Public companies are required to disclose risks that can affect the business and impact the stock. These disclosures are known as “Risk Factors”. Companies disclose these risks in their yearly (Form 10-K), quarterly earnings (Form 10-Q), or “foreign private issuer” reports (Form 20-F). Risk factors show the challenges a company faces. Investors can consider the worst-case scenarios before making an investment. TipRanks’ Risk Analysis categorizes risks based on proprietary classification algorithms and machine learning.

Yunji disclosed 93 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Yunji reported the most risks in the “Finance & Corporate” category.

Risk Overview Q4, 2019

Risk Distribution

37% Finance & Corporate

23% Legal & Regulatory

15% Production

10% Tech & Innovation

9% Ability to Sell

8% Macro & Political

Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy

This chart displays the stock's most recent risk distribution according to category. TipRanks has identified 6 major categories: Finance & corporate, legal & regulatory, macro & political, production, tech & innovation, and ability to sell.

Risk Change Over Time

S&P500 Average

Sector Average

Risks removed

Risks added

Risks changed

Yunji Risk Factors

New Risk (0)

Risk Changed (0)

Risk Removed (0)

No changes from previous report

The chart shows the number of risks a company has disclosed. You can compare this to the sector average or S&P 500 average.

The quarters shown in the chart are according to the calendar year (January to December). Businesses set their own financial calendar, known as a fiscal year. For example, Walmart ends their financial year at the end of January to accommodate the holiday season.

Risk Highlights Q4, 2019

Main Risk Category

Finance & Corporate

With 34 Risks

Finance & Corporate

With 34 Risks

Number of Disclosed Risks

S&P 500 Average: 31

Recent Changes

0Risks added

0Risks removed

0Risks changed

Since Dec 2019

0Risks added

0Risks removed

0Risks changed

Since Dec 2019

Number of Risk Changed

S&P 500 Average: 2

See the risk highlights of Yunji in the last period.

Risk Word Cloud

The most common phrases about risk factors from the most recent report. Larger texts indicate more widely used phrases.

Risk Factors Full Breakdown - Total Risks 93

Finance & Corporate

Total Risks: 34/93 (37%)Above Sector Average

Share Price & Shareholder Rights21 | 22.6%

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 1

The shareholders of our VIEs may have potential conflicts of interest with us, which may materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition.

The shareholders of our VIEs may have potential conflicts of interest with us. For example, Mr. Shanglue Xiao and Mr. Huan Hao are the shareholders of Yunji Preferred, one of our VIEs. Mr. Shanglue Xiao is the chairman of our board of directors and our chief executive officer and Mr. Huan Hao is a beneficial owner of shares of our company. The shareholders may breach, or cause our VIEs to breach, or refuse to renew, the existing contractual arrangements we have with them and our VIEs, which would have a material and adverse effect on our ability to effectively control our VIEs and receive substantially all the economic benefits from them. For example, the shareholders may be able to cause our agreements with our VIEs to be performed in a manner adverse to us by, among other things, failing to remit payments due under the contractual arrangements to us on a timely basis. We cannot assure you that when conflicts of interest arise, any or all of these shareholders will act in the best interests of our company or such conflicts will be resolved in our favor. Currently, we do not have any arrangements to address potential conflicts of interest between these shareholders and our company, except that we could exercise our purchase option under the exclusive option agreements with these shareholders to request them to transfer all of their equity interests in the VIEs to a PRC entity or individual designated by us, to the extent permitted by PRC law. For individuals who are also our directors and officers, we rely on them to abide by the laws of the Cayman Islands, which provide that directors and officers owe a fiduciary duty to the company that requires them to act in good faith and in what they believe to be the best interests of the company and not to use their position for personal gains. The shareholders of our VIEs have executed shareholders' voting rights proxy agreement to appoint our WFOE or a person designated by our WFOE to vote on their behalf and exercise voting rights as shareholders of our VIEs. If we cannot resolve any conflict of interest or dispute between us and the shareholders of our VIEs, we would have to rely on legal proceedings, which could result in disruption of our business and subject us to substantial uncertainty as to the outcome of any such legal proceedings. The shareholders of our VIEs may be involved in personal disputes with third parties or other incidents that may have an adverse effect on their respective equity interests in the relevant VIEs and the validity or enforceability of our contractual arrangements with the relevant entity and its shareholders. For example, in the event that any of the shareholders of our VIEs divorces his or her spouse, the spouse may claim that the equity interest of the relevant VIE held by such shareholder is part of their community property and should be divided between such shareholder and his or her spouse. If such claim is supported by the court, the relevant equity interest may be obtained by the shareholder's spouse or another third party who is not subject to obligations under our contractual arrangements, which could result in a loss of the effective control over the relevant VIE by us. Similarly, if any of the equity interests of our VIEs is inherited by a third party with whom the current contractual arrangements are not binding, we could lose our control over the relevant VIE or have to maintain such control by incurring unpredictable costs, which could cause significant disruption to our business and operations and harm our financial condition and results of operations. Although under our current contractual arrangements, (i) each of the spouses of Mr. Shanglue Xiao and Mr. Huan Hao has respectively executed a spousal consent letter, under which each spouse agrees that she will not raise any claims against the equity interest, and will take every action to ensure the performance of the contractual arrangements, and (ii) the VIEs and the their shareholders shall not assign any of their respective rights or obligations to any third party without the prior written consent of our WFOE, we cannot assure you that these undertakings and arrangements will be complied with or effectively enforced. In the case any of them is breached or becomes unenforceable and leads to legal proceedings, it could disrupt our business, distract our management's attention and subject us to substantial uncertainties as to the outcome of any such legal proceedings.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 2

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

If our VIEs or their respective shareholders fail to perform their respective obligations under the contractual arrangements, we may have to incur substantial costs and expend additional resources to enforce such arrangements. We may also have to rely on legal remedies under PRC law, including seeking specific performance or injunctive relief, and claiming damages, which we cannot assure you will be effective. For example, if the shareholders of our VIEs were to refuse to transfer their equity interest in our VIEs to us or our designee when we exercise the purchase option pursuant to these contractual arrangements, or if they were otherwise to act in bad faith toward us, we may have to take legal actions to compel them to perform their contractual obligations. All of the agreements under our contractual arrangements are governed by PRC law and provide for the resolution of disputes through arbitration in China. Accordingly, these contracts would be interpreted in accordance with PRC law and any disputes would be resolved in accordance with PRC legal procedures. The legal system in China 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. See "Item 3. Key Information-D. Risk Factors-Risks Related to Doing Business in China-Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system and changes in laws and regulations in China could adversely affect us." 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 law, and as a result it may be difficult to predict how an arbitration panel would view such contractual arrangements. Additionally, under PRC law, rulings by arbitrators are final, parties cannot appeal the arbitration results in courts, and if the losing parties fail to carry out the arbitration awards within a prescribed time limit, the prevailing parties may only enforce the arbitration awards in PRC courts through arbitration award recognition proceedings, which would require additional expenses and delay. Jishang Preferred, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yunji Preferred, one of our VIEs, holds our VATS License for online data processing and transaction processing business (operating e-commerce, excluding internet finance and e-hailing services) and internet content-related services (excluding information search and inquiry services and real-time interactive information services). In the event we are unable to enforce our contractual arrangements, we may not be able to exert effective control over Yunji Preferred, and our ability to conduct these businesses may be negatively affected.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 3

Proceedings instituted by the SEC against PRC affiliates of the "big four" accounting firms, including our independent registered public accounting firm, could result in financial statements being determined to not be in compliance with the requirements of the Exchange Act.

Starting in 2011, the PRC affiliates of the "big four" accounting firms, including our independent registered public accounting firm, were affected by a conflict between U.S. and PRC law. Specifically, for certain U.S.-listed companies operating and audited in mainland China, the SEC and the PCAOB sought to obtain from the PRC firms access to their audit work papers and related documents. The firms were, however, advised and directed that under PRC law, they could not respond directly to the U.S. regulators on those requests, and that requests by foreign regulators for access to such papers in China had to be channeled through the CSRC. In late 2012, this impasse led the SEC to commence administrative proceedings under Rule 102(e) of its Rules of Practice and also under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 against the PRC accounting firms, including our independent registered public accounting firm. A first instance trial of the proceedings in July 2013 in the SEC's internal administrative court resulted in an adverse judgment against the firms. The administrative law judge proposed penalties on the firms including a temporary suspension of their right to practice before the SEC, although that proposed penalty did not take effect pending review by the Commissioners of the SEC. On February 6, 2015, before a review by the Commissioner had taken place, the firms reached a settlement with the SEC. Under the settlement, the SEC accepted that future requests by the SEC for the production of documents will normally be made to the CSRC. The firms were to receive matching Section 106 requests, and are required to abide by a detailed set of procedures with respect to such requests, which in substance require them to facilitate production via the CSRC. If they failed to meet specified criteria, during a period of four years starting from the settlement date, the SEC retained authority to impose a variety of additional remedial measures on the firms depending on the nature of the failure. Under the terms of the settlement, the underlying proceeding against the four PRC-based accounting firms was deemed dismissed with prejudice four years after entry of the settlement. The four-year mark occurred on February 6, 2019. It is uncertain whether the SEC will further challenge the four PRC-based accounting firms' compliance with U.S. laws in connection with U.S. regulatory requests for audit work papers or if the results of such challenge would result in the SEC imposing penalties such as suspensions. If additional remedial measures are imposed on the Chinese affiliates of the "big four" accounting firms, including our independent registered public accounting firm, we could be unable to timely file future financial statements in compliance with the requirements of the Exchange Act. In the event the Chinese affiliates of the "big four" become subject to additional legal challenges by the SEC or PCAOB, depending upon the final outcome, listed companies in the United States with major PRC operations may find it difficult or impossible to retain auditors in respect of their operations in China, which could result in financial statements being determined to not be in compliance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, including possible delisting. Moreover, any negative news about any such future proceedings against these audit firms may cause investor uncertainty regarding China-based, U.S.-listed companies and the market price of our common stock may be adversely affected. If our independent registered public accounting firm was denied, even temporarily, the ability to practice before the SEC and we were unable to timely find another registered public accounting firm to audit and issue an opinion on our financial statements, our financial statements could be determined not to be in compliance with the requirements of the Exchange Act. Such a determination could ultimately lead to the delisting of our ADSs from the Nasdaq Global Market or deregistration from the SEC, or both, which would substantially reduce or effectively terminate the trading of our ADSs in the United States.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 4

The audit report included in this annual report is prepared by an auditor who is not inspected by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and, as such, you are deprived of the benefits of such inspection.

Our independent registered public accounting firm that issues the audit report included in our annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB, is subject to the laws in the United States pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess its compliance with applicable professional standards. Because our auditors are located in China, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB has been unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the PRC authorities, our auditors are not currently inspected by the PCAOB. In May 2013, PCAOB announced that it had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on Enforcement Cooperation with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, or the CSRC, and the PRC Ministry of Finance, which establishes a cooperative framework between the parties for the production and exchange of audit documents relevant to investigations undertaken by PCAOB, the CSRC or the PRC Ministry of Finance in the United States and the PRC, respectively. PCAOB continues to be in discussions with CSRC and the PRC Ministry of Finance to permit joint inspections in the PRC of audit firms that are registered with PCAOB and audit PRC companies that are listed on U.S. securities exchanges. On December 7, 2018, the SEC and the PCAOB issued a joint statement highlighting continued challenges faced by the U.S. regulators in their oversight of financial statement audits of U.S.-listed companies with significant operations in China. On April 21, 2020, the SEC and the PCAOB issued another joint statement reiterating the greater risk that disclosures will be insufficient in many emerging markets, including China, compared to those made by U.S. domestic companies. In discussing the specific issues related to the greater risk, the statement again highlights the PCAOB's inability to inspect audit work paper and practices of accounting firms in China, with respect to their audit work of U.S. reporting companies. The joint statements reflect a heightened interest in an issue that has vexed U.S. regulators in recent years. However, it remains unclear what further actions, if any, the SEC and PCAOB will take to address the problem. Inspections of other firms that the PCAOB has conducted outside of China have identified deficiencies in those firms' audit procedures and quality control procedures, which may be addressed as part of the inspection process to improve future audit quality. The lack of PCAOB inspections in China prevents the PCAOB from regularly evaluating our auditors' audits and its quality control procedures. As a result, investors may be deprived of the benefits of PCAOB inspections. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of auditors in China makes it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our auditors' audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of China that are subject to PCAOB inspections. Investors may lose confidence in our reported financial information and procedures and the quality of our financial statements. As part of a continued regulatory focus in the United States on access to audit and other information currently protected by national law, in particular China's, in June 2019, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced bills in both houses of the U.S. Congress, which if passed, would require the SEC to maintain a list of issuers for which PCAOB is not able to inspect or investigate an auditor report issued by a foreign public accounting firm. The proposed Ensuring Quality Information and Transparency for Abroad-Based Listings on our Exchanges (EQUITABLE) Act prescribes increased disclosure requirements for these issuers and, beginning in 2025, the delisting from U.S. national securities exchanges of issuers included on the SEC's list for three consecutive years. Enactment of this legislation or other efforts to increase U.S. regulatory access to audit information could cause investor uncertainty for affected issuers, including us, and the market price of our ADSs could be adversely affected. It is unclear if this proposed legislation would be enacted. Furthermore, there has been recent media reports on deliberations within the U.S. government regarding potentially limiting or restricting China-based companies from accessing U.S. capital markets. If any such deliberations were to materialize, the resulting legislation may have material and adverse impact on the stock performance of China-based issuers listed in the United States.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 5

We and certain of our directors and officers have been named as defendants in putative shareholder class action lawsuits, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operation, cash flows and reputation.

We will have to defend against putative shareholder class action lawsuits described in "Item 8. Financial Information-A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information-Legal Proceedings," including any appeals of such lawsuits should our initial defenses be unsuccessful. We are currently unable to estimate the possible outcome or loss or possible range of loss, if any, associated with the resolution of these lawsuits. In the event that our initial defenses of these lawsuits are unsuccessful, there can be no assurance that we will prevail in any appeal. Any adverse outcome of these cases, including any plaintiff's appeal of a judgment in these lawsuits, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operation, cash flows and reputation. In addition, there can be no assurance that our insurance carriers will cover all or part of the defense costs, or any liabilities that may arise from these matters. The litigation process may utilize a significant portion of our resources and divert management's attention from the day-to-day operations of our company, all of which could harm our business. We also may be subject to claims for indemnification related to these matters, and we cannot predict the impact that indemnification claims may have on our business or financial results.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 6

We have granted, and may continue to grant, options and other types of awards under our share incentive plan, which may result in increased share-based compensation expenses.

We adopted a share incentive plan in 2017, which was amended and restated in its entirety in March 2019 and referred to as the 2019 Plan in this annual report, for the purpose of granting share-based compensation awards to employees, directors, officers, consultants and other personnel to incentivize their performance and align their interests with ours. We recognize expenses in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Under the 2019 Plan, we are authorized to grant options, restricted shares, restricted share units and other types of awards. As of February 29, 2020, the awards that had been granted to our directors, officers, employees, consultants and other personnel and remained outstanding included (i) 85,897,600 restricted share units, excluding restricted share units that were forfeited, cancelled, or vested after the relevant grant date, and (ii) options to purchase an aggregate of 92,682,510 Class A ordinary shares, excluding options that were forfeited, cancelled, or exercised after the relevant grant date. In particular, on May 3, 2019, we were authorized by our board of directors to grant stock options and restricted share units to non-employees under the 2019 Plan, and granted options to purchase an aggregate of 10,409,050 Class A ordinary shares and 3,332,040 restricted share units to non-employees by batches during the year ended December 31, 2019. See "Item 6. Directors, Senior Management and Employees-B. Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers-2019 Share Incentive Plan." We believe the granting of share-based compensation is of significant importance to our ability to attract and retain key personnel and employees, and we will continue to grant share-based compensation to employees in the future. As a result, our expenses associated with share-based compensation may increase, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations. We may re-evaluate the vesting schedules, lock-up period, exercise price or other key terms applicable to the grants under our currently effective share incentive plans from time to time. If we choose to do so, we may experience substantial change in our share-based compensation charges in the reporting periods.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 7

We are a "controlled company" within the meaning of the Nasdaq Stock Market Rules and, as a result, may rely on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements that provide protection to shareholders of other companies.

We are a "controlled company" as defined under the Nasdaq Stock Market Rules because Mr. Shanglue Xiao, the chairman of our board of directors and our chief executive officer, will own more than 50% of our total voting power. For so long as we remain a controlled company under that definition, we are permitted to elect to rely, and may rely, on certain exemptions from corporate governance rules, including an exemption from the rule that a majority of our board of directors must be independent directors or that we have to establish a nominating committee and a compensation committee composed entirely of independent directors. As a result, you will not have the same protection afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to these corporate governance requirements.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 8

As an exempted company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, we are permitted to adopt certain home country practices in relation to corporate governance matters that differ significantly from Nasdaq's corporate governance requirements; these practices may afford less protection to shareholders than they would enjoy if we complied fully with Nasdaq's corporate governance requirements.

As a Cayman Islands company listed on the Nasdaq Global Market, we are subject to Nasdaq's corporate governance requirements. However, Nasdaq rules permit a foreign private issuer like us to follow the corporate governance practices of its home country. Certain corporate governance practices in the Cayman Islands, which is our home country, may differ significantly from Nasdaq's corporate governance requirements. For example, neither the Companies Law of the Cayman Islands nor our memorandum and articles of association requires a majority of our directors to be independent and we could include non-independent directors as members of our compensation committee and nominating committee, and our independent directors would not necessarily hold regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present. We intend to rely on home country practice to be exempted from the corporate governance requirement that we have a majority of independent directors on our board of directors. As a result of this and other home country practice we may follow in the future, our shareholders may be afforded less protection than they otherwise would under Nasdaq's corporate governance requirements applicable to U.S. domestic issuers.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 9

We are a foreign private issuer within the meaning of the rules under the Exchange Act, and as such we are exempt from certain provisions applicable to U.S. domestic public companies.

Because we qualify as a foreign private issuer under the Exchange Act, we are exempt from certain provisions of the securities rules and regulations in the United States that are applicable to U.S. domestic issuers, including: - the rules under the Exchange Act requiring the filing with the SEC of quarterly reports on Form 10-Q or current reports on Form 8-K;- the sections of the Exchange Act regulating the solicitation of proxies, consents, or authorizations in respect of a security registered under the Exchange Act;- the sections of the Exchange Act requiring insiders to file public reports of their stock ownership and trading activities and liability for insiders who profit from trades made in a short period of time; and - the selective disclosure rules by issuers of material nonpublic information under Regulation FD. We will be required to file an annual report on Form 20-F within four months of the end of each fiscal year. In addition, we intend to publish our results on a quarterly basis as press releases, distributed pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Nasdaq Stock Market. Press releases relating to financial results and material events will also be furnished to the SEC on Form 6-K. However, the information we are required to file with or furnish to the SEC will be less extensive and less timely compared to that required to be filed with the SEC by U.S. domestic issuers. As a result, you may not be afforded the same protections or information that would be made available to you were you investing in a U.S. domestic issuer.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 10

Our memorandum and articles of association contain anti-takeover provisions that could discourage a third party from acquiring us and adversely affect the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares and the ADSs.

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

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 11

You may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through U.S. courts may be limited, because we are incorporated under Cayman Islands law.

We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands with limited liability. Our corporate affairs are governed by our memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Law (2020 Revision) of the Cayman Islands and the common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of shareholders to take action against our directors, actions by our minority shareholders and the fiduciary duties of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from the common law of England, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding, on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary duties of our directors under Cayman Islands law are not as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a less developed body of securities laws than the United States. Some U.S. states, such as Delaware, have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law than the Cayman Islands. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholder derivative action in a federal court of the United States. Shareholders of Cayman Islands exempted companies like us have no general rights under Cayman Islands law to inspect corporate records or to obtain copies of lists of shareholders of these companies. Our directors have discretion under our memorandum and articles of association to determine whether or not, and under what conditions, our corporate records may be inspected by our shareholders, but are not obliged to make them available to our shareholders. This may make it more difficult for you to obtain the information needed to establish any facts necessary for a shareholder motion or to solicit proxies from other shareholders in connection with a proxy contest. As a result of all of the above, our public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a company incorporated in the United States.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 12

ADSs holders may not be entitled to a jury trial with respect to claims arising under the deposit agreement, which could result in less favorable outcomes to the plaintiff(s) in any such action.

