Oriental Culture Holding (OCG) Risk Analysis

On February 17, 2023, the CSRC released the New Overseas Listing Rules, which took effect on March 31, 2023. The New Overseas Listing Rules require Chinese domestic enterprises to complete filings with relevant CSRC and report related information under certain circumstances, such as: a) an issuer making an application for initial public offering and listing in an overseas market; b) an issuer making an overseas securities offering after having been listed on an overseas market; c) a domestic company seeking an overseas direct or indirect listing of its assets through single or multiple acquisition(s), share swap, transfer of shares or other means. According to the Notice on Arrangements for Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Enterprises, published by the CSRC on February 17, 2023, a company that (i) has already completed overseas listing or (ii) has already obtained the approval for the offering or listing from overseas securities regulators or exchanges but has not completed such offering or listing before effective date of the new rules and also completes the offering or listing before September 30, 2023 are considered as an existing listed company and is not required to make any filing until it conducts a new offering in the future. Furthermore, upon the occurrence of any of the material events specified below after an issuer has completed its offering and listed its securities on an overseas stock exchange, the issuer shall submit a report thereof to the CSRC within 3 business days after the occurrence and public disclosure of the event: (i) change of control; (ii) investigations or sanctions imposed by overseas securities regulatory agencies or other competent authorities; (iii) change of listing status or transfer of listing segment; or (iv) voluntary or mandatory delisting. The New Overseas Listing Rules stipulate the legal consequences to the companies for breaches, including failure to fulfill filing obligations or filing documents having false statement or misleading information or material omissions, which may result in a fine ranging from RMB1 million to RMB10 million, and in cases of severe violations, the relevant responsible persons may also be barred from entering the securities market. Given the current PRC regulatory environment, it is uncertain when and whether we and our PRC subsidiaries or VIE will be required to obtain other permissions or approvals from the PRC government to list on U.S. exchanges in the future, and even if and when such permissions or approvals are obtained, whether they will be denied or rescinded. If we or any of our PRC subsidiaries or VIE do not receive or maintain such permissions or approvals, inadvertently conclude that such permissions or approvals are not required, or applicable laws, regulations, or interpretations change and we or our subsidiaries are required to obtain such permissions or approvals in the future, it could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer our securities to investors and cause the value of our securities to significantly decline or become worthless.

As one of the conditions for the handover of the sovereignty of Hong Kong to China, China had to accept some conditions such as Hong Kong's Basic Law before its return. The Basic Law ensured Hong Kong will retain its own currency (the Hong Kong Dollar), legal system, parliamentary system and people's rights and freedom for fifty years from 1997. This agreement has given Hong Kong the freedom to function in a high degree of autonomy. The Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong is responsible for its own domestic affairs including, but not limited to, the judiciary and courts of last resort, immigration and customs, public finance, currencies and extradition. Hong Kong continues using the English common law system. However, if the PRC reneges on its agreement to allow Hong Kong to function autonomously, this could potentially impact Hong Kong's common law legal system and may in turn bring about uncertainty in, for example, the enforcement of our contractual rights. This could, in turn, materially and adversely affect our business and operation. Additionally, intellectual property rights and confidentiality protections in Hong Kong may not be as effective as in the United States or other countries. Accordingly, we cannot predict the effect of future developments in the Hong Kong legal system, including the promulgation of new laws, changes to existing laws or the interpretation or enforcement thereof, or the preemption of local regulations by national laws. These uncertainties could limit the legal protections available to us, including our ability to enforce our agreements with our customers.

