SEC Form 20-F filed by Dada Nexus Limited

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

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FORM 20-F

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(Mark One)

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

OR

OR

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

OR

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

Date of event requiring this shell company report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

For the transition period from to

Commission file number: 001-39305

Dada Nexus Limited

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

N/A

(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)

Cayman Islands

(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

22/F, Oriental Fisherman’s Wharf

No. 1088 Yangshupu Road

Yangpu District, Shanghai 200082

People’s Republic of China

+86 21 3165-7167

(Address of principal executive offices)

Henry Jun Mao, Chief Financial Officer

Telephone: +86 21 3165-7167

Email: [email protected]

22/F, Oriental Fisherman’s Wharf

No. 1088 Yangshupu Road

Yangpu District, Shanghai 200082

People’s Republic of China

(Name, Telephone, Email and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

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

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*Not for trading, but only in connection with the listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market of American depositary shares.

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

None

(Title of Class)

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

None

(Title of Class)

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

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1,056,311,362 ordinary shares (excluding 43,974,208 ordinary shares in the form of ADSs held in treasury), par value US$0.0001 per share, as of December 31, 2023.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.  ☒ Yes   ☐ No

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. ☐ Yes   ☒ No

Note – Checking the box above will not relieve any registrant required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 from their obligations under those Sections.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. ☒ Yes   ☐ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).  ☒  Yes   ☐  No

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

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If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐ Yes   ☐ No

† The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒Yes   ☐ No

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

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

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

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If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. ☐ Item 17   ☐ Item 18

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). ☐ Yes   ☒ No

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed all documents and reports required to be filed by Sections 12, 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 subsequent to the distribution of securities under a plan confirmed by a court. ☐ Yes   ☐ No

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INTRODUCTION

Dada Nexus Limited is not a Chinese operating company but rather a Cayman Islands holding company with operations primarily conducted by its subsidiaries in the Chinese mainland and through contractual arrangements with the variable interest entities based in the Chinese mainland. PRC laws and regulations restrict and impose conditions on foreign direct investment in companies involved in the provision of value-added telecommunication services. Therefore, we operate such business in the Chinese mainland through the variable interest entity, Shanghai Qusheng, which we refer to as the VIE in this annual report, and rely on contractual arrangements among our PRC subsidiaries, the VIE and Jiangsu Jingdong Bangneng Investment Management Co., Ltd., or Jingdong Bangneng, to control the business operations of the VIE. Revenues contributed by the VIE, exclusive of internal transactions within us, accounted for 0.2%, 0.2% and 0.01% of our total net revenues for the fiscal years 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively. As used in this annual report, “Dada” refers to Dada Nexus Limited, and “we,” “us,” “our company” or “our” refers to Dada Nexus Limited and its subsidiaries, and, in the context of describing our operations and the consolidated financial information, the VIE and its subsidiaries in the Chinese mainland. Holdings of our ADSs thus are not holding all equity interest in the VIE in the Chinese mainland through holding equity interest in Dada Nexus Limited, a Cayman Islands holding company.

Our corporate structure is subject to risks associated with our contractual arrangements with the VIE. Dada and its investors may never have a complete direct ownership interest in the VIE or in the businesses that are conducted by the VIE, and the VIE structure provides contractual exposure to foreign investment in the companies which involve foreign investment restrictions. Uncertainties in the legal system in the Chinese mainland could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements, and these contractual arrangements have not been tested in a court of law. If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating our business do not comply with PRC laws and regulations, or if these regulations or their interpretations change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations. This may result in the VIE being deconsolidated, which would materially and adversely affect our operations, and our ADSs may decline significantly in value or become worthless. Our holding company, our PRC subsidiaries, the VIE, and investors of our company face uncertainty about potential future actions by the PRC government that could affect the enforceability of the contractual arrangements with the VIE and, consequently, significantly affect the financial performance of the VIE and our company as a whole. The PRC regulatory authorities could disallow the VIE structure, which would likely result in a material adverse change in our operations, and our ordinary shares or our ADSs may decline significantly in value or become worthless. As such, the VIE structure involves unique risks to investors of our holding company. For a detailed description of the risks associated with our corporate structure, please refer to risks disclosed under “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure.”

We face various legal and operational risks and uncertainties associated with being based in or having the majority of our operations in the Chinese mainland and the complex and evolving PRC laws and regulations. For example, we face risks associated with regulatory approvals or filing procedures on offerings conducted overseas by and foreign investment in China-based issuers, the use of VIE structure, anti-monopoly regulatory actions, and oversight on cybersecurity and data privacy, as well as the lack of PCAOB inspection on our auditors, which may impact our ability to conduct certain businesses, accept foreign investments, or list on a United States or other foreign exchange. These risks could result in a material adverse change in our operations and the value of our ADSs, significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to continue to offer securities to investors, or cause the value of such securities to significantly decline. For a detailed description of risks related to doing business in China, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China.”

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Pursuant to the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCAA, if the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, determines that we have filed audit reports issued by a registered public accounting firm that has not been subject to inspections by the PCAOB for two consecutive years, the SEC will prohibit our shares or ADSs from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over-the-counter trading market in the United States. On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a report to notify the SEC of its determination that the PCAOB was unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, including our auditor. In May 2022, the SEC conclusively listed us as a Commission-Identified Issuer under the HFCAA following the filing of the annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB issued a report that vacated its December 16, 2021 determination and removed the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong from the list of jurisdictions where it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms. For this reason, we were not identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer under the HFCAA after we filed our annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, and do not expect to be so identified after we file this annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023. Each year, the PCAOB will determine whether it can inspect and investigate completely audit firms in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, among other jurisdictions. If PCAOB determines in the future that it no longer has full access to inspect and investigate completely accounting firms in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong and we continue to use an accounting firm headquartered in one of these jurisdictions to issue an audit report on our financial statements filed with the SEC, we would be identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer following the filing of the annual report on Form 20-F for the relevant fiscal year. There can be no assurance that we would not be identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer for any future fiscal year, and if we were so identified for two consecutive years, we would become subject to the prohibition on trading under the HFCAA. For more details, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China.”

Dada Nexus Limited, our Cayman Islands holding company, or the Parent, transfers cash to our wholly owned Hong Kong subsidiary by making capital contributions or providing loans, and our Hong Kong subsidiary transfers cash to our PRC subsidiaries by making capital contributions or providing loans to them. Because the Parent and its subsidiaries control the VIE partly through contractual arrangements, they are not able to make 100% direct capital contribution to the VIE and its subsidiaries. However, they may transfer cash to the VIE by loans or by making payment to the VIE for inter-group transactions. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, the Parent made capital contributions to the Hong Kong subsidiary of RMB3.5 billion, RMB2.5 billion and nil, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, no dividends or distributions were made to the Parent by our subsidiaries. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, no dividends or distributions were made to U.S. investors. As Dada Nexus Limited is a Cayman Islands holding company with no material operations of its own, its ability to pay dividends depends upon dividends paid by our PRC subsidiaries. Our PRC subsidiaries in turn generate income from their own operations, and in addition enjoy all economic benefit and receive service fees from the VIE pursuant to the exclusive business cooperation agreement with the VIE. If our existing PRC subsidiaries or any newly formed ones incur debt on their own behalf in the future, the instruments governing their debt may restrict their ability to distribute earnings or pay dividends to us. For more detailed discussion of how cash is transferred between the Parent, our subsidiaries and the VIE, see “Cash Transfers and Dividend Distribution” at the outset of Part I.

Except where the context otherwise requires and for purposes of this annual report only:

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Our reporting currency is the Renminbi. This annual report also contains translations of certain foreign currency amounts into U.S. dollars for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise stated, all translations of Renminbi into U.S. dollars were made at RMB7.0999 to US$1.00, the exchange rate set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board on December 29, 2023. We make no representation that the Renminbi or U.S. dollars amounts referred to in this annual report could have been or could be converted into U.S. dollars or Renminbi, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all.

Due to rounding, numbers presented throughout this annual report may not add up precisely to the totals provided and percentages may not precisely reflect the absolute figures.

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FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This annual report contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of current or historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

You can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “likely to” or other similar expressions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:

You should read this annual report and the documents that we refer to in this annual report with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from and worse than what we expect. Other sections of this annual report include additional factors which could adversely impact our business and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. New risk factors and uncertainties emerge from time to time and it is not possible for our management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

Projections, assumptions and estimates of our future performance and the future performance of the industry in which we operate are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this annual report. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The forward-looking statements made in this annual report relate only to events or information as of the date on which the statements are made in this annual report. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

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PART I

Explanatory Note

Dada is a Cayman Islands holding company with 50% equity ownership in the VIE. We conduct our operations in the Chinese mainland through (i) our PRC subsidiaries and (ii) the VIE, with which we have maintained contractual arrangements. Holdings of our ADSs thus are not holding all equity interest in the VIE in the Chinese mainland through holding equity interest in a Cayman Islands holding company. If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating certain of our businesses do not comply with PRC laws and regulations, or if these regulations or their interpretations change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations. Our holding company, our PRC subsidiaries, the VIE, and investors of our company face uncertainty about potential future actions by the PRC government that could affect the enforceability of the contractual arrangements with the VIE and, consequently, significantly affect the financial performance of the VIE and our company as a whole. The PRC regulatory authorities could disallow the VIE structure, which would likely result in a material adverse change in our operations, and our ordinary shares or our ADSs may decline significantly in value.

PRC government’s certain authority in regulating our operations and its oversight over offerings conducted overseas by, and foreign investment in, China-based issuers could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors. Implementation of industry-wide regulations in this nature may cause the value of such securities to significantly decline. For more details, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—The PRC government’s significant oversight and discretion over our business operation could result in a material adverse change in our operations and the value of our ADSs.”

Risks and uncertainties arising from the legal system in the Chinese mainland, including risks and uncertainties regarding the enforcement of laws and quickly evolving rules and regulations in the Chinese mainland, could result in a material adverse change in our operations and the value of our ADSs. For more details, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of laws and regulations in the Chinese mainland could in the Chinese mainland limit the legal protections available to you and us.”

Our Holding Company Structure and VIE Contractual Arrangements

Dada Nexus Limited is a holding company with no material operations of its own. We conduct our operations primarily through our PRC subsidiaries, the VIE and its subsidiaries. Our value-added telecommunication services in the Chinese mainland have been conducted through the VIE in order to comply with the PRC laws and regulations, which prohibit or restrict control of companies involved in the provision of value-added telecommunication services. Revenues contributed by the VIE, exclusive of internal transactions within us, accounted for 0.2%, 0.2% and 0.01% of our total net revenues for the fiscal years 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively. Holdings of our ADSs are not holding all equity interest in the VIE in the Chinese mainland through holding equity interest in a holding company incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

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The following diagram illustrates our corporate structure as of March 31, 2024, including our principal subsidiaries, the VIE and the VIE’s principal subsidiaries:

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A series of contractual agreements, including powers of attorney, share pledge agreement, exclusive business cooperation agreement and exclusive option agreement, have been entered into by and among Dada Glory, the VIE and Jingdong Bangneng. In particular, through:

However, the contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over the VIE, and we may incur substantial costs to enforce the terms of the arrangements. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure—The contractual arrangements with the VIE and Jingdong Bangneng may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing operational control,” and “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure—Jingdong Bangneng may have actual or potential conflicts of interest with us.”

There may also be uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of future PRC laws, regulations and rules regarding the status of the rights of Dada Glory with respect to its contractual arrangements with the VIE and Jingdong Bangneng. 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 are or the VIE is 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 PRC regulatory authorities would have certain discretion to take action in dealing with such violations or failures. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure—If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating some of our operations in the Chinese mainland 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,” “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure—Our current corporate structure and business operations may be substantially affected by the newly enacted Foreign Investment Law,” “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—The PRC government’s significant oversight and discretion over our business operation could result in a material adverse change in our operations and the value of our ADSs,” and “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China —Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of laws and regulations could limit the legal protections available to you and us.”

Permissions Required from the PRC Authorities for Our Operations

We conduct our business primarily through our PRC subsidiaries, the VIE and its subsidiaries in the Chinese mainland. Our operations in China are governed by PRC laws and regulations. As of the date of this annual report, our PRC subsidiaries, the VIE and its subsidiaries have obtained the requisite licenses and permits from the PRC government authorities that are material for the business operations of our holding company, the VIE and its subsidiaries in the Chinese mainland, including, among others, the License for Value-added Telecommunications Services, Food Operation License, Internet Drug Information Service Qualification Certificate, Road Transportation Operation License, Filing of Publications Online Trading Platform, Filing Certificate of the Single-purpose Prepaid Card, Filing Certificate of Third-party Platform of Pharmaceutical Online Trading and Filing Certificate of Third-party Platform of Medical Device Online Transaction. Given the uncertainties of interpretation and implementation of the laws and regulations and the enforcement practice by the government authorities, we may be required to obtain additional licenses, permits, filings or approvals for the functions and services of our platform in the future. For more detailed information, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Industry—Any lack of requisite approvals, licenses or permits applicable to our business operation may have a material and adverse impact on our business and results of operations.”

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On July 6, 2021, the PRC government authorities made public the Opinions on Strictly Scrutinizing Illegal Securities Activities in Accordance with the Law. These opinions emphasized the need to strengthen the administration over illegal securities activities and the supervision on overseas listings by China-based companies and proposed to take effective measures, such as promoting the construction of the regulatory systems to deal with the risks and incidents faced by China-based overseas-listed companies. On February 17, 2023, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, or the CSRC, published the Trial Measures for Administration of Overseas Securities Offerings and Listings by Domestic Companies and five interpretive guidelines. The trial measures and interpretive guidelines came into effect on March 31, 2023, and the CSRC started to accept filing applications from March 31, 2023. The trial measures and interpretive guidelines set out new filing procedures for China-based enterprises seeking direct or indirect listings and offerings in overseas markets. The trial measures and interpretive guidelines require that China-based enterprises seeking to offer and list securities in overseas markets complete certain post-application filing procedures with the CSRC. Failure to complete such filing may subject a PRC domestic enterprise to an order of rectification, a warning or a fine between RMB1 million and RMB10 million. However, as of the date of this annual report, uncertainties exist regarding the interpretation and implementation thereof.

As of the date of this annual report, we, our PRC subsidiaries and the VIE are not required to obtain any necessary permission from, or complete any filing with, the CSRC, Cyberspace Administration of China, or the CAC, or any other entity in connection with our operation and our prior initial public offering under any currently effective PRC laws, regulations, and regulatory rules. However, if we had inadvertently concluded that such approvals were not required, or if applicable laws, regulations or interpretations change in a way that requires us to obtain such approval in the future, we may be unable to obtain such approvals in a timely manner, or at all, and such approvals may be rescinded even if obtained. Any such circumstance could subject us to penalties, including fines, suspension of business and revocation of required licenses, significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or be worthless. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—The PRC government’s significant oversight and discretion over our business operation could result in a material adverse change in our operations and the value of our ADSs.”

