval from SAFE as long as certain procedural requirements are met. Approval from appropriate government authorities is required if Renminbi is converted into foreign currency and remitted out of China to pay capital expenses such as the repayment of loans denominated in foreign currencies. The PRC government may, at its discretion, impose restrictions on access to foreign currencies for current account transactions and if this occurs in the future, we may not be able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to our shareholders.

Relevant PRC laws and regulations permit the PRC companies to pay dividends only out of their retained earnings, if any, as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. Additionally, our PRC subsidiaries and the consolidated VIEs can only distribute dividends upon approval of the shareholders after they have met the PRC requirements for appropriation to the statutory reserves. As a result of these and other restrictions under the PRC laws and regulations, our PRC subsidiaries and the consolidated VIEs are restricted to transfer a portion of their net assets to us either in the form of dividends, loans or advances. Even though we currently do not require any such dividends, loans or advances from our PRC subsidiaries and the consolidated VIEs for working capital and other funding purposes, we may in the future require additional cash resources from our PRC subsidiaries and the consolidated VIEs due to changes in business conditions, to fund future acquisitions and developments, or merely pay dividends to or distributions to our shareholders. 

Financial Information Related to the VIEs

The following tables set forth the summary consolidated balance sheets data as of December 31, 2022 and 2023 of the Parent, our wholly-owned foreign subsidiary (“WOFEs”), or Fanhua Group Company and Fanlian Investment, that are the primary beneficiaries of the VIEs under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or U.S. GAAP (the “Primary Beneficiaries of VIEs”), our other subsidiaries and the consolidated VIEs and their subsidiaries, and the summary of the consolidated statement of income and cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2023. Our consolidated financial statements are prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our and the consolidated VIEs’ historical results are not necessarily indicative of results expected for future periods. You should read this information together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” included elsewhere in this annual report.

Note:

Note:

Filing Procedures Required from the PRC Authorities for Offering Securities to Foreign Investors

Under applicable laws of mainland China, we and our mainland China subsidiaries may be required to complete certain filing procedures with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, or the CSRC, in connection with future offering and listing in an overseas market, including our follow-on offerings, issuance of convertible bonds, offshore relisting after going-private transactions, and other equivalent offering activities. If we fail to complete such filing procedures for any future offshore offering or listing, including our follow-on offerings, issuance of convertible bonds, offshore relisting after going-private transactions, and other equivalent offering activities, we may face sanctions by the CSRC or other mainland China regulatory authorities, which may include fines and penalties on our operations in mainland China, limitations on our operating privileges in mainland China, restrictions on or delays to our future financing transactions offshore, or other actions that could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation and prospects, as well as the trading price of our ADSs. In addition, we are required to file a report to the CSRC after the occurrence and public disclosure of certain material corporate events, including but not limited to, change of control and voluntary or mandatory delisting. For more detailed information, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—The approval of and filing with the CSRC or other PRC government authorities may be required in connection with our future offshore offerings, capital raising activities and acquisitions or other trading arrangements of domestic enterprises conducted by China-based issuers, and also may be required to go through cybersecurity review under the new laws and the draft laws and regulations of mainland China, and, if required, we cannot predict whether or for how long we will be able to obtain such approval or complete such filing or other regulatory procedures.”

Summary of Risk Factors

Investing in the ADSs involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described under “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors” and other information contained in this annual report on Form 20-F, before you decide whether to purchase the ADSs. Below please find a summary of the principal risks and uncertainties we face, organized under relevant headings:

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

Risks Related to Our ADSs 

Not Applicable.

Not Applicable. 

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

We may not be successful in implementing our new strategic initiatives, which may have an adverse impact on our business and financial results.

In late 2020, we launched new strategic initiatives with focus on (i) building a career-based and professional insurance advisor team with profound insurance knowledge and capabilities to provide family financial asset allocation services to the emerging middle-class and mass-affluent individuals and families and empowering all independent agents and agencies in China to become more efficient and professionalized; (ii) developing digital toolkits and enhancing digital operation capabilities to empower independent agents and increase agent productivity and (iii) offering an open platform to all independent agents and agencies whereby they can have access to compliance support, industry leading IT infrastructure, digital technologies, better products and service offerings, and the library of resources and knowhow to improve their training and skillsets to strengthen their competitiveness in the market. There is no assurance that we will be able to implement these strategic initiatives in accordance with our expectations, which may result in an adverse impact on our business and financial results.

If and when our contracts with insurance companies are suspended or changed, our business and operating results will be materially and adversely affected.

We primarily act as agents for insurance companies in distributing their products to retail customers. We also provide claims adjusting services principally to insurance companies. Our relationships with the insurance companies are governed by agreements between us and the insurance companies. We have entered into strategic partnership agreements with most of our major insurance company partners for the distribution of life, property and casualty insurance products and the provision of claims adjusting services at the corporate headquarters level. While this approach allows us to obtain more favorable terms from insurance companies by combining the sales volumes and service fees of all of our subsidiaries and branches operating insurance agency and claims adjusting businesses, it also means that the termination of a major contract could have a material adverse effect on our business. Under the framework of the headquarter-to-headquarter agreements, our subsidiaries and branches operating insurance agency and claims adjusting businesses generally also enter into contracts at a local level with the respective provincial, city and district branches of the insurance companies. Generally, each branch of these insurance companies has independent authority to enter into contracts with our relevant subsidiaries and branches, and the termination of a contract with one branch has no significant effect on our contracts with the other branches. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Insurance Company Partners.” These contracts establish, among other things, the scope of our authority, the pricing of the insurance products we distribute and our fee rates. These contracts typically have a term of one year, and certain contracts can be terminated by the insurance companies with little advance notice. Moreover, before or upon expiration of a contract, the insurance company that is a party to that contract may agree to renew it only with changes in material terms, including the amount of commissions and fees we receive, which could reduce our revenues to be generated from that contract.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, our top five insurance company partners were Sinatay Life Insurance Co., Ltd., or Sinatay, Aeon Life Insurance Co., Ltd., or Aeon, Li An Life Insurance Co., Ltd., or Li An, Huaxia Life Insurance Co., Ltd., or Huaxia,and Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance Company of China, or Ping An by net revenues. Among these top five partners, each of Sinatay and Aeon accounted for more than 10% of our total net revenues individually in 2023, with Sinatay accounting for 15.3%, Aeon accounting for 10.3%, Lian accounting for 7.5%, Huaxia accounting for 6.1%, and Ping An accounting for 6.0%, respectively.

If we fail to attract and retain productive agents, especially entrepreneurial agents, and qualified claims adjustors, our business and operating results could be materially and adversely affected.

A substantial portion of our sales of insurance products are conducted through our individual sales agents. Some of these sales agents are significantly more productive than others in generating sales. In recent years, some entrepreneurial management staff or senior sales agents of major insurance companies in China have chosen to leave their employers or principals and become independent agents. We refer to these individuals as entrepreneurial agents. An entrepreneurial agent is usually able to assemble and lead a team of sales agents. We have been actively recruiting and will continue to recruit entrepreneurial agents to join our distribution and service network as our sales agents. Entrepreneurial agents have been instrumental to the development of our life insurance business. In addition, we rely primarily on our in-house claims adjustors to provide claims adjusting services. Because claims adjustment requires technical skills, the technical competence of claims adjustors is essential to establishing and maintaining our brand image and relationships with our customers.

As of December 31, 2023, we had 87,851 registered sales agents and 2,303 claims adjustors. Out of the registered sales agents, 45,358 were performing agents, who are defined as sales agents that have sold at least one insurance policy in 2023, and among these performing agents, 15,726 of them sold at least one regular life insurance policy in 2023. If we are unable to attract and retain the core group of highly productive sales agents, particularly entrepreneurial agents, and qualified claims adjustors, our business could be materially and adversely affected. Competition for sales personnel and claims adjustors from insurance companies and other insurance intermediaries may also force us to increase the compensation of our sales agents, and claims adjustors, which would increase operating costs and reduce our profitability.

If our digitalization initiatives are not successful, our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We have devoted significant efforts to developing and managing our online platforms and developing digital technologies to empower our business operations. In 2012, we launched Baowang (“保网”) (www.baoxian.com), an online insurance distribution platform operated through its application, WeChat public account and mini program], which aggregates more than 300 insurance products in partnership with over 30 insurers. Its insurance products cover from accident insurance, indemnity medical insurance, travel insurance, homeowner insurance, and a limited number of internet-specific long term regular life insurance products. In August 2014, we unveiled eHuzhu (“e互助”) (www.ehuzhu.com), an online mutual aid platform that provides risk-protection programs on a mutual commitment basis among program members. In September 2017, we launched FA APP, (formerly known as “Lan Zhanggui” (‘懒掌柜’), a mobile application and WeChat mini program, which provides end-to-end sales support services to our sales agents. In 2020, we announced an initiative to empower our operation by utilizing digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data to gain more customer insight, match sales leads with the most suitable sales agents to maximize their productivity and help customers find the products that suit their different needs throughout different stages of their lives. We have launched several digital toolkits including Fanhua RONS Assistant Digital Operating Platform(“泛华榕数助理”), or RONS DOP to empower our agents in online customer engagement, and Fanhua RONS Guanjia (“泛华榕数管家”), a comprehensive digital customer service platform. See detailed description about our online platforms and digital toolkits in “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview”. The success of our strategies may depend on a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, including but not limited to:

Our digitalization efforts may not be successful or yield the benefits that we anticipate. As a result, our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Regulations on online insurance distribution are evolving rapidly. If we are unable to adapt to regulatory changes and keep compliant, our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Since online insurance distribution has emerged only recently in China and is evolving rapidly, the National Financial Regulatory Administration or the NFRA, which has replaced the CBIRC to become the regulatory body overseeing China’s banking and insurance markets in May 2023, may promulgate and implement new rules and regulations to govern this sector from time to time. On December 7, 2020, the NFRA’s predecessor, the CBIRC promulgated the Measures for the Supervision of the Internet Insurance Business, or the Measures, which became effective on February 1, 2021 and replaces the Interim Measures for the Regulation of Internet Insurance Business. The Measures provides clarity on the qualifications for entities to operate online insurance business in China and sets higher requirements on entities which intend to engage in online insurance business. For example, the Measures in effect requires that any insurance institution which conducts internet business through its self-operated online platform to directly own the domain name instead of through its subsidiary, both the insurance institution and its self-operated online platform shall make Internet Content Provider (“ICP”) filing and the insurance institutions engaged in online insurance business shall have IT systems that are certified as at least Safety Level III Computer Information Systems. We operate our online insurance distribution business through Baowang (www.baoxian.com), which accounted for 4.0% of our total net revenues in 2023. Shenzhen Baowang previously owned the domain name of Baowang and held a Value-added Telecommunication Business Operation Permit for ICP services, or ICP license. To remain compliant with the requirements of the Measures, in September 2020, Shenzhen Baowang transferred the domain name of www.baoxian.com to its direct parent company Fanhua RONS which holds a national insurance service operating license. Fanhua RONS has obtained an ICP license in August 2022. Baowang’s system has been certified as Safety Level III Computer Information System for three consecutive years. As advised by our PRC legal counsel , we have obtained the necessary approvals and licenses, and our operations meet the qualification requirements of the Measures.

In addition, we provide our insurance information and transaction processing services through mobile apps and mini programs such as “FA App”, “Baowang”, RONS DOP” and Fanhua RONS Guanjia. According to the Provisions on the Administration of Mobile Internet Application Information Services (the “App Provisions”) issued by the CAC on June 28, 2016, which was most recently amended on June 14, 2022, and became effective on August 1, 2022, except for providing internet news information service, any owner or operator providing other internet information services through a mobile internet application, or an “app,” must obtain the relevant qualification(s) as required by the relevant laws and regulations. The App Provisions, however, do not further clarify the scope of “information services,” nor do they specify what “relevant qualification(s)” that a mobile app owner or operator must obtain. In practice, operational activities of a company conducted through an app are subject to the supervision of the local counterparts of the Information Communications Administration, which has different polices on the operational activities conducted through websites and those through mobile apps. In many cases, companies providing information services through standalone mobile apps without any web-based online services are not required to obtain ICP licenses. However, the interpretation and enforcement of such laws and regulations are subject to substantial discretion of the local authorities. We cannot rule out the possibility that the local counterparts of the Information Communications Administration would take the view that our current information services and transaction processing services provided through mobile apps would require an ICP license or that, without such license, we would be prohibited from rendering such services.