SAFE promulgated the Circular on Relevant Issues Relating to Domestic Resident's Investment and Financing and Roundtrip Investment through Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 37, in July 2014 that requires PRC residents or entities to register with SAFE or its local branch in connection with their establishment or control of an offshore entity established for the purpose of overseas investment or financing. In addition, such PRC residents or entities must update their SAFE registrations when the offshore special purpose vehicle undergoes material events relating to any change of basic information (including change of such PRC citizens or residents, name and operation term), increases or decreases in investment amount, transfers or exchanges of shares, or mergers or divisions. SAFE Circular 37 was issued to replace the Notice on Relevant Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Administration for PRC Residents Engaging in Financing and Roundtrip Investments via Overseas Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 75. SAFE promulgated the Notice on Further Simplifying and Improving the Administration of the Foreign Exchange Concerning Direct Investment in February 2015, which took effect on June 1, 2015. This notice has amended SAFE Circular 37 requiring PRC residents or entities to register with qualified banks rather than SAFE or its local branch in connection with their establishment or control of an offshore entity established for the purpose of overseas investment or financing. If our shareholders who are PRC residents or entities do not complete their registration as required, our PRC subsidiary may be prohibited from distributing its profits and proceeds from any reduction in capital, share transfer or liquidation to us, and we may be restricted in our ability to contribute additional capital to our PRC subsidiary. Moreover, failure to comply with the SAFE registration described above could result in liability under PRC laws for evasion of applicable foreign exchange restrictions. Our major shareholders and executive officers who directly or indirectly hold shares in our Company and are known to us as being PRC residents have completed the foreign exchange registrations required. However, we may not be informed of the identities of all of the PRC residents or entities holding direct or indirect interest in our Company, nor can we compel our beneficial owners to comply with SAFE registration requirements. As a result, we cannot assure you that all of our shareholders or beneficial owners who are PRC residents or entities have complied with, and will in the future make or obtain any applicable registrations or approvals required by SAFE regulations. Failure by such shareholders or beneficial owners to comply with SAFE regulations, or failure by us to amend the foreign exchange registrations of our PRC subsidiary, could subject us to fines or legal sanctions, restrict our overseas or cross-border investment activities, limit our PRC subsidiary's ability to make distributions or pay dividends to us or affect our ownership structure, which could adversely affect our business and prospects.

In February 2012, SAFE promulgated the Notices on Issues Concerning the Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in Stock Incentive Plans of Overseas Publicly-Listed Company, replacing earlier rules promulgated in March 2007. Pursuant to these rules, PRC citizens and non-PRC citizens who reside in China for a continuous period of not less than one year who participate in any stock incentive plan of an overseas publicly listed company, subject to a few exceptions, are required to register with SAFE through a domestic qualified agent, which could be the PRC subsidiary of such overseas listed company, and complete certain other procedures. In addition, an overseas entrusted institution must be retained to handle matters in connection with the exercise or sale of stock options and the purchase or sale of shares and interests. We and our executive officers and other employees who are PRC citizens or who have resided in the PRC for a continuous period of not less than one year will be subject to these regulations when they are granted options or other awards. Failure to complete the SAFE registrations may subject them to fines and legal sanctions and may also limit our ability to contribute additional capital into our PRC subsidiary and limit our PRC subsidiary's ability to distribute dividends to us. We may face other regulatory uncertainties that could restrict our ability to grant stock awards under incentive plans to our directors, executive officers and employees under PRC law. The Board of Directors of the Company approved and adopted Oriental Culture Holding LTD 2021 Omnibus Equity Plan (the "Equity Plan") on November 8, 2021, which was approved at the stockholders' meeting on December 16, 2021. The total aggregate ordinary shares of the Company authorized for issuance during the term of the Equity Plan is limited to 800,000 shares (post reverse split) and 300,000 shares have been granted to the officers of the Company as of the date of this report. Our executive officers, director and other employees who are PRC citizens or who have resided in the PRC for a continuous period of not less than one year and receive stock awards from the Company are subject to the SAFE registration requirement and have completed the registration.