The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act

Pursuant to the HFCAA, if the SEC determines that we have filed audit reports issued by a registered public accounting firm that has not been subject to inspections by the PCAOB for two consecutive years, the SEC will prohibit our shares or the ADSs from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over-the-counter trading market in the United States. On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a report to notify the SEC of its determination that the PCAOB was unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, including our auditor. In May 2022, the SEC conclusively listed us as a Commission-Identified Issuer under the HFCAA following the filing of our annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB issued a report that vacated its December 16, 2021 determination and removed the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong from the list of jurisdictions where it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms. For this reason, we were not identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer under the HFCAA after we filed our annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, and do not expect to be so identified after we file this annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023. Each year, the PCAOB will determine whether it can inspect and investigate completely audit firms in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, among other jurisdictions. If PCAOB determines in the future that it no longer has full access to inspect and investigate completely accounting firms in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong and we continue to use an accounting firm headquartered in one of these jurisdictions to issue an audit report on our financial statements filed with the SEC, we would be identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer following the filing of the annual report on Form 20-F for the relevant fiscal year. There can be no assurance that we would not be identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer for any future fiscal year, and if we were so identified for two consecutive years, we would become subject to the prohibition on trading under the HFCAA. For more details, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—The PCAOB had historically been unable to inspect our auditor in relation to their audit work performed for our financial statements and the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of our auditor in the past has deprived our investors with the benefits of such inspections” and “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Our ADSs may be prohibited from trading in the United States under the HFCAA in the future if the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely auditors located in the Chinese mainland. The delisting of the ADSs, or the threat of their being delisted, may materially and adversely affect the value of your investment.”

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Cash Transfers and Dividend Distribution

Dada Nexus Limited, our Cayman Islands holding company, or the Parent, transfers cash to our wholly owned Hong Kong subsidiary, by making capital contributions or providing loans, and our Hong Kong subsidiary transfers cash to our subsidiaries in the Chinese mainland by making capital contributions or providing loans to them.

Because the Parent and its subsidiaries control the VIE through contractual arrangements, they are not able to make direct capital contribution to the VIE and its subsidiaries. However, they may transfer cash to the VIE by loans or by making payment to the VIE for inter-group transactions.

The following table sets forth the amount of the transfers for the periods presented.

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The VIE may transfer cash to Dada Glory by paying service fees according to the exclusive business cooperation agreement. Pursuant to the agreement between the VIE and Dada Glory, Dada Glory has the exclusive right to provide the VIE with complete business support and technical and consulting services. Without Dada Glory’s prior written consent, the VIE may not accept any consultations and/or services regarding the matters contemplated by this Agreement provided by any third party during the term of the agreement. The VIE agrees to pay Dada Glory service fees at an amount equals to 100% of the net income generated by the VIE, which should be paid on a monthly basis. Considering the future operating and cashflow needs of the VIE, for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, no service fees were charged to the VIE by Dada Glory, no payments were made by the VIE under the agreement. If there is any amount payable to Dada Glory under the VIE agreements, the VIE will settle the amount accordingly.

For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, no dividends or distributions were made to the Parent by our subsidiaries. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, no dividends or distributions were made to U.S. investors.

For purposes of illustration, the following discussion reflects the hypothetical taxes that might be required to be paid within the Chinese mainland, assuming that: (i) we have taxable earnings, and (ii) we determine to pay a dividend in the future:

Notes:

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The table above has been prepared under the assumption that all profits of the VIE will be distributed as fees to Dada Glory under tax neutral contractual arrangements. If, in the future, the accumulated earnings of the VIE exceed the fees paid to Dada Glory (or if the current and contemplated fee structure between the intercompany entities is determined to be non-substantive and disallowed by Chinese tax authorities), the VIE could, as a matter of last resort, make a non-deductible transfer to our PRC subsidiaries for the amounts of the stranded cash in the VIE. This would result in such transfer being non-deductible expenses for the VIE but still taxable income for Dada Glory.

As Dada Nexus Limited is a Cayman Islands holding company with no material operations of its own, its ability to pay dividends depends upon dividends paid by our PRC subsidiaries. Our PRC subsidiaries in turn generate income from their own operations, and in addition enjoy all economic benefit and receive service fees from the VIE pursuant to the exclusive business cooperation agreement with the VIE. If our existing PRC subsidiaries or any newly formed ones incur debt on their own behalf in the future, the instruments governing their debt may restrict their ability to distribute earnings or pay dividends to us. Under PRC law, each of our subsidiaries and the VIE in the Chinese mainland is required to set aside at least 10% of its after-tax profits each year, if any, to fund certain statutory reserve funds until such reserve funds reach 50% of its registered capital. In addition, each of our subsidiaries and the VIE in the Chinese mainland may allocate a portion of its after-tax profits based on accounting standards the Chinese mainland to a surplus fund at its discretion. The statutory reserve funds and the discretionary funds are not distributable as cash dividends. Remittance of dividends by a wholly foreign-owned company out of the Chinese mainland is subject to examination by the banks designated by State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, and declaration and payment of withholding tax. Additionally, if our PRC subsidiaries and the VIE incur debt on their own behalf in the future, the instruments governing their debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to us. Our PRC subsidiaries have not paid dividends and will not be able to pay dividends until it generates accumulated profits and meets the requirements for statutory reserve funds. For more details, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—PRC regulation of loans to and direct investment in entities in the Chinese mainland by offshore holding companies and governmental control of currency conversion may delay or prevent us from using the proceeds of financing activities to make loans to our PRC subsidiaries and the VIE in the Chinese mainland, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business,” and “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Governmental control of currency conversion may affect our utilization of our revenues and the value of your investment.”

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Financial Information Related to the VIE

The following table presents the condensed consolidated balance sheet data for the VIE and other entities as of the dates presented.

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The following table presents the condensed consolidated statements of operations for the VIE and other entities for the periods presented.

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The following table presents condensed consolidated cash flow data for the VIE and other entities for the periods ended presented.

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Item 1.Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisers

Not applicable.

Item 2.Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable

Not applicable.

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Item 3.Key Information

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Summary of Risk Factors

Investing in our ADSs involves significant risks. You should carefully consider all of the information in this annual report before making an investment in our ADSs. The following list summarizes some, but not all, of these risks. The operational risks associated with being based in and having operations in the Chinese mainland also apply to operations in Hong Kong and Macau. While entities and businesses in Hong Kong and Macau operate under different sets of laws from the Chinese mainland, the legal risks associated with being based in and having operations in the Chinese mainland could apply to our operations in Hong Kong, if the laws applicable to the Chinese mainland become applicable to entities and businesses in Hong Kong in the future. These risks are discussed more fully in “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors.”

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

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Risks Related to Our Relationship with JD Group

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Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

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Risks Related to Our ADSs

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

Our business and growth are significantly affected by the future growth and proliferation of local on-demand retail and delivery industries, which are new and rapidly evolving.

We operate in two new and rapidly evolving industries. Our business and growth are highly dependent on the future growth and proliferation of local on-demand retail and delivery industries in China, which could be affected by many factors and beyond our control.

Firstly, the local on-demand retail industry in China could be affected by, from the merchant side, the close integration with and improvements in online infrastructure, efficient access to consumers, user base and insights, customer acquisition costs; and from the consumer side, by the continued formation of consumers’ online retail consumption habits, the selection, price and popularity of products offered by retailers, the demand for convenience, the availability, reliability and security of on-demand retail channels and shopping experience.

Secondly, the local on-demand delivery industry in China could be affected by the development of local delivery infrastructure, sophistication of logistics technologies that improve operational efficiency, store digitalization and inventory optimization, enhanced picking and fulfillment capability, reduction of losses on perishables in transportation, and increasing level of price-sensitivity and time-sensitivity of merchants and individual senders.

In addition, other factors, such as changes in government policies, laws and regulations governing the retail and delivery industries, and changes in macroeconomic conditions resulting in economic recessions and inflation and deflation that affect consumer confidence in general can also influence the growth of the local on-demand retail and delivery industries in China. Our ongoing success depends on our ability to continue to adapt to evolving industrial trends, modify our strategies, and satisfy changing customer demands. If local on-demand retail and delivery industries in China fail to develop as we expect, our business and growth could be materially and adversely affected.

Our operation could also be significantly affected by the development of the e-commerce industry, an adjacent industry to local on-demand retail, in China. Major e-commerce platforms may start to offer or strengthen their offerings of daily necessities and other competing products that are of less time-sensitive nature to consumers at lower prices and in reliable storage conditions, where the consumers’ willingness to wait longer time might be increased, such as next-day delivery. Demand for our advantageous on-demand retail and delivery with efficiency might be weakened due to possible lower prices charged by e-commerce platforms and our business and growth could be materially and adversely affected.

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Our limited operating history and evolving business model make it difficult to evaluate our business and future prospects and the risks and challenges we may encounter.

We commenced our commercial operation in 2014. As we only have limited historical financial data, it is difficult to predict our future revenues and appropriately budget for our costs and expenses, and the evaluation of our business and prediction about our future performance may not be as accurate as they would be if we had a longer operating history. In the event that actual results differ from our evaluation or we adjust our estimates in future periods, our results of operations and financial position could be materially affected and investors’ perceptions of our business and future prospects could differ materially from their expectations and the market price of our ADSs could decline.

We have been actively exploring boundaries and expanding our services. We started with Dada Now for local on-demand delivery service in July 2014, and began to tap into the local on-demand retail service in April 2016 upon the acquisition of JDDJ. Our evolving business make it difficult to evaluate the risks and challenges we may encounter. The risks and uncertainties we may face include challenges to our ability to successfully develop new platform features and expand our service offerings to enhance the experience of our various platform participants, to attract new retailers, merchants, consumers, individual senders and riders in a cost-effective manner, to anticipate and respond to macroeconomic changes and changes in local markets where we operate, to successfully expand our geographic reach, to forecast our revenue and manage capital expenditures for our current and future operations and to comply with existing and new laws and regulations applicable to our business. If we fail to address the risks and challenges that we face, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Any deterioration in our relationship with our major strategic investors may adversely affect our prospectus and business operations.

Our business has benefited from our collaborations with our major strategic investors, some of which are also our customers, such as JD Group and Walmart Group, and we expect to continue to be reliant on them for the foreseeable future. As of March 31, 2024, JD Group and Walmart Group each holds approximately 53.1% and 9.0% equity interests of our Company, respectively. For more details of JD Group’s and Walmart Group’s beneficial ownership in our equity securities, please see “Item 6. Directors, Senior Management and Employees—E. Share Ownership.” We derive a significant portion of revenue from providing last-mile delivery services to JD Group, as well as from performing omni-channel services to Walmart Group. Please see “—Our concentration on a small number of customers could adversely affect our business and results of operations.” for more details of our reliance on these two strategic investors.

In addition, the JDDJ trademarks are licensed from JD Group. On April 26, 2016, we entered into a series of trademark licensing agreements with JD Group. Pursuant to the licensing terms, JD Group continues to own the JDDJ trademarks and licenses the exclusive use of such trademarks to us infinitely until either of the earliest of (i) mutual agreement to terminate the trademark licensing; (ii) expiration of the terms of such trademarks; or (iii) JD Group’s termination of the trademark licensing upon happening of certain triggering events, such as the decrease of JD Group’s shareholding percentage in our company to a certain degree on a fully diluted basis, or any material adverse influence to JD Group’s brand and reputation caused by our licensed use of such trademarks or the termination of JD Group’s business cooperation agreement with us. If any of the event happens and JD Group terminates its license of the JDDJ trademarks to us, our business could be disrupted, and our results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. In addition, if JD Group, as the owner of JDDJ trademarks, fails to maintain or renew the registration status of such trademarks, our use of JDDJ brand will also be adversely affected. Further, to the extent the brand and reputation of JD Group suffers any negative publicity, especially those involving any similar trademarks or any other trademarks owned or used by JD Group, our reputation may be negatively affected by virtue of our various collaboration with JD Group.

We rely on JD Group for traffic support and supply chain cooperation. We also historically relied on JD Group on certain operational support services, including logistic cooperation, online advertising and marketing services, and other managerial services.

We cannot assure you that we will continue to maintain our cooperative relationships with our major strategic investors and their respective affiliates in the future. Our current cooperation landscape with JD Group and Walmart Group are set forth in our business cooperation agreements with them, respectively, covering our collaboration with JD Group regarding user traffic and supply chain cooperation, and our collaboration with Walmart Group regarding omni-channel initiative and expansion plan. However, we may not be able to successfully extend or renew our business cooperation agreements with JD Group and Walmart Group upon expiration of the current terms or early termination of the agreements on commercially reasonable terms or at all and may therefore be prohibited or restricted to conduct relevant business. This could materially disrupt our operations and result in significant alternative expenses, which could adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations. For details of the terms of our business cooperation agreements with JD Group and Walmart Group, please see “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Our Controlling Shareholder and Strategic Partners.”

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For more discussions on risks related to our relationship with JD Group, our controlling shareholder, please see “D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Relationship with JD Group.”

We have a history of net losses and negative cash flows from operating activities, which may continue in the future.

We have incurred net losses and negative cash flows from operating activities each year since our inception and we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability or positive cash flow in the future. We incurred net losses of RMB2,471.1 million, RMB2,008.0 million and RMB1,957.5 million (US$275.7 million) in 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively. Net cash used in our operating activities was RMB2,657.6 million, RMB945.4 million and RMB380.8 million (US$53.6 million) in 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Our costs and expenses will likely increase in the future as we expect to enhance our on-demand delivery capabilities, develop and launch new service offerings and solutions, expand customer base in existing market and penetrate into new markets, and continue to invest and innovate in our technology infrastructure. Any of these efforts may incur significant capital investment and recurring costs, have different revenue and cost structures, and take time to achieve profitability. In addition, these efforts may be more costly than we expect and may not result in increased revenue or growth in our business.

Our ability to achieve profitability depends on our ability to improve our market position and profile, expand our online platforms, maintain competitive pricing, increase our operational efficiency and obtain financing, which may be affected by numerous factors beyond our control. If we are unable to generate adequate revenue growth and manage our costs and expenses, we may not be able to achieve profitability or positive cash flow on a consistent basis, which may impact our business growth and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our concentration on a small number of customers could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We derive a substantial portion of our net revenues from a relatively small number of customers, including JD Group, Walmart Group and Yonghui. Although we plan to expand and diversify our customer base, we still expect to be reliant on our major customers, some of which are also our major strategic investors, including JD Group and Walmart Group, for the foreseeable future. In particular, we expect that JD Group and Walmart Group will continue to account for an important portion of service revenues generated by Dada Now platform, and Walmart Group and Yonghui, collectively, will continue to account for an important portion of our revenues generated by JDDJ platform for the foreseeable future. In 2021, 2022 and 2023, 13.9%, 20.3% and 24.5% of our net revenues were derived from services provided to JD Group, respectively. Walmart Group became a related party of ours in August 2018, and in 2021, 2022 and 2023, 20.2%, 21.6% and 20.6% of our net revenues were derived from services provided to Walmart Group, respectively.