If we are unable to adapt to any new changes to the regulation governing online insurance business and remain fully compliant, the business operation of Baowang and our mobile applications and mini programs could be suspended, which may adversely impact our business results of operation.

There are uncertainties with regard to how the changing laws, regulations and regulatory requirements would apply to our business. We cannot assure you that our operations will remain fully compliant with the changes in and further development of regulations applicable to us or we will be able to obtain the necessary approvals and licenses as required in a timely manner.

Any failure to successfully identify the risks as part of our expansion into the online and mobile insurance distribution business may have a material adverse impact on our growth, business prospects and results of operations, which could lead to a decline in the price of our ADSs.

All of our personnel engaging in insurance agency, or claims adjusting activities are required under relevant PRC regulations to register with the NFRA’s Insurance Intermediaries Regulatory Information System. If our sales personnel fail to finish practice registration, our business may be materially and adversely affected.

All of our personnel who engage in insurance agency and claims adjusting activities are required under relevant PRC regulations to be registered with the NFRA’s Insurance Intermediary Regulatory Information System, or the IIRIS, through the insurance company or insurance intermediary company to which he or she belongs. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulation.” In addition, under the relevant PRC regulations, such as the Provisions on the Supervision and Administration of Insurance Agents issued on November 12, 2020 and Provisions on the Supervision of Insurance Claims Adjusting Firms issued by the CBIRC in February 2018, an insurance agency or claims adjusting firm that retains a personnel who has not been registered with the IIRIS through the insurance agency or claims adjusting firm to engage in insurance intermediary activities may be subject to rectification request, warning and fines up to RMB30,000 per intermediary by the NFRA. If a substantial portion of our sales force were found to have not been properly registered with the IIRIS, our business may be adversely affected. Moreover, we may be subject to fines and other administrative proceedings for the failure by our sales agents or sales representatives to register with the NFRA. Such fines or administrative proceedings could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Material changes in the regulatory environment could change the competitive landscape of our industry or require us to change the way we do business. The administration, interpretation and enforcement of the laws and regulations currently applicable to us could change rapidly. If we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, we may be subject to civil and criminal penalties or lose the ability to conduct our business.

We operate in a highly regulated industry. The laws and regulations applicable to us are evolving and may change rapidly, which could change the competitive environment of our industry significantly and cause us to lose some or all of our competitive advantages. In recent years, the NFRA and its predecessor have increasingly tightened regulations and supervision of the Chinese insurance market. For example, in March 2023, the CBIRC issued a Notice to Self-check and Rectify Irregularities in Internet-based Marketing and Publicity by Insurance Institutions and Insurance Sales Personnel, requiring all insurance institutions and sales personnel to self-check and rectify irregular marketing activities on the internet starting from April 3, 2023. Insurance institutions are required to complete the rectification by June 15, 2023 and report the results to the CBIRC by June 30, 2023. Although we believe we have not had any material violations to date, we could be required to spend significant time and resources in complying with the requirement and the attention of our management team and key employees could be diverted to these efforts, which may adversely affect our business operations. 

The NFRA has extensive authority to supervise and regulate the insurance industry in China. In exercising its authority, the NFRA is given wide discretion, and the administration, interpretation and enforcement of the laws and regulations applicable to us involve uncertainties that could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations. The People’s Bank of China and other government agencies may promulgate new rules governing online financial services. In July 2015, ten government agencies including the People’s Bank of China, the Ministry of Finance and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission or the CIRC, the predecessor of the NFRA, promulgated a guidance letter on how to promote the healthy growth of internet financial services, which set forth the principles of supervision based on the rule of law, the appropriate level of regulation, proper categorization, cooperation among different government agencies and promoting innovation. Not only may the laws and regulations applicable to us change rapidly, but it may also sometimes be unclear how they apply to our business. For example, the laws and regulations applicable to our online and mobile platforms may be unclear. Our products or services may be determined or alleged to be in violation of the applicable laws and regulations. Any failure of our products or services to comply with these laws and regulations could result in substantial civil or criminal liability, adversely affect demand for our services, invalidate all or a portion of our customer contracts, require us to change or terminate some of our businesses, require us to refund a portion of our services fees, or cause us to be disqualified from serving customers, and therefore could have a material and adverse effect on our business.

Although we have not had any material violations to date, we cannot assure you that our operations will always comply with the interpretation and enforcement of the laws and regulations implemented by the NFRA. Any determination by a provincial or national government authority that our activities or those of our vendors or customers violate any of these laws could subject us to civil or criminal penalties, require us to change or terminate some of our operations or business, or disqualify us from providing services to insurance companies or other customers; and, thus have a materially adverse effect on our business.

Our business could be negatively impacted if we are unable to adapt our services to regulatory changes in China.

China’s insurance regulatory regime is undergoing significant changes. Some of these changes and the further development of regulations applicable to us may result in additional restrictions on our activities or more intensive competition in this industry, which may adversely affect our business operations.

For example, on November 5, 2020, China Insurance Industry Association and China Medical Doctor Association jointly published Definition Framework 2020, announcing changes to the definition of critical illnesses, or CI, which will be adopted after a transition period ending January 31, 2021. After January 31, 2021, all critical illness products based on the previous definition framework will not be sold in China. Major changes to the CI definition framework include, among others, (i) setting the upper limit for insurance benefits for mild illness at no more than 30% of total insured amount; (ii) expanding the types of illnesses covered from 25 types to 28 types of critical illnesses and three types of mild illness; (iii) exclusion of cancer that is in situ from the scope of CI coverage; and (iv) categorizing thyroid cancer at different stages into critical illness category and mild illness category. The expected cessation of the critical illness products under the previous CI definition framework has resulted in strong growth in our sales of critical illness policies in January 2021 followed by a drop afterwards.

 On October 12, 2021, the CBIRC, the predecessor of the NFRA, promulgated the Notice on Further Regulation of Matters Relating to the Internet Life Insurance Business of Insurance Institutions, which, among others, raised the qualification requirements for insurance companies and insurance intermediaries to engage in Internet life insurance business nationwide, limited products that could be sold on the Internet nationwide to accident, health, term life, 10-year (or longer) traditional life, and 10-year (or longer) annuities and capped the preset expense ratio to be no higher than 35% for one-year life insurance and first year preset expense ratio no higher than 60% with average expense ratio no higher than 25% for over-one-year life insurance. Incumbent companies have until the end of 2021 to comply with the new regulations. Subsequently, many insurance companies which could not meet the qualification requirements have stopped selling life insurance products online before January 1, 2022. As our online insurance business operated through Baowang is subject to this regulation, the disruption in internet life insurance product supply and the cap on expense ratio have adversely impacted and may continue to impact Baowang which contributed to 5.0% of our total net revenues in 2022. 

Any future change in regulatory requirements may make our products less attractive to consumers or disrupt product supply, and our business results of operations could fluctuate significantly and be adversely affected.

On July 10, 2017, the CIRC promulgated the Interim Measures on Retrospective Management of Insurance Sales Behaviors, effective November 1, 2017 which required (1) ancillary insurance agencies to take video and audio-recording, or double-recording for the sales of all insurance products that they facilitate and (2) other insurance distribution channels to take double-recording for the sales of investment-linked insurance products and for the sale of life insurance products with a payment period of more than one year to the elderly of over 60 years old. On June 11, 2019, the Jiangsu Branch of the CBIRC published the Notice on Deepening the Implementation of the Retrospective Management of Personal Insurance Sales Behaviors or the Notice, requiring all insurance companies and insurance intermediary companies to start double-recording process for the sales of all long-term personal insurance products in Jiangsu Province starting from October 1, 2019. Similar rules have also been implemented in a few other regions, including Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, certain parts of Shandong since mid-2020 and Shanghai since early 2020. In June 2021, the CBIRC promulgated the Measures on Retrospective Management of Insurance Sales Behaviors for public consultation which requires that retrospective management must be conducted for face-to-face sales by sales agents of all life insurance products with a payment period of over one-year or less than one-year but with renewal obligation, and that insurance institutions must establish sound insurance sales retrospective management working mechanism and designated retrospective management information system. Retrospective management specially refers to the recording and preservation of the key insurance sales processes and sales behaviors by means of double recording, sales page management and operation tracking record to ensure future replay of the sales behaviors, search of important information and accountability of insurance institutions.

As a significant portion of our insurance products are personal life insurance products with a payment period of over one year and are distributed through our individual sales agents, the sales processes of our sales agents to customers are subject to double recording requirements. As the double recording process can be complicated and time-consuming, our sales activities in those regions that have previously implemented such rules have been adversely impacted. If similar rules are implemented nationwide, our sales activities can be materially impacted, and our compliance cost may be increased, as a result of which our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

On January 12, 2021, the CBIRC promulgated Measures on The Supervision of Informatization of Insurance Intermediary Institutions, or the Informatization Measures, requiring insurance intermediary institutions to establish proper information system and provide specific requirements on the security system, security level protection certification, data security, personal information protection, terminal security and training.  Insurance intermediary companies must comply with the Information Security Measures to engage in insurance intermediary business. Insurance intermediaries should conduct self-examination of informatization work in accordance with the Informatization Measures, and complete rectification within one year from the date of implementation of the Informatization Measures. We have completed self-examination and rectification and believe we have met the requirements of the Informatization Measures. However, if more stringent requirements are implemented in the future, our compliance cost may increase which may adversely impact our operation results.

On September 29, 2023, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, or the NFRA, promulgated Measures for the Supervision of Insurance Sales Behavior, effective on March 1, 2024, which provides for a comprehensive management on the pre-sale, mid-sale and after-sale behaviors of insurance distribution of insurance companies, insurance intermediaries and insurance salespeople, with requirements focusing on, among others, (i) establishment of a tiered management mechanism for insurance sales practitioners based on their qualifications, sales abilities, integrity and ethics level; (ii) classification of life insurance products by product types, complexity, risk level and affordability ; (iii) pre-sales product suitability assessment on the policyholders; (iv) restrictions on the pre-sales promotion of insurance, including the requirement for insurance institutions to conduct pre-approval and authorization for the dissemination of insurance sales promotional information by insurance sales practitioners; (v) restriction on compulsory bundled-sales of insurance products with healthcare and elderly-care services; and (vi) retrospective management of insurance sales process which requires that retrospective management must be conducted for insurance product sales activities through methods such as audio recording, video recording, sales page management, and recording operational traces, depending on the sales method according to the specific requirements of relevant rules. Backup archiving should be conducted for the audio-visual and electronic data generated during the retrospective management process. The implementation of such requirements may significantly increase our compliance cost and failure to comply with the requirements may result in penalties and damage our reputations which may adversely affect our financial results.

On August 22, 2023, the NFRA issued the Notice of Regulating the Insurance Products Sold Through Bancassurance Channel to life insurance companies in China, which required that, among others, actual expenses such as commissions paid to bancassurance channel’ agents should be consistent with cost structure and commission ceiling reported in the filed documents. On October 9, 2023, the NFRA issued the Notice on Matters Related to the Management of Bancassurance Products, stating the discrepancy in the predetermined additional fee rate for some companies’ registered bancassurance products and the total fee of the bancassurance channels as subsequently separately reported and that it will determine the total fee for the bancassurance channels based on the principle of the lower of the two. If insurance companies exceed this lower threshold in their actual implementation, they will be subject to strict legal and regulatory actions. On January 14, 2024, the NFRA issued the Notice on Regulating the Bancassurance Channel Business of Life Insurance Companies, further regulating the bancassurance channel business of life insurance companies, and urging insurance companies to strictly comply with the registered insurance terms and insurance fee rates, and that the commissions paid by insurance companies to bancassurance channels shall not exceed the upper limit of the commission rate as filed. The strict implementation of these rules has since resulted in significant drop in commission rates in the bancassurance channel. On October 18, 2023, the NFAR issued the Notice of Strengthening Management to Promote the Stable and Healthy Development of Life Insurance Business, emphasizing the requirement of consistency in filed and actually-paid expenses. If NFRA were to issue implementation rules and strictly enforce such requirement in the independent agency and broker channel nationwide, there would be significant drop in our commission income and revenues and adversely affect our overall financial results.