Under PRC laws and regulations, we are permitted to utilize the proceeds from financings to fund our PRC subsidiary by making loans to or additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary, subject to applicable government registration and approval requirements. Any loans to our PRC subsidiary, which are treated as foreign-invested enterprises under PRC laws, are subject to PRC regulations and foreign exchange loan registrations. For example, loans by us to our PRC subsidiary to finance its activities cannot exceed statutory limits and must be registered with the local counterpart of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE. The statutory limit for the total amount of foreign debts of a foreign-invested company is the difference between the amount of total investment as approved by MOFCOM or its local counterpart and the amount of registered capital of such foreign-invested company. We may also decide to finance our PRC subsidiary by means of capital contributions. These capital contributions must be approved by MOFCOM or its local counterpart. In addition, SAFE issued a circular in September 2008, SAFE Circular 142, regulating the conversion by a foreign-invested enterprise of foreign currency registered capital into RMB by restricting how the converted RMB may be used. SAFE Circular 142 provides that the RMB capital converted from foreign currency registered capital of a foreign-invested enterprise may only be used for purposes within the business scope approved by the applicable government authority and unless otherwise provided by law, may not be used for equity investments within the PRC. Although on July 4, 2014, the SAFE issued the Circular of the SAFE on Relevant Issues Concerning the Pilot Reform in Certain Areas of the Administrative Method of the Conversion of Foreign Exchange Funds by Foreign-invested Enterprises, or SAFE Circular 36, which launched a pilot reform of the administration of the settlement of the foreign exchange capitals of foreign-invested enterprises in certain designated areas from August 4, 2014 and some of the restrictions under SAFE Circular 142 will not apply to the settlement of the foreign exchange capitals of the foreign-invested enterprises established within the designate areas and such enterprises mainly engaging in investment are allowed to use its RMB capital converted from foreign exchange capitals to make equity investments, our PRC subsidiary is not established within the designated areas. On March 30, 2015, SAFE promulgated Circular 19, to expand the reform nationwide. Circular 19 came into force and replaced both Circular 142 and Circular 36 on June 1, 2015. Circular 19 allows foreign-invested enterprises to make equity investments by using RMB funds converted from foreign exchange capital. However, Circular 19 continues to prohibit foreign-invested enterprises from, among other things, using RMB funds converted from its foreign exchange capitals for expenditure beyond its business scope, providing entrusted loans or repaying loans between non-financial enterprises. In addition, SAFE strengthened its oversight of the flow and use of the RMB capital converted from foreign currency registered capital of a foreign-invested company. The use of such RMB capital may not be altered without SAFE's approval, and such RMB capital may not in any case be used to repay RMB loans if the proceeds of such loans have not been used. Violations of these Circulars could result in severe monetary or other penalties. These circulars may significantly limit our ability to use RMB converted from securities offerings to fund the establishment of new entities in China by our PRC subsidiary, to invest in or acquire any other PRC companies through our PRC subsidiary, or to establish new variable interest entities in the PRC. In light of the various requirements imposed by PRC regulations on loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies, 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 to our PRC subsidiary or future capital contributions by us to our PRC subsidiary. If we fail to complete such registrations or obtain such approvals, our ability to use our overseas' financing 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.

There are uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of PRC laws, rules and regulations, including but not limited to the laws, rules and regulations governing the validity and enforcement of the contractual arrangements with Jiangsu Yanggu and its shareholders. Although we have been advised by our PRC counsel Tahota (Nanjing) Law Firm that based on their understanding of the current PRC laws, rules and regulations, the contractual arrangements, as well our ability to enforce our rights thereunder, comply with all applicable PRC laws, rules and regulations, and do not violate, breach, contravene or otherwise conflict with any applicable PRC laws, rules or regulations, we cannot assure you that the PRC regulatory authorities will not determine that our corporate structure and contractual arrangements violate PRC laws, rules or regulations. In addition, new PRC laws, rules and regulations may be introduced from time to time to impose additional requirements that may be applicable to our contractual arrangements. If the PRC government determines that the contractual arrangements constituting part of the VIE structure do not comply with PRC regulations, or if these regulations change or are interpreted differently in the future, the securities we are registering may decline in value or become worthless if the determinations, changes, or