Such concentration of customers is primarily the result of our in-depth collaborations with JD Group and Walmart Group. We have entered into business cooperation agreements with JD Group and Walmart Group, respectively, for details of the terms of such business cooperation agreements, please see “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Our Controlling Shareholder and Strategic Partners.” If the business cooperation agreements with these two major customers were terminated or not renewed upon expiration, our business relationships might be adversely affected and our revenue deriving from serving these two major customers may decrease. In addition, concerns of our major customers such as their increasing reliance on us for local on-demand retail and delivery services may drive them to address their concentration risks through diversifying their vendor base and engage other firms besides us, under which circumstances they may also choose to reduce cooperation with us.

The decrease in the amount of orders placed by or services provided to any of these small number of our customers, the loss or reduction of any significant agreements, the deterioration of our relationships with any such customers, or any material negative trends of markets in which these customers operate, could materially disrupt our operations and our revenue and cash flows from operating activities could be significantly reduced. If we cannot find other potential customers on a cost-effective and timely basis, or at all, the loss of business from any one of such customers could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. In addition, any of the foregoing risks may strain our managerial, financial, operational and other resources. If we fail to manage such reduction in revenue or deterioration of our relationships with small number of major customers, our brand and reputation could also be materially harmed.

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We face intense competition and could lose market share, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

The markets for local on-demand retail and local on-demand delivery are competitive and characterized by rapid market changes and technology evolution, giving rise to new market entrants and well-funded competitors and the introduction of new business models disruptive to our business. Although we are not aware of any peer companies in the industry that operate under a business model that directly resembles ours, our two platforms face competition in their respective markets. There are multiple existing market players that operate on-demand retail and/or on-demand delivery business, such as Ele.me, Meituan and SF Intracity, and there may be new entrants emerging in each of the markets we operate in, and these market players compete to attract, engage and retain consumers and merchants. They may be well-established and be able to devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of offerings and offer lower prices than we do, which could adversely affect our results of operations. If we cannot equip ourselves with necessary resources and skills, we may lose market share as competition increases.

Our current and potential competitors may also establish cooperative or strategic relationships amongst themselves or with third parties that may further enhance their resources and offerings. If we are unable to anticipate or react to these competitive challenges, our competitive position could weaken, or fail to improve, and we could experience a decline in growth that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Further, certain large retailers may build or further develop their own on-demand delivery network leveraging on their established delivery capacities in selected high-density cities in order to gain control of the consumer touchpoint and to create synergies with their businesses. They may even expand to serve outside e-commerce platforms and compete with us for qualified riders and personnel at lower costs. In addition, our customers may also develop their own delivery capabilities, increase utilization of their in-house supply chain, reduce their logistics spending, or otherwise choose to terminate our services.

Any harm to JDDJ and Dada Now brands or reputation may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We believe that building a strong brand and reputation as an effective, safe, reliable and affordable platform and continuing to increase the strength of the network effects are critical to our business and competitiveness. The brand recognition and reputation of our “JDDJ” and “Dada Now” brands and the successful maintenance and enhancement of our brand and reputation have contributed and will continue to contribute significantly to our success and growth.

Any negative perception and publicity, whether or not justified, such as complaints and accidents in relation to user experience, products sold on our platform, quality of delivery services and our brand awareness and recognition, and actual or perceived deterioration of our service quality could tarnish our reputation and reduce the value of our brand, which might result in loss of important customers. Further, our competitors may fabricate complaints or negative publicity about us and retailers, merchants and riders on our platforms for the purpose of vicious competition. With the increased use of social media, adverse publicity can be disseminated quickly and broadly, making it increasingly difficult for us to respond and mitigate effectively.

We are also subject to negative publicity regarding our platform participants, whose activities are out of our control. Negative public perception on the merchandise sold by retailers on our platform or that retailers on our platform do not provide satisfactory consumer services, even if factually incorrect or based on isolated incidents, could undermine the trust and credibility we have established and have a negative impact on our ability to attract new consumer or retain our current consumers. In addition, complaints regarding illegal, negligent, reckless or otherwise inappropriate behavior of the riders on our platform could also adversely and materially harm our reputation and brand.

If we are unable to maintain our reputation, enhance our brand recognition or increase positive awareness of our platforms, it may be difficult to maintain and grow our customer base, and our business, results of operations and growth prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

The status of our riders as independent contractors of retailers, merchants or individual senders on our platforms may be challenged.

We rely on the riders to deliver products sold on JDDJ and our other cooperated platforms and retailers, and to provide local on-demand delivery services to orders placed through Dada Now. However, such riders are independent contractors of the retailers and merchants selling or delivering products and individual senders delivering or fetching items on our platforms, instead of our employees.

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As the platform connecting the retailers, merchants and individual senders with riders, we provide online platforms to these participants, and derive revenue from charging service fees from these parties. The riders can choose whether, when, and where to provide services on our platform and are free to provide services on other platforms.

However, we have been subject to and may continue to be subject to claims, lawsuits, arbitration proceedings, administrative actions and other legal and regulatory proceedings seeking to reclassify the riders. We prevail in a substantial majority of such lawsuits where the judgments have confirmed that there were no employment relationships between the riders and us. However, laws and regulations that govern the status and classification of independent contractors are subject to changes and divergent interpretations by various authorities which can create uncertainty and unpredictability for us.

In the event of a reclassification of the status of riders as our independent contractors, we could be held liable for personal injuries and property damages caused by such riders to third parties. In the event of such reclassifications, we could also be held liable for any severe personal injuries or casualties occurred to such riders.

Further, a determination that reclassifies a rider as an employee of us could cause us to incur significant additional expenses resulting from the potential application of labor and employment laws to compensate riders, including employee benefits, social security contributions and housing provident funds, as well as the application of the taxes and governmental penalties or other legal sanctions. Further, any such reclassification would require us to fundamentally change our pricing methodologies and business model, and consequently have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our historical growth rate may not be indicative of our future performance and if we fail to effectively sustain or manage our growth, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

We have experienced rapid growth since our inception, particularly in terms of the number of riders, active consumers, GMV, daily delivery orders and peak-day order volume, and our geographic reach. However, there is no assurance that we will be able to maintain our historical growth rates in future periods. Our growth may slow due to a number of reasons, including decreasing demand for our services or market saturation, increasing competition, emergence of alternative business models, changes in government policies, increasing regulatory costs, declining growth of the online retail industry in China, or changes in general economic conditions. If our growth slows or declines, investors’ perceptions of our business and prospects may be adversely affected and the market price of our ADSs could decline.

We cannot assure you that we will be able to effectively sustain or manage our future growth. We have evolved from a local on-demand delivery service provider to a leading platform of local on-demand retail and delivery in the Chinese mainland, and we expect to continue to experience business growth in the future. We intend to achieve growth by enhancing our on-demand delivery capabilities, invigorating local on-demand retail platform and solidifying our leading position in supermarket, creating more values for brand owners, and continuing to invest and innovate in technologies. We cannot assure you that our growth initiatives will succeed. In addition, our rapid growth has placed, and may continue to place significant demands on our management and our technology systems, as well as our administrative, operational and financial systems. Our ability to sustain or manage our growth effectively and to integrate new technologies and participants into our existing business will also require us to continue to implement a variety of new and upgraded managerial, operating, technological and financial systems, procedures and controls. If we are not able to effectively sustain or manage the growth of our business and operations or execute our strategies effectively, our expansion may not be successful and our business and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

Failure to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting could cause us to inaccurately report our financial results or fail to prevent fraud and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and the trading price of our ADSs.

We are subject to the reporting requirements of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules and regulations of the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting.

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In connection with the audits of the consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2023, we and our independent registered public accounting firm identified a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with the standards established by the PCAOB and concluded that our internal controls over financial reporting were not effective due to this material weakness as of December 31, 2023. The material weakness identified related to our failure to design, implement and effectively operate controls with a sufficient level of precision to prevent and detect material misstatements related to certain online advertising and marketing business that experienced an expansion during 2023. Specifically, the material weakness related to the following: (i) there was a lack of continuous and sufficient risk assessment and monitoring performed by management on such business, (ii) we lacked effective expenditure controls that properly review business substance of expenditures before authorizing payments related to such business, and (iii) we did not maintain appropriate segregation of duties in the vendor management process related to such business.

The material weakness identified resulted in revising certain financial information of our previously released unaudited quarterly condensed consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, June 30 and September 30, 2023, respectively, to reflect corrections of errors which led to reversal of our net revenues and operations and support costs for the first nine months of fiscal year 2023 in the aggregate amount of RMB499 million and RMB499 million, respectively. We are implementing and will continue to implement a number of remediation measures to address the material weakness and the deficiencies that have been identified. For details, see “Item 15. Controls and Procedures.” However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to implement these measures to effectively remediate our material weakness, or that we will not identify any additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in the future.

Effective internal controls over financial reporting are necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and are important to help prevent fraud. If we fail to cure the material weakness effectively, or fail to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting in the future, we may not be able to produce timely and accurate financial statements and may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404. If that were to happen, we could suffer material misstatements in our financial statements and fail to meet our reporting obligations, which could lead to a decline in the market price of our ADSs and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the Nasdaq Global Select Market, SEC or other regulatory authorities. We may also be required to restate our financial statements for prior periods.

If we fail to cost-effectively attract new retailers and merchants to our platforms, or to maintain relationships with existing retailers and merchants, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

We rely on retailers to offer products that appeal to our existing and potential consumers at attractive prices on our JDDJ platform and rely on merchants to generate delivery demands on our Dada Now local on-demand delivery platform. Our success depends in part on our ability to cost-effectively attract new retailers and merchants to our platforms and to maintain relationships with existing retailers and merchants. We must continue to provide retailers and merchants with on-demand delivery infrastructure, commercial support, technology support of comprehensive retail solutions, and operational insights. If we fail to provide these services comparable or superior to those of our competitors, we may fail to attract new retailers and merchants to our platforms, or to maintain relationships with existing retailers and merchants. Merchants may also choose our competitors if the latter charge lower service or other fees, or if our competitors provide more types of or more effective empowering services, or if the merchants are acquired by or merged into our competitors, or if the merchants form strategic alliance with our competitors.

The extent to which we are able to maintain and strengthen the attractiveness of our platforms to retailers and merchants also depends on our ability to provide and maintain platforms where retailers and merchants are able to develop mutually beneficial relationships with other participants. For example, if retailers or merchants are unsatisfied with the services performed by riders on our platforms, our ability to attract new retailers and merchants, or to maintain relationships with existing merchants could be adversely affected.

In addition, as we continue to expand into new geographic areas, we also rely in part on the expansion of our existing retailers and merchants to lower-tier cities, some of which operate national chain stores, to attract new retailers and merchants. If we fail to satisfy the needs of existing retailers and merchants, our ability to cost-effectively attract new retailers and merchants to our platforms could be adversely affected, and our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

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If we fail to cost-effectively attract and retain new consumers and increase engagement of existing consumers on our JDDJ platform, or to adapt our services to changing consumer needs, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

The success of our JDDJ platform depends in part on our ability to cost-effectively attract and retain new consumers and increase engagement of existing consumers. We believe that our selling and marketing efficiency, consistent and reliable services and rapid responses to changing consumer preferences have been critical in promoting awareness of our services, which in turn drive new consumer growth and engagement. However, if our promotional activities and marketing strategies do not work efficiently and we cannot continue to lower our customer acquisition cost, if the consumers cannot find products they are looking for on our JDDJ platform, or if our competitors offer more incentive promotions, or provide better, more convenient or more cost-effective services, they may lose interest in us and visit our mobile apps or websites less frequently or even stop placing orders with us.

We have been leveraging artificial intelligence technologies to generate personalized recommendations to consumers for products and incentives in which they may be potentially interested. For example, on our JDDJ platform, product and store information could be displayed in various orders, such as product categories, past sales volume, distance between offline stores to the consumer and estimated delivery time. In addition, we make individually tailored recommendations and incentives to consumers according to a comprehensive database. If our search results display or tailored recommendations and incentives fail to satisfy individual consumer needs, we may lose potential or existing consumers and may experience a decrease in orders.

Further, if the consumers do not perceive the services provided by riders on our JDDJ platform to be reliable and safe, we may not be able to attract and retain consumers and increase their utilization of our platform. The decrease in consumer base will affect our ability to provide the retailers on our platform with adequate consumer demands, which may reduce our platform’s attractiveness to retailers, and the decrease in merchant base will, in turn, result in further decrease in consumer base. Therefore, if we fail to cost-effectively retain consumers and increase their utilization of our platform, our business and results of operations could be adversely and materially affected.

Any failure in delivery with efficiency could damage our reputation and substantially harm our business.

We are devoted to delivering items purchased from JDDJ or for orders placed through Dada Now with efficiency to ensure premium user experience. However, consumers and individual senders of local on-demand retail and delivery services are becoming more time-sensitive and price-sensitive, and their willingness to pay for local on-demand retail and delivery may decrease if the services are not conveniently and quickly available at reasonable prices. Therefore, if we are unable to provide local on-demand retail and delivery services in a timely, reliable, safe and affordable manner, our reputation, customer loyalty, and business could be negatively affected.

We rely on our proprietary smart order recommendation and dispatching system to support our time management and instant rerouting based on traffic condition to estimate and ensure our delivery efficiency. However, our actual delivery time is subject to various factors that may be beyond our control, including the regional traffic conditions and weather conditions that may affect the traffic, governmental activities that block the normal delivery route and unanticipated accidents. In addition, our platforms match and dispatch delivery tasks by computing a matching score between the order and each of the riders nearby. Although our smart order recommendation and dispatching system could simulate the optimal route and optimize the performance and efficiency of our delivery network, we may experience rider shortage in peak hours or for remote areas, where delivery orders might not be accepted and picked up timely. If products and items are not delivered on time or are delivered in a damaged condition, our consumers and individual senders may lose confidence in us, which in turn may result in the merchants’ less confidence in us. Our reputation and brand may be adversely damaged and we may lose customers.

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Our business is subject to complex and evolving laws and regulations regarding data privacy and cybersecurity. Failure to protect confidential information of our customers and network against security breaches could damage our reputation and brand and substantially harm our business and results of operations.

As a technology-based platform, our business generates and processes a large quantity of personal, transaction, behavioral and demographic data. We face risks inherent in handling and protecting large volumes of data, including protecting the data hosted in our system, detecting and prohibiting unauthorized data sharing and transfer, preventing attacks on our system by outside parties or fraudulent behavior or improper use by our employees, and maintaining and updating our database. Any system failure, security breach or third-party attack or attempt to illegally obtain the data that results in any actual or perceived release of user data could damage our reputation and brand, deter current and potential customers from using our services, damage our business, and expose us to potential legal liability.

We also have access to a large amount of confidential information in our day-to-day operations. Each waybill contains the names, addresses, phone numbers and other contact information of the sender and recipient of an order placed and delivered through our platforms. The content of the item delivered may also constitute or reveal confidential information. Although we have data security polices and measures in place, for example, leveraging our encryption techniques, order code, instead of actual personal information, of each transaction on our platforms will be shown to our personnel as well as riders handling the orders, we cannot assure you that the information will not be misappropriated, as a large number of riders and our personnel handle the orders and have access to the relevant confidential information. All of the riders are not our employees, which makes it more difficult for us to implement adequate management, supervision and control over them.