On November 20, 2023, the China Insurance Industry Association issued a discussion draft Personal Insurance Agent Sales Capabilities Qualification Standard (For Life Insurance Sales), which discusses a future classification system for insurance agents in China. Key points include: (i) prospective insurance agents must undergo examinations and training before becoming licensed; (ii) insurance agent qualifications are divided into four levels: junior, intermediate, senior, and special. Each level corresponds to different categories of insurance products that agents can sell. For instance, junior agents can only sell simple products, while more complex products like dividend insurance or investment-linked insurance require intermediate or senior qualifications. Special agents may sell wealth management products; (iii) advancement to higher levels of agent qualification requires passing higher-level exams, accumulating relevant work experience, and maintaining a clean professional record without violations or misconduct for a specified period; (iv) individuals with higher education qualifications may receive exemptions from certain work experience requirements, with greater exemptions granted for higher levels of education; (v) obtaining nationally recognized professional titles in economics and finance during the promotion process may also result in exemptions from work experience requirements. If such requirement were implemented, competition for skilled agents could intensify, leading to increased recruitment costs and we may need to invest in additional training and support to help agents meet these requirements and maintain sales performance.

Our mutual-aid platform eHuzhu currently is not subject to any license requirement or any other supervision by the CBIRC because the mutual aid plans offered on the platform are not technically insurance. If the CBIRC determines to include mutual aid platform into its supervision in the future, our compliance cost could be increased, and if we are unable to meet the qualification requirement to obtain a proper license, the operation of eHuzhu could be disrupted. In 2021, a few internet giant-backed mutual aid platforms voluntarily chose to shut down operations. As of the date of this filing, eHuzhu hasn’t received any requirement from the CBIRC or other regulatory authority to terminate operations. If the CBIRC determines eHuzhu’s operation is not compliant with current regulations, eHuzhu would be required to terminate its operation, which could harm the interests of the members of eHuzhu and damage our reputation. 

 We may be unsuccessful in identifying suitable acquisition candidates, completing acquisitions, integrating acquired companies or the acquired companies may not perform to our expectations, which could adversely affect our growth.

Our growth strategy includes selective acquisition. We expect a substantial portion of our future growth to come from acquisitions of high-quality assets that are complementary to our existing business or can accelerate our intelligence development and further broaden our service offerings. There is no assurance that we can successfully identify suitable acquisition candidates. Even if we identify suitable candidates, we may not be able to complete an acquisition on terms that are commercially acceptable to us. In addition, we compete with other entities to acquire high-quality independent insurance intermediaries. Many of our competitors may have substantially greater financial resources than we do and may be able to outbid us for these acquisition targets. If we are unable to complete acquisitions, our growth strategy may be impeded and our earnings or revenue growth may be negatively affected.

Even if we succeed in acquiring other insurance intermediaries, our ability to integrate an acquired entity and its operations is subject to a number of factors. These factors include difficulties in the integration of acquired operations and retention of personnel, especially the sales agents who are not employees of the acquired company, entry into unfamiliar markets, unanticipated problems or legal liabilities, and tax and accounting issues. The need to address these factors may divert management’s attention from other aspects of our business and materially and adversely affect our business prospects. In addition, costs associated with integrating newly acquired companies could negatively affect our operating margins.

Furthermore, the acquired companies may not perform to our expectations for various reasons, including legislative or regulatory changes that affect the insurance products in which a company specializes, the loss of key clients after the acquisition closes, general economic factors that impact a company in a direct way and the cultural incompatibility of an acquired company’s management team with us. If an acquired company cannot be operated at the same profitability level as our existing operations, the acquisition would have a negative impact on our operating margin. Our inability to successfully integrate an acquired entity or its failure to perform to our expectations may materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.

 Competition in our industry is intense and, if we are unable to compete effectively with both existing and new market participants, we may lose customers, and our financial results may be negatively affected.

The insurance intermediary industry in China is highly fragmented and competitive, and we expect competition to persist and intensify as more internet giants and other online insurance intermediaries and foreign-invested insurance intermediary companies enter the market. In insurance product distribution, we face competition from insurance companies that use their in-house sales force, exclusive sales agents, telemarketing and internet channels to distribute their products, from business entities that distribute insurance products on an ancillary basis, such as commercial banks, postal offices and automobile dealerships, as well as from other traditional or online insurance intermediaries. In our claims adjusting business, we primarily compete with other independent claims adjusting firms. We compete for customers on the basis of product offerings, customer services and reputation. Many of our competitors, both existing and newly emerging, have greater financial and marketing resources than we do and may be able to offer products and services that we do not currently offer and may not offer in the future. If we are unable to compete effectively against those competitors, we may lose customers, and our financial results may be negatively affected.

Because the commission and fee we earn on the sale of insurance products is based on premiums, commission and fee rates set by insurance companies, any decrease in these premiums, commission or fee rates may have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

We are engaged in life and health insurance, property and casualty insurance and claims adjusting businesses and derive revenues primarily from commissions and fees paid by the insurance companies whose policies our customers purchase and to whom we provide claims adjusting services. Our commission and fee rates are set by insurance companies and are based on the premiums that the insurance companies charge or the amount recovered by insurance companies. Commission and fee rates and premiums can change based on the prevailing economic, regulatory, taxation-related and competitive factors that affect insurance companies. For example, the Draft Measure on the Life Insurance Sales Behaviors sets a cap on total commissions rate of life insurance products at the pre-set surcharge ratio of the life insurance product. These factors, which are not within our control, include the ability of insurance companies to place new business, underwriting and non-underwriting profits of insurance companies, consumer demand for insurance products, the availability of comparable products from other insurance companies at a lower cost, the availability of alternative insurance products such as government benefits and self-insurance plans, as well as the tax deductibility of commissions and fees and the consumers themselves. In addition, premium rates for certain insurance products, such as the mandatory automobile liability insurance that each automobile owner in the PRC is legally required to purchase, are tightly regulated by CBIRC.

Because we do not determine, and cannot predict, the timing or extent of premium or commission and fee rate changes, we cannot predict the effect any of these changes may have on our operations. Any decrease in premiums or commission and fee rates may significantly affect our profitability. In addition, our budget for future acquisitions, capital expenditures and other expenditures may be disrupted by unexpected decreases in revenues caused by decreases in premiums or commission and fee rates, thereby adversely affecting our operations.

Quarterly and annual variations in our commission and fee revenue may unexpectedly impact our results of operations.

Our commission and fee revenue are subject to both quarterly and annual fluctuations as a result of the seasonality of our business, the timing of policy renewals and the net effect of new and lost business. Life insurance commission revenue is usually the highest in the first quarter and lowest in the fourth quarter of any given year as much of the jumpstart sales activities of life insurance companies occur in January and February during which life insurance companies would increase their sales efforts by offering more incentives for insurance agents and insurance intermediaries to increase sales, while the preparation for the jumpstart sales starts in the fourth quarter of each year. Started in 2021, we also record estimated renewal commission revenue for long-term policy based on the expected renewal rate as well as the possibility of achieving performance targets. This, in a way, mitigates some degree of seasonality issue. Apart from the outbreak of epidemic and the recognition of estimated renewal commissions, some other factors that cause the quarterly and annual variations are not within our control. Specifically, regulatory changes to product design may result in cessation of products from time to time and cause quarterly fluctuation in the results of our operations. In addition, consumer demand for insurance products can influence the timing of renewals, new business and lost business, which generally includes policies that are not renewed, and cancellations. As a result, you may not be able to rely on quarterly or annual comparisons of our operating results as an indication of our future performance.

Our operating structure may make it difficult to respond quickly to operational or financial problems, which could negatively affect our financial results.

We currently operate primarily through our wholly-owned or majority-owned insurance agencies and claims adjusting firms and their branches and to a smaller extent through our consolidated VIEs located in 31 provinces in China. These companies report their financial results to our corporate headquarters monthly. If these companies delay either reporting results or informing corporate headquarters of negative business developments such as losses of relationships with insurance companies, regulatory inquiries or any other negative events, we may not be able to take action to remedy the situation in a timely fashion. This in turn could have a negative effect on our financial results. In addition, if one of these companies were to report inaccurate financial information, we might not learn of the inaccuracies on a timely basis and be able to take corrective measures promptly, which could negatively affect our ability to report our financial results.

Our future success depends on the continuing efforts of our senior management team and other key personnel, and our business may be harmed if we lose their services.

Our future success depends heavily upon the continuing services of the members of our senior management team and other key personnel, in particular, Mr. Yinan Hu, or Mr. Hu, our vice chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer, Mr. Peng Ge, or, Mr. Ge, our chief financial officer, Mr. Ben Lin, our chief strategy officer, Mr. Lichong Liu, our chief operating officer and vice president and Mr. Jun Li, our chief digital officer and vice president. If one or more of our senior executives or other key personnel, are unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, we may not be able to replace them easily, or at all. As such, our business may be disrupted and our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. Competition for senior management and key personnel in our industry is intense because of a number of factors including the limited pool of qualified candidates. We may not be able to retain the services of our senior executives or key personnel, or attract and retain high-quality senior executives or key personnel in the future. As is customary in the PRC, we do not have insurance coverage for the loss of our senior management team or other key personnel.

In addition, if any member of our senior management team or any of our other key personnel joins a competitor or forms a competing company, we may lose customers, sensitive trade information, key professionals and staff members. Each of our executive officers and key employees has entered into an employment agreement with us which contains confidentiality and non-competition provisions. These agreements generally have an initial term of three years, and are automatically extended for successive one-year terms unless terminated earlier pursuant to the terms of the agreement. See “Item 6. Directors, Senior Management and Employees—A. Directors and Senior Management—Employment Agreements” for a more detailed description of the key terms of these employment agreements. If any disputes arise between any of our senior executives or key personnel and us, we cannot assure you of the extent to which any of these agreements may be enforced.

Salesperson and employee misconduct is difficult to detect and deter and could harm our reputation or lead to regulatory sanctions or litigation costs.

Salesperson and employee misconduct could result in violations of law by us, regulatory sanctions, litigation or serious reputational or financial harm. Misconduct could include:

We have internal policies and procedures to deter salesperson or employee misconduct. However, the measures and precautions we take to prevent and detect these activities may not be effective in all cases. Therefore, salesperson or employee misconduct could lead to a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition. In addition, the general increase in misconduct in the industry could potentially harm the reputation of the industry and have an adverse impact on our business.

Our investments in certain financial products may not yield the benefits we anticipate or incur financial loss, which could adversely affect our cash position.

In order to improve our return on capital, we may from time to time, upon board approval, invest a certain portion of our cash in financial products, such as trust products, with terms of half a year to two years. These products may involve various risks, including default risks, interest risks, and other risks. We cannot guarantee these investments will yield the returns we anticipate and we could suffer financial loss resulting from the purchase of these financial products.

If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud.

We are subject to reporting obligations under U.S. securities laws. Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the related rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, every public company is required to include a management report on the company’s internal controls over financial reporting in its annual report, which contains management’s assessment of the effectiveness of the company’s internal controls over financial reporting. In addition, an independent registered public accounting firm must attest to and report on the effectiveness of the company’s internal controls over financial reporting.

As required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and related rules as promulgated by the SEC, our management assessed the effectiveness of the internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023 using criteria established in “Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013)” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2023. If we fail to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment for our financial reporting, we may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which could result in inaccuracies in our consolidated financial statements and could also impair our ability to comply with applicable financial reporting requirements and make related regulatory filings on a timely basis. As a result, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, as well as the trading price of our ADSs, may be materially and adversely affected. Moreover, if we are not able to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which would negatively impact the trading price of our ADSs. Our reporting obligations as a public company, including our efforts to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, will continue to place a significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources and systems for the foreseeable future.

We may face legal action by former employers or principals of entrepreneurial agents who join our distribution and service network.