interpretations result in our inability to assert contractual rights over the business and assets of PRC subsidiaries or the VIE and its subsidiaries that conduct all or substantially all of our operations in China. The Chinese government has broad discretion in dealing with violations of laws and regulations, including levying fines, revoking business and other licenses and requiring actions necessary for compliance. In particular, licenses and permits issued or granted to us by relevant governmental bodies may be revoked at a later time by higher regulatory bodies. We cannot predict the effect of the interpretation of existing or new Chinese laws or regulations on our businesses. We cannot assure you that our current ownership and operating structure would not be found in violation of any current or future Chinese laws or regulations. As a result, we may be subject to sanctions, including fines, and could be required to restructure our operations or cease to provide certain services. Any of these or similar actions could significantly disrupt our business operations or restrict us from conducting a substantial portion of our business operations, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and value of our securities may decline or become worthless. We conduct our operations in China through the VIE Jiangsu Yanggu, which entered into a series of contractual arrangements by and among WFOE, the VIE and its shareholders. These contractual agreements enable us to (i) exercise contractual rights over the VIE, (ii) receive substantially all of the economic benefits of the VIE, and (iii) have an exclusive call option to purchase all or part of the equity and asset interests in the VIE when and to the extent permitted by PRC law. As a result of these contractual arrangements, we consolidate financial results of the VIE in our financial statements under U.S. GAAP. In the opinion of our PRC legal counsel Tahota Law Firm, (i) the ownership structures of the VIE and WFOE in China are not in violation of mandatory provisions of applicable PRC laws and regulations currently in effect; and (ii) the agreements under the contractual arrangements among WFOE, the VIE and its shareholders governed by PRC law are valid and binding upon each party to such agreements and enforceable against each party thereto in accordance with their terms and applicable PRC laws and regulations currently in effect. However, we have been further advised by our PRC legal counsel that there are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current or future PRC laws and regulations. If we or the VIE are determined to be in violation of any existing or future PRC laws, rules or regulations or fail to obtain or maintain any of the required governmental permits or approvals, the relevant PRC regulatory authorities would have broad discretion in dealing with such violations, including: - revoking the business and operating licenses of Jiangsu Yanggu and/or voiding the contractual arrangements;         - discontinuing or restricting the operations of Jiangsu Yanggu and its subsidiaries;- imposing conditions or requirements with which we or Jiangsu Yanggu may not be able to comply;         - requiring us to restructure the relevant ownership structure or operations;         - restricting or prohibiting our use of the proceeds from our offering to finance our business and operations in China; or         - imposing fines or other forms of economic penalties. As we do not have direct ownership of Jiangsu Yanggu, the imposition of any of these penalties may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and prospects. If occurrences of any of these events result in our inability to direct the activities of the VIE and its subsidiaries in China, and/or our failure to receive the economic benefits and residual returns from our consolidated variable interest entity, and we are not able to restructure our ownership structure and operations in a satisfactory manner, we may not be able to consolidate the financial results of the VIE in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

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. The enforcement of laws and that rules and regulations in China can change quickly with little advance notice and the risk that the Chinese government may intervene or influence our operations at any time, or may exert more control over offerings conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China- based issuers, could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our securities. On July 6, 2021, the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council jointly issued an announcement to crack down on illegal activities in the securities market and promote the high-quality development of the capital market, which, among other things, requires the relevant governmental authorities to strengthen cross-border oversight of law-enforcement and judicial cooperation, to enhance supervision over China-based companies listed overseas, and to establish and improve the system of extraterritorial application of the PRC securities laws. On February 17, 2023, China Securities Regulatory Commission ("CSRC") released Trial Administrative Measures of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies (the "New Overseas Listing Rules") with five interpretive guidelines, which took effect on March 31, 2023. The New Overseas Listing Rules require Chinese domestic enterprises to complete filings with CSRC and report related information under certain circumstances, such as: a) an issuer making an application for initial public offering