The deposit agreement governing the ADSs representing our Class A ordinary shares provides that, subject to the depositary's right to require a claim to be submitted to arbitration, the federal or state courts in the City of New York have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine claims arising under the deposit agreement and in that regard, to the fullest extent permitted by law, ADS holders waive the right to a jury trial of any claim they may have against us or the depositary arising out of or relating to our shares, the ADSs or the deposit agreement, including any claim under the U.S. federal securities laws. If we or the depositary opposed a jury trial demand based on the waiver, the court would determine whether the waiver was enforceable based on the facts and circumstances of that case in accordance with the applicable U.S. state and federal law. To our knowledge, the enforceability of a contractual pre-dispute jury trial waiver in connection with claims arising under the U.S. federal securities laws has not been finally adjudicated by the United States Supreme Court. However, we believe that a contractual pre-dispute jury trial waiver provision is generally enforceable, including under the laws of the State of New York, which govern the deposit agreement. In determining whether to enforce a contractual pre-dispute jury trial waiver provision, courts will generally consider whether a party knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily waived the right to a jury trial. We believe that this is the case with respect to the deposit agreement and the ADSs. It is advisable that you consult legal counsel regarding the jury waiver provision before investing in the ADSs. If you or any other holders or beneficial owners of ADSs bring a claim against us or the depositary in connection with matters arising under the deposit agreement or the ADSs, including claims under U.S. federal securities laws, you or such other holder or beneficial owner may not be entitled to a jury trial with respect to such claims, which may have the effect of limiting and discouraging lawsuits against us and/or the depositary. If a lawsuit is brought against us and/or the depositary under the deposit agreement, it may be heard only by a judge or justice of the applicable trial court, which would be conducted according to different civil procedures and may result in different outcomes than a trial by jury would have had, including results that could be less favorable to the plaintiff(s) in any such action. Nevertheless, if this jury trial waiver provision is not enforced, to the extent a court action proceeds, it would proceed under the terms of the deposit agreement with a jury trial. No condition, stipulation or provision of the deposit agreement or ADSs serves as a waiver by any holder or beneficial owner of ADSs or by us or the depositary of compliance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 13

Your rights to pursue claims against the depositary as a holder of ADSs are limited by the terms of the deposit agreement.

Under the deposit agreement, any action or proceeding against or involving the depositary, arising out of or based upon the deposit agreement or the transactions contemplated thereby or by virtue of owning the ADSs may only be instituted in a state or federal court in New York, New York, and you, as a holder of our ADSs, will have irrevocably waived any objection which you may have to the laying of venue of any such proceeding, and irrevocably submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of such courts in any such action or proceeding. The depositary may, in its sole discretion, require that any dispute or difference arising from the relationship created by the deposit agreement be referred to and finally settled by an arbitration conducted under the terms described in the deposit agreement, which may include claims arising under the federal securities laws, although the arbitration provisions of the deposit agreement do not preclude you from pursuing claims under the U.S. federal securities laws in federal courts. No condition, stipulation or provision of the deposit agreement or ADSs serves as a waiver by any holder or beneficial owner of ADSs or by us or the depositary of compliance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. The state and federal courts sitting in New York generally respect the contractual decision of the parties to submit their disputes to arbitration and such arbitration provisions are generally enforceable under federal law and the laws of the State of New York, subject to certain exceptions, such as corruption, fraud or undue means. Therefore, we believe that the arbitration provision in the deposit agreement is enforceable under federal law and the laws of the State of New York.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 14

Certain judgments obtained against us by our shareholders may not be enforceable.

We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. We conduct our operations in China and substantially all of our assets are located in China. In addition, our directors and executive officers, and some of the experts named in this annual report, reside within China, and most of the assets of these persons are located within China. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for you to bring an action against us or against these individuals in the United States in the event that you believe that your rights have been infringed under the U.S. federal securities laws or otherwise. Even if you are successful in bringing an action of this kind, the laws of the Cayman Islands and of the PRC may render you unable to enforce a judgment against our assets or the assets of our directors and officers.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 15

The voting rights of holders of ADSs are limited by the terms of the deposit agreement, and you may not be able to exercise the same rights as our shareholders.

Holders of ADSs do not have the same rights as our registered shareholders. As a holder of our ADSs, you will not have any direct right to attend general meetings of our shareholders or to cast any votes at such meetings. As an ADS holder, you will only be able to exercise the voting rights carried by the underlying Class A ordinary shares indirectly by giving voting instructions to the depositary in accordance with the provisions of the deposit agreement. Under the deposit agreement, you may vote only by giving voting instructions to the depositary. Upon receipt of your voting instructions, the depositary will try, as far as is practicable, to vote the Class A ordinary shares underlying your ADSs in accordance with your instructions. If we ask for your instructions, then upon receipt of your voting instructions, the depositary will try to vote the underlying Class A ordinary shares in accordance with these instructions. If we do not instruct the depositary to ask for your instructions, the depositary may still vote in accordance with instructions you give, but it is not required to do so. You will not be able to directly exercise your right to vote with respect to the underlying Class A ordinary shares unless you withdraw the shares, and become the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date for the general meeting. When a general meeting is convened, you may not receive sufficient advance notice of the meeting to withdraw the shares underlying your ADSs and become the registered holder of such shares to allow you to attend the general meeting and to vote directly with respect to any specific matter or resolution to be considered and voted upon at the general meeting. In addition, under our memorandum and articles of association, for the purposes of determining those shareholders who are entitled to attend and vote at any general meeting, our directors may close our register of members and/or fix in advance a record date for such meeting, and such closure of our register of members or the setting of such a record date may prevent you from withdrawing the Class A ordinary shares underlying your ADSs and becoming the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date, so that you would not be able to attend the general meeting or to vote directly. If we ask for your instructions, the depositary will notify you of the upcoming vote and will arrange to deliver our voting materials to you. We have agreed to give the depositary notice of shareholder meetings sufficiently in advance of such meetings. Nevertheless, we cannot assure you that you will receive the voting materials in time to ensure that you can instruct the depositary to vote the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by your ADSs. In addition, the depositary and its agents are not responsible for failing to carry out voting instructions or for their manner of carrying out your voting instructions. This means that you may not be able to exercise your right to direct how the shares underlying your ADSs are voted and you may have no legal remedy if the shares underlying your ADSs are not voted as you requested. In addition, in your capacity as an ADS holder, you will not be able to call a shareholders' meeting. Except in limited circumstances, the depositary for our ADSs will give us a discretionary proxy to vote the Class A ordinary shares underlying your ADSs if you do not vote at shareholders' meetings, which could adversely affect your interests. Under the deposit agreement for the ADSs, if you do not vote, the depositary will give us a discretionary proxy to vote the Class A ordinary shares underlying your ADSs at shareholders' meetings unless: - we have instructed the depositary that we do not wish a discretionary proxy to be given;- we have informed the depositary that there is substantial opposition as to a matter to be voted on at the meeting;- a matter to be voted on at the meeting would have a material adverse impact on shareholders; or - the voting at the meeting is to be made on a show of hands. The effect of this discretionary proxy is that you cannot prevent our Class A ordinary shares underlying your ADSs from being voted, except under the circumstances described above. This may make it more difficult for shareholders to influence the management of our company. Holders of our Class A ordinary shares are not subject to this discretionary proxy.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 16

The dual-class structure of our ordinary shares may adversely affect the trading market for the ADSs.

S&P Dow Jones and FTSE Russell have previously announced changes to their eligibility criteria for inclusion of shares of public companies on certain indices, including the S&P 500, to exclude companies with multiple classes of shares and companies whose public shareholders hold no more than 5% of total voting power from being added to such indices. In addition, several shareholder advisory firms have announced their opposition to the use of multiple class structures. As a result, the dual class structure of our ordinary shares may prevent the inclusion of the ADSs representing our Class A ordinary shares in such indices and may cause shareholder advisory firms to publish negative commentary about our corporate governance practices or otherwise seek to cause us to change our capital structure. Any such exclusion from indices could result in a less active trading market for the ADSs representing our Class A ordinary shares. Any actions or publications by shareholder advisory firms critical of our corporate governance practices or capital structure could also adversely affect the value of the ADSs.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 17

Our dual-class voting structure will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could discourage others from pursuing any change of control transactions that holders of our Class A ordinary shares and the ADSs may view as beneficial.

We have a dual-class ordinary share structure. Our ordinary shares will be divided into Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Holders of Class A ordinary shares will be entitled to one vote per share, while holders of Class B ordinary shares will be entitled to ten votes per share. Each Class B ordinary share is convertible into one Class A ordinary share at any time by the holder thereof, while Class A ordinary shares are not convertible into Class B ordinary shares under any circumstances. Upon any transfer of Class B ordinary shares by a holder thereof to any person or entity that is not an affiliate of such holder, such Class B ordinary shares shall be automatically and immediately converted into the equal number of Class A ordinary shares. As of February 29, 2020, the chairman of our board of directors and our chief executive officer, Mr. Shanglue Xiao, beneficially own an aggregate of 949,960,000 Class B ordinary shares, which represent 89.0% of our total voting power. Therefore, Mr. Shanglue Xiao have decisive influence over matters requiring shareholders' approval, including election of directors and significant corporate transactions, such as a merger or sale of our company or our assets. This concentrated control will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could discourage others from pursuing any potential merger, takeover or other change of control transactions that holders of our Class A ordinary shares and the ADSs may view as beneficial.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 18

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, or if they adversely change their recommendations regarding our ADSs, the market price for our ADSs and trading volume could decline.

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

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 19

We cannot guarantee that any share repurchase program will be fully consummated or that any share repurchase program will enhance long-term shareholder value, and share repurchases could increase the volatility of the price of our ADSs and could diminish our cash reserves.

On August 28, 2019, our board of directors authorized a share repurchase program to repurchase up to US$20 million of our ADSs over the following six months through February 28, 2020. The share repurchase program, authorized by our board of directors, does not obligate us to repurchase any specific dollar amount or to acquire any specific number of ADSs. The share repurchase program could affect the price of our ADSs and increase volatility and may be suspended or terminated at any time, which may result in a decrease in the trading price of our ADSs. We accumulatively repurchased approximately US$20 million of ADSs under the share repurchase program and closed the share repurchase program in January 2020.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 20

The concentration of our share ownership among executive officers, directors, and principal shareholders and their affiliated entities will likely limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could discourage others from pursuing any change of control transaction that holders of our ordinary shares and ADSs may view as beneficial.

As of February 29, 2020, our executive officers, directors, and principal shareholders and their affiliated entities together beneficially own approximately 87.7% of our total outstanding ordinary shares. As a result of the concentration of ownership, these shareholders will have considerable influence over matters such as decisions regarding mergers, consolidations and the sale of all or substantially all of our assets, election of directors and other significant corporate actions. Such shareholders may take actions that are not in the best interest of us or our other shareholders. This concentration of ownership may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company, which could have the effect of depriving our other shareholders of the opportunity to receive a premium for their shares as part of a sale of our company and may reduce the price of our ADSs. This concentrated control will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could discourage others from pursuing any potential merger, takeover or other change of control transactions that holders of our ordinary shares and ADSs may view as beneficial.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 21

The trading price of our ADSs may be volatile, which could result in substantial losses to you.

Since our ADSs became listed on the Nasdaq Global Market on May 3, 2019, the trading price of our ADSs has ranged from US$3.80 to US$18.20 per ADS in 2019. The trading prices of our ADSs is likely to be volatile and could fluctuate widely due to factors beyond our control. This may happen because of broad market and industry factors, like the performance and fluctuation in the market prices or the underperformance or deteriorating financial results of other listed companies based in China. The securities of some of these companies have experienced significant volatility since their initial public offerings, including, in some cases, substantial price declines in the trading prices of their securities. The trading performances of other PRC companies' securities after their offerings, including internet and e-commerce companies, may affect the attitudes of investors toward PRC companies listed in the United States, which consequently may impact the trading performance of our ADSs, regardless of our actual operating performance. In addition, any negative news or perceptions about inadequate corporate governance practices or fraudulent accounting, corporate structure or matters of other PRC companies may also negatively affect the attitudes of investors towards PRC companies in general, including us, regardless of whether we have conducted any inappropriate activities. In addition, securities markets may from time to time experience significant price and volume fluctuations that are not related to our operating performance, such as the large decline in share prices in the United States, China and other jurisdictions in late 2008, early 2009 and the second half of 2011, which may have a material and adverse effect on the trading price of our ADSs. In addition to the above factors, the price and trading volume of our ADSs may be highly volatile due to multiple factors, including the following: - regulatory developments affecting us or our industry, users, suppliers or third-party sellers;- announcements of studies and reports relating to the quality of our product and service offerings or those of our competitors;- changes in the economic performance or market valuations of other e-commerce companies;- actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly results of operations and changes or revisions of our expected results;- changes in financial estimates by securities research analysts;- conditions in the e-commerce market;- announcements by us or our competitors of new product and service offerings, acquisitions, strategic relationships, joint ventures, capital raisings or capital commitments;- additions to or departures of our senior management;- public perception or negative news about our products or us;- our share repurchase program;- litigation, government investigation or other legal or regulatory proceedings;- fluctuations of exchange rates between the RMB and the U.S. dollar;- release or expiry of lock-up or other transfer restrictions on our issued and outstanding shares or ADSs;- sales or perceived potential sales of additional Class A ordinary shares or ADSs; and - general economic or political conditions in China or elsewhere in the world. Any of these factors may result in large and sudden changes in the volume and price at which our ADSs will trade. We are named as a defendant in putative shareholder class action lawsuits in the United States, and we may be involved in more class action lawsuits in the future. Such lawsuits could divert a significant amount of our management's attention and other resources from our business and operations and require us to incur significant expenses to defend the suit, which could harm our results of operations. Any such class action suit, whether or not successful, could harm our reputation and restrict our ability to raise capital in the future. 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.

Accounting & Financial Operations5 | 5.4%

Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 1

Because we do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future, you must rely on price appreciation of our ADSs for return on your investment.

We currently intend to retain most, if not all, of our available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and growth of our business. As a result, we do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Therefore, you should not rely on an investment in our ADSs as a source for any future dividend income. Our board of directors has complete discretion as to whether to distribute dividends, subject to certain requirements of Cayman Islands law. In addition, our shareholders may by ordinary resolution declare a dividend, but no dividend may exceed the amount recommended by our directors. Under Cayman Islands law, a Cayman Islands company may pay a dividend out of either profit or share premium account, provided that in no circumstances may a dividend be paid if this would result in the company being unable to pay its debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. Even if our board of directors decides to declare and pay dividends, the timing, amount and form of future dividends, if any, will depend on 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. Accordingly, the return on your investment in our ADSs will likely depend entirely upon any future price appreciation of our ADSs. There is no guarantee that our ADSs will appreciate in value or even maintain the price at which you purchased the ADSs. You may not realize a return on your investment in our ADSs and you may even lose your entire investment in our ADSs.

Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 2

You may not receive cash dividends if the depositary decides it is impractical to make them available to you.

The depositary will pay cash dividends on the ADSs only to the extent that we decide to distribute dividends on our Class A ordinary shares or other deposited securities, and we do not have any present plan to pay any cash dividends on our Class A ordinary shares in the foreseeable future. To the extent that there is a distribution, the depositary of our ADSs has agreed to pay to you the cash dividends or other distributions it or the custodian receives on our Class A ordinary shares or other deposited securities after deducting its fees and expenses. You will receive these distributions in proportion to the number of Class A ordinary shares your ADSs represent. However, the depositary may, at its discretion, decide that it is inequitable or impractical to make a distribution available to any holders of ADSs. For example, the depositary may determine that it is not practicable to distribute certain property through the mail, or that the value of certain distributions may be less than the cost of mailing them. In these cases, the depositary may decide not to distribute such property to you.

Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 3

Our limited operating history makes it difficult to evaluate our business and prospects. We cannot guarantee that we will grow as rapidly as before, or at all.

We commenced operations in 2015, and have a limited operating history. Our total revenues increased from RMB6,444.1 million in 2017 to RMB13,015.2 million in 2018, but decreased to RMB11,672.0 million (US$1,676.6 million) in 2019. The decrease in total revenues in 2019 was primarily due to a decrease in revenues from sales of merchandise as a result of an increase in the proportion of our business contributed from our marketplace business platform, which was launched in the first quarter of 2019, whereby third-party merchants can sell products on our platform and pay us commissions on their sales. Revenues generated under the marketplace business were recognized on a net basis, while revenues generated under our merchandise sales business were recognized on a gross basis. The total orders we fulfilled under our merchandise sales business increased substantially from 75.8 million in 2017 to 153.4 million in 2018 and further increased to 166.6 million in 2019. The total orders fulfilled by third-party merchants in our marketplace business in 2019 reached 34.6 million. However, our historical performance may not be indicative of our future growth or financial results. We cannot assure you that we will be able to grow at the same rate as we did in the past, or avoid any decline in the future. Our growth may slow down or become negative, and revenues may decline for a number of possible reasons, some of which are beyond our control, including decreasing consumer spending, increasing competition, declining growth of our overall market or industry, the emergence of alternative business models, changes in rules, regulations, government policies or general economic conditions. It is difficult to evaluate our prospects, as we may not have sufficient experience in addressing the risks to which companies operating in rapidly evolving markets may be exposed. If our growth rate declines, investors' perceptions of our business and prospects may be materially and adversely affected and the market price of the ADSs could decline. You should consider our prospects in light of the risks and uncertainties that companies with a limited operating history may encounter.

Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 4

We have incurred net loss in the past and we may continue to experience losses in the future.

We incurred a net loss of RMB105.7 million, RMB56.3 million and RMB123.8 million (US$17.8 million) in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively. In the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018, our operating cash flow was positive, but in the year ended December 31, 2019, our operating cash flow was negative. We cannot assure you that we will be able to generate net profits or positive cash flow from operating activities in the future. Our ability to achieve and maintain profitability will depend in large part on our ability to, among other things, increase our number of members and other users, grow and diversify our supplier and third-party merchant base, and optimize our cost structure. We may not be able to achieve any of the above. We intend to continue to invest for the foreseeable future in the improvement of our fulfillment infrastructure and technology platform to support an even more carefully curated selection of products and to offer additional value-added services. As a result of the foregoing, we believe that we may incur net losses in the future.

Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 5

If we fail to remediate our material weaknesses and implement and maintain an effective system of internal controls over financial reporting, we may be unable to accurately report our results of operations, meet our reporting obligations or prevent fraud.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, we are not required to provide a report of management on our internal control over financial reporting and our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to conduct an audit of our internal control over financial reporting due to a transition period established by rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission for newly public companies. In connection with the audits of our consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019, we and our independent registered public accounting firm identified two material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. As defined in the standards established by the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a "material weakness" is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The material weaknesses that have been identified relate to (i) our lack of sufficient financial accounting staff and management with appropriate levels of accounting knowledge and experience to address complex U.S. GAAP accounting issues and to prepare and review financial statements and related disclosures under U.S. GAAP and SEC reporting and compliance requirements and (ii) our lack of sufficient documented financial closing policies and procedures, especially those related to period end cut-off and accruals. The material weaknesses, if not remediated timely, may lead to material misstatements in our consolidated financial statements in the future. Neither we nor our independent registered public accounting firm undertook a comprehensive assessment of our internal control for purposes of identifying and reporting material weaknesses and other control deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting. Had we performed a formal assessment of our internal control over financial reporting or had our independent registered public accounting firm performed an audit of our internal control over financial reporting, additional deficiencies may have been identified. Following the identification of the material weaknesses, we have taken measures and plan to continue to take measures to remediate these deficiencies. See "Item 15. Controls and Procedures-Internal Control Over Financial Reporting." However, the implementation of these measures may not fully address these deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting, and we cannot conclude that they have been fully remediated. Our failure to correct these deficiencies or our failure to discover and address any other deficiencies could result in inaccuracies in our financial statements and impair our ability to comply with applicable financial reporting requirements and related regulatory filings on a timely basis. Moreover, ineffective internal control over financial reporting could significantly hinder our ability to prevent fraud. We are subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or Section 404, requires that we include a report from management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting in our annual report on Form 20-F beginning with our annual report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020. In addition, beginning at the same time, our independent registered public accounting firm must attest to and report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Our management may conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is not effective. Moreover, even if our management concludes that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, our independent registered public accounting firm, after conducting its own independent testing, may issue an adverse report if it is not satisfied with our internal controls or the level at which our controls are documented, designed, operated or reviewed, or if it interprets the relevant requirements differently from us. In addition, as a public company, our reporting obligations may place a significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources and systems for the foreseeable future. We may be unable to timely complete our evaluation testing and any required remediation. During the course of documenting and testing our internal control procedures, in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404, we may identify other weaknesses and deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, if we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, as these standards are modified, supplemented or amended from time to time, we may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404. If we fail to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment, we could suffer material misstatements in our financial statements and fail to meet our reporting obligations, which would likely cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information. This could in turn limit our access to capital markets, harm our results of operations, and lead to a decline in the trading price of our ADSs. Additionally, ineffective internal control over financial reporting could expose us to increased risk of fraud or misuse of corporate assets and subject us to potential delisting from the stock exchange on which we list, regulatory investigations and civil or criminal sanctions. We may also be required to restate our financial statements for prior periods.