Competition for productive sales agents is intense within the Chinese insurance industry. When an entrepreneurial agent leaves his or her employer or principal to join our distribution and service network as our sales agent, we may face legal action by his or her former employer or principal of the entrepreneurial agent on the ground of unfair competition or breach of contract. As of the date of this annual report, there has been no such action filed or threatened against us. We cannot assure you that this will not happen in the future. Any such legal actions, regardless of merit, could be expensive and time-consuming and could divert resources and management’s attention from the operation of our business. If we were found liable in such a legal action, we might be required to pay substantial damages to the former employer or principal of the entrepreneurial agent, and our business reputation might be harmed. Moreover, the filing of such a legal action may discourage potential entrepreneurial agents from leaving their employers or principals, thus reducing the number of entrepreneurial agents we can recruit and potentially harming our growth prospects.

If we are required to write down goodwill and investment in affiliates, our financial condition and results may be materially and adversely affected.

When we acquire a business, the amount of the purchase price that is allocated to goodwill is determined by the excess of the fair value of purchase price and any controlling interest over the net identifiable tangible assets acquired. As of December 31, 2023, goodwill represented RMB374.1 million (US$52.7 million), or 5.8% of our total shareholders’ equity. Our management performs impairment assessments annually and we did not recognize any impairment loss between 2016 and 2023. Under current accounting standards, if we determine that goodwill is impaired, we will be required to write down the value of such assets and recognize corresponding impairment charges.

Prior to June 28, 2022, we accounted for our 18.5% of equity interests in CNFinance Holdings Limited (“CNFinance”) using the equity method. A provision of an impairment of RMB78.3 million (US$12.3 million) on investment in CNFinance was recognized in the first quarter of 2022, reflecting the decline in the fair value of our investment in CNFinance to an amount below its carrying value which was other-than-termporary. On June 28, 2022, we completed distribution of 252,995,600 ordinary shares of CNFinance to the Company’s shareholders in proportion to their then respective shareholdings in the Company. Following the distribution, Fanhua’s equity stake in CNFinance decreased from approximately 18.5% to approximately 0.01% and we ceased to recognize share of income of CNFinance.

Any future write-down related to such goodwill and equity method investments may materially and adversely affect our shareholders’ equity and financial results.

Preparing and forecasting our financial results requires us to make judgments and estimates which may differ materially from actual results.

Given the evolving regulatory and competitive environment and the inherent limitations in predicting the future, forecasts of our revenues, operating income, net income and other financial and operating data may differ materially from actual results. Such discrepancies could cause a decline in the trading price of our stock. In addition, the preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make a number of estimates and assumptions relating to the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reported period. Our management base their estimates on historical experience and various other factors which are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, and the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Significant accounting estimates reflected in our consolidated financial statements included estimates of allowance for doubtful receivables and estimates associated with equity-method investment impairment assessments. Actual results could differ from those estimates, which could negatively affect our stock price.

Any significant failure in our information technology systems could have a material adverse effect on our business and profitability.

Our business is highly dependent on the ability of our information technology systems to timely process a large number of transactions across different markets and products at a time when transaction processes have become increasingly complex and the volume of such transactions is growing rapidly. The proper functioning of our financial control, accounting, customer database, customer service and other data processing systems, together with the communication systems of our various subsidiaries, branches and our main offices in Guangzhou, is critical to our business and our ability to compete effectively. Our business activities could be materially disrupted in the event of a partial or complete failure of any of these primary information technology or communication systems, which could be caused by, among other things, software malfunction, computer virus attacks or conversion errors due to system upgrading. In addition, a prolonged failure of our information technology system could damage our reputation and materially and adversely affect our prospects and profitability.

A computer system failure, cyber-attacks, any failure to protect the confidential information of our customers or other security breaches may disrupt our business, loss of customers, damage our reputation, result in potential liability and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We use computer systems to store, retrieve, evaluate and utilize customer and company data and information. Our business is highly dependent on our ability to access these systems to perform necessary business functions such as selling insurance products, providing customer support, policy management and claims assistance. Although we have designed and implemented a variety of security measures and backup plans to prevent or limit the effect of failure, our computer systems may be vulnerable to disruptions as a result of natural disasters, man-made disasters, criminal activities, pandemics or other events beyond our control. In addition, our computer systems may be subject to computer viruses or other malicious codes, unauthorized access, cyber-attacks or other computer-related penetrations. The failure of our computer systems for any reason could disrupt our operations and may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Although we have not experienced such a computer system failure or security breach in the past, we cannot assure you that we will not encounter a failure or security breach in the future.

Our customer database holds confidential information concerning our customers. We may be unable to prevent third parties, such as hackers or criminal organizations, from stealing information provided by our customers to us. Confidential information of our customers may also be misappropriated or inadvertently disclosed through employee misconduct or mistake. We may also in the future be required to disclose to government authorities certain confidential information concerning our customers. In addition, many of our customers pay for our insurance services through third-party online payment services. In such transactions, maintaining complete security during the transmission of confidential information, such as personal information, is essential to maintaining consumer confidence. We have limited influence over the security measures of third-party online payment service providers. In addition, our third-party merchants may violate their confidentiality obligations and disclose information about our customers. Any compromise of our security or third-party service providers’ security could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Though we have not experienced any material cybersecurity incidents in the past, if our database were compromised by outside sources or if we are accused of failing to protect the confidential information of our customers, we may be forced to expend significant financial and managerial resources in remedying the situation, defending against these accusations and we may face potential liability. Any negative publicity, especially concerning breaches in our cybersecurity systems, may adversely affect our public image and reputation. Though we take proactive measures to protect against these risks and we believe that our efforts in this area are sufficient for our business, we cannot be certain that such measures will prove effective against all cybersecurity risks. In addition, any perception by the public that online commerce is becoming increasingly unsafe or that the privacy of customer information is vulnerable to attack could inhibit the growth of online services generally, which in turn may reduce the number of our customers.

Our business is subject to insurance company partner concentration risks arising from dependence on a single or limited number of insurance company partners.

We derive a significant portion of net revenues from distributing insurance products supplied by our important insurance company partners. Among the top five of our insurance company partners, Sinatay accounted for 15.3% of our total net revenues in 2023.

Because of this concentration in the supply of the insurance products we distribute, our business and operations would be negatively affected if we experience a partial or complete loss of any of these insurance company partners. In addition, any significant adverse change in our relationship with any of these insurance company partners could result in loss of revenue, increased costs and distribution delays that could harm our business and customer relationships. In addition, this concentration can exacerbate our exposure to risks associated with the termination by key insurance company partners of our agreements or any adverse change in the terms of such agreements, which could have an adverse impact on our revenues and profitability.

If we are unable to respond in a timely and cost-effective manner to rapid technological change in the insurance intermediary industry, it may result in a material adverse effect.

The insurance industry is increasingly influenced by rapid technological change, frequent new product and service introductions and evolving industry standards. For example, the insurance intermediary industry has increased the use of the Internet to communicate benefits and related information to consumers and to facilitate information exchange, transactions and training. We believe that our future success will depend on our ability to anticipate and adapt to technological changes and to offer additional products and services that meet evolving standards on a timely and cost-effective manner. We may not be able to successfully identify new product and service opportunities or develop and introduce these opportunities in a timely and cost-effective manner. In addition, new products and services that our competitors develop or introduce may render our products and services uncompetitive. As a result, if we are not able to respond or adapt to technological changes that may affect our industry in the future, our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

We face risks related to health epidemics, including the COVID-19 outbreak, severe weather conditions and other catastrophes, which could materially and adversely affect our business.

Our business could be materially and adversely affected by the outbreak of health epidemics including COVID-19, severe weather conditions or other catastrophes. The outbreak of the COVID-19 and the measures to contain its spread has from time to time disrupted our operations and adversely affected our business financial condition and results of operations from 2020 to the first quarter of 2023. Although the direct impact of COVID-19 gradually recedes, the pandemic may have a lingering, long-term effect on business activities and consumption behavior. There is no assurance that we will be able to adjust our business operations to adapt to these changes and the increasingly complex environment in which we operate.

Any occurrence of other adverse public health developments or severe weather conditions may also significantly disrupt our staffing and otherwise reduce the activity level of our work force, thus causing a material and adverse effect on our business operations.

We may be at risk of securities class action litigation.

Historically, securities class action litigation has often been brought against a company following periods of instability in the market price of its securities. If we face such litigation, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could harm our business.

Recently, U.S. public companies that have substantially all of their operations in China, have been the subject of intense scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity by some investors, financial commentators and regulatory agencies. Much of the scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity has centered around financial and accounting irregularities, a lack of effective internal controls over financial accounting, inadequate corporate governance policies or a lack of adherence thereto and, in some cases, allegations of fraud. As a result of the scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity, the publicly traded stocks of many U.S.-listed Chinese companies have sharply decreased in value and, in some cases, have become virtually worthless. Some of these companies are now subject to shareholder lawsuits and SEC enforcement actions and are conducting or subject to internal and external investigations into the allegations. We had been targeted by short selling reports in the past and became subject to class action lawsuits which were subsequently dismissed or settled. Shortselling firms or others may in the future publish additional short seller reports with respect to our business, officers, directors and shareholders, and we may become subject to other unfavorable allegations, which might cause further fluctuations in the trading price of our ADSs. Such volatility in our share price could subject us to increased risk of securities class action lawsuits or derivative actions.

Any future class action lawsuit against us, whether or not successful, could harm our reputation and restrict our ability to raise capital. In addition, if a claim is successfully made against us, we may be required to pay significant damages, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Even if such allegations are ultimately proven to be groundless, the allegations or the process of dealing with them could severely impact our business operations and stockholder’s equity, and any investment in our ADSs could be greatly reduced.

We may be subject, from time to time, to adverse actions taken by other parties, including lawsuits and negative reports and regulatory proceedings, which may divert resources and the time and attention of our management and may otherwise adversely affect us.

From time to time, we may become a party to litigations incidental to the operation of our business, including class action lawsuits and disputes with other third parties. Litigation usually requires a significant amount of management time and effort, which may adversely affect our business by diverting management’s focus from the needs of our business and the development of strategic opportunities.

We cannot predict the outcome of these lawsuits. Regardless of the outcome, these lawsuits, and any other litigation that may be brought against us or our current or former directors and officers, could be time-consuming, result in significant expenses and divert the attention and resources of our management and other key employees. An unfavorable outcome in any of these matters could also exceed coverage provided under applicable insurance policies, which is limited. Any such unfavorable outcome could have a material effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Further, we could be required to pay damages or additional penalties or have other remedies imposed against us, or our current or former directors or officers, which could harm our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

In addition, the NFRA may from time to time make inquiries and conduct examinations concerning our compliance with PRC laws and regulations. These administrative proceedings have in the past resulted in administrative sanctions, including fines, which have not been material to us. While we cannot predict the outcome of any pending or future examination, we do not believe that any pending legal matter will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. However, we cannot assure you that any future regulatory proceeding will not have an adverse outcome, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results or cash flows.

There can be no assurance that any definitive agreement with respect to the Strategic Framework Agreement with White Group will be executed or that this or any other transaction will be approved or consummated. Potential uncertainty involving the proposed transaction may adversely affect our business and the market price of our ordinary shares and warrants.

On February 2, 2024, we entered into a framework agreement with Singapore White Group Pte. Ltd. (“White Group”), pursuant to which White Group and its partners intend to invest up to US$500 million in us. Subsequently, we and White Group entered into a supplementary agreement, according to which, in addition to the up to US$500 million investment, both parties will explore investments in certain high-quality assets including an Asia-based telehealth solution provider and an AI Humanoid hardware manufacturer. There can be no assurance that any definitive agreement will be executed or that any proposed transaction will be approved or consummated. These uncertainties may increase the volatility of the market price of our ordinary shares and have a material adverse effect on the market price of our ordinary shares.

Our business is subject to the risks associated with international operations and we may be unsuccessful in our international expansion.

We started to expand into international markets in 2023 by establishing two joint venture companies in Hong Kong SAR including an insurance broker company and an insurance technology company, extending our strategy of building quality independent financial distribution and technology-driven open platform to markets outside of mainland China. Expanding our business overseas exposes us to a number of risks, including but not limited to:

Therefore, there is no assurance that we will be able to establish foothold in Hong Kong SAR or any other international markets that we intend to enter in the future and our international expansion may not yield the benefits in accordance with our expectations, which may result in loss of financial resources and cause an adverse impact on our business and financial results.