and listing in an overseas market; b) an issuer making an overseas securities offering after having been listed on an overseas market; c) a domestic company seeking an overseas direct or indirect listing of its assets through single or multiple acquisition(s), share swap, transfer of shares or other means. According to the Notice on Arrangements for Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Enterprises, published by the CSRC on February 17, 2023, a company that (i) has already completed overseas listing or (ii) has already obtained the approval for the offering or listing from overseas securities regulators or exchanges but has not completed such offering or listing on or before effective date of the new rules but completed the offering or listing before September 30, 2023 will be considered as an existing listed company and is not required to make any filing until it conducts a new offering in the future. Furthermore, upon the occurrence of any of the material events specified below after an issuer has completed its offering and listed its securities on an overseas stock exchange, the issuer shall submit a report thereof to the CSRC within 3 business days after the occurrence and public disclosure of the event: (i) change of control; (ii) investigations or sanctions imposed by overseas securities regulatory agencies or other competent authorities; (iii) change of listing status or transfer of listing segment; or (iv) voluntary or mandatory delisting. The New Overseas Listing Rules stipulate the legal consequences to the companies for breaches, including failure to fulfill filing obligations or filing documents having false statement or misleading information or material omissions, which may result in administrative penalties such as order to rectify, warnings and a fine ranging from RMB1 million to RMB10 million, and in cases of severe violations, the controlling shareholders, actual controllers, the person directly in charge and other directly liable persons may also be subject to administrative penalties, such as warnings and fines and may be barred from entering the securities market. The Company and its offerings will be subject to New Overseas Listing Rules. Any actions by the Chinese government to exert more oversight and control over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China-based issuers could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of our securities to significantly decline or be worthless. On February 15, 2022, Cybersecurity Review Measures published by Cyberspace Administration of China, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of State Security, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, People's Bank of China, State Administration for Market Regulation, State Administration of Radio and Television, China Securities Regulatory Commission, State Secrecy Administration and State Cryptography Administration became effective, which provides that, Critical Information Infrastructure Operators ("CIIOs") that intend to purchase internet products and services and Online Platform Operators engaging in data processing activities that affect or may affect national security shall be subject to the cybersecurity review by the Cybersecurity Review Office. On November 14, 2021, CAC published the Administration Measures for Cyber Data Security (Draft for Public Comments), or the "Cyber Data Security Measure (Draft)", which requires cyberspace operators with personal information of more than 1 million users who want to list abroad to file a cybersecurity review with the Office of Cybersecurity Review. On April 2, 2022, the CSRC released the Provisions on Strengthening Confidentiality and Archives Administration of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies which became effective on March 31, 2023 and provides that a domestic company that seeks to offer and list its securities in a overseas market shall strictly abide by applicable PRC laws and regulations, enhance legal awareness of keeping state secrets and strengthening archives administration, institute a sound confidentiality and archives administration system, and take necessary measures to fulfill confidentiality and archives administration obligations. On July 7, 2022, CAC promulgated the Measures for the Security Assessment of Data Cross-border Transfer, effective on September 1, 2022, which requires the data processors to apply for data cross-border security assessment coordinated by the CAC under the following circumstances: (i) any data processor transfers important data to overseas; (ii) any critical information infrastructure operator or data processor who processes personal information of over 1 million people provides personal information to overseas; (iii) any data processor who provides personal information to overseas and has already provided personal information of more than 100,000 people or sensitive personal information of more than 10,000 people to overseas since January 1st of the previous year; and (iv) other circumstances under which the data cross-border transfer security assessment is required as prescribed by the CAC. On February 24, 2023, the CSRC, the Ministry of Finance, the National Administration of State Secretes Protection and the National Archives Administration released the Provisions on Strengthening the Confidentiality and Archives Administration Related to the Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies, or the Confidentiality and Archives Administration Provisions, which took effect on March 31, 2023. PRC domestic enterprises seeking to offer securities and