Debt & Financing5 | 5.4%

Debt & Financing - Risk 1

Your investment in our ADSs may be impacted if we are encouraged to issue CDRs in the future.

The PRC central government once proposed rules that would allow PRC technology companies listed outside China to list on the PRC stock exchanges through the creation of Chinese Depositary Receipts, or CDRs. It is uncertain if and when the CDR mechanism will be finalized and put in place due to evolving PRC government policies. Once the CDR mechanism is in place, we might consider and be encouraged to issue CDRs and allow investors to trade our CDRs on PRC stock exchanges. However, there are uncertainties as to whether a pursuit of CDRs in China would bring positive or negative impact on your investment in our ADSs.

Debt & Financing - Risk 2

We may need additional capital, and financing may not be available on terms acceptable to us, or at all.

In the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018, our operating cash flow was positive, but in the year ended December 31, 2019, our operating cash flow was negative. It is possible that we will continue to have negative cash flow in the future. We believe that our current cash and cash equivalents and our anticipated cash flows from operations will be sufficient to meet our anticipated working capital requirements and capital expenditures for at least the next 12 months. We may, however, require additional cash resources due to changed business conditions or other future developments, including any changes in our account payable policy, marketing initiatives or investments we may decide to pursue. If these resources are insufficient to satisfy our cash requirements, we may seek to obtain a credit facility or sell additional equity or debt securities. The sale of additional equity securities could result in dilution of our existing shareholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased debt service obligations and could result in operating and financing covenants that would restrict our operations. It is uncertain whether financing will be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all.

Debt & Financing - Risk 3

You may be subject to limitations on transfer of your ADSs.

Your ADSs are transferable on the books of the depositary. However, the depositary may close its transfer books at any time or from time to time when it deems expedient in connection with the performance of its duties. The depositary may close its books from time to time for a number of reasons, including in connection with corporate events such as a rights offering, during which time the depositary needs to maintain an exact number of ADS holders on its books for a specified period. The depositary may also close its books in emergencies, and on weekends and public holidays. In addition, the depositary may refuse to deliver, transfer or register transfers of ADSs generally when our books or the books of the depositary are closed, or at any time if we or the depositary deems it advisable to do so because of any requirement of law or of any government or governmental body, or under any provision of the deposit agreement, or for any other reason.

Debt & Financing - Risk 4

We face uncertainty with respect to indirect transfers of equity interests in PRC resident enterprises by their non-PRC holding companies.

In February 2015, the SAT issued the Public Notice Regarding Certain Enterprise Income Tax Matters on Indirect Transfer of Properties by Non-Resident Enterprises, or SAT Public Notice 7. SAT Public Notice 7 extends its tax jurisdiction to not only indirect transfers but also transactions involving transfer of other taxable assets, through the offshore transfer of a foreign intermediate holding company. In addition, SAT Public Notice 7 provides certain criteria on how to assess reasonable commercial purposes and has introduced safe harbors for internal group restructurings and the purchase and sale of equity through a public securities market. SAT Public Notice 7 also brings challenges to both the foreign transferor and transferee (or other person who is obligated to pay for the transfer) of the taxable assets. Where a non-resident enterprise conducts an "indirect transfer" by transferring the taxable assets indirectly by disposing of the equity interests of an overseas holding company, the non-resident enterprise being the transferor, or the transferee, or the PRC entity which directly owns the taxable assets may report to the relevant tax authority such indirect transfer. Using a "substance over form" principle, the PRC tax authority may disregard the existence of the overseas holding company if it lacks a reasonable commercial purpose and was established for the purpose of reducing, avoiding or deferring PRC tax. As a result, gains derived from such indirect transfer may be subject to PRC enterprise income tax, and the transferee or other person who is obligated to pay for the transfer is obligated to withhold the applicable taxes, currently at a tax rate of 10%, for the transfer of equity interests in a PRC resident enterprise. Both the transferor and the transferee may be subject to penalties under PRC tax laws if the transferee fails to withhold the taxes and the transferor fails to pay the taxes. However, according to the aforesaid safe harbor rule, the PRC tax would not be applicable to the transfer by any non-resident enterprise of ADSs of the Company acquired and sold on public securities markets. On October 17, 2017, the SAT issued the Public Notice on Issues Relating to Withholding at Source of Income Tax of Non-resident Enterprises, or the SAT Public Notice 37, which came into effect on December 1, 2017. According to SAT Public Notice 37, where the non-resident enterprise fails to declare its tax payable pursuant to Article 39 of the EIT Law, the tax authority may order it to pay its tax due within required time limits, and the non-resident enterprise shall declare and pay its tax payable within such time limits specified by the tax authority. If the non-resident enterprise voluntarily declares and pays its tax payable before the tax authority orders it to do so, it shall be deemed that such enterprise has paid its tax payable in time. We face uncertainties on the reporting and consequences of future private equity financing transactions, share exchanges or other transactions involving the transfer of shares in our company by investors that are non-PRC resident enterprises. The PRC tax authorities may pursue such non-resident enterprises with respect to a filing or the transferees with respect to withholding obligation, and request our PRC subsidiaries to assist in the filing. As a result, we and non-resident enterprises in such transactions may become at risk of being subject to filing obligations or being taxed under SAT Public Notice 7 and SAT Public Notice 37, and may be required to expend valuable resources to comply with them or to establish that we and our non-resident enterprises should not be taxed under these regulations, which may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Debt & Financing - Risk 5

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

We are an exempted Cayman Islands holding company and we may rely on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our PRC subsidiaries for our cash and financing requirements, including the funds necessary to pay dividends and other cash distributions to our shareholders and service any debt we may incur. If any of our PRC subsidiaries incur debt on their own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to us. Under PRC laws and regulations, our PRC subsidiaries, each of which is a wholly foreign-owned enterprise, may pay dividends only out of its respective accumulated profits as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. In addition, a wholly foreign-owned enterprise is required to set aside at least 10% of its after-tax profits each year, if any, to fund a certain statutory reserve fund, until the aggregate amount of such fund reaches 50% of its registered capital. At its discretion, a wholly foreign-owned enterprise may allocate a portion of its after-tax profits based on PRC accounting standards to a staff welfare and bonus fund. These reserve fund and staff welfare and bonus fund cannot be distributed to us as dividends. Our PRC subsidiaries generate primarily all of their revenue in Renminbi, which is not freely convertible into other currencies. As a result, any restriction on currency exchange may limit the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to use their Renminbi revenues to pay dividends to us. The PRC government may continue to strengthen its capital controls, and more restrictions and substantial vetting process may be put forward by SAFE for cross-border transactions falling under both the current account and the capital account. Any limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to pay dividends or make other kinds of payments to us could materially and adversely limit our ability to grow, make investments or acquisitions that could be beneficial to our business, pay dividends, or otherwise fund and conduct our business. In addition, the Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementation rules provide that a withholding tax rate of up to 10% will be applicable to dividends payable by PRC companies to non-PRC-resident enterprises unless otherwise exempted or reduced according to treaties or arrangements between the PRC central government and governments of other countries or regions where the non-PRC-resident enterprises are incorporated.

Corporate Activity and Growth3 | 3.2%

Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 1

Future strategic alliances, investments or acquisitions may have a material and adverse effect on our business, reputation and results of operations.

We may in the future enter into strategic alliances with various third parties to further our business purposes from time to time. Strategic alliances with third parties could subject us to a number of risks, including risks associated with sharing proprietary information, non-performance by the counterparty, and an increase in expenses incurred in establishing new strategic alliances, any of which may materially and adversely affect our business. We may have little ability to control or monitor their actions. To the extent the third parties suffer negative publicity or harm to their reputations from events relating to their business, we may also suffer negative publicity or harm to our reputation by virtue of our association with such third parties. In addition, if we are presented with appropriate opportunities, we may invest in or acquire additional assets, technologies or businesses that are complementary to our existing business. Future investments or acquisitions and the subsequent integration of new assets and businesses into our own would require significant attention from our management and could result in a diversion of resources from our existing business, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our business operations. The costs of identifying and consummating investments and acquisitions may be significant. We may also incur significant expenses in obtaining necessary approvals from relevant government authorities in China and elsewhere in the world. Acquired assets or businesses may not generate the financial results we expect. In addition, investments and acquisitions could result in the use of substantial amounts of cash, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the occurrence of significant goodwill impairment charges, amortization expenses for other intangible assets and exposure to potential unknown liabilities of the acquired business. The cost and duration of integrating newly acquired businesses could also materially exceed our expectations. Any such negative developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 2

We may not be able to recoup the investments we make to improve our fulfillment and technology capabilities.

We have invested and will continue to invest in improving our fulfillment infrastructure and upgrading our technology platform. We expect to continue to invest in our fulfillment and technology capabilities for a number of years. We also intend to continue to add resources to our fulfillment infrastructure and technology platform as we focus on expanding our product selection and offering new services. We are likely to recognize the costs associated with these investments earlier than some of the anticipated benefits, and the return on these investments may be lower, or may develop more slowly, than we expect. We may not be able to recover our capital expenditures or investments, in part or in full, or the recovery of these capital expenditures or investments may take longer than expected. As a result, the carrying value of the related assets may be subject to an impairment charge, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operation.

Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 3

If we are unable to manage our growth or execute our strategies effectively, our business and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

Our business, results of operations and financial condition depend in part on our ability to effectively manage our growth or implement our growth strategies. As part of our business strategies, we plan to further improve our fulfillment infrastructure and technology platform and continue to optimize our product offerings. We also intend to continue to invest significant resources in training, managing and motivating our workforce. In addition, as we optimize our product offerings, we will need to work with new suppliers and third-party merchants efficiently and establish and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with our existing and new suppliers and third-party merchants. We may have limited or no experience for certain new product offerings, and our expansion into these new product offerings may not achieve broad user acceptance. In addition, these offerings may present new and difficult technological or operational challenges, and we may be subject to claims if our users are not satisfied with the quality of the products or do not have satisfactory experiences in general. To effectively manage the expected growth of our operations and personnel, we will need to continue to improve our transaction processing, technological, operational and financial systems, policies, procedures and controls. All these endeavors involve risks and will require significant managerial, financial and human resources. We cannot assure you that we will be able to effectively manage our growth or to implement all these systems, procedures and control measures successfully or that our new business initiatives will be successful. If we are not able to manage our growth or execute our strategies effectively, our expansion may not be successful and our business and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

Legal & Regulatory

Total Risks: 21/93 (23%)Above Sector Average

Regulation16 | 17.2%

Regulation - Risk 1

Any lack of requisite approvals, licenses or permits applicable to our business or failure to comply with any requirements of PRC laws, regulations and policies may have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business is subject to governmental supervision and regulation by the relevant PRC governmental authorities, including the Ministry of Commerce, or MOFCOM, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, or the MIIT, the SAMR, the State Internet Information Office, the National Radio and Television Administration, or the NRTA, and other governmental authorities in charge of the relevant categories of products sold and services provided by us. Together, these government authorities promulgate and enforce regulations that cover many aspects of our operation of social e-commerce platform, including entry into this industry, the scope of permissible business activities, licenses and permits for various business activities, and foreign investment. We are required to hold a number of licenses and permits for our business operations. Although we hold all material licenses and permits that are necessary to our business, we have not obtained certain licenses, permits and filings for selling certain specific products or services on our platform. See "Item 4. Information on the Company-B. Business Overview-Regulations-Licenses, Permits and Filings." For example, we have not obtained the internet audio-visual program transmission license for the audio-visual program services on our platform, for which we are not qualified to apply according to current applicable laws and regulations, and the operation permit for publications. In addition we have not completed filing for selling medical devices, distributing publications, providing live streaming services and selling food on our platform. We are in the process of applying for these licenses, permits and filings as permitted by relevant laws, regulations and practice of relevant PRC governmental authorities. As of the date of this annual report, we have not received any notice of warning or been subject to penalties or other disciplinary actions from relevant governmental authorities regarding our business operations without the required licenses, permits or filings. However, we cannot assure you that we will not be subject to any penalties or disciplinary actions in the future. There exist substantial uncertainties with respect to interpretation and application of existing PRC laws, regulations and policies, and new laws, regulations or policies regulating the internet industry may also be promulgated in the future, which together result in substantial uncertainties regarding the legality of existing and future foreign investments in, and the businesses activities of, internet businesses in China, including our social e-commerce platform.

Regulation - Risk 2

Failure to comply with the relatively new E-Commerce Law may have a material adverse impact on our business, financial conditions and results of operations.

As the e-commerce industry is still evolving in China, new laws and regulations may be adopted from time to time to address new issues that arise from time to time. For example, in August 2018, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress promulgated the E-Commerce Law, which became effective on January 1, 2019. The E-Commerce Law generally provides that e-commerce operators must obtain administrative licenses if business activities conducted by the e-commerce operators are subject to administrative licensing requirements under applicable laws and regulations. In addition, the E-Commerce Law imposes a number of obligations on e-commerce platform operators, including the obligations: (i) to verify and register platform merchants, (ii) to ensure platform cybersecurity, including, but not limited to, data privacy, (iii) to ensure fair dealing and the legitimate rights and interests of consumers on the platform, (iv) to publicize transaction information preservation and transaction rules, and (v) to protect intellectual properties. See "Item 4. Information on the Company-B. Business Overview-Regulations-Regulations Relating to E-Commerce" for further details. As the E-Commerce Law is relatively new, no detailed interpretation and implementation rules have been promulgated, and it remains uncertain how the E-Commerce Law will be interpreted and implemented. We cannot assure you that our current business operations satisfy the obligations provided under the E-Commerce Law in all respects. If the PRC governmental authorities determine that we are not in compliance with all the requirements proposed under the E-Commerce Law, we may be subject to fines and/or other sanctions. The E-Commerce Law also imposes a requirement on operators of e-commerce platforms, such as our company, to assist in tax collection with respect to income generated by sellers from transactions conducted on e-commerce platforms, including, among others, submitting to the tax authority information on the identities of sellers on e-commerce platforms and other information relating to tax payment. Failure to comply with the requirement may result in operators of e-commerce platforms being subject to fines and, in severe circumstances, suspension of business operations of e-commerce platforms. Substantial uncertainties exist regarding the interpretation and implementation of the E-Commerce Law. We encourage and incentivize members to promote the products on our platform. If the members were deemed to be selling our products on consignment basis, the PRC tax authorities may require our members to make tax registration and request our assistance in these efforts, pursuant to the E-Commerce Law, and our members may be subject to more stringent tax compliance requirements. Due to the lack of detailed interpretation and implementation rules, we are in discussion, from time to time, with the relevant government authorities on how to comply with the requirements under the E-Commerce Law. The PRC government may adopt additional requirements from time to time, and we may be requested by tax authorities to provide further assistance in the enforcement of tax regulations, such as disclosure of transaction records and bank account information of the members, and withholding taxes for our members. If any of these were to occur, we may lose our existing members or fail to attract new members and the level of activity of members may reduce on our platform. We may also incur increased costs and expenses as a result. The tightened tax enforcement by PRC tax authorities in the e-commerce industry, such as imposition of reporting or withholding obligations on operators of e-commerce platforms with respect to tax payable of merchants on e-commerce platforms, may have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Regulation - Risk 3

If our business model were found to be in violation of applicable laws and regulations, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.

In August 2005, the State Council promulgated the Regulations on the Prohibition of Pyramid Selling, which prohibits individuals and entities in China from engaging in pyramid selling. See "Item 4. Information on the Company-B. Business Overview-Regulations-Regulations Relating to Pyramid Selling in the PRC." In May 2017, we received a formal notice from the local Administration for Market Regulation in Hangzhou, which ruled that our sales and marketing practice prior to February 2016 violated the Regulations on the Prohibition of Pyramid Selling and imposed a fine of approximately RMB9.6 million (US$1.4 million). Since the early stage of our operations in 2015, the local governmental authorities in Hangzhou had been in discussion with us on potential violation by our then-existing business model of the Regulations on the Prohibition of Pyramid Selling, and we have adjusted our business practices since February 2016 to comply with the Regulations on the Prohibition of Pyramid Selling and other applicable regulations. We fully paid the fine in June 2017. In December 2018, we and Han Kun Law Offices, our PRC legal counsel, consulted with the competent government authority in Hangzhou, the district branch of the State Administration for Market Regulation, or the SAMR, having direct jurisdiction over our PRC entities that currently operate our membership-based social e-commerce platform, and the government authority verbally confirmed that these entities have conducted their business operations lawfully and none of these entities are in violation of the Regulations on the Prohibition of Pyramid Selling or any other applicable laws. Based on our discussion with the competent government authorities and the advice of Han Kun Law Offices, we believe that our current business model is not in violation of applicable PRC laws and regulations, including the Regulations on the Prohibition of Pyramid Selling. However, there is no assurance that the competent governmental authorities in China that we communicated with will not change their views, or the other relevant government authorities will share the same view as our PRC legal counsel, or they will find our business model not in violation of any applicable regulations, given the uncertainties in the interpretation and application of existing PRC laws, regulations and policies relating to our current business model, including, but not limited to, regulations regulating pyramid selling. Moreover, new laws, regulations or policies may also be promulgated in the future, and there is no assurance that our current business model will be in full compliance with the new laws, regulations or policies. If our business model were to be found in violation in the future, we will have to make adjustment to our business model or cease certain of our business operations, and the relevant governmental authorities may confiscate any illegal gains and impose a fine, which would have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Regulation - Risk 4

We may be subject to claims under consumer protection laws, including health and safety claims and product liability claims, if people or properties are harmed by the products sold on our platform.

We sell products manufactured by third parties and third-party merchants sell their products on our platform. Some of the products sold on our platform may be defectively designed or manufactured. Sales of such products could expose us to increasing liability associated with consumer protection laws in those areas, including product liability or health and safety claims relating to personal injury or illness, death, or environmental or property damage, and may require product recalls or other actions. Moreover, pursuant to applicable consumer protection laws in China, consumers or any third parties subject to such injury or damage may bring claims or legal proceedings against the e-commerce platforms as sellers of such products. Although we would have legal recourse against the manufacturer or third-party seller of such products, as applicable, under PRC law if the liabilities are attributable to the manufacturer or third-party seller, attempting to enforce our rights against the manufacturer or third-party seller, as applicable, may be expensive, time-consuming and ultimately futile. In addition, we do not currently maintain any third-party liability insurance or product liability insurance in relation to most of the products we sell. As a result, any material product liability claim or litigation could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Even unsuccessful claims could result in the expenditure of funds and managerial efforts in defending them and could have a negative impact on our reputation.

Regulation - Risk 5

Our failure to comply with anti-corruption laws and regulations, or effectively control the corruptive activities of our employees, could severely damage our reputation, and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We are subject to risks in relation to actions taken by us or our employees that may constitute violations of the anti-corruption laws and regulations. While we adopt strict internal procedures and work closely with relevant government agencies to assure compliance of our business operations with relevant laws and regulations, our efforts may not be sufficient to ensure that we comply with relevant laws and regulations at all times or prevent corruptive activities of our employees. If we or our employees violate any such laws, rules or regulations, we could be subject to fines and/or other penalties. Our reputation, corporate image, and business operations may be materially and adversely affected if we or our employees engage in corruptive activities or violate any anti-corruption laws or regulations or if we become the target of any negative publicity as a result of corruptive actions taken by us or our employees, which may in turn have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Regulation - Risk 6

Our current corporate structure and business operations may be affected by the newly enacted Foreign Investment Law.