We are subject to domestic laws and regulations relating to the collection, use, storage, transfer, disclosure and security of personally identifiable information with respect to our customers and employees including any requests from regulatory and government authorities relating to this data. Further, PRC regulators have been increasingly focused on regulation in the areas of cybersecurity and data protection. For example, on June 10, 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress promulgated the PRC Data Security Law. The PRC Data Security Law and the Regulations on Security Protection of Critical Information Infrastructure promulgated by the State Council on July 30, 2021, among others, provide for a security review procedure for the data activities conducted by critical information infrastructure operators that may affect national security. As of the date of this annual report, no detailed rules or implementation has been issued by any authority and we have not been informed as a critical information infrastructure operator by any government authorities. Furthermore, the exact scope of “critical information infrastructure operators” under the current regulatory regime remains unclear, and the PRC government authorities may have wide discretion in the interpretation and enforcement of these laws. Therefore, it is uncertain whether we would be deemed as a critical information infrastructure operator under PRC law. If we are deemed as a critical information infrastructure operator under the PRC cybersecurity laws and regulations, we must fulfill certain obligations as required under these laws and regulations, including, among others, storing personal information and important data collected and produced within the PRC territory during our operations in the Chinese mainland, which we have fulfilled in our business, and we may be subject to review when purchasing internet products and services.

On November 14, 2021, the CAC released the Network Data Security Management Regulations (Draft for Comments), which requires data processors to conduct cybersecurity reviews and annual data security assessments. However, there have been no clarifications from the authorities as of the date of this annual report as to the standards for determining such activities that “affect or may affect national security.” If the final version of the draft regulations is adopted, we may be subject to review when conducting data processing activities and annual data security assessments and may face challenges in addressing its requirements and make necessary changes to our internal policies and practices in data processing. As of the date of this annual report, the draft regulations were released for public comments only, and their respective provisions and the anticipated adoption or effective date may be subject to change with substantial uncertainty. The draft regulations remain unclear on whether the requirements will be applicable to companies that have been listed in the United States, such as us. We cannot predict the impact of the draft regulations, if any, at this stage, and we will closely monitor and assess any development in the rule-making process. If the enacted versions of the draft regulations mandate clearance of cybersecurity review and other specific actions to be completed by China-based companies listed on a U.S. stock exchange, such as us, we face uncertainties as to whether such clearance can be timely obtained, or at all.

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On December 28, 2021, the CAC, together with other government authorities in the Chinese mainland issued the Measures for Cybersecurity Review (2021 version). Pursuant to the measures, critical information infrastructure operators that procure internet products and services, and data processing operators engaging in data processing activities, must be subject to the cybersecurity review if their activities affect or may affect national security. The measures further stipulate that an online platform operator holding over one million users’ personal information shall apply with the Cybersecurity Review Office for a cybersecurity review when it seeks to list overseas. On July 7, 2022, the CAC promulgated the Measures for the Security Assessment of Cross-border Data Transfer. These measures regulate the security assessment of important data and personal information collected and generated within the territory of China and transferred overseas by a data processor during its operation. According to these measures, where a data processor transfers data overseas under certain circumstances, it shall apply to the provincial department of the CAC for a security assessment. On March 22, 2024, the CAC promulgated the Provisions on Promoting and Regulating Cross-border Data Transfer, which took effect on the same day, pursuant to which, any data processor which exports personal information shall apply for a security assessment before transferring any personal information abroad under certain circumstances. As of the date of this annual report, we have not been involved in any formal investigations on cybersecurity review made by the CAC on such basis and are not required to go through cybersecurity review by the CAC. However, if we are not able to comply with the cybersecurity and network data security requirements in a timely manner, or at all, we may be subject to government enforcement actions and investigations, fines, penalties, suspension of our non-compliant operations, or removal of our app from application stores, among other sanctions, which could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations, significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to continue to offer securities to investors, or cause the value of such securities to significantly decline. In particular, if it is determined in the future that the approval of the CAC or any other regulatory authority is required for our offering, any failure to complete such procedures for our offshore offerings, would subject us to sanctions by the CAC or other PRC regulatory authorities. See “—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—We may be required to complete filing procedures with the CSRC in connection with our future offerings. We cannot predict whether we will be able to complete such filing in a timely manner, or at all.” Based on the foregoing, our PRC legal counsel does not expect that, as of the date of this annual report, the current applicable PRC laws on cybersecurity would have a material adverse impact on our business.

On August 20, 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress promulgated the Personal Information Protection Law, which integrates the scattered rules with respect to personal information rights and privacy protection. Our mobile apps and websites only collect basic user personal information that is necessary to provide the corresponding services. We do not collect any sensitive personal information or other excessive personal information that is not related to the corresponding services. We update our privacy policies from time to time to meet the latest regulatory requirements of the CAC and other authorities and adopt technical measures to protect data and ensure cybersecurity in a systematic way. Nonetheless, the Personal Information Protection Law raises the protection requirements for processing personal information, and many specific requirements of the Personal Information Protection Law remain to be clarified by the CAC, other regulatory authorities, and courts in practice. We may be required to make further adjustments to our business practices to comply with the personal information protection laws and regulations.

The PRC Cybersecurity Law, the PRC Data Security Law, the Personal Information Protection Law and the Civil Code are relatively new and subject to interpretation by the regulators. Although we only gain access to user information that is necessary for, and relevant to, the services provided, the data we obtain and use may include information that is deemed as “personal information,” “network data” or “important data” under the PRC Cybersecurity Law, the Civil Code and related data privacy and protection laws and regulations. As such, we have adopted a series of measures to ensure that we comply with the laws and regulations in the collection, use, disclosure, sharing, storage, and security of user information and other data. The PRC Data Security Law also stipulates that the authorities will formulate the catalogues for important data and strengthen the protection of important data, and state core data, i.e., data having a bearing on national security, the lifelines of national economy, people’s key livelihood and major public interests, shall be subject to stricter management system. The exact scopes of important data and state core data remain unclear and may be subject to further interpretation. If any data that we are in possession of constitutes important data or state core data, we may be required to adopt stricter measures for protection and management of such data.

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We are constantly in the process of evaluating the potential impact of the laws, regulations and policies relating to cybersecurity, privacy, data protection and information security on our current business practices. 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 the ADSs. We expect that these areas will receive greater public scrutiny and attention from regulators and more frequent and rigid investigation or review by regulators, which will increase our compliance costs and subject us to heightened risks and challenges. 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. We believe, to the best of our knowledge, that our business operations are compliant with the currently effective PRC laws relating to cybersecurity, data security, and personal data and privacy laws in all material respects. We have taken and will continue to take reasonable measures to comply with such laws and regulations. For details of the abovementioned laws and regulations, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulation.”

We are subject to risks inherent in the logistics industry, including personal injury, product damage, and transportation-related incidents.

A large volume of products are being handled and delivered by a large number of our riders every day. We face the risks associated with carriage and transportation safety, which may result in property damages and personal injuries. Items carried and transferred by our riders may be stolen, damaged or lost for various reasons. In particular, delivery of fresh and perishable products entails inherent risks regarding item packing and stacking, storage condition in transit, and traffic condition.

Our failure to detect and prevent unsafe, prohibited or restricted items from entering into our delivery platform may harm our reputation and business, and subject us to penalties and civil liabilities if any personal injury or property damage takes place. In addition, we cannot guarantee all unsafe items, such as flammables and explosives, toxic or corrosive items, be detected and prevented, and those unsafe items may damage other products and items in our network, injure recipients and harm personnel and damage other properties.

Delivery of products also involves risks regarding transportation safety. We constantly have a large number of riders in transportation and most of them ride electric bicycles. From time to time, riders on our platforms may be involved in transportation accidents, and the products and items carried by them may be lost or damaged. In addition, the riders and third parties may also suffer personal injuries, where the insurance maintained by them may not fully cover the damages caused. We are regularly subject to claims, lawsuits, arbitrations and other legal proceedings seeking to hold us liable for property damages and personal injuries caused in the process of performing our local on-demand delivery services, which may be raised by item senders and recipients, consumers, merchants, riders and injured third parties, the results of which cannot be predicted with certainty.

Any of the foregoing risks could disrupt our services, cause us to incur substantial expenses and divert the time and attention of our management. We may face claims and incur significant liabilities if found liable or partially liable for any injuries, damages or losses. Claims against us may not be covered by insurance at all. Government authorities may also impose significant fines on us or require us to adopt costly preventive measures. Furthermore, if our delivery services are perceived to be unsafe by consumers, individual senders, merchants and riders on our platforms, which may reduce our platforms’ attractiveness, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We may fail to successfully roll out and expand our offerings of various value-added services to retailers and brand owners on our platforms.

We have been constantly introducing new value-added services to retailers and brand owners to solidify our relationship with them and increase customer stickiness. For example, we have utilized our big data technology to help retailers establish omni-channel membership programs. Together with our CRM tools, we empower retailers to target and communicate with their members and potential consumers for effective marketing. We also help brand owners broaden their consumer reach, deepen their consumer insights and run brand promotions on our platform. We have experienced rapid growth in this new business offering, however, our expansion of new service offerings may result in unseen risks, challenges and uncertainties along with our expansion into this relatively new business area.

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We may incur additional capital expenditure to support the expansion of our new value-added services to retailers and brand owners. In addition, due to the limited operating history of these new business offerings, it is difficult to predict future revenues, which could be subject to seasonality. Any failure in managing expenditures and evaluating customer demands could materially and adversely affect the prospects of achieving profitability of and recouping our investments in this new business offering and our overall financial condition.

In addition, the expansion of service offerings may strain our managerial, financial, operational and other resources. If we fail to manage such expansion successfully, our growth potential, business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Any lack of requisite approvals, licenses or permits applicable to our business operation may have a material and adverse impact on our business and results of operations.

Our business is subject to intense regulation, and we are required to hold a number of licenses and permits in connection with our business operation, including the License for Value-added Telecommunications Services, Retail Liquor License, Internet Drug Information Service Qualification Certificate, Filing Certificate of the Single-purpose Prepaid Card and Filing Certificate of Third-party Platform of Medical Device Online Transaction. We hold all material licenses and permits described above and are applying for certain filings with the government authorities and modification of certain licenses and permits.

As of the date of this annual report, we have not received any notice of warning or been subject to penalties or other disciplinary action from the governmental authorities regarding the conducting of our business without the above-mentioned approvals, certificates and permits. However, we cannot assure you that the governmental authorities would not require us to obtain the approvals, certificates or permits or take any other actions retrospectively in the future. If the governmental authorities require us to obtain the approvals, certificates or permits, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so in a timely manner or at all.

New laws and regulations may be enforced from time to time to require additional licenses and permits other than those we currently have. For example, our crowdsourced delivery business currently has no clear regulatory authority or governing laws and regulations as such industry is relatively nascent and at its early stage of development. Nonetheless new requirements regarding approvals, licenses or permits may be implemented in the future along with rapid industrial evolution. In addition, the PRC E-commerce Law promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, which took effect on January 1, 2019, establishes additional standards in the e-commerce industry, and intensifies the responsibility of third-party platforms. Further, the Foreign Investment Law, which was promulgated on March 15, 2019 and came into force on January 1, 2020, replaced the existing laws regulating foreign investment in the Chinese mainland, together with their implementation rules and ancillary regulations. See “—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure—Our current corporate structure and business operations may be substantially affected by the newly enacted Foreign Investment Law.”

Changes to our pricing methodologies could adversely affect our ability to attract or retain retailers, merchants, consumers, individual senders and riders.

Demand for our services is highly sensitive to the delivery price, the rates for time and distance, the subsidies paid to consumers and the fees we charge retailers, merchants and individual senders. Many factors, including operating costs, legal and regulatory requirements or constraints and our current and future competitors’ pricing, and marketing strategies, could significantly affect our pricing strategies. Certain of our competitors offer, or may in the future offer, lower-priced or a broader range of services. Similarly, certain competitors may use marketing strategies that enable them to attract or retain new qualified retailers, merchants and new riders at a lower cost than us. Although we do not intend to compete with aggressive pricing policies which are not beneficial to long-term growth, there can be no assurance that we will not be forced, through competition, regulation or otherwise, to reduce the price of delivery for riders, increase the consumer incentives offered to the consumers on our platforms, reduce the fees we charge retailers, merchants, or increase our marketing and other expenses to attract and retain qualified merchants and riders in response to competitive pressures.

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We have launched, and may in the future launch, new pricing strategies and initiatives, or modify existing pricing methodologies, any of which may not ultimately be successful in attracting and retaining retailers, merchants, consumers, individual senders and riders. Further, a determination in, or settlement of, any legal proceeding, whether we are party to such legal proceeding or not, that reclassifies a rider, who is an independent contractor of the retailers, merchants or individual senders, as our employee, may require us to revise our pricing methodologies to account for such a change to rider reclassification which may result in a significant increase in our operation costs. While we do and will attempt to set prices and pricing packages based on our past operating experience, our assessments may not be accurate or there may be errors in the pricing algorithms used and we could be underpricing or overpricing our services. Any such changes to our pricing methodologies or our ability to efficiently price our services could adversely affect our ability to attract or retain retailers, merchants, consumers, individual senders and riders, as well as our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Any disruption to our technology systems and resulting interruptions in the availability of our website, applications, platform or services could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

The satisfactory performance, reliability and availability of our technology systems are critical to our success. We rely on our scalable technology infrastructure, which consists of a smart order recommendation and dispatching system, an automated order pricing system, a digitalized rider management system, a warehouse management system, a picking assistant app, systems for shopping experience customization and assortment recommendation, and corresponding mobile apps connecting our network with those of our various platform users. These integrated systems support the smooth performance of certain key functions of our business. However, our technology systems or infrastructure may not function properly at all times. We may be unable to monitor and ensure high-quality maintenance and upgrade of our technology systems and infrastructure, and users may experience service outages and delays in accessing and using our platforms as we seek to source additional capacity. 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. Any disruption to our technology systems and resulting interruptions in the availability of our website, applications, platform or services could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our technology systems may also experience telecommunications failures, computer viruses, failures during the process of upgrading or replacing software, databases or components, power outages, hardware failures, user errors, or other attempts to harm our technology systems, which may result in the unavailability or slowdown of our platform or certain functions, delays or errors in transaction processing, loss of data, inability to accept and fulfill orders, reduced gross merchandise volume and the attractiveness of our platform. Further, hackers, acting individually or in coordinated groups, may also launch distributed denial of service attacks or other coordinated attacks that may cause service outages or other interruptions in our business. Any of such occurrences could cause severe disruption to our daily operations. If we cannot successfully execute system maintenance and repair, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected and we could be subject to liability claims.

Failure to continue to improve our technology systems or develop new technologies to adapt to changing user needs could harm our reputation, business and prospects.

To remain competitive, we must continue to enhance and improve the functionality of our technology systems and to develop new features to adapt to changing market trends and user preferences. The on-demand retail and delivery industries are characterized by rapid technological evolution, including frequent introductions of new products and services embodying new technologies, such as potential future commercial implementation of unattended delivery technologies of package-delivering robots. Any technology development in the online retail and delivery industry may pressure both incumbent and new market players to implement cost-effective technologies even more rapidly. Our business operations and growth prospects depend, in part, on our ability to identify, develop, acquire or license advanced technologies and respond to technological innovations and emerging industry practices in a cost-effective and timely way.