list in overseas markets, either directly or indirectly, shall establish and improve the system of confidentiality and archives work, and shall complete approval and filing procedures with competent authorities, if such PRC domestic enterprises or their overseas listing entities provide or publicly disclose documents or materials involving state secrets and work secrets of state organs to relevant securities companies, securities service institutions, overseas regulatory agencies and other entities and individuals. It further stipulates that (i) providing or publicly disclosing documents and materials which may adversely affect national security or public interests, and accounting records or photocopies thereof to relevant securities companies, securities service institutions, overseas regulatory agencies and other entities and individuals shall be subject to corresponding procedures in accordance with relevant laws and regulations; and (ii) any working papers formed in the territory of the PRC by securities companies and securities service agencies that provide domestic enterprises with securities services relating to overseas securities issuance and listing shall be stored in the territory of the PRC, the outbound transfer of which shall be subject to corresponding procedures in accordance with relevant laws and regulations. As confirmed by our PRC counsel Tahota (Nanjing) Law Firm, we are currently not subject to cybersecurity review with the Cyberspace Administration of China ("CAC") under these new measures, because we operate our online platforms through our subsidiaries in Hong Kong which are not subject to the laws and regulations of China, and the VIE and its subsidiaries in China provide marketing, warehouse storage and technical maintenance services and they are not cyberspace operators with personal information of more than 1 million users or activities that affect or may affect national security. Nevertheless, the aforementioned measures and any related implementation rules to be enacted may subject us to additional compliance requirement in the future. We cannot rule out the possibility that the PRC government will institute a licensing regime or pre-approval requirement covering our business operations in China at some point in the future. If such a licensing regime or approval requirement were introduced, we cannot assure you that we would be able to obtain any newly required license in a timely manner, or at all, which could materially and adversely affect our business and impede our ability to continue our operations in China. From time to time, we may have to resort to administrative and court proceedings to enforce our legal rights. 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 in the PRC legal system 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 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 uncertainties over the scope and effect of our contractual, property (including intellectual property) and procedural rights, and any failure to respond to changes in the regulatory environment in China could materially and adversely affect our business and impede our ability to continue our operations.

The Chinese government has exercised and continues to exercise substantial control over virtually every sector of the Chinese economy through regulation and state ownership. Our ability to operate in China may be harmed by changes in its laws and regulations, including those relating to taxation, environmental regulations, land use rights, property and other matters. The central or local governments of these jurisdictions may impose new, stricter regulations or interpretations of existing regulations that would require additional expenditures and efforts on our part to ensure our compliance with such regulations or interpretations. Accordingly, government actions in the future, including any decision not to continue to support recent economic reforms and to return to a more centrally planned economy or regional or local variations in the implementation of economic policies, could have a significant effect on economic conditions in China or particular regions thereof, and could require us to divest ourselves of any interest we then hold in Chinese properties. As such, our business in China is subject to various government and regulatory interferences. We could be subject to regulation by various political and regulatory entities, including various local and municipal agencies and government sub-divisions. The Company may incur increased costs necessary to comply with existing and newly adopted laws and regulations or penalties for any failure to comply. Our operations could be adversely affected, directly or indirectly, by existing or future laws and regulations relating to its business or industry, which could result in a material change in our operation and the value of our securities. Furthermore, according to the newly published New Overseas Listing Rules, although we are currently not required to obtain permission from any of the PRC federal or local government and has not received any denial to list on the U.S. exchange, we are required to file with CSRC within three business days after our offerings. It is uncertain when and whether we will be required to obtain permission from the PRC government to list and trade on U.S. exchanges in the future, and even when such permission is obtained, whether it will be denied or rescinded, which could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer our securities to investors and cause the value of our securities to significantly decline or be worthless.