On March 15, 2019, the National People's Congress approved the Foreign Investment Law, which took effect on January 1, 2020, and on December 26, 2019, the State Council promulgated the Implementation Rules of Foreign Investment Law, which took effect on January 1, 2020. Since it is relatively new, uncertainties exist in relation to its interpretation and implementation. The Foreign Investment Law does not explicitly classify whether variable interest entities that are controlled through contractual arrangements would be deemed as foreign invested enterprises if they are ultimately "controlled" by foreign investors. However, it has a catch-all provision under definition of "foreign investment" that includes investments made by foreign investors in China through other means as provided by laws, administrative regulations or the State Council. Therefore it still leaves leeway for future laws, administrative regulations or provisions of the State Council to provide for contractual arrangements as a form of foreign investment. Therefore, there can be no assurance that our control over our VIEs through contractual arrangements will not be deemed as foreign investment in the future. Furthermore, if future laws, administrative regulations or provisions mandate further actions to be taken by companies with respect to existing contractual arrangements, we may face substantial uncertainties as to whether we can complete such actions in a timely manner, or at all. Failure to take timely and appropriate measures to cope with any of these or similar regulatory compliance challenges could materially and adversely affect our current corporate structure and business operations.

Regulation - Risk 7

If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating some of our operations in China do not comply with PRC regulations relating to the relevant industries, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations.

Foreign ownership of certain parts of our businesses, including value-added telecommunications services, is subject to restrictions under current PRC laws and regulations. For example, foreign investors are not allowed to own more than 50% of the equity interests in a value-added telecommunication service provider (excluding e-commerce) and any such foreign investor must have experience in providing value-added telecommunications services overseas and maintain a good track record, and foreign investors are prohibited from engaging in the distribution of audio and video products in China via the internet in accordance with the Special Administrative Measures for Market Access of Foreign Investment (Negative List) promulgated in 2019. We are an exempted Cayman Islands company and our PRC subsidiaries are considered foreign-invested enterprises. Accordingly, none of these PRC subsidiaries is eligible to provide internet content-related services. As a result, we conduct such business activities through one of our VIEs, Zhejiang Yunji Preferred E-Commerce Co., Ltd., or Yunji Preferred, whose wholly owned subsidiary holds a VATS License for online data processing and transaction processing business (operating e-commerce, excluding internet finance and e-hailing services) and internet content-related services (excluding information search and inquiry services and real-time interactive information services). Yunji Preferred is 99.0099% owned by Mr. Shanglue Xiao, the chairman of our board of directors and our chief executive officer, and 0.9901% owned by Mr. Huan Hao, a beneficial owner of the shares of our company. Mr. Shanglue Xiao and Mr. Huan Hao are PRC citizens. Our WFOE has entered into a series of contractual arrangements with our VIEs (including Yunji Preferred) and their respective shareholders, which enable us to: - exercise effective control over our VIEs;- receive substantially all of the economic benefits and bear the obligation to absorb substantially all of the losses of our VIEs; and - have an exclusive option to purchase all or part of the equity interests in our VIEs when and to the extent permitted by PRC law. As a result of these contractual arrangements, we have control over and are the primary beneficiary of our VIEs and hence consolidate their financial results and their subsidiaries into our consolidated financial statements under U.S. GAAP. For a detailed discussion of these contractual arrangements, see "Item 4. Information on the Company-C. Organizational Structure." In the opinion of Han Kun Law Offices, our PRC legal counsel, (i) the ownership structures of our WFOE and our VIEs in China are not in violation of PRC laws and regulations currently in effect; and (ii) the contractual arrangements between our WFOE, our VIEs and their respective shareholders governed by PRC law are not in violation of PRC laws or regulations currently in effect, and valid and binding upon each party to such arrangements and enforceable against each party thereto in accordance with their terms and applicable PRC laws and regulations currently in effect. However, our PRC legal counsel has also advised us that there are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current and future PRC laws, regulations and rules; accordingly, the PRC regulatory authorities may take a view that is contrary to the opinion of our PRC legal counsel. It is uncertain whether any new PRC laws or regulations relating to variable interest entity structures will be adopted or if adopted, what they would provide. If we or our VIEs are found to be in violation of any existing or future PRC laws or regulations, or fail to obtain or maintain any of the required permits or approvals, the relevant PRC regulatory authorities would have broad discretion to take action in dealing with such violations or failures, including: - revoking the business licenses and/or operating licenses of such entities;- discontinuing or placing restrictions or onerous conditions on our operations;- imposing fines, confiscating the income from our WFOE or our VIEs, or imposing other requirements with which we or our VIEs may not be able to comply;- requiring us to restructure our ownership structure or operations, including terminating the contractual arrangements with our VIEs and deregistering the equity pledges of our VIEs, which in turn would affect our ability to consolidate, derive economic interests from, or exert effective control over our VIEs; or - restricting or prohibiting our use of the proceeds to finance our business and operations in China. The imposition of any of these penalties would result in a material and adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business. 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 our VIEs in our consolidated financial statements, if the PRC government authorities were to find our legal structure and contractual arrangements to be in violation of PRC laws and regulations. If the imposition of any of these government actions causes us to lose our right to direct the activities of our VIEs or our right to receive substantially all the economic benefits and residual returns from our VIEs and we are not able to restructure our ownership structure and operations in a satisfactory manner, we would no longer be able to consolidate the financial results of our VIEs in our consolidated financial statements. Either of these results, or any other significant penalties that might be imposed on us in this event, would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Regulation - Risk 8

We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.

We are or will be subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and the various regulatory authorities in China and the Cayman Islands, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.

Regulation - Risk 9

PRC regulations relating to offshore investment activities by PRC residents may limit our PRC subsidiaries' ability to change their registered capital or distribute profits to us or otherwise expose us or our PRC resident beneficial owners to liability and penalties under PRC laws.

In July 2014, SAFE promulgated the Circular on Relevant Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Control on Domestic Residents' Offshore Investment and Financing and Roundtrip Investment Through Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 37. SAFE Circular 37 requires PRC residents (including PRC individuals and PRC corporate entities as well as foreign individuals that are deemed as PRC residents for foreign exchange administration purpose) to register with SAFE or its local branches in connection with their direct or indirect offshore investment activities. SAFE Circular 37 further requires amendment to the SAFE registrations in the event of any changes with respect to the basic information of the offshore special purpose vehicle, such as change of a PRC individual shareholder, name and operation term, or any significant changes with respect to the offshore special purpose vehicle, such as increase or decrease of capital contribution, share transfer or exchange, or mergers or divisions. SAFE Circular 37 is applicable to our shareholders who are PRC residents and may be applicable to any offshore acquisitions that we make in the future. If our shareholders who are PRC residents fail to make the required registration or to update the previously filed registration, our PRC subsidiaries may be prohibited from distributing their profits or the proceeds from any capital reduction, share transfer or liquidation to us, and we may also be prohibited from making additional capital contributions into our PRC subsidiaries. In February 2015, SAFE promulgated a Notice on Further Simplifying and Improving Foreign Exchange Administration Policy on Direct Investment, or SAFE Notice 13, effective June 2015. Under SAFE Notice 13, applications for foreign exchange registration of inbound foreign direct investments and outbound overseas direct investments, including those required under SAFE Circular 37, will be filed with qualified banks instead of SAFE. The qualified banks will directly examine the applications and accept registrations under the supervision of SAFE. All of our shareholders who we are aware of being subject to the SAFE regulations have completed the initial registrations with the local SAFE branch or qualified banks as required by SAFE Circular 37. However, we may not be informed of the identities of all the PRC residents holding direct or indirect interest in our company, and we cannot provide any assurance that these PRC residents will comply with our request to make or obtain any applicable registrations or continuously comply with all requirements under SAFE Circular 37 or other related rules. The failure or inability of the relevant shareholders to comply with the registration procedures set forth in these regulations may subject us to fines and legal sanctions, such as restrictions on our cross-border investment activities, on the ability of our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China to distribute dividends and the proceeds from any reduction in capital, share transfer or liquidation to us. Moreover, failure to comply with the various foreign exchange registration requirements described above could result in liability under PRC law for circumventing applicable foreign exchange restrictions. As a result, our business operations and our ability to distribute profits to you could be materially and adversely affected.

Regulation - Risk 10

MOFCOM approval may be required for our acquisition of certain PRC subsidiaries.

Pursuant to the M&A Rules, if an overseas company established or controlled by PRC companies or individuals, or PRC Citizens, intends to acquire equity interests or assets of any other PRC domestic company affiliated with the PRC Citizens, such acquisition must be submitted to MOFCOM for approval. Our WFOE acquired certain PRC subsidiaries that were wholly-owned, directly or indirectly, by Yunji Sharing, in 2018. Such acquisitions may be subject to MOFCOM approval, but were not submitted to the MOFCOM for approval. There is no definite penalty provided under M&A Rules for failure to obtain MOFCOM approval in transactions where such approval is required. If it is determined that MOFCOM approvals are required for the acquisitions, we may be required to revert the transactions. Nevertheless, considering that all the PRC subsidiaries involved in such transactions were wholly-owned, directly or indirectly, by Yunji Sharing, which is one of our VIEs, before the acquisitions, and the acquisition of the PRC subsidiaries are inter-group companies transactions, we understand that the failure to obtain the MOFCOM approvals for the acquisitions of the PRC subsidiaries will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. We conducted a few other inter-group restructuring transactions in 2019, which may also be subject to MOFCOM approval, but were not submitted to MOFCOM for approval. For example, our WFOE acquired Shanghai Suye Cosmetics Co., Ltd, or Shanghai Suye, which was owned by an affiliated entity of Mr. Shanglue Xiao, in January 2019, and Shanghai Suye was then transferred to Yunji Preferred from our WFOE in February 2019.

Regulation - Risk 11

Certain PRC regulations may make it more difficult for us to pursue growth through acquisitions.

Among other things, the Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors, or the M&A Rules, adopted by six PRC regulatory agencies in 2006 and amended in 2009, established additional procedures and requirements that could make merger and acquisition activities by foreign investors more time-consuming and complex. Such regulation requires, among other things, that the MOFCOM be notified in advance of any change-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor acquires control of a PRC domestic enterprise or a foreign company with substantial PRC operations, if certain thresholds under the Provisions on Thresholds for Prior Notification of Concentrations of Undertakings, issued by the State Council in 2008 and was amended in 2018, were triggered. Moreover, the Anti-Monopoly Law promulgated by the Standing Committee of the PRC National People's Congress, or NPC, which became effective in 2008 requires that transactions which are deemed concentrations and involve parties with specified turnover thresholds must be cleared by the anti-monopoly authority before they can be completed. In addition, PRC national security review rules which became effective in September 2011 require acquisitions by foreign investors of PRC companies engaged in military related or certain other industries that are crucial to national security be subject to security review before consummation of any such acquisition. We may pursue potential strategic acquisitions that are complementary to our business and operations. Complying with the requirements of these regulations to complete such transactions could be time-consuming, and any required approval processes, including obtaining approval or clearance from the anti-monopoly authority, may delay or inhibit our ability to complete such transactions, which could affect our ability to expand our business or maintain our market share.

Regulation - Risk 12

We may be adversely affected by the complexity, uncertainties and changes in PRC regulation of internet-related businesses and companies.

The PRC government extensively regulates the internet industry, including foreign ownership of, and the licensing and permit requirements pertaining to, companies in the internet industry. These internet-related laws and regulations are relatively new and evolving, and their interpretation and enforcement involve significant uncertainties. 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 only have contractual control over our Yunji mobile app. We do not directly own the mobile apps due to the restrictions on foreign investment in businesses providing internet content-related services. This may significantly disrupt our business, subject us to sanctions, compromise enforceability of related contractual arrangements, or have other harmful effects on us. The evolving PRC regulatory system for the internet industry may lead to the establishment of new regulatory agencies. For example, in May 2011, the State Council announced the establishment of the State Internet Information Office (with the involvement of the State Council Information Office, MIIT, and the Ministry of Public Security). The primary role of the State Internet Information Office is to facilitate the policy-making and legislative development in this field, to direct and coordinate with the relevant departments in connection with online content administration and to deal with cross-ministry regulatory matters in relation to the internet industry. Our online platform, operated by Jishang Preferred, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yunji Preferred, may be deemed to be providing commercial internet content-related services and online data processing and transaction processing services, which would require Jishang Preferred to obtain an ICP License and an EDI License. Each of ICP License and EDI License is under the category of value-added telecommunications business operating licenses, or VATS License. The Circular on Strengthening the Administration of Foreign Investment in and Operation of Value-added Telecommunications Business, issued by the MIIT in July 2006, prohibits domestic telecommunications service providers from leasing, transferring or selling telecommunications business operating licenses to any foreign investor in any form, or providing any resources, sites or facilities to any foreign investor for their illegal operation of a telecommunications business in China. The circular also requires each license holder to have the necessary facilities, including servers, for its approved business operations and to maintain such facilities in the regions covered by its license. According to the recent practice in China, if any commercial internet content-related service or online data processing and transaction processing service is to be carried out via mobile apps, such mobile apps are required to be registered on the VATS License of the operator of such mobile apps. Our Yunji mobile app has been registered on the VATS License held by Jishang Preferred. The interpretation and application of existing PRC laws, regulations and policies and possible new laws, regulations or policies relating to the internet industry have created substantial uncertainties regarding the legality of existing and future foreign investments in, and the businesses and activities of, internet businesses in China, including our business. We cannot assure you that we have obtained all the permits or licenses required for conducting our business in China or will be able to maintain our existing licenses or obtain new ones.

Regulation - Risk 13

Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system and changes in laws and regulations in China could adversely affect us.

We conduct our business primarily through our PRC subsidiaries and our VIEs. Our operations in China are governed by PRC laws and regulations. Our PRC subsidiaries are subject to laws and regulations applicable to foreign investment in China. The PRC legal system is a civil law system based on written statutes. Unlike the common law system, prior court decisions under the civil law system may be cited for reference but have limited precedential value. In addition, any new or changes in PRC laws and regulations related to foreign investment in China could affect the business environment and our ability to operate our business in China. From time to time, we may have to resort to administrative and court proceedings to enforce our legal rights. Any administrative and court proceedings in China may be protracted, resulting in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention. Since PRC administrative and court authorities have significant discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory provisions 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. These uncertainties may impede our ability to enforce the contracts we have entered into and could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations. Furthermore, the PRC legal system is based in part on government policies and internal rules, some of which are not published on a timely basis or at all and may have retroactive effect. As a result, we may not be aware of our violation of any of these policies and rules until sometime after the violation. Such unpredictability towards our contractual, property and procedural rights could adversely affect our business and impede our ability to continue our operations.

Regulation - Risk 14

We will incur increased costs and become subject to additional rules and regulations as a result of being a public company.

We are a public company and expect to incur significant accounting, legal and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as rules subsequently implemented by the SEC and the Nasdaq Stock Market, have detailed requirements concerning corporate governance practices of public companies, including Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act relating to internal controls over financial reporting. We expect these rules and regulations applicable to public companies to increase our accounting, legal and financial compliance costs and to make certain corporate activities more time-consuming and costly. Our management will be required to devote substantial time and attention to our public company reporting obligations and other compliance matters. We are currently evaluating and monitoring developments with respect to these rules and regulations, and we cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs. Our reporting and other compliance obligations as a public company may place a strain on our management, operational and financial resources and systems for the foreseeable future. We are named as a defendant in putative shareholder class action lawsuits in the United States, and we may be involved in more class action lawsuits in the future. Such lawsuits could divert a significant amount of our management's attention and other resources from our business and operations, which could harm our results of operations and require us to incur significant expenses to defend the suit. Any such class action suit, whether or not successful, could harm our reputation and restrict our ability to raise capital in the future. In addition, if a claim is successfully made against us, we may be required to pay significant damages, which could have a material and adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Regulation - Risk 15

PRC regulation of loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies and governmental control of currency conversion may delay or prevent us from using the proceeds to make loans to our PRC subsidiaries and our VIEs in China, 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 through our PRC subsidiaries and our VIEs. We may make loans to our PRC subsidiaries and VIEs subject to the approval from governmental authorities and limitation of amount, or we may make additional capital contributions to our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China. Any loans to our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China, which are treated as foreign-invested enterprises under PRC law, are subject to PRC regulations and foreign exchange loan registrations. For example, loans by us to our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China to finance their activities cannot exceed statutory limits and must be registered with the local counterpart of SAFE. In addition, a foreign invested enterprise shall use its capital pursuant to the principle of authenticity and self-use within its business scope. The capital of a foreign invested enterprise shall not be used for the following purposes: (i) directly or indirectly used for payment beyond the business scope of the enterprises or payment prohibited by relevant laws and regulations; (ii) directly or indirectly used for investment in securities or investments other than banks' principal-secured products unless otherwise provided by relevant laws and regulations; (iii) the granting of loans to non-affiliated enterprises, except where it is expressly permitted in the business license; and (iv) paying the expenses related to the purchase of real estate that is not for self-use (except for foreign-invested real estate enterprises). SAFE promulgated the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Reforming the Administration of Foreign Exchange Settlement of Capital of Foreign-invested Enterprises, or SAFE Circular 19, effective June 2015, in replacement of the Circular on the Relevant Operating Issues Concerning the Improvement of the Administration of the Payment and Settlement of Foreign Currency Capital of Foreign-Invested Enterprises, the Notice from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Relevant Issues Concerning Strengthening the Administration of Foreign Exchange Businesses, and the Circular on Further Clarification and Regulation of the Issues Concerning the Administration of Certain Capital Account Foreign Exchange Businesses. According to SAFE Circular 19, the flow and use of the RMB capital converted from foreign currency-denominated registered capital of a foreign-invested company is regulated such that RMB capital may not be used for the issuance of RMB entrusted loans, the repayment of inter-enterprise loans or the repayment of banks loans that have been transferred to a third party. Although SAFE Circular 19 allows RMB capital converted from foreign currency-denominated registered capital of a foreign-invested enterprise to be used for equity investments within China, it also reiterates the principle that RMB converted from the foreign currency-denominated capital of a foreign-invested company may not be directly or indirectly used for purposes beyond its business scope. Thus, it is unclear whether SAFE will permit such capital to be used for equity investments in China in actual practice. SAFE promulgated the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Reforming and Standardizing the Foreign Exchange Settlement Management Policy of Capital Account, or SAFE Circular 16, effective on June 9, 2016, which reiterates some of the rules set forth in SAFE Circular 19, but changes the prohibition against using RMB capital converted from foreign currency-denominated registered capital of a foreign-invested company to issue RMB entrusted loans to a prohibition against using such capital to issue loans to non-associated enterprises. Violations of SAFE Circular 19 and SAFE Circular 16 could result in administrative penalties. SAFE Circular 19 and SAFE Circular 16 may significantly limit our ability to transfer any foreign currency we hold, including the net proceeds, to our PRC subsidiaries, which may adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business in China. 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 subsidiaries or VIEs or future capital contributions by us to our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China. As a result, uncertainties exist as to our ability to provide prompt financial support to our PRC subsidiaries or VIEs when needed. If we fail to complete such registrations or obtain such approvals, our ability to use the proceeds and 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.

Regulation - Risk 16

Any failure to comply with PRC regulations regarding the registration requirements for employee stock incentive plans may subject the PRC plan participants or us to fines and other legal or administrative sanctions.

In February 2012, SAFE promulgated the Notices on Issues Concerning the Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in Stock Incentive Plan of Overseas Publicly Listed Company, replacing earlier rules promulgated in 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 subsidiaries 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 reside in China for a continuous period of not less than one year and who have been granted options are subject to these regulations as our company is an overseas-listed company. Failure to complete SAFE registrations may subject them to fines of up to RMB300,000 for entities and up to RMB50,000 for individuals, 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 also face regulatory uncertainties that could restrict our ability to adopt additional incentive plans for our directors, executive officers and employees under PRC law. See "Item 4. Information on the Company-B. Business Overview-Regulations-Regulations Relating to Labor Protection in the PRC-Employee Stock Incentive Plan." In addition, the State Administration of Taxation, or SAT, has issued certain circulars concerning employee share options and restricted shares. Under these circulars, our employees working in China who exercise share options or are granted restricted shares will be subject to PRC individual income tax. Our PRC subsidiaries have obligations to file documents related to employee share options or restricted shares with relevant tax authorities and to withhold individual income taxes of those employees who exercise their share options. If our employees fail to pay or we fail to withhold their income taxes according to relevant laws and regulations, we may face sanctions imposed by the tax authorities or other PRC government authorities. See "Item 4. Information on the Company-B. Business Overview-Regulations-Regulations Relating to Labor Protection in the PRC-Employee Stock Incentive Plan."