In addition, we must regularly improve and upgrade our technology systems to keep pace with increased gross merchandise volume or expanded service offerings on our platforms to ensure more efficient capacity management through an integrated information flow through our entire network. However, while we have continually enhanced our proprietary technology systems, we may fail to execute technology improvements corresponding to our business expansion or develop new technologies to adapt to changing user needs and industry breakthroughs, and the failure to do so could harm our reputation and business and may also impede our growth.

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We have invested in the development of new technologies and business initiatives and obtained or applied for registered patent rights supporting various aspects of our operations. However, the development of websites, mobile apps and other proprietary technologies entails significant technical and business risks. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully develop or effectively use new technologies, recoup the costs of developing new technologies or adapt our websites, mobile apps, proprietary technologies and systems to meet customer needs or emerging industry standards, and any failure to do so may render our services less competitive or attractive, and our reputation, business and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

Failure to deal effectively with any fictitious transactions or other fraudulent conduct that take place on our online platforms could harm our business.

We face risks with respect to fictitious transactions or other fraudulent conduct that take place on our online platforms. Certain online advertising and marketing services transactions found to be primarily to meet revenue targets were identified. These transactions involved payments from certain upstream customers and disbursements of cash funds to certain downstream vendors of virtually identical amounts that lacked any apparent business substance, were not supported by credible documents, business records or other evidence, and, in certain cases, involved customers and vendors with undisclosed connections. See “Item 8. Financial Information—A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information—Independent Review.”

In addition, our retailers may engage in fictitious transactions and fabricate store information in order to inflate their ratings and search results rankings on our platforms. This activity may harm other retailers by enabling the perpetrating retailers to be favored over others, and may harm our consumers by deceiving them into believing that a merchant is more reliable or trusted than it actually is. We may experience such fraudulent activities and suffer losses from distributing subsidies relating to fictitious transactions. Although we have implemented various measures to detect and reduce the occurrence of fraudulent activities on our platforms, there can be no assurance that such measures will be effective in identifying, combating fraudulent transactions among third-party retailers and other users and prevent resulting losses. In the event that we resort to litigation to enforce the return of any subsidies and benefits we distributed to such retailers, the litigation could result in a diversion of our managerial and financial resources.

Moreover, illegal, fraudulent or collusive activities by our employees could also subject us to liability or negative publicity and harm our business. We cannot assure you that our internal controls and policies with regard to the review and approval of transactional activities and other relevant matters will identify or prevent fraud or illegal activity by our employees effectively. Negative publicity and user sentiment generated as a result of actual or alleged fraudulent or deceptive conduct on our platforms or by our employees would severely diminish consumer confidence in us, reduce our ability to attract new or retain current retailers and consumers, damage our reputation and diminish the value of our brand, and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our settlement mechanism with participants on JDDJ and Dada Now platforms may not be in full compliance with current PRC regulations.

We follow the industry practice to first receive payments from participants for all products sold on our JDDJ platform and the services provided on our Dada Now platform, and then settle with retailers on our JDDJ platform and riders on our Dada Now platform. This practice is under strict scrutiny from regulators, particularly the People’s Bank of China. For example, on November 13, 2017, the People’s Bank of China published the Notice on Further Strengthening the Remediation of Unlicensed Business Payment Services on the investigation and administration of illegal offering of settlement services by financial institutions and third-party payment service providers to unlicensed entities. The notice intended to prevent unlicensed entities from using licensed payment service providers as a conduit for conducting the unlicensed payment settlement services, so as to safeguard the fund security and information security. Subsequent to this regulation, we have established a payment safeguard and settlement mechanism together with commercial banks, through which the banks help open restricted settlement accounts to receive payments from our consumers or users first, and then distribute the total payment to retailers, riders and us, and we submit the transaction materials to the banks for their review. However, uncertainties still exist as to whether this system is considered fully compliant with the PRC laws and regulations. We cannot assure you that the People’s Bank of China or other governmental authorities will find our current or planned new settlement mechanisms to be in compliance with the notice. If the People’s Bank of China or other governmental authorities consider our current or planned new settlement mechanisms not fully compliant with the PRC regulations, we may need to adjust our business and cooperation model with the commercial banks and third-party payment service providers, and be subject to penalties and orders to rectify which may result in higher payment processing cost, and any of these events may materially and adversely affect our growth potential, business and results of operations.

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We are regularly subject to claims, lawsuits and other proceedings that may adversely affect our reputation, business and results of operations.

We are regularly subject to claims, lawsuits, arbitration proceedings, government investigations and other legal and regulatory proceedings in the ordinary course of business, including those involving personal injury, property damage, labor and employment, commercial disputes, user complaints, intellectual property disputes, compliance with regulatory requirements and other matters. We may become subject to additional types of claims, lawsuits, government investigations and legal or regulatory proceedings as our business grows and as we deploy new business offerings. We are also regularly subject to claims, lawsuits, arbitration proceedings, government investigations and other legal and regulatory proceedings seeking to hold us liable for the actions of retailers, merchants and riders on our platforms. The results of any such claims, lawsuits, arbitration proceedings, government investigations or other legal or regulatory proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty. Any claims against us, whether meritorious or not, could be time-consuming, result in costly litigation, be harmful to our reputation, require significant management attention and divert significant resources. It is possible that a resolution of one or more such proceedings could result in substantial damages, settlement costs, fines and penalties that could adversely affect our reputation and brand, business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, a determination in, or settlement of, any legal proceeding, whether we are party to such legal proceeding or not, that involves our industry, could also harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We have been named as a defendant in a putative shareholder class action lawsuit that could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operation, cash flows and reputation.

We are defending against the putative shareholder class action lawsuit described in “Item 8. Financial Information—A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information—Legal Proceedings,” including any appeals of such lawsuit, should our initial defense be unsuccessful. We are currently unable to estimate the possible loss or possible range of loss, if any, associated with the resolution of this lawsuit. In the event that our initial defense of this lawsuit is unsuccessful, there can be no assurance that we will prevail in any appeal. Any adverse outcome of this case, including any plaintiff’s appeal, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operation, cash flows and reputation. The litigation process may utilize a significant portion of our cash resources and divert management’s attention from the day-to-day operations of our company, all of which could harm our business. We are also 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.

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

We maintain employer liability insurance and provide social security insurance to our employees, including pension insurance, maternity insurance, unemployment insurance, work-related injury insurance, and medical insurance. We also provide supplemental commercial medical insurance for our employees. We may be required to pay higher premiums for the coverage we obtain. For these insured risks, there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully claim our losses under our current insurance policies on a timely basis, or at all. If we face claims in excess of our applicable aggregate coverage limits for insured risks, we would bear any excess and the compensated amount could be significantly less than our actual loss.

We do not maintain any operation-related insurance. As the insurance industry in China is still at an early stage of development, insurance companies in China currently offer limited operation-related insurance products, we have determined that the costs of insuring for these risks and the difficulties associated with acquiring such insurance on commercially reasonable terms make it impractical for us to have such insurance. Risks associated with our business and operations primarily include business liability, business interruption, and damages to our technology infrastructure.

We do not maintain product liability insurance for products transacted on our platforms, and our rights of indemnity from the retailers may not adequately cover us for any liability we may incur. We also do not maintain key-man life insurance. In addition, we may not be able to, or may choose not to, acquire insurance for future risks related to our new and evolving business offerings.

For these uninsured risks, any of them may result in substantial costs and a diversion of resources, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

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We depend on the interoperability of our platform across third-party applications and services that we do not control.

We depend on several third-party applications and services to ensure the smooth performance of certain key functions of our business. For example, we host our services on servers and network infrastructure rented from third-party cloud computing vendors. In addition, we collaborate with or receive open source software services from online map providers and a social media access portal provider for embedding our mini-program, and payment processing providers.

Any interruption or delay, most of which are beyond our control, in the functionality of these third-party applications and services may lead to our system interruptions, website or mobile app slowdown or unavailability, delays or errors in transaction processing, loss of data or the inability to accept and fulfill orders. In addition, if any third-party application and service providers withdraw their authorization to us, or their services become limited, restricted, curtailed or less effective in any way or become unavailable to us for any reason, our business may be materially and adversely affected. We may not be able to promptly find alternative ways to provide services in a timely, reliable and cost-effective manner, or at all, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The wide variety of payment methods that we accept subjects us to third-party payment processing-related risks.

We accept a wide variety of payment methods, including bank transfers and online payments through various third-party online payment platforms such as Wechat Pay, JD Pay and UnionPay, in order to ensure smooth user experience. For certain payment methods, we pay varying service fees, which may increase over time and raise our operating costs and lower our profit margins. We may also be subject to fraud, money laundering and other illegal activities in connection with the various payment methods we accept.

We are also subject to various regulations, rules and requirements, regulatory or otherwise, governing online payment processing and fund transfers, which could change or be reinterpreted to make it difficult or impossible for us to comply with. If we fail to comply with these rules or requirements, we may be subject to fines and higher transaction fees and lose our ability to accept credit and debit card payments from our customers, process electronic fund transfers or facilitate other types of online payments, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

User growth and activity on mobile devices depends upon effective use of our mobile applications and third-party mobile operating systems that we do not control.

Purchases using mobile devices by consumers generally, and by our consumers purchasing fresh products, our merchants and individual senders delivering items and our riders picking and delivering on our platforms specifically, have increased significantly, and we expect this trend to continue. In particular, our riders primarily rely on our mobile applications to plan, track and adjust the delivery route while in transportation. To optimize the mobile shopping and real-time item tracking and locating experience, we are somewhat dependent on our customers’ downloading and effective use of our mobile applications for their particular devices. We are further dependent on the interoperability of our mobile applications with third-party mobile operating systems that we do not control, such as iOS and Android, and any changes in such systems that degrade the functionality of our mobile applications could adversely affect the usage of our sites on mobile devices.

As new mobile devices and operating platforms are released, we may experience delays or difficulties in updating and integrating our mobile applications for these alternative devices and platforms and we may need to devote significant resources to the development, support and maintenance of such applications. Problems may also arise with our relationships with providers of mobile operating systems or mobile application download stores, such as our applications may receive unfavorable treatment compared to competing applications on the download stores. In the event that it becomes difficult for our customers to access and use our applications on their mobile devices, our customer growth could be harmed and our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

Our riders are not our employees, over which we may not be able to exert adequate management, supervision and control.

We rely on our riders to provide local on-demand delivery to fulfill orders placed by merchants and individual senders online. Most of the riders work part-time. These riders are the actual carriers and have a significant amount of direct interactions with our merchants, individual senders and consumers, and their performance are directly associated with our brand.

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However, since these riders are not our employees, our management, supervision and control over them is relatively limited as compared to our own employees. Although we have implemented mandatory trainings to all of our riders, established service standards across our network and provided incentives along with periodic evaluations, we may not be able to exert adequate management, supervision and control over their service quality. If any riders fail to perform in accordance with instructions, policies and business guidelines as requested by us, our merchants, individual senders, and consumers for item pick-up and delivery, our reputation, business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

If the riders violate any requirements under the applicable laws and regulations or their agreements with merchants or individual senders, such merchants or individual senders may file claims against us, as the riders provide delivery services on our platforms. Any claims against us, whether meritorious or not, could be time-consuming, result in costly litigation, be harmful to our reputation, require significant management attention and divert significant resources, and therefore harm our business.

In addition, we constantly have a vast number of riders in transportation, performing local on-demand delivery services on both of our JDDJ platform and Dada Now platform. Therefore, we are subject to isolated complaints and negative publicity regarding the services and behavior of these riders due to their mass even if we could exert adequate management, supervision and control over them, as such risks are inherently associated with companies operating in labor intensive industries.

We engage outsourced delivery agencies to provide riders for our operations and have limited control over these riders and may be liable for violations of applicable PRC labor laws and regulations by the outsourced delivery agencies.

We engage outsourced delivery agencies who send their employees to work as riders providing delivery services on our platforms. We enter into agreements with the outsourced delivery agencies and do not have any employment relationship with these riders. Since these riders are not directly employed by us, our control over them is relatively limited. If any riders fail to perform in accordance with instructions, policies and business guidelines for item pick-up or delivery set forth by us, the outsourced delivery agencies, our merchants and consumers, and individual senders, our reputation, business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Our agreements with the outsourced delivery agencies provide that we are not liable to the riders if the outsourced delivery agencies fail to fulfill their contractual duties to these riders. However, if the outsourced delivery agencies violate any PRC laws and regulations, including labor, employee benefits, housing provident funds and social security insurance, or their employment agreements with the riders, these riders may file claims against us as they provide their services on our platforms. As a result, we may incur legal liability, and our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Real or perceived quality or health issues with the products sold on our JDDJ platform could harm our reputation and business.

Retailers on our JDDJ platform, including supermarkets, fresh produce marketplaces, pharmacies, flowers shops, bakeries and fashion stores, are the providers of products listed. Consumers on our JDDJ platform expect to be provided with fresh, high-quality products. Although we implement mandatory checks on licenses and permits when retailers apply for operating on our JDDJ platform, we cannot assure you that our employees are able to identify each non-compliance in the licenses and permits, neither do we have much control over the products sold by these third-party retailers on JDDJ, and our brand and reputation may be harmed by regulatory non-compliance of, or actions taken by these retailers.

If our employees fail to identify non-compliance in the license and permits submitted by any retailer, or if any retailer does not control the quality of the products that it sells on our JDDJ platform, delivers products that are materially different from its description of them on our JDDJ platform, sells counterfeit or unlicensed products on our JDDJ platform, or sells certain products without licenses or permits as required by the laws and regulations, the reputation of our JDDJ platform and our brand may be materially and adversely affected and we could be held liable for any losses or subject to administrative penalties.

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In addition, negative publicity about concerns and accidents regarding the quality and health issues of products offered on our JDDJ platform, whether real or perceived, and whether or not involving products sold at our platform, could discourage consumers from purchasing certain products listed on JDDJ, even if the basis for the concern is outside of our control. Any loss in consumer and user confidence would be difficult and costly to reestablish, which could significantly reduce our brand value.

If our expansion into new geographical areas is not successful, our business and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

We have a track record of successfully expanding into new geographical areas, where we commenced our operation from covering first-tier cities in the Chinese mainland and have continued to expand our geographical reach to smaller and less developed prefecture-level cities. Our expansion into new geographical areas involves new risks and challenges associated with such new markets, such as our business model may not be acceptable to residents in lower-tier cities and towns in the Chinese mainland, there may be a lack of demand for local on-demand retail and delivery, the order density in those smaller, less developed areas may not be sufficient to allow us to operate in a cost-efficient manner, and we may need to adjust our pricing methodologies to adapt to local economic condition. We cannot assure you that we will be able to execute on our business strategy or that our service offerings will be successful in such markets.

In addition, our lack of relevant customer personas or familiarity with retailers, merchants and market dynamic of these areas may make it more difficult for us to keep pace with local demands and preferences. Further, there may be one or more existing market leaders in any geographical area that we decide to expand into. Such companies may be able to compete more effectively than us by leveraging their experience in doing business in that market as well as their deeper data insight and greater brand recognition locally. Any failure in our expansion into new geographical areas could materially and adversely affect our business and prospects.