There is no assurance that we can meet obligation under bank borrowing arrangements. Failure to repay bank borrowing on time and in full could have material adverse impact on our reputation, financial stability and ability to fund operations and strategic initiatives.

We may pursue bank borrowings from time to time to fund our operations and optimize our capital structure. For example, in 2023, we obtained a term loan from a commercial bank amounting to RMB200 million, with an interest rate of 4.5% per annum, payable within one year. The borrowing and interests were repaid in full in February 2024, and a new bank loan facility of RMB1.6 million was obtained subsequently, with an interest rate of 3.5% payable within one year. Our ability to repay bank borrowing is dependent on our financial performance, including our ability to generate sufficient cash flows from operations. Factors such as declining revenues, increasing expenses, or unexpected losses could affect our ability to meet payment obligations. In addition, economic conditions and market fluctuations may impact our ability to access capital markets for refinancing or raising additional funds to repay bank borrowing. Failure to repay bank borrowing could cause reputation damage, operational disruption, and legal consequences and affect our financial stability, which could adversely affect our financial conditions and hinder our ability to fund growth opportunities and strategic initiatives.

We are exposed to risks associated with uncertainty in collectability of loan receivables

We may extend loans to our affiliates or third parties from time to time, which exposes us to the risk of non-payment or delayed payment of the loans receivables as well as impairment risk. Despite our thorough evaluation of borrowers’ creditworthiness, economic conditions, and other relevant factors, there is no assurance that all loan receivables will be collected in full and on time. The collectability of our loan receivables may depend on a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, including but not limited to economic conditions, market conditions, regulatory risks, or operational failures of the borrowers which could adversely affect the ability of borrowers to repay their loans. The creditworthiness of borrowers may deteriorate over time due to changes in financial circumstances, industry-specific factors, or other reasons. While certain loans may be secured by collateral, the value of such collateral may decline or become insufficient to cover the outstanding loan balance in the event of default. Changes in the credit quality of loans may require us to recognize impairment charges, reducing the carrying value of loan receivables and negatively impacting our financial results. These risks, individually or collectively, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

Fanhua Inc. is a Cayman Islands holding company primarily operating in China through its subsidiaries and a small part of its business through contractual arrangements with Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Technologies. Investors in the ADSs thus are not purchasing, and may never directly hold, all equity interests in the consolidated VIEs. There are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current and future PRC laws, regulations, and rules relating to such agreements that establish the VIE structure for our consolidated VIEs’ operations in China, including potential future actions by the PRC government, which could affect the enforceability of our contractual arrangements with Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Technologies and, consequently, adversely affect the financial condition and results of operations of Fanhua Inc. If the PRC government finds such agreements non-compliant with relevant PRC laws, regulations, and rules, or if these laws, regulations, and rules or the interpretation thereof change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish part of our interests in Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Technologies or forfeit our rights under the contractual arrangements.

We are a company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, and Fanhua Group Company, our wholly-owned PRC subsidiary, is considered a foreign-invested enterprise. PRC laws and regulations restrict and impose conditions on foreign ownership and investment in certain internet-based businesses. Accordingly, we operate these business through the consolidated variable interest entities (“VIEs”), namely Shenzhen Xinbao Investment Management Co., Ltd. or Xinbao Investment, and Fanhua RONS (Beijing) Technologies Co., Ltd., or Fanhua RONS Technologies, and their subsidiaries, and rely on contractual arrangements among our PRC subsidiaries, the consolidated VIEs and their respective shareholders to control the business operations of the consolidated VIEs and their subsidiaries. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Organizational Structure—Major Changes in our Corporate Structure.”

The consolidated VIEs and/or their subsidiaries hold the licenses and permits necessary to conduct our online insurance operations in China including Value-added Telecommunication Business Operation Permit for ICP services, or ICP licenses. Our contractual arrangements with the consolidated VIEs and their shareholders enable us to: (i) exercise effective control over Xinbao Investment and its subsidiaries; (ii) have an exclusive option to purchase part of the equity interests in Xinbao Investment when and to the extent permitted by PRC law; and (iii) receive all of the economic benefits from the consolidated VIEs in consideration for the services provided by our subsidiaries in China. The Contractual Arrangements allow us to be the primary beneficiary of the consolidated VIE and to consolidate the Consolidated VIE’s results of operations into our financial statements.

If the Contractual Arrangements that establish the structure for operating our and the consolidated VIEs’ business in the PRC are found to be in violation of any existing or any PRC laws or regulations in the future, or the PRC government finds that we, or the consolidated VIEs fails to obtain or maintain any of the required permits or approvals, the relevant PRC regulatory authorities, including the MIIT, MOFCOM and STA, would have broad discretion in dealing with such violations, including:

Any of these actions could cause significant disruption or result in a material change to our and the consolidated VIEs’ business operations, and may materially and adversely affect our and the consolidated VIEs’ business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, it is unclear what impact the PRC government actions would have on us and on our ability to consolidate the financial results of Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Techologies and their subsidiaries in our consolidated financial statements, if the PRC governmental authorities find the consolidated VIEs’ legal structure and Contractual Arrangements to be in violation of PRC laws, rules and regulations. If any of these penalties results in our inability to direct the activities of Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Techologies or their subsidiaries that most significantly impact its economic performance and/or our failure to receive the economic benefits from Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Techologies or their subsidiaries, we may not be able to consolidate Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Techologies and/or their subsidiaries into our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP. If we are unable to claim our right to control the assets of the consolidated VIEs, the ADSs may decline in value or become worthless.

The PRC government has significant authority to exert influence on the China operations of an offshore holding company, such as us. Therefore, investors in the ADSs and our and the consolidated VIEs’ business face potential uncertainty from the PRC government’s policy. Changes in China’s economic, political or social conditions, or government policies could materially and adversely affect our and the consolidated VIEs’ business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Substantially all of our and the consolidated VIEs’ operations are located in China. The PRC government has significant authority to exert influence on the China operations of an offshore holding company, such as us. Despite economic reforms and measures implemented by the PRC government, the PRC government continues to play a significant role in regulating industrial development, allocation of natural and other resources, production, pricing and management of currency, and there can be no assurance that the PRC government will continue to pursue a policy of economic reform or that the direction of reform will continue to be market friendly.

Our and the consolidated VIEs’ ability to successfully expand business operations in the PRC depends on a number of factors, including macro-economic and other market conditions. Demand for our and the consolidated VIEs’ services and our and the consolidated VIEs’ business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected by the following factors:

These factors are affected by a number of variables which are beyond our and the consolidated VIEs’ control.

We and the consolidated VIEs are subject to extensive and evolving legal development, non-compliance with which, or changes in which, may materially and adversely affect our and the consolidated VIEs’ business and prospects, and may result in a material change in our and the consolidated VIEs’ operations and/or the value of our ADSs or could significantly limit or completely hinder our and the consolidated VIEs’ ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of our securities to significantly decline or be worthless.

PRC companies are subject to various PRC laws, regulations and government policies and the relevant laws, regulations and policies continue to evolve. Recently, the PRC government is enhancing supervision over companies seeking listings overseas and some specific business or activities such as the use of variable interest entities and data security or anti-monopoly. The PRC government may adopt new measures that may affect our and the consolidated VIEs’ operations, or may exert more oversight and control over offerings conducted outside of China and foreign investment in China-based companies, and we and the consolidated VIEs may be subject to challenges brought by these new laws, regulations and policies. However, since these laws, regulations and policies are relatively new and the PRC legal system continues to rapidly evolve, the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules are not always uniform and enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules involve uncertainties. Furthermore, as we and the consolidated VIEs may be subject to additional, yet undetermined, laws and regulations, compliance may require us to obtain additional permits and licenses, complete or update registrations with relevant regulatory authorities, adjust our and the consolidated VIEs’ business operations, as well as allocate additional resources to monitor developments in the relevant regulatory environment. However, under the stringent regulatory environment, it may take much more time for the relevant regulatory authorities to approve new applications for permits and licenses, and complete or update registrations and we cannot assure you that we and the consolidated VIEs will be able to comply with these laws and regulations in a timely manner or at all. The failure to comply with these laws and regulations may delay, or possibly prevent, us to conduct business, accept foreign investments, or listing overseas.

The occurrence of any of these events may materially and adversely affect our and the consolidated VIEs’ business and prospects and may result in a material change in our and the consolidated VIEs’ operations and/or the value of our ADSs or could significantly limit or completely hinder our and the consolidated VIEs’ ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors. In addition, if any of changes causes us unable to direct the activities of the consolidated VIEs or lose the right to receive their economic benefits, we may not be able to consolidate the VIEs into our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which could cause the value of our ADSs to significantly decline or become worthless.

It is unclear whether we and the consolidated VIEs will be subject to the oversight of the Cyberspace Administration of China and how such oversight may impact us. Our and the consolidated VIEs’ business could be interrupted or we and the consolidated VIEs could be subject to liabilities which may materially and adversely affect the results of our and the consolidated VIEs’ operation and the value of your investment.

Pursuant to the PRC Cybersecurity Law and the Measures for Cybersecurity Censorship, if a critical information infrastructure operator that intends to purchase internet products and services and data processing operators (collectively, the “operators”) engaging in data processing activities that affect or may affect national security must be subject to the cybersecurity review. According to the Regulations for Safe Protection of Critical Information Infrastructure, or the Safe Protection Regulations, which took effect on September 1, 2021, critical information infrastructure refers to important network infrastructure and information systems in public telecommunications, information services, energy sources, transportation and other critical industries and domains, in which any destruction or data leakage will have severe impact on national security, the nation’s welfare, the people’s living and public interests. As of the date hereof, we and the consolidated VIEs have not received any notice from such authorities identifying us as a critical information infrastructure operator or requiring us to going through cybersecurity review by the CAC.

On December 28, 2021, the CAC, NDRC, MIIT, the MPS, the Ministry of National Security, the MOF, the MOFCOM, the PBOC, the National Radio and Television Administration, the CSRC, the National Administration of State Secrets Protection and the State Cryptography Administration jointly released the Measures for Cybersecurity Review Measures, or the Cybersecurity Review Measures, which took effect on February 15, 2022. According to the Cybersecurity Review Measures, the scope of cybersecurity reviews is extended to data processing operators engaging in data processing activities that affect or may affect national security. The Cybersecurity Review Measures further requires that any operator applying for listing on a foreign exchange must go through cybersecurity review if it possesses personal information of more than one million users. According to the Cybersecurity Review Measures, a cybersecurity review assesses potential national security risks that may be brought about by any procurement, data processing, or overseas listing. The review focuses on several factors, including, among others, (i) the risk of theft, leakage, corruption, illegal use or export of any core or important data, or a large amount of personal information, and (ii) the risk of any critical information infrastructure, core or important data, or a large amount of personal information being affected, controlled or maliciously exploited by a foreign government after a company is listed overseas.

Our PRC legal counsel is of the view that there is a relatively low likelihood that we and the consolidated VIEs will be subject to the cybersecurity review by the CAC for a future offering of our securities to foreign investors, given that: (i) we and the consolidated VIEs have not been recognized as critical information infrastructure operators; (ii) data processed in our and the consolidated VIEs’ business do not have an impact or potential impact on national security; and (iii) the Cybersecurity Review Measures require operators of online platforms that hold personal information of more than one million users to file a cybersecurity review with the Cybersecurity Review Office when they go public abroad. On February 17, 2023, the CSRC released the Trial Administrative Measures of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies and five supporting guidelines, or collectively, the Filing Rules, which came into effect on March 31, 2023, pursuant to the new rules, China-based issuers that seek to offer, list their securities or refinancing in an overseas market, are required to fulfill relevant filing procedure and report relevant information to the CSRC, and other pre-procedure of relevant regulatory authorities before filing to CSRC, including but not limited to CAC. However, there remains uncertainty as to how the Cybersecurity Review Measures will be interpreted and whether the PRC regulatory agencies, including the CAC and the CSRC, may adopt new laws, regulations, rules, or detailed implementation and interpretation related to the Cybersecurity Review Measures and the Filing Rules. If any such new laws, regulations, rules, or implementation and interpretation comes into effect, we and the consolidated VIE will take all reasonable measures and actions to comply and minimize the adverse effect of such laws on us.