Litigation & Legal Liabilities1 | 1.1%

Litigation & Legal Liabilities - Risk 1

You may experience difficulties in effecting service of legal process, enforcing foreign judgments or bringing actions in China against us or our management named in the annual report based on foreign laws.

We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, we conduct substantially all of our operations in China and substantially all of our assets are located in China. In addition, all our senior executive officers reside within China for a significant portion of the time and all of them are PRC nationals. As a result, it may be difficult for you to effect service of process upon us or those persons inside mainland China. It may also be difficult for you to enforce in U.S. courts judgments obtained in U.S. courts based on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws against us and our officers and directors as none of them currently resides in the United States or has substantial assets located in the United States. In addition, there is uncertainty as to whether the courts of the Cayman Islands or the PRC would recognize or enforce judgments of U.S. courts against us or such persons predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state. Due to jurisdictional limitations, matters of comity and various other factors, the SEC, U.S. Department of Justice and other U.S. authorities may also experience difficulties in bringing and enforcing actions against us or our directors and officers, including in instances of fraud or other wrongdoing. The recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments are provided for under the PRC Civil Procedures Law. PRC courts may recognize and enforce foreign judgments in accordance with the requirements of the PRC Civil Procedures Law based either on treaties between China and the country where the judgment is made or on principles of reciprocity between jurisdictions. China does not have any treaties or other forms of written arrangement with the United States that provide for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. In addition, according to the PRC Civil Procedures Law, the PRC courts will not enforce a foreign judgment against us or our directors and officers if they decide that the judgment violates the basic principles of PRC laws or national sovereignty, security or public interest. As a result, it is uncertain whether and on what basis a PRC court would enforce a judgment rendered by a court in the United States. In addition, shareholder claims that are common in the United States, including class action securities law and fraud claims, may be difficult to pursue as a matter of law or practicality in China. Under the PRC Civil Procedures Law, foreign shareholders may originate actions based on PRC law against a company in China for disputes if they can establish sufficient nexus to the PRC for a PRC court to have jurisdiction, and meet other procedural requirements, including, among others, the plaintiff must have a direct interest in the case, and there must be a concrete claim, a factual basis and a cause for the suit. It will be, however, difficult for U.S. shareholders to originate actions against us in the PRC in accordance with PRC laws because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands and it will be difficult for U.S. shareholders, by virtue only of holding the ADSs or our ordinary shares, to establish a connection to the PRC for a PRC court to have jurisdiction as required under the PRC Civil Procedures Law.

Taxation & Government Incentives3 | 3.2%

Taxation & Government Incentives - Risk 1

Contractual arrangements in relation to our VIEs may be subject to scrutiny by the PRC tax authorities and they may determine that we or our VIEs owe additional taxes, which could negatively affect our financial condition and the value of your investment.

Under applicable PRC laws and regulations, arrangements and transactions among related parties may be subject to audit or challenge by the PRC tax authorities. We could face material and adverse tax consequences if the PRC tax authorities determine that the variable interest entity contractual arrangements were not entered into on an arm's-length basis in such a way as to result in an impermissible reduction in taxes under applicable PRC laws, rules and regulations, and adjust the income of our VIEs in the form of a transfer pricing adjustment. A transfer pricing adjustment could, among other things, result in a reduction of expense deductions recorded by our VIEs for PRC tax purposes, which could in turn increase their tax liabilities. In addition, the PRC tax authorities may impose punitive interest on our VIEs for the adjusted but unpaid taxes at the rate of 5% over the basic RMB lending rate published by the People's Bank of China for a period according to the applicable regulations. Our financial position could be materially and adversely affected if our VIEs' tax liabilities increase or if they are required to pay punitive interest.

Taxation & Government Incentives - Risk 2

If we are classified as a PRC resident enterprise for PRC income tax purposes, such classification could result in unfavorable tax consequences to us and our non-PRC shareholders or ADS holders.

Under the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementation rules, an enterprise established outside of the PRC with "de facto management body" within China is considered a "resident enterprise" and will be subject to the enterprise income tax on its global income at the rate of 25%. The implementation rules define the term "de facto management body" as the body that exercises full and substantial control and overall management over the business, productions, personnel, accounts and properties of an enterprise. In 2009, the SAT, issued the Circular of the State Administration of Taxation on Issues Relating to Identification of PRC-Controlled Overseas Registered Enterprises as Resident Enterprises in Accordance With the De Facto Standards of Organizational Management, or SAT Circular 82, which provides certain specific criteria for determining whether the "de facto management body" of a PRC-controlled enterprise that is incorporated offshore is located in China. Although this circular only applies to offshore enterprises controlled by PRC enterprises or PRC enterprise groups, not those controlled by PRC individuals or foreigners, the criteria set forth in the circular may reflect SAT's general position on how the "de facto management body" text should be applied in determining the tax resident status of all offshore enterprises. According to SAT Circular 82, an offshore incorporated enterprise controlled by a PRC enterprise or a PRC enterprise group will be regarded as a PRC tax resident by virtue of having its "de facto management body" in China and will be subject to PRC enterprise income tax on its global income only if all of the following conditions are met: (i) the primary location of the day-to-day operational management is in China; (ii) decisions relating to the enterprise's financial and human resource matters are made or are subject to approval by organizations or personnel in China; (iii) the enterprise's primary assets, accounting books and records, company seals, and board and shareholder resolutions, are located or maintained in China; and (iv) at least 50% of voting board members or senior executives habitually reside in China. We believe that we are not a PRC resident enterprise for PRC tax purposes. However, the tax resident status of an enterprise is subject to determination by the PRC tax authorities and uncertainties remain with respect to the interpretation of the term "de facto management body." If the PRC tax authorities determine that we are a PRC resident enterprise for enterprise income tax purposes, we could be subject to PRC tax at a rate of 25% on our worldwide income, which could materially reduce our net income, and we may be required to withhold a 10% withholding tax from dividends we pay to our shareholders that are non-resident enterprises, including the holders of our ADSs. In addition, non-resident enterprise shareholders (including our ADS holders) may be subject to PRC tax on gains realized on the sale or other disposition of ADSs or Class A ordinary shares, if such income is treated as sourced from within China. Furthermore, if we are deemed a PRC resident enterprise, dividends payable to our non-PRC individual shareholders (including our ADS holders) and any gain realized on the transfer of ADSs or Class A ordinary shares by such shareholders may be subject to PRC tax at a rate of 10% in the case of non-PRC enterprises or a rate of 20% in the case of non-PRC individuals unless a reduced rate is available under an applicable tax treaty. It is unclear whether non-PRC shareholders of our company would be able to claim the benefits of any tax treaties between their country of tax residence and the PRC in the event that we are treated as a PRC resident enterprise. Any such tax may reduce the returns on your investment in the ADSs or Class A ordinary shares.

Taxation & Government Incentives - Risk 3

There can be no assurance that we will not be classified as a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes for any taxable year, which could subject U.S. investors in our ADSs or Class A ordinary shares to significant adverse U.S. income tax consequences.

We will be a "passive foreign investment company," or "PFIC," if, in any particular taxable year, either (a) 75% or more of our gross income for such year consists of certain types of "passive" income or (b) 50% or more of the average quarterly value of our assets (as determined on the basis of fair market value) during such year produce or are held for the production of passive income (the "asset test"). Although the law in this regard is unclear, we intend to treat our VIE (including its subsidiaries) as being owned by us for U.S. federal income tax purposes, not only because we exercise effective control over the operation of such entity but also because we are entitled to substantially all of its economic benefits, and, as a result, we consolidate its results of operations in our consolidated financial statements. Assuming that we are the owner of our VIE (including its subsidiaries) for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and based upon our current and expected income and assets, including goodwill, and the value of our ADSs, we do not believe that we were a PFIC for the taxable year ended December 31, 2019 and we do not expect to be a PFIC for the foreseeable future. While we do not believe that we were a PFIC for the taxable year ended December 31, 2019 and we do not expect to become a PFIC, because the value of our assets for purposes of the asset test may be determined by reference to the market price of our ADSs, fluctuations in the market price of our ADSs may cause us to become a PFIC for the current or subsequent taxable years. Recent fluctuations in the market price of our ADSs increased our risk of becoming a PFIC. Because the market price of our ADSs and ordinary shares may continue to fluctuate considerably, we cannot assure you of our PFIC status for any taxable year. The determination of whether we will be or become a PFIC will also depend, in part, on the composition of our income and assets, which may be affected by how, and how quickly, we use our liquid assets. If we determine not to deploy significant amounts of cash for active purposes or if it were determined that we do not own the stock of our VIE for U.S. federal income tax purposes, our risk of being a PFIC may substantially increase. Because there are uncertainties in the application of the relevant rules and PFIC status is a factual determination made annually after the close of each taxable year, there can be no assurance that we will not be a PFIC for the current taxable year or any future taxable year. If we are a PFIC in any taxable year, a U.S. holder (as defined in "Item 10. Additional Information-E. Taxation-United States Federal Income Tax Considerations") may incur significantly increased U.S. income tax on gain recognized on the sale or other disposition of the ADSs or Class A ordinary shares and on the receipt of distributions on the ADSs or Class A ordinary shares to the extent such gain or distribution is treated as an "excess distribution" under the U.S. federal income tax rules, and such holder may be subject to burdensome reporting requirements. Further, if we are a PFIC for any year during which a U.S. holder holds our ADSs or Class A ordinary shares, we generally will continue to be treated as a PFIC for all succeeding years during which such U.S. holder holds our ADSs or Class A ordinary shares. For more information see "Item 10. Additional Information-E. Taxation-U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations-Passive Foreign Investment Company Considerations."

Environmental / Social1 | 1.1%

Environmental / Social - Risk 1

We may be held liable for information or content displayed on, retrieved from or linked to our platform, or distributed to our users, and PRC authorities may impose legal sanctions on us, including, in serious cases, suspending or revoking the licenses necessary to operate our platforms.

Some of our members engage in sales promotion activities through our live video broadcasts under the "Endorsement" section on our Yunji app and on our Yunji Endorsement app and they interact and exchange information with our users and generate and distribute content. However, because a majority of the communications on our platforms is conducted in real time, we are unable to verify the sources of all information posted thereon or examine the content generated by our members and users before they are posted. We also allow users to upload user-generated content on our platform. It is possible that activities of users or the content uploaded on our platform by users may engage in illegal, obscene or incendiary conversations or activities, including inappropriate or illegal information or content that may be deemed unlawful under PRC laws and regulations or that may expose us to allegations by third parties of infringement of intellectual property rights, unfair competition, invasion of privacy, defamation and other violations of third-party rights. When users register on our platform, they agree to our standard agreement, under which they agree not to disseminate any content infringing on third-party copyright on our platform. However, if any information or content on our platform is deemed illegal, obscene or incendiary, or if appropriate licenses and third party consents have not been obtained, claims may be brought against us for defamation, libel, negligence, intellectual property rights or other rights infringement, other unlawful activities or other theories and claims based on the nature and content of the information delivered on or otherwise accessed through our platform. We also may face liability for intellectual property rights infringement, fraud, and other claims based on the nature and content of the materials that are delivered, shared or otherwise accessed through or published on our platform. Under relevant PRC laws and regulations, online service providers, which provide storage space for users to upload works, may be held liable for copyright infringement under various circumstances pursuant to applicable PRC laws and regulations, including situations where the online service provider knows or should reasonably have known that the relevant content uploaded or linked to on its platform infringes upon the copyright of others and the online service provider profits from such infringing activities. In certain cases in China, the courts have found an online service provider to be liable for the copyrighted content posted by users which was accessible from and stored on such provider's servers. Defending any such actions could be costly and involve significant time and attention of our management and other resources, and there can be no assurance that we will obtain final outcomes that are favorable to us. In addition, if it is found that we have not adequately managed the information or content on our platform, PRC authorities may impose legal sanctions on us, including, in serious cases, suspending or revoking the licenses necessary to operate our platform. As a result, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Production

Total Risks: 14/93 (15%)Below Sector Average

Manufacturing1 | 1.1%

Manufacturing - Risk 1

Failure to successfully manage our fulfillment infrastructure or any interruption in the operation of the warehouse facilities for an extended period may negatively affect our business, prospects and results of operations.

We believe that our fulfillment infrastructure, consisting of strategically located warehouses and front distribution centers, is essential to our success. In the first quarter of 2019, we launched our marketplace business, allowing third-party merchants to sell their products on our platform and pay commissions on their sales to us. Unlike our merchandise sales business where we handle the fulfillment process for the products sold, substantially all of the third-party merchants under our marketplace business handle the fulfillment logistics for their products sold on our platform, thereby lessening the demand for expansion of our fulfillment infrastructure. We have started and will continue integrating and consolidating our warehouse facilities to enhance the efficiency in fulfilling orders placed from all areas in China under our merchandise sales business. Our fulfillment network is complex and challenging to operate. We cannot assure you that we will be able to lease suitable warehouse facilities on commercially acceptable terms or at all. We may not be able to recruit a sufficient number of qualified employees in connection with managing our fulfillment infrastructure. In addition, the integration and consolidation of our fulfillment infrastructure may strain our managerial, financial, operational and other resources. If we fail to manage such integration and consolidation successfully, our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. Even if we manage the integration and consolidation of our fulfillment infrastructure successfully, it may not give us the competitive advantage that we expect if improved third-party fulfillment services become widely available at reasonable prices to e-commerce platforms in China. In addition, our ability to process and fulfill orders accurately and provide high quality customer service depends on the smooth operation of the warehouse facilities. In order to continually improve customer experience, we have started to self-operate some warehouse facilities. As of December 31, 2019, we self-operated seven warehouses while the other warehouses we use were operated by third-party vendors. We provide our operating standards under our operating agreements with third-party vendors and typically renew these agreements on an annual basis. Any decrease in the quality of service offered by these third-party vendors will adversely affect our reputation and business operations. The warehouse facilities may be vulnerable to damage caused by fire, flood, power outage, telecommunications failure, break-ins, earthquake, health epidemics, human error and other events. If any of the warehouse facilities were rendered incapable of operations, then we may be unable to fulfill our orders on a timely basis. For example, business operations at warehouse facilities could be disrupted if any of the employees working therein are suspected of being infected with a novel strain of coronavirus, now named as COVID-19, since it could require the employees to be quarantined and/or the facilities to be disinfected. We do not carry business interruption insurance, and the occurrence of any of the foregoing risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Employment / Personnel2 | 2.2%

Employment / Personnel - Risk 1

We will not be able to exert the same level of influence or control over members and service managers as we could if they were our employees, and we may be subject to significant costs and reputational harm in the event our members violate any laws or regulations applicable to our operations.

Members and service managers, most of whom are also our members, are not our employees and do not enter into any employment contracts with us. Accordingly, we are not in a position to provide the same level of control over and oversight of members and service managers as we would if they were our employees. However, our members play an important role in promoting our products and inviting new members to our platform, including promoting our products via live video broadcasts under the "Endorsement" section of our Yunji app and on our Yunji Endorsement app. Some members also interact frequently with the users in their social network regarding our products and platform. Therefore, such users may associate the members with us and hold us accountable for any misconduct by our members. Also, service managers provide services to our members and communicate with them on a regular basis. The members they serve may view us as vicariously liable for any misconduct by service managers. We may be subject to lawsuits or reputational harm if, for example, a member misrepresents the functionality or provides inaccurate information of our products through the member's social network or via the live video broadcasts they host, or a member or service manager conducts any wrongdoings or otherwise violates applicable laws. While we have implemented policies and procedures designed to govern conduct of our members to comply with the regulatory regime in China and protect our goodwill, including content control policies and live video broadcast standards, and the third-party service companies have adopted policies to regulate the conduct of the service managers, there can be no assurance that members or service managers will comply with the policies and procedures. Violations by members or service managers of applicable law or of the policies and procedures could reflect negatively on our products and operations and harm our business reputation. While we have not experienced any significant problems affecting our products, operations or business reputation caused by violations by members or service managers of the policies and procedures, we cannot assure you that we will not face such problems in the future.

Employment / Personnel - Risk 2

Our success depends on the continuing efforts of our senior management and key employees. If our senior management is unable to work together effectively or efficiently or if we fail to hire, retain and motivate key employees, our business may be severely disrupted.

Our success is significantly dependent upon the continued services of our management and other key employees. In particular, our founder and chief executive officer, Mr. Shanglue Xiao, and other management members are critical to our vision, strategic direction, culture and overall business success. If our senior management cannot work together effectively or efficiently, our business may be severely disrupted. If one or more of our senior management were unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, we might not be able to locate suitable or qualified replacements easily or at all, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. If any of our senior management or key employees joins a competitor or forms a competing business, we may lose users, suppliers, third-party merchants, know-how and key professionals and staff members. Our senior management has entered into employment agreements and confidentiality and non-competition agreements with us. However, if any dispute arises between any of them and us, we may have to incur substantial costs and expenses in order to enforce such agreements in China or we may be unable to enforce such agreements at all. The increasing scale of our business also requires us to hire and retain a wide range of capable and experienced personnel and technology talents who can adapt to a dynamic, competitive and challenging business environment. Competition for talents is intense, and the availability of suitable and qualified candidates in China is limited. Competition for talents could cause us to offer higher compensation and other benefits to attract and retain them. Even if we were to offer higher compensation and other benefits, these individuals may not choose to join or continue to work for us. Any failure to attract or retain key management and personnel could severely disrupt our business and growth.

Supply Chain7 | 7.5%

Supply Chain - Risk 1

We rely on contractual arrangements with our VIEs and their respective shareholders for a large portion of our business operations, which may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing operational control.

We have relied and expect to continue to rely on contractual arrangements with our VIEs and their respective shareholders to conduct our business. 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 as direct ownership in providing us with control over our VIEs. For example, our VIEs and their respective shareholders could breach their contractual arrangements with us by, among other things, failing to conduct their operations in an acceptable manner or taking other actions that are detrimental to our interests. If we had direct ownership of our VIEs, we would be able to exercise our rights as a shareholder to effect changes in the board of directors of our VIEs, which in turn could effect changes, subject to any applicable fiduciary obligations, at the management level. However, under the current contractual arrangements, we rely on the performance by our VIEs and their respective shareholders of their obligations under the contracts to exercise control over our VIEs. The shareholders of our VIEs may not act in the best interests of our company or may not perform their obligations under these contracts. Such risks exist throughout the period in which we intend to operate our business through the contractual arrangements with our VIEs. If any dispute relating to these contracts remains unresolved, we will have to enforce our rights under these contracts through the operations of PRC law and courts and therefore will be subject to uncertainties in the PRC legal system. See "Item 3. Key Information-D. Risk Factors-Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure-Any failure by our VIEs or their respective shareholders to perform their obligations under our contractual arrangements with them would have a material and adverse effect on our business." Therefore, our contractual arrangements with our VIEs may not be as effective in ensuring our control over the relevant portion of our business operations as direct ownership would be.

Supply Chain - Risk 2

We rely on third-party online payment service providers for payment processing and escrow services on our platform. If these payment services are restricted or curtailed in any way or become unavailable to us or our users for any reason, our business may be materially and adversely affected.