Further, as of the date of this annual report, certain of our local branches with premises for business operations established along with our geographic expansion have not been registered with local administrations. In the Chinese mainland, if a company operates business outside its registered address, the company may be required to register those premises for business operation as branch offices with the local market administrative regulation authorities at the place where the premises are located and obtain business licenses for them as branch offices. We may not be able to register the main premises for business operations as branch offices in a timely manner or at all due to complex procedural requirements and relocation of branch offices from time to time. While we have not received any government order or penalty resulting from such failure, we cannot assure you that we will not be subject to penalties, orders to rectify or other administrative proceedings. If we become subject to these penalties, our reputation, business, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Our business is subject to quarterly seasonality.

We experience seasonality in our business, mainly correlating to the seasonality patterns associated with online retail and delivery industries in China. We typically experience a seasonal surge in GMV for products sold on our local on-demand retail platform, as well as in items delivered through our local on-demand delivery platform during the second and fourth quarters of each year when major online retail and e-commerce platforms hold special promotional campaigns, for example, on June 18 and November 11 each year. We may experience capacity and resource shortages in fulfilling orders during the period of such seasonal surge in our business. On the contrary, activity levels across our business lines are typically lower around Chinese national holidays, including Chinese New Year in the first quarter of each year, primarily due to weaker consumer spending and user activity levels and the decreased availability of riders during these holiday seasons.

Seasonality also makes it challenging to accurately and timely estimate customer demands and manage our capacity accordingly. We make planning and spending decisions, including capacity management and other resource requirements based on our estimates of customer demand. Failure to meet demand associated with the seasonality in a timely manner may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. Our financial condition and results of operations for future periods may continue to fluctuate. As a result, our results of operations and the trading price of our ADSs may fluctuate from time to time due to seasonality.

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Our business depends on the continuing efforts of our management. If we lose their services, our business may be severely disrupted.

Our success heavily depends upon the continued efforts of our management. In particular, we rely on the expertise and experience of Mr. Ian Su Shan, our chairman, and executive officers. If one or more of our senior management were unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, we might not be able to replace them in a timely manner, or at all. We may incur additional expenses to recruit and retain qualified replacements. Further, if any of our senior management joins a competitor or forms a competing business, we may lose retailers, merchants, consumers, individual senders, know-how and key professionals and staff members. Although our senior management has entered into employment agreements and confidentiality and non-competition agreements with us, if any dispute arises between our officers and us, we may have to incur substantial costs and expenses in order to enforce such agreements or we may be unable to enforce them at all. In addition, we do not have key-man insurance for any of our executive officers or other key personnel. Events or activities attributed to our executive officers or other key personnel, and related publicity, whether or not justified, may affect their ability or willingness to continue to serve our company or dedicate their full time and efforts to our company. As a result, our business may be severely disrupted due to the loss of services of one or more members of our management, and our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

If we are unable to attract, train and retain qualified personnel, as well as riders, or if we experience any large-scale labor unrest, our business may be materially and adversely affected.

We intend to hire additional qualified employees to support our business operations and planned expansion. Our future success depends, to a significant extent, on our ability to attract, train and retain qualified personnel, particularly technical and operational personnel with expertise in the local on-demand retail and delivery industries or other areas we expand into. The effective operation of our managerial and operating systems, fulfillment infrastructure, customer service center and other back office functions also depends on the hard work and quality performance of our management and employees. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to attract or retain qualified staff or other highly skilled employees that we will need in order to achieve our strategic objectives.

We also intend to expand our rider base. However, if we are unable to manage delivery capacity effectively, optimize order recommendation and dispatching process, provide incentives to or increase delivery charges for less favorable delivery tasks, or fully utilize the riders’ delivery capacity in a timely manner, we may not be able to attract and retain riders, resulting in insufficient delivery resources, increased costs, and lower delivery service quality in certain regions of our network.

We and the outsourced delivery agencies we engage have been subject to labor disputes initiated by our or the outsourced delivery agencies’ employees from time to time, although none of them, individually or in the aggregate, had a material adverse impact on us. We expect to continue to be subject to various legal or administrative proceedings related to labor disputes in the ordinary course of our business, due to the magnitude of labor force involved in our network. Any large-scale labor unrest directed against us or the outsourced delivery agencies could directly or indirectly prevent or hinder our normal operating activities, and if not resolved in a timely manner, lead to delays in our fulfillment performance. We and the outsourced delivery agencies are not able to predict or control any large-scale labor unrest, especially those involving labor not directly employed by us. Further, large-scale labor unrest may affect general labor market conditions or result in changes to labor laws, which in turn could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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

We adopted our 2015 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and restated, which we refer to as the 2015 Plan, and our 2020 Share Incentive Plan, as amended and restated, which we refer to as the 2020 Plan, for the purpose of granting share-based compensation awards to employees, directors and consultants to secure and retain the services of eligible award recipients and to provide incentives for such persons to exert maximum efforts for our success. We recognize expenses in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Under the 2015 Plan and the 2020 Plan, we are authorized to grant options, share appreciation rights, restricted share awards, restricted share unit awards and other types of share awards. As of March 31, 2024, the maximum aggregate number of ordinary shares which may be issued pursuant to all awards under the 2015 Plan is 61,605,996 ordinary shares, and we have outstanding options with respect to 4,364,408 ordinary shares (excluding options that were forfeited, cancelled, or exercised after the relevant grant date). As of March 31, 2024, the maximum aggregate number of ordinary shares which may be issued pursuant to all awards under the 2020 Plan is 85,239,999 ordinary shares, and we have outstanding options with respect to 676,168 ordinary shares (excluding options that were forfeited, cancelled, or exercised after the relevant grant date) and 14,345,104 restricted share units are outstanding (excluding restricted share units that were forfeited, cancelled, or vested after the relevant grant date). We have incurred and will continue to incur substantial share-based compensation expenses 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. Further, we may re-evaluate the vesting schedules, lock-up period, exercise price or other key terms applicable to the grants under our equity incentive plan from time to time. If we choose to do so, we may experience substantial change in our share-based compensation charges in future reporting periods. For further information on our equity incentive plan and information on our recognition of related expenses, please see “Item 6. Directors, Senior Management and Employees—B. Compensation—Share Incentive Plans.”

Any deficiencies in telecommunication and internet infrastructure in the Chinese mainland could impair the functioning of our technology system and the operation of our business.

Our business depends on the performance, reliability and security of the telecommunications and internet infrastructure in the Chinese mainland. Substantially all of our computer hardware and cloud computing services are currently located in the Chinese mainland. Access to internet in the Chinese mainland is maintained through state-owned telecommunications carriers under administrative control and regulatory supervision, and we obtain access to end-user networks operated by such telecommunications carriers to give user access to our platforms. We may not have access to alternative networks in the event of disruptions, failures or other problems with the telecommunication and internet infrastructure in the Chinese mainland. The failure of telecommunication and internet network operators to provide us with the requisite bandwidth could also interfere with the speed and availability of our platforms. Any of such occurrences could delay or prevent our platform users from accessing our online platforms and mobile applications, and frequent interruptions could frustrate customers and discourage them from using our services, which could cause us to lose customers and harm our results of operations. In addition, we have limited control over the service fees charged by telecommunication and internet operators. If the prices we pay for telecommunications and internet services rise significantly, our results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

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We are subject to laws and regulations, many of which are evolving, and failure to comply with such laws and regulations or manage the increased costs associated with such laws and regulations could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our business is subject to governmental regulation by the PRC governmental authorities, including the CAC, the MIIT, the State Administration for Market Regulation, or the SAMR, the National Medical Products Administration, the Ministry of Commerce and SAFE. Together, these governmental authorities promulgate and enforce regulations that cover many aspects of our day-to-day operations, including online and mobile commerce and payments, online content, digital media, cybersecurity and privacy laws, labor and employment, intellectual property, consumer protection, taxation, competition, mobile application accessibility, money transmittal, product liability and personal injury, and we may fail to fully comply with these regulations. We are also subject to a number of retail and delivery industries regulations including pricing, consumer protection, product quality, food safety, drug and medical device safety and public safety. Local regulatory authorities conduct periodic inspections, examinations and inquiries in respect of our compliance with the regulatory requirements. In addition, regulatory bodies may view matters or interpret laws and regulations differently than they have in the past or in a manner adverse to our business. We cannot assure you that we have obtained all the permits or licenses required for conducting our business or will be able to maintain our existing licenses or obtain new ones. If we fail to comply with these laws and regulations, we may be exposed to penalties, fines, the suspension or revocation of our licenses or permits to conduct business, administrative proceedings and litigation.

In addition, new laws and regulations may be enforced from time to time and uncertainties exist regarding the interpretation and implementation of current and any future PRC laws and regulations applicable to our businesses. For example, our crowdsourced local on-demand delivery business currently has no clear regulatory authority or governing laws and regulations as such industry is relatively nascent and at its early stage of development, and we expect to experience strengthened regulatory environment along with rapid industrial evolution. If the regulatory or administrative authorities impose new requirements relating to, among other things, new and additional licenses, permits and approvals or governance or ownership structures on us for operating crowdsourced delivery in the future, we will be subject to fines and penalties due to any past non-compliances, increased future compliance costs, heightened challenges and uncertainties, and restrictions upon our current or future operations. On September 11, 2020, the SAMR issued Anti-monopoly Compliance Guideline for Operators, which encourages, under the PRC Anti-monopoly Law, operators to establish anti-monopoly compliance management systems to prevent anti-monopoly compliance risks. Furthermore, on February 7, 2021, the Anti-monopoly Committee of the State Council further published the Anti-monopoly Guidelines for the Internet Platform Economy Sector, which became effective on the same day, aiming at specifying some of the circumstances under which an activity of Internet platform may be identified as monopolistic act as well as setting out merger controlling filing procedures involving variable interest entities. As of the date of this annual report, we have not been subject to any regulatory actions or investigations in connection with anti-monopoly. However, as the Anti-monopoly Guidelines for the Internet Platform Economy Sector is newly enacted, its interpretation and implementation may be subject to the existing or then effective PRC laws and regulations. Due to the varied local implementation practices of anti-monopoly and competition laws and regulations in the Chinese mainland, it may be costly to adjust some of our business practices in order to comply with these laws, regulations, rules, guidelines and implementations, and any incompliance or associated inquiries, investigations and other governmental actions may divert significant management time and attention and our financial resources, bring negative publicity, subject us to liabilities or administrative penalties, and/or materially and adversely affect our financial conditions, operations and business prospects. In addition, our success, or perceived success, and increased visibility may also drive some businesses that perceive our business model negatively to raise their concerns to local policymakers and regulators. These businesses and their trade association groups or other organizations may take actions and employ significant resources to shape the legal and regulatory regimes, or seek to have a market presence in an effort to change such legal and regulatory regimes in ways intended to adversely affect or impede our business and the ability of riders to utilize our platforms. If we are unable to manage these risks, our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

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We may be adversely affected by PRC regulations to limit the method and manner that the internet companies may apply when using algorithms.

PRC government has taken steps in recent years to limit the method and manner that the internet companies may apply when using the algorithms. For instance, the CAC, together with eight other governmental authorities, jointly issued the Guidelines on Strengthening the Comprehensive Regulation of Algorithms for Internet Information Services on September 17, 2021, which provides that daily monitoring of data use, application scenarios and effects of algorithms shall be carried out by the regulators, and security assessments of algorithms shall be conducted by the regulators. The guidelines also provide that an algorithm filing system shall be established, and classified security management of algorithms shall be promoted. In addition, the CAC issued the Administrative Provisions on Algorithm Recommendation of Internet Information Services on December 31, 2021, effective on March 1, 2022, which provides that algorithms recommendation service providers are not allowed to use algorithms to register false user accounts, block information, give excessive recommendations, and that users should be given the option to easily turn off algorithm recommendation services. To comply with these guidelines and administrative provisions, we may need to further adjust our business and operations. The impact of these guidelines and administrative provisions on our business operations is still substantially uncertain since they are relatively new and uncertainties still exist in relation to their interpretation.

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

We cannot assure you 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 owned by others. 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. For example, our Dada trademark under category 39 of the PRC Trademark Law and the applicable regulations has been sued and challenged for trademark infringement and we as a result purchased the relevant trademark from the plaintiff through settlement process. In addition, there may be third-party intellectual property that is infringed by products offered by the retailers on our platforms. There could also be existing intellectual property rights of which we are not aware that we may inadvertently infringe. Owners of intellectual property rights purportedly relating to some aspect of our business, if any such owners exist, would seek to enforce lawsuits and proceedings against us in the Chinese mainland, the United States or any other jurisdictions.

Further, the application and interpretation of China’s intellectual property laws are still evolving and are uncertain. If we are found to have violated the intellectual property rights of others, we may be subject to liability and penalty 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 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 reputation, business and operations by restricting or prohibiting our use of the intellectual property at issue.

Our platforms contain software modules licensed to us by third-party authors, such as online map providers, under open source licenses. Companies that combine their proprietary software with open source software, from time to time, face claims challenging the ownership of open source software and compliance with open source license terms. Although we monitor our use of open source software to avoid subjecting our platform to conditions we do not intend, we may face suits by parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open source software or noncompliance with open source licensing terms. If we are held to have breached or failed to fully comply with all the terms and conditions of an open source software license, we could face intellectual property infringement or other liability, or be required to seek costly licenses from third parties to continue providing our services on terms that are not economically feasible, to re-engineer our platforms, to discontinue or delay the provision of our services if re-engineering could not be accomplished on a timely basis or to make generally available, in source code form, our proprietary code, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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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 proprietary technologies, trademarks, copyrights, patents, domain names, know-how and similar intellectual property as critical to our success. 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. However, the functionality of our platforms might be reproduced and our source code might be copied. We have been and may continue to be an attractive target to attacks in the future because of our brand recognition in the Chinese mainland. We have policies and measures in place to prevent unauthorized use of our intellectual property. However, any of our intellectual property rights could be challenged, invalidated, circumvented or misappropriated. It is often difficult to register, maintain and enforce intellectual property rights in the Chinese mainland. Statutory laws and regulations are also subject to judicial interpretation and enforcement and may not be applied consistently due to the lack of clear guidance on statutory interpretation. 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 the Chinese mainland. 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 management 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.

We may fail to successfully make necessary or desirable strategic alliance, acquisition or investment, and we may not be able to achieve the benefits we expect from the alliances, acquisition or investments we make.

We may pursue selected strategic alliances and potential strategic acquisitions that are supplemental to our business and operations, including opportunities that can help us further expand our service offerings and improve our technology system. However, strategic alliances with third parties could subject us to a number of risks, including risks associated with sharing proprietary information, non-performance or default by counterparties, and increased expenses in establishing these new alliances, any of which may materially and adversely affect our business. In addition, we may have limited ability to control or monitor the actions of our strategic partners. To the extent a strategic partner suffers any negative publicity as a result of its business operations, our reputation may be negatively affected by virtue of our association with such party.