We cannot assure you that PRC regulatory agencies, including the CAC, would take the same view as we do, and there is no assurance that we and the consolidated VIEs can fully or timely comply with such laws. In the event that we and the consolidated VIEs are subject to any mandatory cybersecurity review and other specific actions required by the CAC, we and the consolidated VIE face uncertainty as to whether any clearance or other required actions can be timely completed, or at all. Given such uncertainty, we and the consolidated VIEs may be further required to suspend our and the consolidated VIEs’ relevant business, shut down our and the consolidated VIE’s website, or face other penalties, which could materially and adversely affect our and the consolidated VIEs’ business, financial condition, and results of operations, and/or the value of our ADSs or could significantly limit or completely hinder our and the consolidated VIEs’ ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors. In addition, if any of these events causes us unable to direct the activities of the consolidated VIEs or lose the right to receive their economic benefits, we may not be able to consolidate the VIEs into our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which could cause the value of our ADSs to significantly decline or become worthless.

On November 14, 2021, the CAC published the Regulations on the Cyber Data Security (Draft for Comments until December 13, 2021), which further regulate the internet data processing activities and emphasize on the supervision and management of network data security, and further stipulate the obligations of internet platform operators, such as to establish a system for disclosure of platform rules, privacy policies and algorithmic strategies related to data. Specifically, the draft regulations require data processors to, among others, (i) adopt immediate remediation measures when they discover that network products and services they use or provide have security defects and vulnerabilities, or threaten national security or endanger public interest, and (ii) follow a series of detailed requirements with respect to processing personal information, management of important data and proposed overseas transfer of data. The following activities shall apply for cybersecurity review: (i) merger, reorganization or division of internet platform operators that have acquired a large number of data resources related to national security, economic development or public interests affects or may affect national security; (ii) listing abroad of data processors processing over one million users’ personal information; (iii) listing in Hong Kong SAR which affects or may affect national security; or (iv) other data processing activities that affect or may affect national security. The draft measures also require data processors that handle important data or are seeking to be listed overseas to complete an annual data security self-assessment or entrust a data security service institution to do so, and file a data security assessment report of previous year to the local branch of applicable regulators before January 31 each year. Such annual assessment, as required by the draft regulations, would encompass areas including but not limited to the status of important data processing, data security risks identified and the rectification measures adopted, the effectiveness of data protection measures, the implementation of national data security laws and regulations, data security incidents that occurred and how they were resolved, and a security assessment with respect to sharing and provision of important data overseas. As of the date hereof, the draft regulations have been released for public comment only and have not been formally adopted. The final provisions, interpretation, implementation and the timeline for its adoption are subject to changes and uncertainties.

As there remain uncertainties regarding the interpretation and implementation of such regulatory guidance, we cannot assure you that we will be able to comply with new regulatory requirements relating to our future overseas capital raising activities, and may be subject to more stringent requirements with respect to matters including data privacy and cross-border investigation and enforcement of legal claims. In the event that we and the consolidated VIEs are subject to any mandatory cybersecurity review and other specific actions required by the CAC, we and the consolidated VIEs face uncertainty as to whether any clearance or other required actions can be timely completed, or at all. Given such uncertainty, we and the consolidated VIEs may be further required to suspend our and the consolidated VIEs’ relevant business, shut down our and the consolidated VIEs’ website, or face other penalties, which could materially and adversely affect our and the consolidated VIEs’ business, financial condition, and results of operations, and/or the value of our ADSs or could significantly limit or completely hinder our and the consolidated VIEs’ ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors. In addition, if any of these events causes us unable to direct the activities of the consolidated VIEs or lose the right to receive their economic benefits, we may not be able to consolidate the VIEs into our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which could cause the value of our ADSs to significantly decline or become worthless.

The PRC government’s oversight over our and the consolidated VIEs’ business operations could result in a material adverse change in our and the consolidated VIEs’ operations and the value of our ADSs.

We conduct our business in China primarily through our PRC subsidiaries, including Fanhua Group Company and its subsidiaries in which we hold equity ownership interests, and the contractual arrangements with the consolidated VIEs. Our and the consolidated VIEs’ operations in China are governed by PRC laws and regulations. The PRC government has significant oversight over the conduct of our and the consolidated VIEs’ business, and it regulates and may intervene our and the consolidated VIEs’ operations at any time, which could result in a material adverse change in our and the consolidated VIEs’ operation and/or the value of our ADSs. Also, the PRC government has recently indicated an intent to exert more oversight over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China-based issuers like us. Any such action 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. In addition, implementation of industry-wide regulations directly targeting our and the consolidated VIEs’ operations could cause the value of our securities to significantly decline. Therefore, investors of us and the consolidated VIEs and our and the consolidated VIEs’ business face potential uncertainty from actions taken by the PRC government. 

Any failure by the VIEs or their respective shareholders to perform their obligations under our Contractual Arrangements with them would have a material adverse effect on our business.

We have entered into a series of Contractual Arrangements with Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Technologies, our consolidated VIEs and the shareholders of Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Technologies, respectively. For a description of these Contractual Arrangements, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Organizational Structure.” If our consolidated VIEs or the shareholder of Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Technologies fail to perform their respective obligations under the Contractual Arrangements, we may incur substantial costs and expend additional resources to enforce such arrangements. We may also have to rely on legal remedies under PRC laws, including seeking specific performance or injunctive relief, and claiming damages, which we cannot assure you that it will be effective under PRC laws. For example, if the shareholders of Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Technologies were to refuse to transfer their equity interests in Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Technologies 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, then 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 laws and provide for the resolution of disputes through arbitration in China. 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 system in the PRC is not as developed as in some other jurisdictions, such as the United States. As a result, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit our ability to enforce these Contractual Arrangements. Meanwhile, there are very few precedents and little formal guidance as to how Contractual Arrangements in the context of a variable interest entity should be interpreted or enforced under PRC laws. There remain significant uncertainties regarding the ultimate outcome of such arbitration should legal action become necessary. In addition, under PRC laws, rulings by arbitrators are final and parties cannot appeal arbitration results in court unless such rulings are revoked or determined unenforceable by a competent court. 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 recognition proceedings, which would require additional expenses and delay. In the event that we are unable to enforce these Contractual Arrangements, or if we suffer significant delay or other obstacles in the process of enforcing these Contractual Arrangements, we may not be able to exert effective control over Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Technologies and their subsidiaries, and our ability to conduct our business may be negatively affected. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties in the PRC legal system and the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws and regulations could limit the legal protections available to you and us, significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer our ADSs, cause significant disruption to our and the consolidated VIEs’ business operations, and severely damage our and the consolidated VIEs’ reputation, which would materially and adversely affect our and the consolidated VIEs’ financial condition and results of operations and cause our ADSs to significantly decline in value or become worthless. In addition, rules and regulations in China can change quickly with little advance notice, therefore, our assertions and beliefs of the risks imposed by the Chinese legal and regulatory system cannot be certain.”

We rely on contractual arrangements to conduct a small part of our China operations, which may not be as effective in providing operational control as direct ownership.

Although we have obtained direct equity ownership in almost all of our insurance intermediary operating companies, we have relied on and expect to continue to rely on contractual arrangements with Xinbao Investment Fanhua RONS Technologies and their individual nominee shareholder to operate a small part of our business in China. These contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over our consolidated VIEs, and these contractual arrangements have not been tested in a court of law. For a description of these contractual arrangements, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Organizational Structure.” These contractual arrangements may not be as effective in providing us with control over the VIEs as direct ownership.

If we had direct controlling ownership of our consolidated VIEs, we would be able to exercise our rights as a controlling shareholder to effect changes in the board of directors of these entities, which in turn could effect changes, subject to any applicable fiduciary obligations, at the management level. However, under the current contractual arrangements, as a legal matter, if our consolidated VIEs and their shareholders fail to perform their obligations under these contractual arrangements, we may have to incur substantial costs and expend significant resources to enforce such arrangements and rely on legal remedies under PRC law, including seeking specific performance or injunctive relief and claiming damages, which may not be effective. For example, if the shareholders of our consolidated VIEs were to refuse to transfer their equity interest in such entities to us or our designee when we exercise the call option pursuant to these contractual arrangements, or if they were otherwise to act in bad faith toward us, then we may have to take legal action to compel them to fulfill their contractual obligations.

All of our contractual arrangements with Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Technologies and their individual nominee shareholders are governed by PRC law and provide for the resolution of disputes through arbitration in the PRC. Accordingly, these contracts would be interpreted in accordance with PRC law and any disputes would be resolved in accordance with PRC legal procedures. The legal environment in the PRC may bear significant difference from those of 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 the VIEs, and our ability to conduct our business may be negatively affected.

The individual shareholders of Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Technologies, our consolidated VIEs, may have potential conflicts of interest with us, which may materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition.

As of March 31, 2024, Mr. Peng Ge, held 100% of the equity interests in Fanhua RONS Technologies and Mr. Shuangping Jiang, held 51% of the equity interests in Xinbao Investment with the remaining 49% held by our wholly-owned PRC subsidiary Fanhua Group Company. Conflicts of interest may arise between the dual roles of Mr. Ge and Mr. Jiang as shareholders of Fanhua RONS Technologies and Xinbao Investment respectively and as officers of our company. We do not have existing arrangements to address these potential conflicts of interest and cannot assure you that when conflicts arise, Mr. Ge and Mr. Jiang will act in the best interest of our company or that conflicts will be resolved in our favor.

Contractual arrangements we have entered into with Xinbao Investment and Fanhua RONS Technologies may be subject to scrutiny by the PRC tax authorities. A finding that we owe additional taxes could substantially reduce our consolidated net income and the value of your investment.

Under PRC laws and regulations, arrangements and transactions among related parties may be subject to audit or challenged by the PRC tax authorities. We could face material and adverse tax consequences if the PRC tax authorities determine that the contractual arrangements between us and the VIEs are not on an arm’s-length basis and that we adjusted the income of our consolidated VIEs in the form of a transfer pricing adjustment. Particularly, the State Administration of Taxation issued a Public Notice, or Public Notice 16, on March 18, 2015, to further regulate and strengthen the transfer pricing administration on outbound payments by a PRC enterprise to its overseas related parties. In addition to emphasizing that outbound payments by a PRC enterprise to its overseas related parties must comply with arm’s-length principles, Public Notice 16 specifies certain circumstances whereby such payments are not deductible for the purpose of the enterprise income tax of the PRC enterprise, including payments to an overseas related party which does not undertake any function, bear any risk or have any substantial operation or activities, payments for services which do not enable the PRC enterprise to obtain direct or indirect economic benefits, or for services that are unrelated to the functions and risks borne by the PRC enterprise, or relate to the protection of the investment interests of the direct or indirect investor of the PRC enterprise, or for services that have already been purchased from a third party or undertaken by the PRC enterprise itself, and royalties paid to an overseas related party which only owns the legal rights of the intangible assets but has no contribution to the creation of such intangible assets. Although we believe all our related party transactions, including all payments by our PRC subsidiaries and consolidated VIEs to our non-PRC entities, are made on an arm’s-length basis and our estimates are reasonable, the ultimate decisions by the relevant tax authorities may differ from the amounts recorded in our financial statements and may materially adversely affect our financial results in the period or periods for which such determination is made. A transfer pricing adjustment could, among other things, result in a reduction, for PRC tax purposes, of expense deductions recorded by our consolidated VIEs, which could in turn increase their respective tax liabilities. Moreover, the PRC tax authorities may impose penalties on our consolidated VIEs for underpayment of taxes. Our consolidated net income may be materially and adversely affected by the occurrence of any of the foregoing.

PRC regulation of loans and direct investment by offshore holding companies to PRC entities may delay or prevent us from making loans to our PRC subsidiaries or making additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.

We are an offshore holding company conducting our operations in China primarily through our PRC subsidiaries and to a small part through our consolidated VIEs. In order to provide additional funding to our PRC subsidiaries and consolidated VIEs, we may make loans to our PRC subsidiaries and consolidated VIEs, or we may make additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries and consolidated VIEs.