All online payments for products sold on our platform are settled through third-party online payment service providers. Our business depends on the billing, payment and escrow systems of these payment service providers to maintain accurate records of payments of sales proceeds by users and collect such payments. If the quality, utility, convenience or attractiveness of these payment processing and escrow services declines, or we have to change the pattern of using these payment services for any reason, the attractiveness of our platform could be materially and adversely affected. Business involving online payment services is subject to a number of risks that could materially and adversely affect third-party online payment service providers' ability to provide payment processing and escrow services to us, including: - dissatisfaction with these online payment services or decreased use of their services by our users;- increasing competition, including from other established PRC internet companies, payment service providers and companies engaged in other financial technology services;- changes to rules or practices applicable to payment systems that link to third-party online payment service providers;- breach of users' personal information and concerns over the use and security of information collected from users;- service outages, system failures or failures to effectively scale the system to handle large and growing transaction volumes;- increasing costs to third-party online payment service providers, including fees charged by banks to process transactions through online payment channels, which would also increase our costs of revenues; and - failure to manage funds accurately or loss of funds, whether due to employee fraud, security breaches, technical errors or otherwise. Certain commercial banks in China impose limits on the amounts that may be transferred by automated payment from users' bank accounts to their linked accounts with third-party online payment services. We cannot predict whether these and any additional restrictions that could be put in place would have a material adverse effect on our platform. In addition, the commercial banks and third-party online payment service providers that we work with are subject to the supervision of the People's Bank of China, or the PBOC. The PBOC may publish rules, guidelines and interpretations from time to time regulating the operation of financial institutions and payment service providers, which may in turn affect how they provide payment services to us. For example, in November 2017, the PBOC published a notice, or the PBOC Notice, on the investigation and administration of illegal offering of settlement services by financial institutions and payment service providers to unlicensed entities. The PBOC Notice intends to prevent unlicensed entities from using licensed payment service providers as a conduit for conducting unlicensed payment settlement service business, to safeguard the fund security and information security. We launched the marketplace business in the first quarter of 2019, and cooperate with third party online payment service providers and commercial bank to receive payment from the buyers and distribute payment to third-party merchants and us. We believe our current cooperation with third party online payment service providers and commercial bank are not in violation of the PBOC Notice. We will continue to expand cooperation with third-party online payment service providers and commercial banks to cover all of our marketplace business and to support the new initiatives. We cannot assure you that the PBOC or other governmental authorities will find our cooperation model with third-party online payment service providers and commercial banks with respect to the marketplace business model to be in compliance with the PBOC Notice. If required by the PBOC or other relevant governmental authorities in the future, we may need to adjust or suspend our cooperation model with third-party payment service providers, and be subject to fines and other sanctions. In addition, we cannot assure you that we will be successful in entering into and maintaining amicable relationships with these online payment service providers and commercial banks. Identifying, negotiating and maintaining relationships with these providers require significant time and resources. Our current agreements with these service providers also do not prohibit them from working with our competitors. They could choose to terminate their relationships with us or propose terms that we cannot accept. In addition, these service providers may not perform as expected under our agreements with them, and we may have disagreements or disputes with such payment service providers, any of which could adversely affect our brand and reputation as well as our business operations.

Supply Chain - Risk 3

If we are unable to successfully manage our relationships with third-party service companies or third-party business process outsourcing companies (BPOs), we may lose service managers or customer service representatives, or fail to provide superior customer services, which could negatively affect our business and operations.

We maintain a limited number of our own employees for customer services and rely on third-party business process outsourcing companies (BPOs) for outsourced customer services. Our customer service center in Hefei, Anhui Province provides real-time assistance to our users and it had 557 outsourced customer service representatives as of December 31, 2019. These outsourced customer service representatives may not have the same level of commitment to our users or be as well-trained as our own employees and we have less control over the services provided by them than our own employees. We typically enter into service agreements with third-party BPOs on an annual basis or for a longer term. In the event that one or more of these third-party BPOs unexpectedly become unable or unwilling to provide some or all of these services to us, our own employees may not be able to provide the necessary range of customer services. If these outsourced customer service representatives fail to perform in accordance with the terms of our agreements with third-party BPOs or fail to provide satisfactory customer service, or if waiting times are too long due to the high volume of calls from users at peak times, we may fail to meet user expectations and our brand and user loyalty may be adversely affected. Any negative publicity or poor feedback regarding our customer service may harm our brand and reputation and in turn cause us to lose users and market share. We outsource provision of member services to third-party service companies and they hire, train and compensate service managers at our request. Service managers enter into service contracts with third-party service companies and are not our employees. We currently work with seven third-party service companies and enter into agreements with them on an annual basis or for a longer term. These third-party service companies select service managers based on the standards we provide in our agreements. While we may oversee the performance of service managers and request these third-party service companies to replace service managers that do not meet our standards, management of service managers through third parties may not be as timely and effective as were they our employees. If we are unable to enter into new agreements or extend existing agreements with these third-party service companies on terms and conditions acceptable to us, we may lose service managers. We may not be able to find alternative third-party service companies to provide similar services in a timely and reliable manner, or at all. Accordingly, our members may not receive sufficient training or support for promoting the products sold on our platform and they may become less motivated to promote our products via their social networks. Any termination of our arrangements with these third-party service companies, or their refusal to select service managers for us, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Supply Chain - Risk 4

Our marketplace business is subject to risks associated with third-party merchants.

As of December 31, 2019, there were 1,411 third-party merchants under our marketplace business. We do not have as much control over the storage and delivery of products sold on our online marketplace as we do over the products that we sell directly ourselves under our merchandise sales business. With the exception of third-party merchants outside of China for whom we handle the logistics and delivery process within China, our third-party merchants use their own facilities to store their products and their own or third-party delivery systems to deliver their products to our customers, which makes it more difficult for us to ensure that our customers get the same high quality service for all products sold on our platform. If any third-party merchant does not control the quality of the products that it sells on our platform, or if it does not deliver the products or delivers them late or delivers products that are materially different from its description of them, or if it sells counterfeit or unlicensed products on our platform, or if it sells certain products without licenses or permits as required by the relevant laws and regulations even though we have requested such licenses or permits in our standard form agreement with third-party merchants, the reputation of our marketplace business and our Yunji brand may be materially and adversely affected and we could face claims that we should be held liable for any losses. Moreover, despite our efforts to prevent it, some products sold under our marketplace business may compete with the products we sell directly, which may cannibalize our merchandise sales business. In addition, the supplier relationships, customer acquisition dynamics and other requirements for our marketplace business may not be the same as those for our merchandise sales operations, which may complicate the management of our business. In order for our marketplace business to be successful, we must continue to identify and attract third-party merchants, and we may not be successful in this regard.

Supply Chain - Risk 5

We and the third-party merchants in our marketplace business use third-party logistics service providers to deliver our orders. If these third-party logistics service providers fail to provide reliable delivery services, our business and reputation may be materially and adversely affected.

We and the third-party merchants in our marketplace business cooperate with a number of third-party logistics service providers to deliver products sold on our platform to end customers. Interruptions to or failures in these third parties' delivery services could prevent the timely or proper delivery of our products or may cause product damage or product loss during transit. These interruptions may be due to events that are beyond our control or the control of these third-party logistics companies, such as inclement weather, natural disasters, health epidemics, transportation disruptions or labor unrest. In addition, if our third-party logistics service providers fail to comply with applicable rules and regulations in China, our delivery services may be materially and adversely affected. We may not be able to find alternative third-party logistics companies to provide delivery services in a timely and reliable manner, or at all. Delivery of our products could also be affected or interrupted by the merger, acquisition, insolvency or shut-down of the delivery companies we engage to make deliveries, especially those local companies with relatively small business scales. If our products are not delivered in proper condition or on a timely basis, our users may refuse to accept products purchased on our platform and lose confidence in our platform, and our business and reputation could suffer. Furthermore, delivery personnel of contracted third-party logistics service providers act on our behalf and interact with our users personally. We need to effectively manage these third-party logistics service providers to ensure the quality of customer services. We have in the past received user complaints from time to time regarding our delivery and return and exchange services. Any failure to provide high-quality delivery services to our users may negatively impact the shopping experience of our users, damage our reputation and cause us to lose users.

Supply Chain - Risk 6

Our operations could be materially adversely affected if we fail to effectively manage our relationships with, or lose the services of, third-party manufacturing partners.

We rely on third-party manufacturing partners to manufacture our private label products. Our ability to grow revenues in the future will depend in part on our success in maintaining successful relationships with our manufacturing partners. As we do not enter into long-term contracts with third-party manufacturing partners, they may decide not to accept our future orders on the same or similar terms, or at all. If a manufacturing partner decides to substantially reduce its volume of supply to us or to terminate its business relationship with us, we may not be able to find a proper replacement in a timely manner, or at all. This may negatively impact our revenues and adversely affect our reputation, causing a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In particular, a substantial portion of our GMV from private label products is generated from the sale of Solo Life (??). If there is any adverse change to the nature of our relationship with the manufacturer of Solo Life or if the manufacturer of Solo Life decides to terminate its cooperation with us, the sale of our private label products and thus our results of operations may be negatively impacted. Moreover, some manufacturing partners may not fully comply with certain laws and regulations, such as consumer protection, labor and environmental laws. If any of our manufacturing partners is found to have violated laws and regulations in China, media reports on such violations may negatively affect our reputation and image, resulting in material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, while we provide the designs of our products to the manufacturing partner, as well as guidance for manufacturing the products ordered by us, we do not have direct control over the manufacturing partners. If any of them is involved in unauthorized production and sale of goods using our brand name, our reputation, financial condition and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.

Supply Chain - Risk 7

If we fail to manage and expand our relationships with suppliers and third-party merchants, or otherwise fail to procure products at favorable terms, our business, growth and profitability prospects may suffer.

We source products from third-party suppliers for our merchandise sales business. We also operate a marketplace business whereby third-party merchants sell products on our platform. As of December 31, 2019, we had 2,279 suppliers and third-party merchants on our platform. Our suppliers and third-party merchants include merchants of mainstream brands and emerging brands, and manufacturing partners we cooperate with. Maintaining strong relationships with these suppliers and third-party merchants is important to the growth of our business. In particular, we depend significantly on our ability to procure products from suppliers on favorable pricing terms and attract third-party merchants to offer their products on commercially attractive terms. We typically enter into one-year framework agreements with our suppliers and third-party merchants on an annual basis, and these framework agreements do not ensure the availability of products or the continuation of particular pricing practices or payment terms beyond the end of the contractual term. In addition, our agreements with suppliers and third-party merchants typically do not restrict them from selling products to others or on other platforms. We cannot assure you that our current suppliers and third-party merchants will continue to sell products to us or on our platform on commercially acceptable terms, or at all, after the term of the current agreement expires. Even if we maintain good relations with our suppliers and third-party merchants, their ability to supply products to us or on our platform in sufficient quantity and at competitive prices may be adversely affected by economic conditions, labor actions, regulatory or legal decisions, natural disasters or other causes. In the event that we are not able to purchase products at favorable prices, our revenues and cost of sales may be materially and adversely affected. In the event any brand owner does not have authority from the relevant manufacturer to sell certain products to us or on our platform, such brand owner may cease selling such products to us or on our platform at any time. If our suppliers and third-party merchants cease to provide us with favorable payment terms, our need for working capital may increase and our operations may be materially and adversely affected. We will also need to establish new supplier and third-party merchant relationships to ensure that we have access to a steady supply of products on favorable commercial terms. If we are unable to develop and maintain good relationships with suppliers and third-party merchants that would allow us to obtain a sufficient amount and variety of authentic and quality products on acceptable commercial terms, it may inhibit our ability to offer sufficient products sought by our users, or to offer these products at competitive prices. Any adverse developments in our relationships with suppliers and third-party merchants could materially and adversely affect our business and growth prospects. In addition, as part of our growth strategy, we plan to further expand our product offerings. If we fail to attract new suppliers and third-party merchants to sell their products to us or on our platform due to any reason, our business, growth and profitability prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

Costs4 | 4.3%

Costs - Risk 1

If we fail to manage our inventory effectively, our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity may be materially and adversely affected.

The scale and business model of our merchandise sales business require us to manage a large volume of inventory effectively. We depend on our demand forecasts for various kinds of products to make purchase decisions and to manage our inventory. Demand for products, however, can change significantly between the time inventory is ordered and the date by which we hope to sell it. Demand may be affected by seasonality, new product launches, changes in product cycles and pricing, product defects, changes in consumer spending patterns, changes in consumer tastes with respect to our products and other factors, and our users may not order products in the quantities that we expect. In addition, when we begin selling a new product, it may be difficult to establish supplier relationships, determine appropriate product selection, and accurately forecast demand. The acquisition of certain types of inventory may require significant lead time and prepayment and they may not be returnable. We do not have the right to return unsold items to some of our suppliers. Our net inventories have fluctuated in recent periods, from RMB332.8 million as of December 31, 2017 to RMB675.5 million as of December 31, 2018 and to RMB428.3 million (US$61.5 million) as of December 31, 2019. Our inventory turnover days were 15.0 days in 2017, 17.0 days in 2018 and 21.5 days in 2019. The recent decrease in net inventories is primarily due to a portion of merchandise sales shifting to our recently launched marketplace business platform under which substantially all of the third-party merchants handle the procurement, storage and management of their own inventory. We may include more products in our inventory, which will make it more challenging for us to manage our inventory effectively and will put more pressure on our warehousing system. If we fail to manage our inventory effectively, we may be subject to a heightened risk of inventory obsolescence, a decline in inventory values, and significant inventory write-downs or write-offs. In addition, we may be required to lower sale prices in order to reduce inventory level, which may lead to lower margins. High inventory levels may also require us to commit substantial capital resources, preventing us from using that capital for other important purposes. If we underestimate demand for our products, or if our suppliers fail to supply quality products in a timely manner, we may experience inventory shortages, which might result in missed sales, diminished brand loyalty and lost revenues, any of which could harm our business and reputation. Any of the above may materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Costs - Risk 2

Failure to renew our current leases or locate desirable alternatives for our leased properties could materially and adversely affect our business.

We lease properties for our offices and the warehouse facilities that we operate. We may not be able to successfully extend or renew such leases upon expiration of the current term on commercially reasonable terms or at all, and may therefore be forced to relocate our affected operations. This could disrupt our operations and result in significant relocation expenses, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we compete with other businesses for premises at certain locations or of desirable sizes. As a result, even though we could extend or renew our leases, rental payments may significantly increase as a result of the high demand for the leased properties. In addition, we may not be able to locate desirable alternative sites for our current leased properties as our business continues to grow and failure in relocating our affected operations could adversely affect our business and operations.

Costs - Risk 3

Our use of some leased properties could be challenged by third parties or government authorities, which may cause interruptions to our business operations.

Certain lessors of our leased properties have not provided us with their property ownership certificates or any other documentation proving their right to lease those properties to us. If our lessors are not the owners of the properties and they have not obtained consents from the owners or their lessors or permits from the relevant government authorities, our leases could be invalidated. If this occurs, we may have to renegotiate the leases with the owners or the parties who have the right to lease the properties, and the terms of the new leases may be less favorable to us. We have not entered into written contracts with our lessors for some of our leased properties and the lessors of such properties may claim to terminate our leases. We may not be able to find alternative properties to lease in a timely and reliable manner, or at all. Some of the leased properties were also subject to mortgage at the time the leases were entered into. If no consent had been obtained from the mortgage holder under such circumstances, the lease may not be binding on the transferee of the property in the event that the mortgage holder forecloses on the mortgage and transfers the property to another party. In addition, a substantial portion of our leasehold interests in leased properties have not been registered with the relevant PRC government authorities as required by PRC law, which may expose us to potential fines if we fail to remediate after receiving any notice from the relevant PRC government authorities. We have subleased a portion of our leased properties to our PRC subsidiaries, VIEs and their subsidiaries as well as other third parties. As of the date of this annual report, we are not aware of any claims or actions being contemplated or initiated by government authorities, property owners or any other third parties with respect to our leasehold interests in or use of such properties. However, we cannot assure you that our use of such leased properties will not be challenged. In the event that our use of properties is successfully challenged, we may be subject to fines and forced to relocate the affected operations. In addition, we may become involved in disputes with the property owners or third parties who otherwise have rights to or interests in our leased properties. We can provide no assurance that we will be able to find suitable replacement sites on terms acceptable to us on a timely basis, or at all, or that we will not be subject to material liability resulting from third parties' challenges on our use of such properties. As a result, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Costs - Risk 4

We have limited insurance coverage, which could expose us to significant costs and business disruption.

We maintain various insurance policies to safeguard against risks and unexpected events. We have purchased food safety insurance for our products. In addition to providing social security insurance for our employees as required by PRC law, we also provide supplemental commercial medical insurance, which covers life insurance, for our employees. We do not maintain business interruption insurance, nor do we maintain product liability insurance or key-man life insurance. We cannot assure you that our insurance coverage is sufficient to prevent us from any loss or that we will be able to successfully claim our losses under our current insurance policy on a timely basis, or at all. If we incur any loss that is not covered by our insurance policies, or the compensated amount is significantly less than our actual loss, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Tech & Innovation

Total Risks: 9/93 (10%)Below Sector Average

Innovation / R&D1 | 1.1%

Innovation / R&D - Risk 1

We may face challenges in expanding our product offerings and optimizing our product mix.

Our platform carries a wide range of products including, among others, household goods, cosmetics, apparel, bags and cases, food and beverage, childcare products, electronic appliances and fresh produce. Expansion into diverse new product categories and increase in number of products we offer involve new risks and challenges. Our lack of familiarity with these products and lack of relevant user data relating to these products may make it more difficult for us to anticipate user demand and preferences. We may misjudge user demand, resulting in inventory buildup and possible inventory write-down. It may also make it more difficult for us to inspect and control quality and ensure proper handling, storage and delivery. We may experience higher return rates on new products, receive more complaints from members and other users about them and face costly product liability claims, which would harm our brand and reputation as well as our financial performance. Furthermore, we may not have much purchasing power in new categories of products and we may not be able to negotiate favorable terms with suppliers and third-party merchants. We may need to price aggressively to gain market share or remain competitive in new categories. It may be difficult for us to achieve profitability in the new product categories and our profit margin for these new product categories, if any, may be lower than we anticipate, which would adversely affect our overall profitability and results of operations. We cannot assure you that we will be able to recoup our investments in introducing these new product categories. In addition, some of our existing product categories may have lower profit margins than others, and failure to grow our existing product categories with higher profit margins may adversely impact our overall profitability and results of operations.

Trade Secrets4 | 4.3%

Trade Secrets - Risk 1

We may be subject to intellectual property infringement claims, which may be expensive to defend and may disrupt our business and operations.

We cannot be certain that our operations or any aspects of our business do not or will not infringe upon or otherwise violate patents, copyrights or other intellectual property rights held by third parties. We have been, and from time to time in the future may be, subject to legal proceedings and claims relating to the intellectual property rights of others. In addition, there may be other third-party intellectual property that is infringed by our products, services or other aspects of our business. There could also be existing patents of which we are not aware that our products may inadvertently infringe. We cannot assure you that holders of patents purportedly relating to some aspect of our technology platform or business, if any such holders exist, would not seek to enforce such patents against us in China, the United States or any other jurisdictions. In addition, we strive to closely monitor the products offered on our platform, and also require suppliers and third-party merchants to indemnify us for any losses we suffer or any costs that we incur in relation to the products we source from such suppliers or the products offered by such third-party merchants on our platform. However, we cannot be certain that these measures would be effective in completely preventing the infringement of trademarks, patents, copyrights, know-how or other intellectual property rights held by third parties. Further, the application and interpretation of China's patent laws and the procedures and standards for granting patents in China are still evolving and are uncertain, and we cannot assure you that PRC courts or regulatory authorities would agree with our analysis. If we are found to have violated the intellectual property rights of others, we may be subject to liability for our infringement activities or may be prohibited from using such intellectual property, and we may incur licensing fees or be forced to develop alternatives of our own. In addition, we may incur significant expenses, and may be forced to divert management's time and other resources from our business and operations to defend against these third-party infringement claims, regardless of their merits. Successful infringement or licensing claims made against us may result in significant monetary liabilities and may materially disrupt our business and operations by restricting or prohibiting our use of the intellectual property in question. Finally, we use open source software in connection with our products and services. Companies that incorporate open source software into their products and services have, from time to time, faced claims challenging the ownership of open source software and compliance with open source license terms. As a result, we could be subject to suits by parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open source software or noncompliance with open source licensing terms. Some open source software licenses require users who distribute open source software as part of their software to publicly disclose all or part of the source code to such software and make available any derivative works of the open source code on unfavorable terms or at no cost. Any requirement to disclose our source code or pay damages for breach of contract could be harmful to our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Trade Secrets - Risk 2

We may not be able to prevent others from unauthorized use of our intellectual property, which could harm our business and competitive position.