The costs of identifying and consummating strategic acquisitions may be significant and subsequent integrations of newly acquired companies, businesses, assets and technologies would require significant managerial and financial resources and could result in a diversion of resources from our existing business, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our growth and business operations. We may also incur significant expenses in obtaining necessary approvals from the government authorities in the Chinese mainland and elsewhere in the world. In addition, investments and acquisitions could result in the use of substantial amounts of cash, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities and exposure to potential unknown liabilities of the acquired business. The acquired businesses or assets may not generate the financial results we expect and may incur losses. 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.

If we determine our goodwill and other intangible assets to be impaired, our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.

We acquired JDDJ from JD Group in 2016. As a result of the transaction, we recognized goodwill and intangible assets (other than goodwill). The value of goodwill and other intangible assets arising from the transaction is based on forecasts, which are in turn based on a number of assumptions. If any of these assumptions does not materialize, or if the performance of our business is not consistent with such assumptions, we may have to write off a significant amount of our goodwill and intangible assets and record an impairment loss, which could in turn adversely affect our results of operations. We recorded an impairment loss of RMB957.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 based on a quantitative impairment test of the fair value of our company, considering the duration and severity of the decline in our market capitalization.

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In 2022 and 2023, we entered into business cooperation agreements with JD Group, which granted us certain strategic resources such as user traffic and search results. We recognized those business cooperation agreements as intangible assets.

We determine whether certain intangible assets are impaired at least on an annual basis and there are inherent uncertainties relating to these factors and to our management’s judgment in applying these factors to the impairment assessment. We are required to evaluate the impairment prior to the annual assessment if there are any impairment indicators, including disruptions to the operations of acquired business, unexpected significant declines in operating results or a decline in our market capitalization, any of which could be caused by a failure to successfully operate the acquired business.

We may also suffer impairment loss if the performance of the acquired business is within the management’s expectation, but does not align with market. If we record an impairment loss as a result of these or other factors, our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected. In addition, impairment loss could also negatively affect our financial ratios, limit our ability to obtain financing and adversely affect our financial position. Any potential change in the amortization period of intangible assets could also increase the amortization expenses charged to our profit or loss following our regular assessment, which could in turn adversely affect our results of operations.

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 2021. 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 2021. The Federal Reserve and other central banks outside of China have raised interest rates. The Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Hamas-Israel conflict and the attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have heightened geopolitical tensions across the world. The impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on Ukraine food exports and the imposition of broad economic sanctions on Russia has contributed to increases in food prices and energy prices, thus to inflation more generally has disrupted global markets. Unrests, 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.

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

In addition to the impact of COVID-19, our business could be materially and adversely affected by natural disasters, such as snowstorms, earthquakes, fires or floods, the outbreak of other widespread health epidemic, such as swine flu, avian influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome, Ebola, Zika or other events, such as wars, acts of terrorism, environmental accidents, power shortage or communication interruptions. The occurrence of such a disaster or prolonged outbreak of an epidemic illness or other adverse public health developments in China or elsewhere could materially disrupt our business and operations. Such events could also significantly affect our industry and cause a temporary closure of the facilities we use for our operations, which would severely disrupt our operations and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our operations could be disrupted if any of our employees were suspected of having any of the epidemic illnesses, since this could require us to quarantine some or all of such employees or disinfect the facilities used for our operations. In addition, our revenue and profitability could be materially reduced to the extent that a natural disaster, health epidemic or other outbreak harms the global or Chinese economy in general. Our operations could also be severely disrupted if our customers, suppliers or other participants were affected by such natural disasters, health epidemics or other outbreaks.

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Heightened tensions in international relations, particularly between the United States and China, may adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In recent years there have been heightened tensions in international relations, particularly between the United States and China, but also as a result of the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia. These tensions have affected both diplomatic and economic ties between the two countries. Heightened tensions could reduce levels of trade, investments, technological exchanges, and other economic activities between the two major economies. The existing tensions and any further deterioration in the relationship between the United States and China may have a negative impact on the general, economic, political, and social conditions in both countries and, given our reliance on the Chinese market, adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Risks Related to Our Relationship with JD Group

We may have conflicts of interest with JD Group and, because of JD Group’s controlling ownership interest in our company, we may not be able to resolve such conflicts on terms favorable to us.

Conflicts of interest may arise between JD Group and us in a number of areas relating to our ongoing relationships. Potential conflicts of interest that we have identified include the following:

For so long as we operate as a subsidiary of JD Group, JD Group may from time to time make strategic decisions that it believes are in the best interests of its business as a whole, including our company. These decisions may be different from the decisions that we would have made on our own. JD Group’s decisions with respect to us or our business, including any related party transactions between JD Group and us, may be resolved in ways that favor JD Group and therefore JD Group’s own shareholders, which may not coincide with the interests of our other shareholders. If JD Group were to compete with us, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.

JD Group will control the outcome of shareholder actions in our company.

As of March 31, 2024, JD Group held 53.1% of our outstanding ordinary shares. JD Group’s voting power gives it the power to control certain actions that require shareholder approval under Cayman Islands law, our memorandum and articles of association and the Nasdaq Stock Market requirements.

JD Group’s control may cause transactions to occur that might not be beneficial to you as a holder of ADSs and may prevent transactions that could have been beneficial to you. For example, JD Group’s control may prevent a transaction involving a change of control of us, including transactions in which you as a holder of our ADSs might otherwise receive a premium for your securities over the then-current market price. In addition, JD Group is not prohibited from selling a controlling interest in us to a third party and may do so without your approval and without providing for a purchase of your ADSs. In addition, the significant concentration of share ownership may adversely affect the trading price of the ADSs due to investors’ perception that conflicts of interest may exist or arise.

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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 JD Group beneficially owns 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 exemptions from certain 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. In the event that we elect to rely on one or more of these exemptions, you will not have the same protection afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to these corporate governance requirements.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating some of our operations in the Chinese mainland 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 in entities that provision of value-added telecommunication services, with a few exceptions, is subject to restrictions under current PRC laws and regulations. Specifically, foreign ownership of an internet information service provider may not exceed 50%.

We are an exempted company incorporated in the Cayman Islands and our PRC subsidiaries are considered foreign-invested enterprises. Accordingly, none of these PRC subsidiaries is eligible to provide internet information services under PRC laws. To comply with PRC laws and regulations, we operate our business through cooperation between our WFOEs, the VIE and its subsidiaries, and each of Shanghai Qusheng, the consolidated variable interest entity, and its subsidiary, JDDJ Youheng, holds a License for Value-added Telecommunications Services covering online data processing and transaction processing business (operating e-commerce) and internet information services, and JDDJ Youheng holds a License for Value-added Telecommunications Services for call centers. Dada Glory, one of our WFOEs, is our wholly owned PRC subsidiary and a foreign-invested enterprise under PRC laws. Dada Glory has entered into a series of contractual arrangements with the VIE and Jingdong Bangneng, which enable us to:

As a result of our direct ownership in Dada Glory and these contractual arrangements, we have control over and are the primary beneficiary of the VIE and hence consolidate financial results of the VIE and its subsidiaries into the 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 our PRC counsel, Commerce & Finance Law Offices, (i) the ownership structures of Dada Glory and the VIE, currently do not result in violation of applicable PRC laws and regulations currently in effect; and (ii) the agreements under the contractual arrangements between Dada Glory, the VIE and Jingdong Bangneng governed by PRC law are valid, binding and enforceable against each party thereto in accordance with their terms and applicable PRC laws and regulations currently in effect, and do not result in violation of applicable PRC laws or regulations currently in effect.

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However, Dada is a Cayman Islands holding company with 50% direct ownership in the VIE. We conduct our operations in the Chinese mainland primarily through (i) our PRC subsidiaries and (ii) the VIE and its subsidiaries, with which we have maintained contractual arrangements. Holdings of our ADSs thus are not holding all equity interest in our operating entities in the Chinese mainland through holding equity interest in a Cayman Islands holding company. If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating our business do not comply with the PRC laws and regulations, or if these regulations or their interpretations change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations. Our ADSs may decline in value or become worthless if we are unable to assert our contractual control rights over the assets of the VIE which contributes to 0.01% of our revenues in 2023. Our holding company in the Cayman Islands, the VIE and investors of our company face uncertainty about potential future actions by the PRC government that could affect the enforceability of the contractual arrangements with the VIE and, consequently, significantly affect the financial performance of the VIE and our company as a group.

We have been further advised by our PRC counsel that there are uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of future PRC laws, regulations and rules. Thus, the PRC regulatory authorities may take a view contrary to the opinion of our PRC legal counsel. It is uncertain whether any new PRC laws or regulations relating to variable interest entity structure will be adopted or if adopted, what they would provide. If we or the VIE 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 to operate our business, the PRC regulatory authorities would have certain discretion to take action in dealing with such violations or failures, including:

Any of these events could cause significant disruption to our business operations and severely damage our reputation, which would in turn have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. If occurrences of any of these events results in our inability to direct the activities of the VIE in the Chinese mainland that most significantly impact its economic performance, and/or our failure to receive the economic benefits and residual returns from the consolidated variable interest entity, and we are not able to restructure our ownership structure and operations in a satisfactory manner, we may not be able to consolidate the financial results of the VIE in the consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

The contractual arrangements with the VIE and Jingdong Bangneng may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing operational control.

We have to rely on the contractual arrangements with the VIE and Jingdong Bangneng to operate the business in areas where foreign ownership is restricted, including provision of certain value-added telecommunication services. These contractual arrangements, however, may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over the VIE. For example, the VIE and Jingdong Bangneng could breach their contractual arrangements with us by, among other things, failing to conduct the operations of the VIE in an acceptable manner or taking other actions that are detrimental to our interests.

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Currently, we have 50% direct ownership of the VIE in the Chinese mainland. We partially rely on the performance by the VIE and Jingdong Bangneng of their obligations under the contracts to exercise effective control over the VIE. Jingdong Bangneng may not act in the best interests of our company or may not perform their obligations under these contracts. If any dispute relating to these contracts remains unresolved, we will have to enforce our rights under these contracts through the operations of the PRC law and arbitration, litigation and other legal proceedings and therefore will be subject to uncertainties in the PRC legal system. See “—Any failure by the VIE or Jingdong Bangneng to perform their obligations under our contractual arrangements with them would have a material and adverse effect on our business.”

Any failure by the VIE or Jingdong Bangneng to perform their obligations under our contractual arrangements with them would have a material and adverse effect on our business.

If the VIE or Jingdong Bangneng 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 the PRC law, including seeking specific performance or injunctive relief, and contractual remedies, which we cannot assure you will be sufficient or effective under the PRC law. For example, if Jingdong Bangneng were to refuse to transfer its equity interests in the VIE to us or our designee if we exercise the purchase option pursuant to these contractual arrangements, or if it were otherwise to act in bad faith toward us, then we may have to take legal actions to compel them to perform their contractual obligations.

All the agreements under our contractual arrangements are governed by the PRC law and provide for the resolution of disputes through arbitration in the Chinese mainland. Accordingly, these contracts would be interpreted in accordance with PRC law and any disputes would be resolved in accordance with PRC legal procedures and changes in the PRC legal system could adversely affect our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. See “—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of laws and regulations in the Chinese mainland could limit the legal protections available to you and us.” Meanwhile, there are very few precedents and little formal guidance as to how contractual arrangements in the context of a consolidated variable interest entity should be interpreted or enforced under PRC law. There remain uncertainties regarding the ultimate outcome of such arbitration should legal action become necessary. In addition, 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. In the event we are unable to enforce these contractual arrangements, or if we suffer significant delay or other obstacles in the process of enforcing these contractual arrangements, we may not be able to exert effective control over the VIE, and our ability to conduct our business may be negatively affected.

Jingdong Bangneng may have actual or potential conflicts of interest with us.

Currently, we have 50% direct ownership of the VIE in the Chinese mainland. Jingdong Bangneng, the other shareholder of the VIE, may have actual or potential conflicts of interest with us. Jingdong Bangneng may breach, or cause the VIE to breach, or refuse to renew, the existing contractual arrangements we have with them and the VIE, which would have a material and adverse effect on our ability to effectively control the VIE and receive economic benefits from it. For example, Jingdong Bangneng may be able to cause our agreements with the VIE 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 Jingdong Bangneng 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 Jingdong Bangneng and our company, except that we could exercise our purchase option under the exclusive option agreement with Jingdong Bangneng to request it to transfer all of its equity interests in the VIE to a PRC entity or individual designated by us, to the extent permitted by PRC law. Jingdong Bangneng has executed power of attorney to appoint Dada Glory or a person designated by Dada Glory to vote on its behalf and exercise voting rights as a shareholder of the VIE. If we cannot resolve any conflict of interest or dispute between us and Jingdong Bangneng, 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.

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Although under our current contractual arrangements, the VIE and Jingdong Bangneng shall not assign any of their respective rights or obligations to any third party without the prior written consent of Dada Glory, 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.

Contractual arrangements in relation to the VIE may be subject to scrutiny by the PRC tax authorities and they may determine that we or the VIE owes 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 contractual arrangements in relation to the VIE 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 income of the VIE 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 the VIE for PRC tax purposes, which could in turn increase its tax liabilities without reducing our PRC subsidiaries’ tax expenses. In addition, the PRC tax authorities may impose late payment fees and other penalties on the VIE for the adjusted but unpaid taxes according to the applicable regulations. Our financial position could be materially and adversely affected if the VIE’s tax liabilities increase or if it is required to pay late payment fees and other penalties.

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

On March 15, 2019, the National People’s Congress promulgated the PRC Foreign Investment Law, which took effect on January 1, 2020. Since it is relatively new, uncertainties still exist in relation to its interpretation and implementation. The PRC 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, at which time it will be uncertain whether our contractual arrangements will be deemed to be in violation of the market access requirements for foreign investment in China and if yes, how our contractual arrangements should be dealt with.

The PRC Foreign Investment Law grants national treatment to foreign-invested entities, except for those foreign-invested entities that operate in industries specified as either “restricted” or “prohibited” from foreign investment in the Special Administrative Measures (Negative List) for Foreign Investment Access jointly promulgated by the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission, or the NDRC, and effective on January 1, 2022. The PRC Foreign Investment Law provides that foreign-invested entities operating in “restricted” or “prohibited” industries will require market entry clearance and other approvals from the PRC government authorities. If our control over the VIE through contractual arrangements are deemed as foreign investment in the future, and any business of the VIE is “restricted” or “prohibited” from foreign investment under the “negative list” effective at the time, we may be deemed to be in violation of the Foreign Investment Law, the contractual arrangements that allow us to have control over the VIE may be deemed as invalid and illegal, and we may be required to unwind such contractual arrangements and/or restructure our business operations, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our business operation.

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.

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We may lose the ability to use and enjoy assets held by the VIE that are critical to the operation of our business if the VIE declare bankruptcy or become subject to a dissolution or liquidation proceeding.