Any loans we make to any of our directly-held PRC subsidiaries (which are treated as foreign-invested enterprises under PRC law), namely, Fanhua Zhonglian Enterprise Image Planning (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., or Zhonglian Enterprise, and Fanhua Xinlian Information Technology Consulting (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., or Xinlian Information, cannot exceed statutory limits and must be registered with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or the SAFE, or its local counterparts. Under applicable PRC law, the amount of a foreign-invested enterprise’s registered capital represents shareholders’ equity investments over a defined period of time, and the foreign-invested enterprise’s total investment represents the total of the company’s registered capital plus permitted loans. The registered capital/total investment ratio cannot be lower than the minimum statutory requirement and the excess of the total investment over the registered capital represents the maximum amount of borrowings that a foreign-invested enterprise is permitted to have under PRC law. Our directly-held PRC subsidiaries were allowed to incur a total of HK300 million (US$38.3 million) in foreign debts as of March 31, 2024. If we were to provide loans to our directly-held PRC subsidiaries in excess of the above amount, we would have to apply to the relevant government authorities for an increase in their permitted total investment amounts. The various applications could be time-consuming and their outcomes would be uncertain. Concurrently with the loans, we might have to make capital contributions to these subsidiaries in order to maintain the statutory minimum registered capital/total investment ratio, and such capital contributions involve uncertainties of their own, as discussed below. Furthermore, even if we make loans to our directly-held PRC subsidiaries that do not exceed their current maximum amount of borrowings, we will have to register each loan with the SAFE or its local counterpart within 15 days after the signing of the relevant loan agreement. Subject to the conditions stipulated by the SAFE, the SAFE or its local counterpart will issue a registration certificate of foreign debts to us within 20 days after reviewing and accepting our application. In practice, it may take longer to complete such SAFE registration process.

Any loans we make to any of our indirectly-held PRC subsidiaries (those PRC subsidiaries which we hold indirectly through Zhonglian Enterprise and Xinlian Information) or to any of our consolidated VIEs, all of which are treated as PRC domestic companies rather than foreign-invested enterprises under PRC law, are also subject to various PRC regulations and approvals. Under applicable PRC regulations, medium- and long-term international commercial loans to PRC domestic companies are subject to approval by the National Development and Reform Commission. Short-term international commercial loans to PRC domestic companies are subject to the balance control system effected by the SAFE. Due to the above restrictions, we are not likely to make loans to any of our indirectly-held PRC subsidiaries.

Any capital contributions we make to our PRC subsidiaries, including directly-held and indirectly-held PRC subsidiaries, must be approved by the PRC Ministry of Commerce or its local counterparts, and registered with the SAFE or its local counterparts. Such applications and registrations could be time-consuming and their outcomes would be uncertain.

We cannot assure you that we will be able to complete the necessary government registrations or obtain the necessary government approvals on a timely basis, if at all, with respect to future loans by us to our PRC subsidiaries, or with respect to future capital contributions by us to our PRC subsidiaries. If we fail to complete such registrations or obtain such approvals, our ability to capitalize or otherwise fund our PRC operations may be negatively affected, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.

On August 29, 2008, SAFE promulgated Circular 142, a notice regulating the conversion by a foreign-invested company of its capital contribution in foreign currency into RMB. The notice requires that the capital of a foreign-invested company settled in RMB converted from foreign currencies shall be used only for purposes within the business scope as approved by the authorities in charge of foreign investment or by other government authorities and as registered with the State Administration for Market Regulation or its predecessor the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and, unless set forth in the business scope or in other regulations, may not be used for equity investments within the PRC. In addition, SAFE strengthened its oversight of the flow and use of the capital of a foreign-invested company settled in RMB converted from foreign currencies. The use of such RMB capital may not be changed without SAFE’s approval, and may not in any case be used to repay RMB loans if the proceeds of such loans have not been used. Violations of Circular 142 will result in severe penalties, including heavy fines. As a result, Circular 142 may significantly limit our ability to provide additional funding to our PRC subsidiaries through our directly-held PRC subsidiaries in the PRC, which may adversely affect our ability to expand our business.

However, on June 9, 2016, SAFE promulgated Circular 16, a notice on reforming and standardizing the administrative provisions on capital account foreign exchange settlement, which became effective on June 9, 2016. The new notice states that domestic enterprises (including Chinese-funded enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises, excluding financial institutions) shall be allowed to settle their foreign exchange capitals on a discretionary basis. The discretionary settlement by a foreign-invested enterprise of its foreign exchange capital shall mean that the foreign-invested enterprise may, according to its actual business needs, settle with a bank the portion of the foreign exchange capital in its capital account for which the application of discretionary settlement has been specified by relevant policies (including capitals in foreign currencies, external debts, funds repatriated from overseas listing, etc.). For the time being, foreign-invested enterprises are allowed to settle 100% of their foreign exchange capitals on a discretionary basis. The SAFE may adjust the foregoing percentage as appropriate according to balance of payments situations. As a result, Circular 16 will relax the limitation of our ability to provide additional funding to our PRC subsidiaries through our directly-held PRC subsidiaries in the PRC and consolidated VIEs.

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

The approval of and filing with the CSRC or other PRC government authorities may be required in connection with our future offshore offerings, capital raising activities and acquisitions or other trading arrangements of domestic enterprises conducted by China-based issuers, and also may be required to go through cybersecurity review under the new laws and the draft laws and regulations of mainland China, and, if required, we cannot predict whether or for how long we will be able to obtain such approval or complete such filing or other regulatory procedures.

On August 8, 2006, MOFCOM, joined by the CSRC, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the SAT, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and SAFE, jointly promulgated regulations entitled the Provisions Regarding Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Entities by Foreign Investors (the “M&A Rules”), which took effect as of September 8, 2006, and as amended on June 22, 2009. 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. The M&A Rules requires an overseas special purpose vehicle formed for listing purposes through acquisitions of mainland China domestic companies and controlled by mainland China companies or individuals to obtain the approval of the CSRC prior to the listing and trading of such special purpose vehicle’s securities on an overseas stock exchange. The interpretation and application of the regulations remain unclear, and our offshore offerings may ultimately require approval of the CSRC. If the CSRC approval is required, it is uncertain whether we can or how long it will take us to obtain the approval and, even if we obtain such CSRC approval, the approval could be rescinded. Any failure to obtain or delay in obtaining the CSRC approval for any of our offshore offerings, or a rescission of such approval is obtained by us, would subject us to sanctions imposed by the CSRC or other PRC regulatory authorities, which could include fines and penalties on our operations in mainland China, and other forms of sanctions that may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The new rules for the filing-based administration of overseas securities offerings and listings by Chinese domestic companies released on February 17, 2023, or New Filing Rules, establish a new filing-based regime to regulate overseas offerings and listings by domestic companies. According to the New Filing Rules, (i) an overseas offering and listing by a domestic company, whether directly or indirectly, shall be filed with the CSRC; and (ii) the issuer or its affiliated domestic company, as the case may be, shall file with the CSRC for its initial public offering, follow-on offering, issuance of convertible bonds, offshore relisting after go-private transactions and other equivalent offing activities. In addition, after a domestic company has offered and listed securities in an overseas market, it is required to file a report to the CSRC after the occurrence and public disclosure of certain material corporate events, including but not limited to, change of control and voluntary or mandatory delisting. According to the New Filing Rules, the Company shall be deemed to be a domestic enterprise indirectly listed overseas. However, from March 31, 2023, enterprises that have been listed overseas shall constitute existing enterprises and are not required to conduct the overseas listing filing procedure immediately, but shall carry out filing procedures as required if they conduct future offshore offerings or capital raising activities or are involved in other circumstances that require filing with the CSRC.

On February 24, 2023, the CSRC, together with other relevant government authorities, issued the Provisions on Strengthening Confidentiality and Archives Administration of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies, or the Archives Rules, which became effective on March 31, 2023. According to the Archives Rules, domestic mainland China companies, whether offering and listing securities overseas directly or indirectly, must strictly abide the applicable laws and regulations when providing or publicly disclosing, either directly or through their overseas listed entities, documents and materials to securities services providers such as securities companies and accounting firms or overseas regulators in the process of their overseas offering and listing. If such documents or materials contain any state secrets or government authorities work secrets, domestic companies must obtain the approval from competent governmental authorities according to the applicable laws, and file with the secrecy administrative department at the same level with the approving governmental authority. Furthermore, the Archives Rules also provides that securities companies and securities service providers shall also fulfill the applicable legal procedures when providing overseas regulatory institutions and other relevant institutions and individuals with documents or materials containing any state secrets or government authorities work secrets or other documents or materials that, if divulged, will jeopardize national security or public interest. For more details of the New Filing Rules, please refer to “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulations—Regulations Relating to Overseas Listing.”

In addition, we cannot assure you that any new rules or regulations promulgated in the future will not impose additional requirements on us. If it is determined in the future that approval and filing from the CSRC or other regulatory authorities or other procedures, are required for our offshore offerings or capital raising activities, it is uncertain whether we can or how long it will take us to obtain such approval or complete such filing procedures and any such approval or filing could be rescinded or rejected. In addition, there are uncertainties with regard to whether any report filed with the CSRC after the occurrence of certain material corporate events will be subject to any further action from the CSRC. Any failure to obtain or delay in obtaining such approval or completing such filing procedures for our offshore, offerings, capital raising activities or certain material corporate events, or a rescission of any such approval or filing if obtained by us, would subject us to sanctions by the CSRC or other PRC regulatory authorities for failure to seek CSRC approval or filing or other government authorization for our offshore offerings, capital raising activities or certain material corporate events. These regulatory authorities may impose fines and penalties on our operations in mainland China, limit our operating privileges in mainland China, delay or restrict the repatriation of the proceeds from our offshore offerings into mainland China or take other actions that could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects, as well as the trading price of our listed securities. The CSRC or other PRC regulatory authorities also may take actions requiring us, or making it advisable for us, to halt our offshore offerings or capital raising activities before settlement and delivery and further actions of the shares offered or take any actions regarding our material corporate events. Consequently, if investors engage in market trading or other activities in anticipation of and prior to settlement and delivery, they do so at the risk that settlement, delivery and further actions may not occur. In addition, if the CSRC or other regulatory authorities later promulgate new rules or explanations requiring that we obtain their approvals or accomplish the required filing or other regulatory procedures for our prior offshore offerings or capital raising activities, we may be unable to obtain a waiver of such approval requirements, if and when procedures are established to obtain such a waiver. Any uncertainties or negative publicity regarding such approval requirement could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, reputation, and the trading price of our listed securities.

Uncertainties in the PRC legal system and the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws and regulations could limit the legal protections available to you and us, significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer our ADSs, cause significant disruption to our and the consolidated VIE’s business operations, and severely damage our and the consolidated VIEs’ reputation, which would materially and adversely affect our and the consolidated VIEs’ financial condition and results of operations and cause our ADSs to significantly decline in value or become worthless. In addition, rules and regulations in China can change quickly with little advance notice, therefore, our assertions and beliefs of the risks imposed by the Chinese legal and regulatory system cannot be certain.

The PRC legal system is based on written statutes and prior court decisions have limited value as precedents. Since these laws and regulations are relatively new and the PRC legal system continues to rapidly evolve, the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules are not always uniform and enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules involves uncertainties. In addition, rules and regulations in China can change quickly with little advance notice, therefore, our assertions and beliefs of the risks imposed by the Chinese legal and regulatory system cannot be certain.

In particular, PRC laws and regulations concerning the insurance industry are developing and evolving. Although we have taken measures to comply with the laws and regulations that are applicable to our business operations, and avoid conducting any non-compliant activities under the applicable laws and regulations, such as illegal fund-raising, forming capital pool or providing guarantee to investors, the PRC government authority may promulgate new laws and regulations regulating the insurance industry in the future. We cannot assure you that our practice would not be deemed to violate any new PRC laws or regulations relating to insurance. Moreover, developments in the insurance industry may lead to changes in PRC laws, regulations and policies or in the interpretation and application of existing laws, regulations and policies that may limit or restrict insurance agency and brokerage services like us, which could materially and adversely affect our business and operations.