We regard our trademarks, copyrights, patents, domain names, know-how, proprietary technologies, and similar intellectual property as critical to our success, and we rely on a combination of intellectual property laws and contractual arrangements, including confidentiality, invention assignment and non-compete agreements with our employees and others, to protect our proprietary rights. Although we are not aware of any copycat mobile apps that attempt to cause confusion or diversion of traffic from us at the moment, we may become an attractive target to such attacks in the future because of our brand recognition in the e-commerce industry in China. Despite these measures, any of our intellectual property rights could be challenged, invalidated, circumvented or misappropriated, or such intellectual property may not be sufficient to provide us with competitive advantages. In addition, there can be no assurance that (i) our application for registration of trademarks, patents, and other intellectual property rights will be approved, (ii) any intellectual property rights will be adequately protected, or (iii) such intellectual property rights will not be challenged by third parties or found by a judicial authority to be invalid or unenforceable. Furthermore, because of the rapid pace of technological change in our industry, parts of our business rely on technologies developed or licensed by third parties, and we may not be able to obtain or continue to obtain licenses and technologies from these third parties at all or on reasonable terms. It is often difficult to register, maintain and enforce intellectual property rights in China. Confidentiality, invention assignment and non-compete agreements may be breached by counterparties, and there may not be adequate remedies available to us for any such breach. Accordingly, we may not be able to effectively protect our intellectual property rights or to enforce our contractual rights in China. Policing any unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly and the steps we take may be inadequate to prevent the infringement or misappropriation of our intellectual property. In the event that we resort to litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, such litigation could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our managerial and financial resources, and could put our intellectual property at risk of being invalidated or narrowed in scope. We can provide no assurance that we will prevail in such litigation, and even if we do prevail, we may not obtain a meaningful recovery. In addition, our trade secrets may be leaked or otherwise become available to, or be independently discovered by, our competitors. Any failure in maintaining, protecting or enforcing our intellectual property rights could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Trade Secrets - Risk 3

We may incur liability or become subject to administrative penalties for counterfeit or unauthorized products sold on our platform, or for products sold on our platform or content posted on our platform that infringe on third-party intellectual property rights, or for other misconduct.

We sourced our products from 868 suppliers as of December 31, 2019. Third-party merchants under our marketplace business are separately responsible for sourcing the products they sell on our platform. As of December 31, 2019, we had 1,411 third-party merchants on our online marketplace. We have been and may continue to be subject to allegations and lawsuits claiming that products sold or listed on our platform are counterfeit, unauthorized, illegal, or otherwise infringe third-party copyrights, trademarks and patents or other intellectual property rights, or that content posted on our user interfaces or shared by members through their social networks contain misleading or inaccurate information on description of products and comparable prices. Although we have adopted strict measures to protect us against these potential liabilities, including proactively verifying the authenticity and authorization of products sold on our platform through conducting offline investigations and immediately removing any counterfeit or illegal products or misleading information found on our platform, these measures may not always be successful or timely. In the event that counterfeit, unauthorized or infringing products are sold on our platform or infringing or misleading content is posted on our platform, we could face claims or be imposed with penalties. We have in the past received claims alleging the sales of defective, counterfeit or unauthorized items on our platform. Irrespective of the validity of such claims, we could incur significant costs and efforts in either defending against or settling such claims. If there is a successful claim against us, we might be required to pay substantial damages or refrain from further sale of the relevant products. Potential liabilities under PRC law for negligence in participating or assisting in infringement activities associated with counterfeit goods include injunctions to cease infringing activities, rectification, compensation, administrative penalties and even criminal liability. Moreover, such third-party claims or administrative penalties could result in negative publicity and our reputation could be severely damaged. In addition, in the event that any of our suppliers or third-party merchants fail to obtain proper authorization to sell certain products to us or on our platform, they may be prevented from selling products to us or on our platform and we may become subject to claims or disputes alleging that some products are sold on our platform without proper authorization. Any of these events could have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition. Under our standard form agreements, we require suppliers and third-party merchants to indemnify us for any losses we suffer or any costs that we incur due to any products we source from these suppliers or any products sold by these third-party merchants. However, not all of our agreements with suppliers and third-party merchants have such terms, and for those agreements that have such terms, we may not be able to successfully enforce our contractual rights and may need to initiate costly and lengthy legal proceedings in China to protect our rights. See "-Risks Related to Doing Business in China-We may be adversely affected by the complexity, uncertainties and changes in PRC regulation of internet-related businesses and companies."

Trade Secrets - Risk 4

Your right to participate in any future rights offerings may be limited, which may cause dilution to your holdings.

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

Cyber Security2 | 2.2%

Cyber Security - Risk 1

Failure to protect confidential information of our users and network against security breaches could damage our reputation and brand and substantially harm our business and results of operations.

A significant challenge to the e-commerce industry is the secure storage of confidential information and its secure transmission over public networks. A substantial amount of the orders and the payments for products offered on our platform are made through our mobile apps. In addition, all online payments for our products are settled through third-party online payment services. We also share certain personal information about our users with contracted third-party suppliers and logistics service providers, such as their names, addresses, phone numbers and transaction records. Maintaining complete security for the storage and transmission of confidential information on our technology platform, such as user's personal information, payment-related information and transaction information, is essential to maintaining user confidence. We have adopted security policies and measures, including encryption technology, to protect our proprietary data and user information. However, advances in technology, the expertise of hackers, new discoveries in the field of cryptography or other events or developments could result in a compromise or breach of the technology that we use to protect confidential information. We may not be able to prevent third parties, especially hackers or other individuals or entities engaging in similar activities, from illegally obtaining such confidential or private information we hold with respect to users on our platform. In addition, we have limited control or influence over the security policies or measures adopted by third-party providers of online payment services through which some of our users may elect to make payment for purchases. The contracted third-party suppliers and logistics service providers we use may also violate their confidentiality obligations and disclose or use information about our users illegally. Individuals or entities obtaining our users' confidential or private information illegally may further engage in various other illegal activities using such information, which may cause losses to our users and undermine their trust in our platform. We have received complaints from our users that their personal and transaction information has been leaked and used by others to conduct fraud or other illegal activities, which resulted in losses to these users, and we have also been subject to negative publicity relating to these incidents. We have examined our security system and measures after receiving the complaints, and believe that it is not us or our employees who leaked the user information to others or any other reasons attributable to us and we should not be held liable for the losses suffered by the users in accordance with the applicable PRC laws. To better protect the users on our platform, we have taken further measures to enhance our data protection policies and measures, require contracted third-party suppliers and logistics service providers to comply with their confidentiality obligations, and alert our users about the potential illegal activities associated with leakage of user information. There can be no assurance, however, that the measures we have taken are sufficient and effective to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of our data and confidential user information stored or transmitted through our platform. Any negative publicity on our platform's safety or privacy protection mechanisms and policies, and any claims asserted against us or fines imposed upon us as a result of actual or perceived failures, could have a material and adverse effect on our public image, reputation, financial condition and results of operations. Any compromise of our information security or the information security measures of our contracted third-party suppliers or logistics service providers or third-party online payment service providers could have a material and adverse effect on our reputation, business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Cyber Security - Risk 2

Our business generates and processes a large amount of data, and we are required to comply with PRC laws relating to data privacy and security. The improper use or disclosure of data could have a material and adverse effect on our business and prospects.

Our business generates and processes a large quantity of data. We face risks inherent in handling and protecting large volume of data. In particular, we face a number of challenges relating to data from transactions and other activities on our platform, including: - protecting the data in and hosted on our system, including against attacks on our system by outside parties or fraudulent behavior or improper use by our employees;- addressing concerns related to privacy and sharing, safety, security and other factors; and - complying with applicable laws, rules and regulations relating to the collection, use, storage, transfer, disclosure and security of personal information, including any requests from regulatory and government authorities relating to this data. The PRC regulatory and enforcement regime with regard to data security and data protection is evolving. We may be required by PRC governmental authorities to share personal information and data that we collect to comply with PRC laws relating to cybersecurity. See "Item 4. Information on the Company-B. Business Overview-Regulations-Regulations Relating to Internet Information Security and Privacy Protection." All these laws and regulations may result in additional expenses and obligations to us and subject us to negative publicity, which could harm our reputation and negatively affect the trading price of our ADSs. There are also uncertainties with respect to how these laws will be implemented in practice. PRC regulators have been increasingly focused on regulation in the areas of data security and data protection. We expect that these areas will receive greater attention and focus from regulators, and attract continued or greater public scrutiny and attention going forward, which could increase our compliance costs and subject us to heightened risks and challenges associated with data security and protection. If we are unable to manage these risks, we could become subject to penalties, fines, suspension of business and revocation of required licenses, and our reputation and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, regulatory authorities around the world have recently adopted or are considering a number of legislative and regulatory proposals concerning data protection. These legislative and regulatory proposals, if adopted, and the uncertain interpretations and application thereof could, in addition to the possibility of fines, result in an order requiring that we change our data practices, which could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Technology2 | 2.2%

Technology - Risk 1

Any disruption to our IT systems could materially affect our ability to maintain the satisfactory performance of our IT systems and deliver consistent services to our users.

The proper functioning of our IT systems is essential to our business. The satisfactory performance, reliability and availability of our IT systems are critical to our success, our ability to attract and retain members and other users and our ability to maintain and deliver consistent services on our platform. However, our technology infrastructure may fail to keep pace with increased sales on our platform, in particular with respect to our new product and service offerings or in association with traffic and order surges during promotional events and holiday seasons, and therefore our users may experience delays as we seek to source additional capacity, which would adversely affect our results of operations as well as our reputation. Additionally, we must continue to upgrade and improve our technology infrastructure to support our business growth. However, we cannot assure you that we will be successful in executing these system upgrades, and the failure to do so may impede our growth. We currently use cloud services and servers operated by external cloud service providers to store our data, to allow us to analyze a large amount of data simultaneously and to update our user database and profiles quickly. Any interruption or delay in the functionality of these external cloud service and server providers may materially and adversely affect the operations of our business. We may be unable to monitor and ensure high-quality maintenance and upgrade of our IT systems and infrastructure on a real-time basis, and users may experience service outages and delays in accessing and using our platform to place orders. In addition, we may experience surges in online traffic and orders associated with promotional activities and generally as we scale, which can put additional demand on our platform at specific times. Our technology or infrastructure may not function properly at all times. Any system interruptions caused by telecommunications failures, computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins or other attempts to harm our systems could result in the unavailability or slowdown of our platform or reduced order fulfillment performance, which in turn could reduce the volume of products sold and the attractiveness of product offerings on our platform. Any of such occurrences could cause severe disruption to our daily operations. As a result, our reputation may be materially and adversely affected, our market share could decline and we could be subject to liability claims. In addition, in order to ensure that our technology infrastructure can be comprehensively and rapidly upgraded, we need to constantly enhance our technology. Otherwise, we face the risk of our technology infrastructure becoming unstable and susceptible to security breaches, which we may be unable to identify or rectify rapidly and effectively. Such instability or susceptibility could create serious challenges to the security and uninterrupted operation of our platform and services, which would materially and adversely affect our business and reputation.

Technology - Risk 2

We rely on proper operation and maintenance of our mobile platform and internet infrastructure and telecommunications networks in China. Any malfunction, capacity constraint or operation interruption may have an adverse impact on our business.

Currently, substantially all of our sales of products are generated online through our mobile platform. Therefore, the satisfactory performance, reliability and availability of our mobile platform are critical to our success and our ability to attract and retain users. Our business depends on the performance and reliability of the internet infrastructure in China. The reliability and availability of our mobile platform depends on telecommunications carriers and other third-party providers for communications and storage capacity, including bandwidth and server storage, among other things. If we are unable to enter into and renew agreements with these providers on acceptable terms, or if any of our existing agreements with such providers are terminated as a result of our breach or otherwise, our ability to provide products and services could be adversely affected. Access to internet in China is maintained through state-owned telecommunications carriers under administrative control, and we obtain access to end-user networks operated by such telecommunications carriers and internet service providers to give users access to our mobile platform. The failure of telecommunications network operators to provide us with the requisite bandwidth could also interfere with the speed and availability of our mobile platform. Service interruptions prevent users from accessing our mobile platform and placing orders, and frequent interruptions could frustrate users and discourage them from attempting to place orders, which could cause us to lose users and in turn suppliers and third-party merchants and harm our operating results.

Ability to Sell

Total Risks: 8/93 (9%)Below Sector Average

Competition1 | 1.1%

Competition - Risk 1

We face intense competition. We may lose market share and users if we fail to compete effectively.

The e-commerce industry in China is intensely competitive. We compete to attract, engage and retain members, other users, orders, suppliers, third-party merchants and other participants on our platform. Our current or potential competitors include all major e-commerce companies in China and other internet companies in China that engage in social e-commerce businesses. See "Item 4. Information on the Company-B. Business Overview-Competition." Our current or potential competitors may have longer operating histories, greater brand recognition, better relationships with supplier and third-party merchants, larger customer bases, higher user activity and loyalty or greater financial, technical or marketing resources than we do. Our competitors may leverage their brand recognition, experience and resources to compete with us in a variety of ways, including making investments and acquisitions for the expansion of their product and service offerings. Some of our competitors may be able to secure more favorable terms from suppliers and third-party merchants, devote greater resources to marketing and promotional campaigns, adopt more aggressive pricing or inventory policies and devote substantially more resources to their IT systems and technology than us. In particular, some of these competitors have substantially greater financial resources that may allow them to initiate and sustain aggressive price competition and we experience increased competition when our competitors offer discounts or clearance sale for various reasons. If we are unable to offer products on our platform at competitive prices, we may experience increased negative pressure on pricing for our products and loss of users. Some of our competitors may also utilize social networks to attract users, which may divert traffic or attention of our potential users. In addition, new and enhanced technologies may increase the competition in the e-commerce industry. Increased competition may reduce our profitability, market share, user base and brand recognition. We cannot assure you that we will be able to compete successfully against current or future competitors, and competitive pressures may have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Demand1 | 1.1%

Demand - Risk 1

Our results of operations are subject to seasonal fluctuations which could result in volatility or have an adverse effect on the market price of our ADSs.

We experience seasonality in our business, reflecting a combination of seasonal fluctuations in internet usage and traditional retail seasonality patterns. For example, we generally experience less user traffic and purchase orders during the Chinese New Year holiday season in the first quarter of each year. Furthermore, online sales in China are significantly higher in the fourth quarter of each calendar year than in the preceding three quarters. E-commerce companies in China hold special promotional campaigns on November 11 each year and we hold a special promotional campaign in the second quarter of each year, both of which can affect our results for those quarters. The increase in our sales and marketing expenses in the third and fourth quarters of 2017 was mainly due to our increase in our brand and business promotion activities during these periods. The decrease in sales and marketing expenses from the second quarter of 2018 to the third quarter of 2018 was mainly due to the decrease in member management fees we paid to the third-party service companies for their product sales facilitation services during this period, which resulted from the decrease of revenues from the second quarter of 2018 to the third quarter of 2018 due to seasonality. The decreases in our total revenues from quarter to quarter in 2019 was primarily due to continual decreases in revenues from sales of merchandise as a result of continual increases in the proportion of our business contributed from our marketplace business platform from quarter to quarter in 2019. Revenues generated under our marketplace business were recognized on a net basis, while revenues generated under our merchandise sales business were recognized on a gross basis. Due to the foregoing factors, our financial condition and results of operations for future quarters may continue to fluctuate and our historical quarterly results may not be comparable to future quarters. As a result, the trading price of our ADSs may fluctuate from time to time due to seasonality.

Sales & Marketing3 | 3.2%

Sales & Marketing - Risk 1

If we fail to anticipate user needs and provide products and services attractive to users, or fail to adapt our services or business model to changing user needs, emerging industry standards or rapid technological evolution, or fail to provide products at a satisfactory quality to our users, our business may be materially and adversely affected.

The e-commerce market in which we operate, and user needs and preferences are constantly evolving. As a result, we must continuously respond to changes in the market and user demand and preferences to remain competitive, grow our business and maintain our market position. We intend to further diversify our product and service offerings to contribute to our revenue sources in the future. We launched our marketplace business in the first quarter of 2019 whereby third-party merchants can sell products on our platform and pay us commissions on their sales. New products and services, new types of customers or new business models may involve risks and challenges we do not currently face. We continually introduce new sales format on our platform to improve user engagement and our productivity. Any new initiatives may require us to devote significant financial and management resources and may not perform as well as expected. Furthermore, we may have difficulty in anticipating user demand and preferences, and the products offered on our platform may not be accepted by the market or be rendered obsolete or uneconomical. Therefore, any inability to adapt to these changes may result in a failure to capture new members and other users or retain existing members and other users, the occurrence of which would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if we are unable to provide products to users at a satisfactory quality, in a timely manner, in sufficient quantities or at an acceptable cost, our business could be negatively impacted. We may also be subject to claims if our users are not satisfied with the quality of the products or do not have satisfactory experiences in general. In addition, to remain competitive, we must continue to enhance and improve the responsiveness, functionality and features of our platform. The internet and the e-commerce markets are characterized by rapid technological evolution, changes in user requirements and preferences, frequent introductions of new products, features and services embodying new technologies and the emergence of new industry standards and practices, any of which could render our existing technologies and systems obsolete. Our success will depend, in part, on our ability to identify, develop and adapt to new technologies useful in our business, and respond to technological advances and emerging industry standards and practices, in particular with respect to mobile internet, in a cost-effective and timely way. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in these efforts.

Sales & Marketing - Risk 2

If we fail to maintain membership loyalty or sustain membership growth, or fail to maintain member relationships effectively and retain existing members, our business and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.

We are a membership-based social e-commerce platform and therefore membership loyalty and growth are essential to our business. The cumulative number of our members reached approximately 13.8 million as of December 31, 2019. The growth of our business depends on our ability to maintain and increase the number of members on our platform and improve the level of their engagement. Previously, a user had to purchase a membership package in order to become a member and enjoy membership benefits. In order to stimulate our users' interest in transacting on our platform and attract more members, in 2019, we provided each non-member user with a free three-month experiential period during which time the user had access to the full spectrum of membership benefits. After the three-month experiential period, the user could become our member if he or she met a certain cumulative spending threshold or certain other requirements during the experiential period or if he or she purchased one of our membership packages. Starting in January 2020, we further refined our membership enrollment system by allowing any user to become a member and enjoy membership benefits free of charge for one year by simply registering for an account on the Yunji app. If the user meets a certain cumulative spending threshold or certain other requirements during the initial one-year period, the user may extend his or her membership for an extra year. We currently do not charge membership renewal fees or periodic membership fees. We may decide to charge membership renewal fees or other type of fees in the future. Such change in practice may negatively impact the membership loyalty and result in a decline in the level of engagement of our members. Damage to our reputation or our failure to anticipate needs of and provide value-added services to our members, among other things, could also diminish membership loyalty and reduce activity of members on our platform, which could cause our revenue and operating income to decline and negatively impact our profitability. Our membership growth depends on existing members to promote our products and invite new members through their social networks. Our members may decide not to promote our products or invite new members at any time. To increase our revenue, we must increase the number of, or level of activity of, our members. However, we may not be able to accurately predict how the number and level of activity of members may fluctuate, because we outsource provision of member services to third-party service companies. We work with third-party service companies and enter into agreements with them on an annual basis or for a longer term. These third-party service companies select service managers based on the standards we provide in our agreements and they hire, train and compensate service managers to provide training to our members. However, we cannot guarantee service managers selected by these third-party service companies will provide satisfactory performance. If the service managers fail to motivate our members or facilitate members' product sales, we may lose our existing members and the level of activity of members may reduce on our platform. Service managers may voluntarily terminate their contracts with third-party service companies at any time. The loss of service managers or the loss of a significant number of members for any reason, could negatively impact our business operations and impair our ability to attract new members. In addition, if our existing and new business opportunities and incentives, products, services and other initiatives do not generate sufficient enthusiasm and economic incentive to retain our existing members or attract new members on a sustained basis, our operating results could be adversely affected. As a result, in order to maintain our business growth in the future, we need to increase our retention of existing members and continue to successfully attract additional members.