The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCA Act, was enacted on December 18, 2020. In accordance with the HFCA Act, trading in securities of any registrant on a national securities exchange or in the over-the-counter trading market in the United States may be prohibited if the PCAOB determines that it cannot inspect or fully investigate the registrant's auditor for three consecutive years beginning in 2021, and, as a result, an exchange may determine to delist the securities of such registrant. On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which, would amend the HFCA Act and require the SEC to prohibit an issuer's securities from trading on any U.S. stock exchanges if its auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspections for two consecutive years instead of three, thus reducing the time period before our securities may be prohibited from trading or delisted if our auditor is unable to meet the PCAOB inspection requirement. On December 29, 2022, a legislation entitled "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023" (the "Consolidated Appropriations Act"), was signed into law by President Biden. The Consolidated Appropriations Act contained, among other things, an identical provision to Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which reduces the number of consecutive non-inspection years required for triggering the prohibitions under the HFCA Act from three years to two. On November 5, 2021, the SEC adopted the PCAOB rule to implement HFCA Act, which provides a framework for the PCAOB to determine whether it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms located in a foreign jurisdiction because of a position taken by one or more authorities in that jurisdiction. On December 2, 2021, SEC adopted amendments to finalize rules implementing the submission and disclosure requirements in the HFCA Act. The rules apply to registrants the SEC identifies as having filed an annual report with an audit report issued by a registered public accounting firm that is located in a foreign jurisdiction and that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate (the "Commission-Identified Issuers"). A Commission-Identified Issuer will be required to comply with the submission and disclosure requirements in the annual report for each year in which it was identified. If a registrant is identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer based on its annual report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, the registrant will be required to comply with the submission or disclosure requirements in its annual report filing covering the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued its determinations (the "Determination") that they are unable to inspect or investigate completely PCAOB-registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and in Hong Kong. The Determination includes lists of public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely. On August 26, 2022, the PCAOB signed a Statement of Protocol with the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China governing inspections and investigations of audit firms based in China and Hong Kong.  On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB Board determined that the PCAOB was able to secure complete access to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong and voted to vacate its previous determinations to the contrary. However, should PRC authorities obstruct or otherwise fail to facilitate the PCAOB's access in the future, the PCAOB Board will consider the need to issue a new determination. The enactment of the HFCA Act and related regulations and any additional actions, proceedings, or new rules resulting from these efforts to increase U.S. regulatory access to audit information could cause investors uncertainty for affected issuers and the market price of our ordinary shares could be adversely affected, and we could be delisted if our auditor is unable to meet the PCAOB inspection requirement. The lack of access to PCAOB inspections prevents the PCAOB from fully evaluating audits and quality control procedures of the auditors based in China and Hong Kong. As a result, investors may be deprived of the benefits of such PCAOB inspections. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of auditors in China and Hong Kong makes it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of these accounting firm's audit procedures and quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of China that are subject to the PCAOB inspections. Our auditor, Wei, Wei & Co., LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm that is headquartered in the United States, as an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the PCAOB, is subject to laws in the United States pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts inspections to assess its compliance with the applicable professional standards. Our auditor has been inspected by the PCAOB on a regular basis with the last inspection in 2022 and it is not included in the PCAOB Determinations. However, we cannot assure you whether Nasdaq or regulatory authorities would apply additional and more stringent criteria to us after considering the effectiveness of our auditor's audit procedures and quality control procedures, adequacy of personnel and training, or sufficiency of resources, geographic reach, or experience as it relates to our audit. If it is later determined that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely our auditor because of a position taken by an authority in a foreign jurisdiction or any other reasons, the lack of inspection could cause the trading in our securities to be prohibited under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, and as a result Nasdaq may delist our securities. If our securities are unable to be listed on another securities exchange, such a delisting would substantially impair your ability to sell or purchase our securities when you wish to do so, and the risk and uncertainty associated with a potential delisting would have a negative impact on the price of our ordinary shares. Further, new laws and regulations or changes in laws and regulations in both the United States and China could affect our ability to list our ordinary shares on Nasdaq, which could materially impair the market for and market price for our securities.

From time to time, the Company may receive requests from certain U.S. agencies to investigate or inspect the Company's operations, or to otherwise provide information. While the Company will be compliant with these requests from these regulators, there is no guarantee that such requests will be honored by those entities who provide products or services to us or with whom we associate, especially those entities located in China. Although the authorities in China may establish a regulatory cooperation mechanism with its counterparts of another country or region to monitor and oversee cross-border securities activities, such regulatory cooperation with the securities regulatory authorities in the United States may not be efficient in the absence of a practical cooperation mechanism. Besides, according to Article 177 of the PRC Securities Law, or "Article 177," which became effective in March 2020, no overseas securities regulator is allowed to directly conduct investigations or evidence collection activities within the territory of the PRC. Article 177 further provides that Chinese entities and individuals are not allowed to provide documents or materials related to securities business activities to foreign agencies without prior consent from the securities regulatory authority of the State Council and the competent departments of the State Council. While detailed interpretation of or implementing rules under Article 177 have yet to be promulgated, the inability for an overseas securities regulator to directly conduct investigation or evidence collection activities within China may further increase difficulties faced by you in protecting your interests. Furthermore, an on-site inspection of our facilities by any of these regulators may be limited or entirely prohibited. Such inspections, though permitted by the Company and its affiliates, are subject to the unpredictability of the Chinese enforcers, and may therefore be impossible to facilitate.