From time to time, we may have to resort to administrative and court proceedings to enforce our legal rights. However, since PRC administrative and court authorities have significant discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory and contractual terms, it may be more difficult to evaluate 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 in a timely manner 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 sometime after the violation. Such uncertainties, including uncertainty over the scope and effect of our contractual, property (including intellectual property) and procedural rights, could limit the legal protections available to you and us, significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer our ADSs, cause significant disruption to our and the consolidated VIEs’ business operations, and severely damage our and the consolidated VIEs’ reputation, which would materially and adversely affect our and the consolidated VIEs’ financial condition and results of operations and cause our ADSs to significantly decline in value or become worthless.

A downturn in the Chinese or global economy could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Substantially all of our business operations are conducted in China. Accordingly, our results of operations, financial condition and prospects are subject to a significant degree to economic, political and legal developments in China. While the PRC economy has experienced significant growth in the past 30 years or so, growth has been uneven across different regions and among various economic sectors. Economic growth in China has been slowing in the past few years. The PRC government has implemented various measures to encourage economic development and guide the allocation of resources. However, these measures may not be successful in transforming the Chinese economy or spurring growth. While some of these measures benefit the overall PRC economy, they may also have a negative effect on us. For example, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations that are applicable to us.

In addition, the global financial markets have experienced significant disruptions between 2008 and 2009, and the United States, Europe and other economies have experienced periods of recessions. The recovery from the economic downturns of 2008 and 2009 has been uneven and is facing new challenges, including the high inflation in the US which creates additional global economic uncertainty. There is considerable uncertainty over the long-term effects of the expansionary monetary and fiscal policies adopted by the central banks and financial authorities of some of the world’s leading economies, including the United States and China. There have also been concerns about the economic effect of the geo-political tensions in the relationship between China and the United States. Economic conditions in China are sensitive to global economic conditions. Any prolonged slowdown in the global or Chinese economy may have a negative impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Additionally, continued turbulence in the international markets may adversely affect our ability to access the capital markets to meet liquidity needs. 

Governmental control of currency conversion may affect the value of your investment.

The PRC government imposes controls on the convertibility of the RMB into foreign currencies and the remittance of currency out of China. Under existing PRC foreign exchange regulations, payments of current account items, including profit distributions, interest payments and expenditures from trade-related transactions, can be made in foreign currencies without prior approval from the SAFE by complying with certain procedural requirements. However, approval from appropriate government authorities is required where RMB is to be converted into foreign currency and remitted out of China to pay capital expenses such as the repayment of loans denominated in foreign currencies. The PRC government may also at its discretion restrict access in the future to foreign currencies for current account transactions. Under our current corporate structure, the primary source of our income at the holding company level is dividend payments from our PRC subsidiaries. Shortages in the availability of foreign currency may restrict the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to remit sufficient foreign currency to pay dividends or other payments to us, or otherwise satisfy their foreign-currency-denominated obligations. If the foreign exchange control system prevents us from obtaining sufficient foreign currency to satisfy our currency needs, we may not be able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to our shareholders, including holders of our ADSs.

The PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law may increase the enterprise income tax rate applicable to some of our PRC subsidiaries, which could have a material adverse effect on our result of operations.

According to the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law, or the EIT Law, which became effective on January 1, 2008, which was subsequently amended on February 24, 2017 and December 29, 2018, as further clarified by subsequent tax regulations implementing the EIT Law, foreign-invested enterprises and domestic enterprises are subject to enterprise income tax, or EIT, at a uniform rate of 25%, unless otherwise provided.

According to the EIT Law and related regulations, such as the Circular on Issues Regarding Tax-related Preferential Policies for Further Implementation of Western Development Strategy jointly issued by the State Ministry of Finance, General Administration of Customs, China and State Administration for Taxation, enterprises located in the western China regions that fall into the encouraged industries are entitled to 15% EIT preferential tax treatment from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2020. The preferential tax treatment is subsequently extended to December 31, 2030, according to No. 23 Announcement Concerning the Extension of the EIT Policies for Enterprises Located in Western China issued by the Ministry of Finance on April 23, 2020. The preferential tax rates enjoyed by some of our PRC subsidiaries incorporated in such regions, will increase to the uniform 25% EIT rate after 2030. An increase in the EIT rates for those entities pursuant to the EIT Law could result in an increase in our effective tax rate, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

Our global income or the dividends we receive from our PRC subsidiaries may be subject to PRC tax under the EIT Law, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Under the EIT Law, an enterprise established outside of the PRC with “de facto management bodies” within the PRC is considered a resident enterprise and will be subject to the EIT at the rate of 25% on its worldwide income. The Implementation Rules of the EIT Law, or the Implementation Rules, define the term “de facto management bodies” as “establishments that carry out substantial and overall management and control over the manufacturing and business operations, personnel, accounting, properties, etc. of an enterprise.” If we are deemed a resident enterprise, we may be subject to the EIT at 25% on our global income, except that the dividends we receive from our PRC subsidiary will be exempt from the EIT. If we are considered a resident enterprise and earn income other than dividends from our PRC subsidiaries, a 25% EIT on our global income could significantly increase our tax burden and materially and adversely affect our cash flow and profitability.

PR Rules, if we are regarded as a resident enterprise, the dividends we receive from our PRC subsidiaries will be exempt from the EIT. If, however, we are not regarded as a resident enterprise, our PRC subsidiaries will be required to pay a 5% or 10% withholding tax, as the case may be, for any dividends they pay to us. As a result, the amount of fund available to us to meet our cash requirements, including the payment of dividends to our shareholders and ADS holders, could be materially reduced.

We rely principally on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have, and any limitation on the ability of our subsidiaries to make payments to us could have a material adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business.

We are a holding company, and we will rely principally on dividends from our subsidiaries in China and service, license and other fees paid to our subsidiaries by our consolidated VIEs for our cash requirements, including any debt we may incur. Current PRC regulations permit our PRC subsidiaries to pay dividends to us only out of their accumulated profits, if any, determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. In addition, according to the PRC Company Law, each of our PRC subsidiaries is required to set aside at least 10% of its after-tax profits each year as reported in its PRC statutory financial statements, if any, to fund a statutory reserve until such reserve reaches 50% of its registered capital. In addition, each of our PRC subsidiaries that are considered foreign-invested enterprises is required to further set aside a portion of its after-tax profits as reported in its PRC statutory financial statements to fund the employee welfare fund at the discretion of its board. In addition, according to the Regulation on the Supervision of Insurance Agents, our insurance agency subsidiaries are required to either procure professional liability insurance with minimum compensation for each accident under the one-year professional liability insurance policy no less than RMB1 million, and accumulative compensation under the one-year insurance policy no less than RMB10 million and the total core business revenue of the professional insurance agency company in the previous year, or make a contribution to deposit which shall represent 5% of its registered capital. These reserves are not distributable as cash dividends.

As of December 31, 2023, the aggregate undistributed earnings of the Group’s subsidiaries and VIEs in the PRC that are available for distribution were RMB1.7 billion (US$234.4 million). Furthermore, if our subsidiaries in China incur debt on their own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other payments to us. Any limitation on the ability of our subsidiaries to distribute dividends or other payments 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.

PRC regulations relating to the establishment of offshore special purpose companies by PRC residents and employee stock options granted by overseas-listed companies may increase our administrative burden, restrict our overseas and cross-border investment activity, or otherwise adversely affect us. If our shareholders who are PRC residents, or our PRC employees who are granted or exercise stock options, fail to make any required registrations or filings under such regulations, we may be unable to distribute profits and may become subject to liability under PRC laws. We may also face regulatory uncertainties that could restrict our ability to adopt additional equity compensation plans for our directors and employees and other parties under PRC law.

On October 21, 2005, the SAFE issued a Notice on Relevant Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Administration for PRC Residents to Engage in Financing and Inbound Investment via Overseas Special Purpose Vehicles, generally known in China as SAFE Circular 75, requiring PRC residents to register with the local SAFE branch before establishing or controlling any company outside of China, referred to in the notice as an “offshore special purpose company,” for the purpose of raising capital backed by assets or equities of PRC companies. PRC residents that are shareholders of offshore special purpose companies established before November 1, 2005 were required to register with the local SAFE branch before March 31, 2006. On July 4, 2014, the SAFE issued the Notice on the Administration of Foreign Exchange Involved in Overseas Investment, Financing and Return on Investment Conducted by PRC Residents via Special-Purpose Companies, or SAFE Circular 37, simultaneously repealing SAFE Circular 75. SAFE Circular 37 also requires PRC residents to register with relevant Foreign Exchange Bureau for foreign exchange registration of overseas investment before making a contribution to a special purpose company, or SPC, with legitimate holdings of domestic or overseas assets or interests. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations on Foreign Exchange—Foreign Exchange Registration of Offshore Investment by PRC Residents.”

We have requested our beneficial owners who to our knowledge are PRC residents to make the necessary applications, filings and amendments as required under SAFE Circular 37 and other related rules. We attempt to comply, and attempt to ensure that our beneficial owners who are subject to these rules comply with the relevant requirements. However, we cannot assure you that all of our beneficial owners who are PRC residents will comply with our request to make or obtain any applicable registrations or comply with other requirements under SAFE Circular 37 or other related rules. The failure of these beneficial owners to timely amend their SAFE registrations pursuant to SAFE Circular 37 or the failure of future beneficial owners of our company who are PRC residents to comply with the registration procedures set forth in SAFE Circular 37 may subject such beneficial owners to fines and legal sanctions and may also limit our ability to contribute capital into our PRC subsidiaries, limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to distribute dividends to our company or otherwise adversely affect our business. 

On December 25, 2006, the People’s Bank of China, or the PBOC, promulgated the Measures for the Administration of Individual Foreign Exchange, and on January 5, 2007, the SAFE further promulgated implementation rules for those measures. We refer to these regulations collectively as the Individual Foreign Exchange Rules. The Individual Foreign Exchange Rules became effective on February 1, 2007. According to these regulations, PRC citizens who are granted shares or share options by a company listed on an overseas stock market according to its employee share option or share incentive plan are required, through the PRC subsidiary of such overseas listed company or any other qualified PRC agent, to register with the SAFE and to complete certain other procedures related to the share option or other share incentive plan. Foreign exchange income received from the sale of shares or dividends distributed by the overseas listed company may be remitted into a foreign currency account of such PRC citizen or be exchanged into Renminbi. Our PRC citizen employees who have been granted share options became subject to the Individual Foreign Exchange Rules upon the listing of our ADSs on the Nasdaq.

On February 15, 2012, SAFE promulgated the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Issues Related to Foreign Exchange Administration in Domestic Individuals’ Participation in Equity Incentive Plans of Companies Listed Abroad, or the No. 7 Notice, which supersedes the Operation Rules on Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in Employee Stock Holding Plan or Stock Option Plan of Overseas-Listed Company, or the Stock Option Rule, in its entirety and immediately became effective upon circulation. No. 7 Notice covers all forms of equity compensation plans including employee stock ownership plans, employee stock option plans and other equity compensation plans permitted by relevant laws and regulations. According to the No. 7 Notice, all participants of such plans who are PRC citizens shall register with and obtain approvals from SAFE prior to their participation in the equity incentive plan of an overseas listed company. Domestic individuals, which include any directors, supervisors, senior managerial personnel or other employees of a domestic company who are PRC citizens (including citizens of Hong Kong SAR, Macau and Taiwan) or foreign individuals who consecutively reside in the territory of PRC for one year, who participate in the same equity incentive plan of an overseas listed company shall, through the domestic companies they serve, collectively entrust a domestic agency to handle issues like foreign exchange registration, account opening, funds transfer and remittance, and entrust an overseas institution to handle issues like an exercise of options, purchasing and sale of related stocks or equity, and funds transfer. As an overseas publicly listed company, we and our employees who have been granted stock options or any type of equity awards may be subject to the No. 7 Notice. If we or our employees who are subject to the No. 7 Notice fail to comply with these regulations, we may be subject to fines and legal sanctions, which will depend on how the SAFE interprets, applies and enforces Circular 7. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations on Foreign Exchange—SAFE Regulations on Employee Share Options.”

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