Sales & Marketing - Risk 3

Failure to deal effectively with any fictitious transactions or other fraudulent conduct that take place under our marketplace business would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may face risks with respect to fraudulent activities under our marketplace business. Although we have implemented various measures to detect and reduce the occurrence of fraudulent activities within our marketplace business, there can be no assurance that such measures will be effective in combating fraudulent transactions or improving overall satisfaction among third-party merchants and customers. In addition to fraudulent transactions with legitimate customers, merchants may also engage in fictitious or "phantom" transactions with themselves or collaborators in order to artificially inflate their own ratings on our platform, reputation and search results rankings. This activity may harm other merchants by enabling the perpetrating merchant to be favored over legitimate merchants, and may harm our customers by deceiving them into believing that a merchant is more reliable or trusted than the merchant actually is. This activity may also result in inflated GMV from our marketplace business. Moreover, illegal, fraudulent or collusive activities by our employees could also subject us to liability or negative publicity. Although we have internal controls and policies with regard to the review and approval of sales activities and other relevant matters, we cannot assure you that such controls and policies will prevent fraud or illegal activity by our employees. Negative publicity and user sentiment generated as a result of actual or alleged fraudulent or deceptive conduct on our platform or by our employees would severely diminish consumer confidence in us, reduce our ability to attract new or retain current third-party merchants and customers, damage our reputation and diminish the value of our brand, and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Brand / Reputation3 | 3.2%

Brand / Reputation - Risk 1

Any harm to our Yunji brand or reputation may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We believe that the recognition and reputation of our Yunji (??) brand among our members, other users, suppliers, third-party merchants and other third-party service providers have contributed significantly to the growth and success of our business. Maintaining and enhancing the recognition and reputation of our brand are critical to our business and competitiveness. Many factors, some of which are beyond our control, are important to maintaining and enhancing our brand and may negatively impact our brand if not properly managed. These factors include our ability to: - provide a superior shopping experience to our users;- maintain and grow our member and user base and keep our community, members and other users highly engaged;- maintain the popularity, attractiveness, diversity, quality and authenticity of our product offerings;- maintain the efficiency, reliability and quality of our fulfillment services to our users;- maintain or improve users' satisfaction with our after-sale services;- increase brand awareness through marketing and brand promotion activities; and - preserve our reputation and goodwill in the event of any negative publicity on customer service, product quality, price or authenticity, data privacy and security, our industry and other players within the industry or other issues affecting us or other social e-commerce and e-commerce businesses in China. Public perception that non-authentic, counterfeit or defective goods are sold on our platform or that we or third-party service providers do not provide satisfactory customer service, even if factually incorrect or based on isolated incidents, could damage our reputation, diminish the value of our brand, undermine the trust and credibility we have established and have a negative impact on our ability to attract new users or retain our current users. If we are unable to maintain our reputation, enhance our brand recognition or increase positive awareness of our platform, products and services, it may be difficult to maintain and grow our member and user base, and our business and growth prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

Brand / Reputation - Risk 2

Any change, disruption or discontinuity in the features and functions of major social networks in China could severely limit our ability to continue growing our member and user base, and our business may be materially and adversely affected.

Our success depends on our ability to attract and retain new members and other users and expand our member and user base. We leverage social networks in China as a tool for member and user acquisition and engagement. For example, we leverage social networks, such as WeChat, QQ and Weibo, to enable members to share product information and their experiences with products on our platform to their friends, family and other social contacts, who can purchase such products directly via the links shared by the members through social networks. A substantial portion of our member and user traffic comes from such member recommendation through social networks. To the extent that we are banned from using some or all functions of such social networks, or fail to leverage such social networks, our ability to attract or retain members and other users, and maintain an active community may be severely harmed. If WeChat, QQ or Weibo changes its functions or support, such as charging fees for functions or support that is currently provided for free, or stops offering its functions or support to us or discontinues its functions or support in general, we may not be able to locate alternative platforms of similar scale to provide similar functions or support in a timely manner, or at all. Furthermore, we may fail to establish or maintain relationships with additional social network operators to support the growth of our business on economically viable terms, or at all. Any interruption to or discontinuation of our relationships with major social network operators may severely and negatively impact our ability to continue growing our user base, and any occurrence of the circumstances mentioned above may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Brand / Reputation - Risk 3

We may increasingly become a target for public scrutiny, including complaints to regulatory agencies, which could severely damage our reputation and materially and adversely affect our business and prospects. Negative media coverage or publicity of us, our management or our employees or public dissemination of malicious assessments of our business could harm our reputation and cause us to lose market share, users and revenues and adversely affect the price of our ADSs.

The high volume of transactions taking place on our platform as well as publicity about our business create the possibility of heightened attention from the public, regulators and the media. Heightened regulatory and public concerns over consumer protection, consumer safety and data privacy and security issues may subject us to additional legal and social responsibilities and increased scrutiny and negative publicity over these issues, due to the large number of transactions that take place on our platform and the increasing scope of our overall business operations. We may become the target of detrimental conduct by third parties, which include complaints, anonymous or otherwise, to regulatory agencies. We may be subject to government or regulatory investigation as a result of such third-party conduct and may be required to expend significant time and incur substantial costs to address such third-party conduct, and there is no assurance that we will be able to conclusively refute each of the allegations within a reasonable period of time, or at all. Moreover, as our business expands and grows, we may be exposed to heightened public scrutiny in jurisdictions where we already operate as well as in new jurisdictions where we may operate. There is no assurance that we would not become a target for regulatory or public scrutiny in the future or that scrutiny and public exposure would not severely damage our reputation as well as our business and prospects. Any illegal or immoral conducts by our management or employees could also result in negative publicity of us and thus harm our public image and reputation. In addition, allegations, directly or indirectly against us, may be posted in social media or on blogs or websites by anyone, whether or not related to us, on an anonymous basis. Consumers value readily available information concerning retailers, manufacturers, and their goods and services and often act on such information without further investigation or authentication and without regard to its accuracy. The availability of information on social media platforms and devices is virtually immediate, as is its impact. Social media platforms and devices immediately publish the content their subscribers and participants post, often without filters or checks on the accuracy of the content posted. Information posted may be inaccurate and adverse to us, and it may harm our financial performance, prospects or business. The harm may be immediate without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction. Our reputation may be negatively affected as a result of the public dissemination of anonymous allegations or malicious statements about our business, which in turn may cause us to lose market share, users and revenues and adversely affect the price of our ADSs.

Macro & Political

Total Risks: 7/93 (8%)Below Sector Average

Economy & Political Environment2 | 2.2%

Economy & Political Environment - Risk 1

A severe or prolonged downturn in the Chinese or global economy could materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition.

COVID-19 had a severe and negative impact on the Chinese and the global economy in the first quarter of 2020. Whether this will lead to a prolonged downturn in the economy is still unknown. Even before the outbreak of COVID-19, the global macroeconomic environment was facing numerous challenges. The growth rate of the Chinese economy had already been slowing since 2010. There is considerable uncertainty over the long-term effects of the expansionary monetary and fiscal policies which had been adopted by the central banks and financial authorities of some of the world's leading economies, including the United States and China, even before 2020. Unrest, terrorist threats and the potential for war in the Middle East and elsewhere may increase market volatility across the globe. There have also been concerns about the relationship between China and other countries, including the surrounding Asian countries, which may potentially have economic effects. In particular, there is significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the United States and China with respect to trade policies, treaties, government regulations and tariffs. Economic conditions in China are sensitive to global economic conditions, as well as changes in domestic economic and political policies and the expected or perceived overall economic growth rate in China. Any severe or prolonged slowdown in the global or Chinese economy may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Economy & Political Environment - Risk 2

Changes in China's economic, political or social conditions or government policies could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations.

Substantially all of our assets and operations are located in China. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be influenced to a significant degree by political, economic and social conditions in China generally and by continued economic growth in China as a whole. The PRC economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including the level of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources. Although the PRC government has implemented measures emphasizing the utilization of market forces for economic reform, the reduction of state ownership of productive assets, and the establishment of improved corporate governance in business enterprises, a substantial portion of productive assets in China is still owned by the government. In addition, the PRC government continues to play a significant role in regulating industry development by imposing industrial policies. The PRC government also exercises significant control over China's economic growth through allocating resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy, and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies. While the Chinese economy has experienced significant growth over the past decades, growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. The Chinese government has implemented various measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures may benefit the overall Chinese economy, but may 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. The growth rate of the Chinese economy has gradually slowed since 2010, and the impact of COVID-19 on the Chinese economy in 2020 is likely to be severe. Any prolonged slowdown in the Chinese economy may reduce the demand for our products and services and materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Natural and Human Disruptions1 | 1.1%

Natural and Human Disruptions - Risk 1

We face risks related to natural disasters, health epidemics and other outbreaks, which could significantly disrupt our operations.

Our business could be materially and adversely affected by natural disasters, health epidemics or other public safety concerns affecting the PRC. Natural disasters may give rise to server interruptions, breakdowns, system failures, technology platform failures or internet failures, which could cause the loss or corruption of data or malfunctions of software or hardware as well as adversely affect our ability to operate our platform and provide services and solutions. Our business could also be adversely affected if our employees are affected by health epidemics. Our business operations could be disrupted if any of our employees is suspected of having any transmissible health epidemic, since this may cause our employees to be quarantined and/or our offices to be temperately shut down. In addition, our results of operations could be adversely affected to the extent that any health epidemic harms the Chinese economy in general. For example, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected by the effects of the recent outbreak of COVID-19 in recent months. This outbreak of communicable diseases has caused, and may continue to cause us and certain of our business partners, to implement temporary adjustment of work schemes allowing employees to work from home and adopt remote collaboration. We have taken measures to reduce the impact of the epidemic outbreak and provide support to our employees, service managers, members and business partners, including, providing advanced online technical support to enable majority of our employees to work from home efficiently, securing ample supply of disinfectant materials and protective gears for our employees who were able to return to work, and maintaining a steady supply of daily essential products and epidemic containment materials at stable prices on our platform as a result of our combination of private labels, joint-venture brands, and product partnerships. However, we might still experience lower work efficiency and productivity, which may adversely affect our service quality and require us to incur additional costs. Also, in our endeavor to ensure supply availability, maintain price stability, and prevent price gouging of daily essential items and epidemic containment materials on our platform to support the well-being of our members and users, we may suffer short-term fluctuations in our results of operations. While the foregoing restrictions and measures designed to contain the spread of COVID-19 are expected to be temporary, the duration of the disruption and the related economic impact cannot be reasonably estimated at this time and our results of operations during this period are difficult to predict. Our results of operations may also be adversely affected to the extent that COVID-19 continues to affect the Chinese economy in general. As a result of the above developments, our results of operations have been adversely affected in the first quarter of 2020, and our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows for the full fiscal year of 2020 may be adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. We currently expect our GMV in the first quarter of 2020 to be RMB7.0 billion, as compared to RMB6.8 billion in the same period of 2019 and RMB11.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019, which is slower growth than we had previously anticipated. The slower than expected growth in GMV in the first quarter of 2020 was mainly due to the above developments and in particular, the fact that we, our suppliers, third-party merchants, third-party logistics service providers and other business partners experienced various degrees of temporary shutdowns and delays in commencement of operations due to COVID-19 in the first quarter of 2020. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the impacts of COVID-19 to our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows for the remainder of fiscal year 2020. Additionally, as COVID-19 continues to evolve into a worldwide health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets of countries other than China, the extent to which this outbreak impacts our results of operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and unpredictable, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of this outbreak and future actions we take, if any, to contain this outbreak or treat its impact, among others.

Capital Markets4 | 4.3%

Capital Markets - Risk 1

Governmental control of currency conversion may limit our ability to utilize our revenues effectively and affect the value of your investment.

The PRC government imposes controls on the convertibility of the Renminbi into foreign currencies and, in certain cases, the remittance of currency out of China. We receive all of our revenues in Renminbi. Under our current corporate structure, our Cayman Islands holding company primarily relies on dividend payments from our PRC subsidiary to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have. Under existing PRC foreign exchange regulations, payments of current account items, including profit distributions, interest payments and trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions, can be made in foreign currencies without prior approval of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, by complying with certain procedural requirements. Specifically, under the existing exchange restrictions, without prior approval of SAFE, cash generated from the operations of our PRC subsidiary in China may be used to pay dividends to our company. However, approval from or registration with appropriate government authorities is required where Renminbi 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. As a result, we need to obtain SAFE approval to use cash generated from the operations of our PRC subsidiaries and VIEs to pay off their respective debt in a currency other than Renminbi owed to entities outside China, or to make other capital expenditure payments outside China in a currency other than Renminbi. In light of the flood of capital outflows of China, the PRC government may from time to time impose more restrictive foreign exchange policies and step up scrutiny of major outbound capital movement. More restrictions and substantial vetting process may be required by SAFE or other government authorities to regulate cross-border transactions falling under the capital account. The PRC government may at its discretion restrict access to foreign currencies for current account transactions in the future. If the foreign exchange control system prevents us from obtaining sufficient foreign currencies to satisfy our foreign currency demands, we may not be able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to our shareholders, including holders of our ADSs.

Capital Markets - Risk 2

Fluctuations in exchange rates could have a material and adverse effect on our results of operations and the value of your investment.

The conversion of Renminbi into foreign currencies, including U.S. dollars, is based on rates set by the People's Bank of China. The Renminbi has fluctuated against the U.S. dollar, at times significantly and unpredictably. The value of Renminbi against the U.S. dollar and other currencies is affected by changes in China's political and economic conditions and by China's foreign exchange policies, among other things. We cannot assure you that Renminbi will not appreciate or depreciate significantly in value against the U.S. dollar in the future. It is difficult to predict how market forces or PRC or U.S. government policy may impact the exchange rate between Renminbi and the U.S. dollar in the future. Any significant appreciation or depreciation of Renminbi may materially and adversely affect our revenues, earnings and financial position, and the value of, and any dividends payable on, our ADSs in U.S. dollars. For example, to the extent that we need to convert U.S. dollars we receive into Renminbi to pay our operating expenses, appreciation of Renminbi against the U.S. dollar would have an adverse effect on the RMB amount we would receive from the conversion. Conversely, a significant depreciation of Renminbi against the U.S. dollar may significantly reduce the U.S. dollar equivalent of our earnings, which in turn could adversely affect the price of our ADSs. Very limited hedging options are available in China to reduce our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations. To date, we have not entered into any hedging transactions in an effort to reduce our exposure to foreign currency exchange risk. While we may decide to enter into hedging transactions in the future, the availability and effectiveness of these hedges may be limited and we may not be able to adequately hedge our exposure or at all. In addition, our currency exchange losses may be magnified by PRC exchange control regulations that restrict our ability to convert Renminbi into foreign currency. As a result, fluctuations in exchange rates may have a material adverse effect on your investment.

Capital Markets - Risk 3

Changes in our return and exchange policies may adversely affect our results of operations.

Pursuant to the Consumer Protection Law in China, as amended, except for certain types of products, such as custom-made goods, fresh and perishable goods, consumers are generally entitled to return the products purchased within seven days upon receipt without giving any reasons. We have adopted user-friendly return and exchange policies that make it convenient and easy for users to change their minds after completing purchases, including allowing users to return products purchased within seven days upon receipt without giving any reasons. We may be required by new laws or regulations to adopt new or amend existing return and exchange policies from time to time. These policies may subject us to additional costs and expenses which we may not recoup through increased revenue. If our return and exchange policy is misused by a significant number of users, our costs may increase significantly and our results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. If we revise these policies to reduce our costs and expenses, our users may be dissatisfied, which may result in loss of existing users or failure to acquire new users at a desirable pace, which may materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

Capital Markets - Risk 4

Changes in U.S. and international trade policies, particularly with regard to China, may adversely impact our business and operating results.

The U.S. government has made statements and taken certain actions that may lead to potential changes to U.S. and international trade policies towards China. In January 2020, the "Phase One" agreement was signed between the United States and China on trade matters. However, it remains unclear what additional actions, if any, will be taken by the U.S. or other governments with respect to international trade agreements, the imposition of tariffs on goods imported into the U.S., tax policy related to international commerce, or other trade matters. While cross-border business may not be an area of our focus, any unfavorable government policies on international trade, such as capital controls or tariffs, may affect the demand for our products and services, impact the competitive position of our products or prevent us from selling products in certain countries. If any new tariffs, legislation and/or regulations are implemented, or if existing trade agreements are renegotiated or, in particular, if the U.S. government takes retaliatory trade actions due to the recent U.S.-China trade tension, such changes could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

See a full breakdown of risk according to category and subcategory. The list starts with the category with the most risk. Click on subcategories to read relevant extracts from the most recent report.

FAQ

What are “Risk Factors”?

Risk factors are any situations or occurrences that could make investing in a company risky.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that publicly traded companies disclose their most significant risk factors. This is so that potential investors can consider any risks before they make an investment.

They also offer companies protection, as a company can use risk factors as liability protection. This could happen if a company underperforms and investors take legal action as a result.

It is worth noting that smaller companies, that is those with a public float of under $75 million on the last business day, do not have to include risk factors in their 10-K and 10-Q forms, although some may choose to do so.

How do companies disclose their risk factors?

Publicly traded companies initially disclose their risk factors to the SEC through their S-1 filings as part of the IPO process.

Additionally, companies must provide a complete list of risk factors in their Annual Reports (Form 10-K) or (Form 20-F) for “foreign private issuers”.

Quarterly Reports also include a section on risk factors (Form 10-Q) where companies are only required to update any changes since the previous report.

According to the SEC, risk factors should be reported concisely, logically and in “plain English” so investors can understand them.

How can I use TipRanks risk factors in my stock research?

Use the Risk Factors tab to get data about the risk factors of any company in which you are considering investing.

You can easily see the most significant risks a company is facing. Additionally, you can find out which risk factors a company has added, removed or adjusted since its previous disclosure. You can also see how a company’s risk factors compare to others in its sector.

Without reading company reports or participating in conference calls, you would most likely not have access to this sort of information, which is usually not included in press releases or other public announcements.

A simplified analysis of risk factors is unique to TipRanks.

What are all the risk factor categories?

TipRanks has identified 6 major categories of risk factors and a number of subcategories for each. You can see how these categories are broken down in the list below.

1. Financial & Corporate

Accounting & Financial Operations - risks related to accounting loss, value of intangible assets, financial statements, value of intangible assets, financial reporting, estimates, guidance, company profitability, dividends, fluctuating results.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights – risks related to things that impact share prices and the rights of shareholders, including analyst ratings, major shareholder activity, trade volatility, liquidity of shares, anti-takeover provisions, international listing, dual listing.
Debt & Financing – risks related to debt, funding, financing and interest rates, financial investments.
Corporate Activity and Growth – risks related to restructuring, M&As, joint ventures, execution of corporate strategy, strategic alliances.

2. Legal & Regulatory

Litigation and Legal Liabilities – risks related to litigation/ lawsuits against the company.
Regulation – risks related to compliance, GDPR, and new legislation.
Environmental / Social – risks related to environmental regulation and to data privacy.
Taxation & Government Incentives – risks related to taxation and changes in government incentives.

3. Production

Costs – risks related to costs of production including commodity prices, future contracts, inventory.
Supply Chain – risks related to the company’s suppliers.
Manufacturing – risks related to the company’s manufacturing process including product quality and product recalls.
Human Capital – risks related to recruitment, training and retention of key employees, employee relationships & unions labor disputes, pension, and post retirement benefits, medical, health and welfare benefits, employee misconduct, employee litigation.

4. Technology & Innovation

Innovation / R&D – risks related to innovation and new product development.
Technology – risks related to the company’s reliance on technology.
Cyber Security – risks related to securing the company’s digital assets and from cyber attacks.
Trade Secrets & Patents – risks related to the company’s ability to protect its intellectual property and to infringement claims against the company as well as piracy and unlicensed copying.

5. Ability to Sell

Demand – risks related to the demand of the company’s goods and services including seasonality, reliance on key customers.
Competition – risks related to the company’s competition including substitutes.
Sales & Marketing – risks related to sales, marketing, and distribution channels, pricing, and market penetration.
Brand & Reputation – risks related to the company’s brand and reputation.

6. Macro & Political

Economy & Political Environment – risks related to changes in economic and political conditions.
Natural and Human Disruptions – risks related to catastrophes, floods, storms, terror, earthquakes, coronavirus pandemic/COVID-19.
International Operations – risks related to the global nature of the company.
Capital Markets – risks related to exchange rates and trade, cryptocurrency.

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