On March 15, 2019, the National People's Congress, or the NPC, approved the Foreign Investment Law, which took effect on January 1, 2020 and replaced the trio of existing laws regulating foreign investment in China, namely, the Sino-foreign Equity Joint Venture Enterprise Law, the Sino-foreign Cooperative Joint Venture Enterprise Law and the Wholly Foreign-owned Enterprise Law, together with their implementation rules and ancillary regulations. The Foreign Investment Law embodies an expected PRC regulatory trend to rationalize its foreign investment regulatory regime in line with prevailing international practice and the legislative efforts to unify the corporate legal requirements for both foreign and domestic investments. However, since it is relatively new, uncertainties still exist in relation to its interpretation and implementation. For instance, under the Foreign Investment Law, "foreign investment" refers to the investment activities directly or indirectly conducted by foreign individuals, enterprises or other entities in China. Though it does not explicitly classify contractual arrangements as a form of foreign investment, there is no assurance that foreign investment through contractual arrangements would not be interpreted as a type of indirect foreign investment activity under the definition in the future. In addition, the definition contains a catch-all provision which includes investments made by foreign investors through means stipulated in laws or administrative regulations or other methods prescribed by the State Council. Therefore, it still leaves leeway for future laws, administrative regulations or provisions promulgated by the State Council to provide for contractual arrangements as a form of foreign investment. In any of these cases, it will be uncertain whether our contractual arrangements will be deemed to be in violation of the market access requirements for foreign investment under the PRC laws and regulations. In addition, the Foreign Investment Law grants national treatment to foreign invested entities, except for those foreign invested entities that operate in industries deemed to be either "restricted" or "prohibited" pursuant to the "Negative List" released by or upon approval by the State Council. Foreign investors are prohibited from making any investments in the industries which are listed as "prohibited" in the Negative List; and, after satisfying certain additional requirements and conditions as set forth in the "Negative List" (for instance, Chinese shareholders are required to control or hold a certain percentage of equity interest in a foreign invested enterprise), are allowed to make investments in industries which are listed as "restricted" in the Negative List. For any foreign investor that fails to comply with the Negative List, the competent authorities can ban its investment activities, require such investor to take measures to correct its non-compliance activities and impose other penalties. Though the business we conduct through the variable interest entity is not within the category in which foreign investment is currently restricted or prohibited under the Negative List or other PRC Laws, we expect that in the future Jiangsu Yanggu might engage restricted business listed on the Negative List. In the event any of our future business and operations carried out through the VIE are treated as a foreign investment and are classified in the "restricted" or "prohibited" industry in the "Negative List" under the Foreign Investment Law, and such contractual arrangements are deemed as invalid and illegal, we may have to unwind such contractual arrangements and/or dispose of such business, which could materially and adversely affect our business and impede our ability to continue our operations.

Our business is subject to governmental supervision and regulation by the relevant PRC governmental authorities. Together, these government authorities promulgate and enforce regulations that cover many aspects of the collectibles and artwork trading and related services exchange platform. As a result, in certain circumstances it may be difficult to determine what actions or omissions may be deemed to be in violation of applicable laws and regulations. We have obtained all of the applicable licenses and permits for our current business in China. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain any new permits or licenses required for conducting our business in China or will be able to maintain our existing licenses. If the PRC government determines that we are operating without the proper approvals, licenses or permits or promulgates new laws and regulations that require additional approvals or licenses or imposes additional restrictions on the operation of any part of our business, it has the power, among other things, to levy fines, confiscate our income, revoke our business licenses, and require us to discontinue the relevant parts of our business or to impose restrictions on the affected portion of our business. Any of these actions by the PRC government may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.