The VIE holds certain assets that may be critical to the operation of our business. If Jingdong Bangneng, the other shareholder of the VIE, breaches the contractual arrangements and voluntarily liquidate the VIE or its subsidiaries, or if the VIE or its subsidiaries declare bankruptcy and all or part of their assets become subject to liens or rights of third-party creditors or are otherwise disposed of without our consent, we may be unable to continue some or all of our business activities, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if the VIE or its subsidiaries undergo an involuntary liquidation proceeding, third-party creditors may claim rights to some or all of their assets, thereby hindering our ability to operate our business, which could materially or adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we exercise the option to acquire equity interest of the VIE, this equity interest transfer may subject us to certain limitations and substantial costs.

Pursuant to the Regulations for the Administration of Foreign-Invested Telecommunications Enterprises promulgated by the State Council on December 11, 2001, as amended on March 29, 2022, foreign investors are not allowed to hold more than 50% of the equity interest of any company providing certain value-added telecommunications services.

Pursuant to the contractual arrangements, Dada Glory has the irrevocable and exclusive right to purchase all or any part of the equity interest in the VIE from Jingdong Bangneng at any time and from time to time in their absolute discretion to the extent permitted by the PRC laws. The consideration Dada Glory pays for such purchases will be the lowest price as permitted under the applicable PRC laws. This equity transfer may be subject to approvals from, filings with, or reporting to competent PRC authorities, such as the Ministry of Commerce, the MIIT, the State Administration of Market Regulation, and/or their local competent branches. In addition, the equity transfer price may be subject to review and tax adjustment by the tax authorities. The equity transfer price to be received by the VIE under the contractual arrangements may also be subject to enterprise income tax, and these amounts could be substantial.

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

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 the Chinese mainland. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be influenced by economic, political and social conditions in China generally.

The economic, political and social conditions in China differ from those of the countries in other jurisdictions in many respects. Over the past decades, the PRC government has taken various measures to promote the market economy and encourage entities to establish sound corporate governance. The PRC government has implemented various measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources that may benefit the overall Chinese economy, but measures such as government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations may have a negative effect on us. The PRC government has also implemented certain measures in the past, including interest rate adjustment, aiming to sustain the pace of economic growth. These measures may cause decreased economic activity, which in turn could lead to a reduction in demand of, our products and services and consequently, have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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

We conduct our business primarily in the Chinese mainland. Our operations in the Chinese mainland are governed by PRC laws and regulations. The PRC government has significant oversight and discretion over the conduct of our business, and may intervene or influence our operations as the government deems appropriate to advance regulatory and societal goals and policy positions. The PRC government has recently published new policies that significantly affected certain industries and we cannot rule out the possibility that it will in the future release regulations or policies that directly or indirectly affect our industry or require us to seek additional permission to continue our operations, which could result in a material adverse change in our operation and/or the value of our ADSs. Therefore, investors of our company and our business face potential uncertainty from actions taken by the PRC government affecting our business.

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Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of laws and regulations in the Chinese mainland could limit the legal protections available to you and us.

The legal system in the Chinese mainland is a civil law system based on written statutes, where prior court decisions have limited precedential value. While this may apply to other jurisdictions, the legal system in the Chinese mainland is evolving rapidly, and the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules may contain inconsistencies and enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules may change from time to time.

From time to time, we may have to resort to administrative and court proceedings to enforce our legal rights. However, since the PRC judicial and administrative authorities have discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory and contractual terms, similar to other jurisdictions, it may be difficult to predict the outcome of such judicial or administrative proceeding. Agreements that are governed by PRC laws and regulations may be different from other countries with different legal systems in enforcing by legal or arbitral proceedings in China. In addition, any administrative and court proceedings in the jurisdiction we operate, including the Chinese mainland, may be protracted, resulting in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention. As a result, the changes, interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws and any failure to respond to changes in the regulatory environment in China could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We may be required to complete filing procedures with the CSRC in connection with our future offerings. We cannot predict whether we will be able to complete such filing on a timely manner, or at all.

On July 6, 2021, the PRC government authorities issued Opinions on Strictly Scrutinizing Illegal Securities Activities in Accordance with the Law. These opinions emphasized the need to strengthen the administration over illegal securities activities and the supervision on overseas listings by China-based companies and proposed to take effective measures, such as promoting the construction of the regulatory systems to deal with the risks and incidents faced by China-based overseas-listed companies.

On February 17, 2023, the CSRC, as approved by the State Council, released the Trial Administrative Measures of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies and five supporting guidelines. The trial measures and interpretive guidelines took effect on March 31, 2023, when the CSRC started to accept filing applications. Pursuant to the trial measures and interpretive guidelines, PRC domestic enterprises that directly or indirectly offer or list their securities in an overseas market are required to file with the CSRC within three business days after submitting their listing application documents to the regulator in the place of intended listing. Failure to complete such filing may subject a PRC domestic enterprise to an order of rectification, a warning or a fine between RMB1 million and RMB10 million. Pursuant to these regulations, a domestic enterprise applying for listing abroad shall, among others, complete record filing procedures and report the information to the securities regulatory authority as required.

In addition, our future capital raising activities such as follow-on equity or debt offerings, listing on other stock exchanges and going private transactions, may also be subject to the filing requirement with the CSRC. Failure to complete such filing procedures as required under the trial measures and interpretive guidelines, or a rescission of any such filings completed by us, would subject us to sanctions by the CSRC or other PRC regulatory authorities, which could include fines and penalties on our operations in the Chinese mainland, and other forms of sanctions that may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may be adversely affected by the newly published or amended PRC regulations related to internet-related businesses and companies.

The PRC government regulates the internet industry, including foreign ownership of, and the licensing and permit requirements pertaining to, companies operating in the internet industry. These internet-related laws and regulations are relatively new and evolving, and their interpretation and enforcement involve 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 the VIE and its subsidiaries. Such corporate structure may subject us to sanctions, compromise enforceability of related contractual arrangements, which may result in significant disruption to our business.

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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 departments in connection with online content administration and to deal with cross-ministry regulatory matters in relation to the internet industry.

The VIE, Shanghai Qusheng, and its subsidiary, JDDJ Youheng, each currently holds a License for Value-added Telecommunications Services for internet information services and online data processing and transaction processing service. The Circular on Strengthening the Administration of Foreign Investment in and Operation of Value-added Telecommunications Business, issued by the the PRC Ministry of Information Industry (which is the predecessor of the MIIT) on July 13, 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 the Chinese mainland. 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 the Chinese mainland, 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 License for Value-added Telecommunications Services of the operator of such mobile apps.

The interpretation and application of existing PRC laws, regulations and policies and possible new laws, regulations or policies relating to the internet industry may be different from our interpretation and understanding regarding the legality of existing and future foreign investments in, and the businesses and activities of, internet businesses in the Chinese mainland, including our business. We cannot assure you that we have obtained all the permits or licenses required for conducting our business in the Chinese mainland or will be able to maintain our existing licenses or obtain new ones.

Increases in labor costs and enforcement of stricter labor laws and regulations in China may adversely affect our business and our profitability.

The average wage in China has increased in recent years and is expected to continue to grow. The average wage level for our employees has also increased in recent years. We expect that our labor costs, including wages and employee benefits, will continue to increase. Unless we are able to pass on these increased labor costs to those who pay for our services, our profitability and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, if the riders on our platform believe that their earnings on our platform are not competitive with wages that they can earn elsewhere, either with competitors or in other lines of work, we may have to increase their earnings to ensure an adequate supply of riders on our platform, and we may be unable to pass that cost on to riders. In addition, if riders on our platform are reclassified as employees instead of independent directors, our labor costs will be substantially increased, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations. See also “—Risks Related to Our Business and Industry— The status of our riders as independent contractors of retailers, merchants or individual senders on our platforms may be challenged.”

In addition, we have been subject to stricter regulatory requirements in terms of entering into labor contracts with our employees and paying various statutory employee benefits, including pensions, housing fund, medical insurance, work-related injury insurance, unemployment insurance and maternity insurance to designated government agencies for the benefit of our employees. Pursuant to the PRC Labor Contract Law and its implementation rules, employers are subject to stricter requirements in terms of signing labor contracts, minimum wages, paying remuneration and statutory benefits, determining the term of employee’s probation and unilaterally terminating labor contracts. In addition, enterprises are forbidden to force laborers to work beyond the time limit and employers shall pay laborers for overtime work in accordance with the laws and regulations. In the event that we decide to terminate some of our employees or otherwise change our employment or labor practices, the PRC Labor Contract Law and its implementation rules may limit our ability to effect those changes in a desirable or cost-effective manner, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

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We engage independent third-party service providers to recruit certain third-party workers at our request, such as customer service professionals, and to settle payment of service fees to such third-party service providers for us. However, we cannot preclude the possibility that these workers supplied by third-party service providers may be classified as “dispatched workers” by courts, arbitration tribunals or government agencies. The PRC Labor Contract Law and the Interim Provisions on Labor Dispatch promulgated on January 24, 2014 impose more stringent requirements on the use of employees of temp agencies, who are known in China as “dispatched workers.” See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulation.” However, since the application and interpretation of the PRC Labor Contract Law and the Interim Provisions on Labor Dispatch are limited and uncertain, we cannot assure you our business operation will be deemed to be in full compliance with them. If we are found to be in violation of any requirements under the PRC Labor Contract Law, the Interim Provisions on Labor Dispatch or their related rules and regulations, we may be ordered by the labor authority to rectify the non-compliance by entering into written employment contracts with the deemed “dispatched workers,” or be subject to regulatory penalty, other sanction or liability or be subject to labor disputes.

Furthermore, on July 16, 2021, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the NDRC, the Ministry of Transport, together with several other governmental authorities jointly promulgated Guidance on Safeguarding the Rights and Interests of Labor Forces in New Forms of Employment, which require, among others, platform enterprises adopting labor outsourcing and other cooperative labor methods to undertake corresponding responsibilities in accordance with laws and regulations when workers’ rights and interests are damaged, call for organizing and launching pilot programs for occupational injury protection of flexible employment personnel, focusing on platform enterprises in industries such as mobility, takeout, on-demand delivery and intra-city freight, and encourage platform enterprises to improve the protection for flexible employment personnel on the platform by purchasing personal accident, employer liability and other commercial insurances.

As the interpretation and implementation of labor-related laws and regulations are still evolving, we cannot assure you that our employment practices do not and will not violate labor-related laws and regulations in China, which may subject us to labor disputes or government investigations. We cannot assure you that we have complied or will be able to comply with all labor-related law and regulations. If we are deemed to have violated the labor laws and regulations, we could be required to provide additional compensation to our employees and our business, financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected.

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

We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, however, we conduct substantially all of our operations in the Chinese mainland and substantially all of our assets are located in the Chinese mainland. In addition, all our senior executive officers reside within the Chinese mainland 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 our management residing in the Chinese mainland. In addition, the Chinese mainland does not have treaties providing for reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments of courts with the Cayman Islands and many other countries and regions. Therefore, like many other jurisdictions around the world, recognition and enforcement in the Chinese mainland of judgments of a court in any of these non-PRC jurisdictions in relation to any matter not subject to a binding arbitration provision may be difficult or impossible.

It may be difficult for overseas regulators to conduct investigation or collect evidence within China.

Shareholder claims or regulatory investigation that are common in the United States generally are difficult to pursue as a matter of law or practicality in China and many other jurisdictions. For example, in China, there are significant legal and other obstacles to providing information needed for regulatory investigations or litigation initiated outside China. Although the authorities in China may establish a regulatory cooperation mechanism with the securities regulatory authorities of another country or region to implement cross-border supervision and administration, such cooperation with the securities regulatory authorities in the Unities States may not be efficient in the absence of mutual and practical cooperation mechanism. Furthermore, according to Article 177 of the PRC Securities Law, which became effective on March 1, 2020, no overseas securities regulator is allowed to directly conduct investigation or evidence collection activities within the territory of China. While detailed interpretation of or implementation rules under Article 177 of the PRC Securities Law have yet to be promulgated, the inability for an overseas securities regulator to directly conduct investigation or evidence collection activities within China may further increase difficulties faced by you in protecting your interests. See also “—Risks Related to Our ADSs—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” for risks associated with investing in us as a Cayman Islands company.

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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 China 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. On April 22, 2009, the State Administration of Taxation 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 the 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 the State Administration of Taxation’s general position on how the “de facto management body” test should be applied in determining the tax resident status of all offshore enterprises. According to the 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 personnel and management department are 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 none of our entities outside of the Chinese mainland is 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 Dada Nexus Limited is 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 at a rate of 10% on gains realized on the sale or other disposition of ADSs or 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 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 Dada Nexus Limited 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 ordinary shares.

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

On February 3, 2015, the State Administration of Taxation issued the Announcement on Several Issues Concerning the Enterprise Income Tax on Indirect Transfer of Assets by Non-Resident Enterprises, or the SAT Circular 7. Pursuant to the SAT Circular 7, an “indirect transfer” of PRC assets, including a transfer of equity interests in an unlisted non-PRC holding company of a PRC resident enterprise, by non-PRC resident enterprises may be re-characterized and treated as a direct transfer of the underlying PRC assets, if such arrangement does not have a reasonable commercial purpose and was established for the purpose of avoiding payment of PRC enterprise income 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 rate of 10% for the transfer of equity interests in a PRC resident enterprise. On October 17, 2017, the State Administration of Taxation issued the Announcement on Issues Relating to the Withholding at Source of Income Tax of Non-resident Enterprises, or the SAT Circular 37 which came into effect on December 1, 2017. The SAT Circular 37 further clarifies the practice and procedure of the withholding of nonresident enterprise income tax.

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We face uncertainties on the reporting and consequences of previous and future private equity financing transactions, share exchanges or other transactions involving the transfer of shares in our company by shareholders or 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 the SAT Circular 7 and SAT Circular 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.

If our preferential tax treatments and government subsidies are revoked or become unavailable or if the calculation of our tax liability is successfully challenged by the PRC tax authorities, we may be required to pay tax, interest and penalties in excess of our tax provisions.

The PRC government has provided tax incentives to our PRC subsidiaries in the Chinese mainland, including reduced enterprise income tax rates. For example, under the Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementation rules, the statutory enterprise income tax rate is 25%. However, the income tax of an enterprise that has been determined to be a high and new technology enterprise can be reduced to a preferential rate of 15%. In addition, some of our PRC subsidiaries in the Chinese mainland enjoy local government subsidies. Any increase in the enterprise income tax rate applicable to our PRC subsidiaries in the Chinese mainland, or any discontinuation, retroactive or future reduction or refund of any of the preferential tax treatments and local government subsidies currently enjoyed by our PRC subsidiaries in the Chinese mainland, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Further, in the ordinary course of our business, we are subject to complex income tax and other tax regulations, and significant judgment is required in the determination of a provision for income taxes. Although we believe our tax provisions are reasonable, if the PRC tax authorities successfully challenge our position and we are required to pay tax, interest and penalties in excess of our tax provisions, our financial condition and results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.

The Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Companies by Foreign Investors and certain other PRC regulations may make it more difficult for us to pursue growth through acquisitions.

The Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Companies by Foreign Investors adopted by six PRC regulatory agencies on August 8, 2006 and amended on June 22, 2009, and other regulations and rules concerning mergers and acquisitions established complex procedures and requirements for some acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors, including requirements in some instances that the Ministry of Commerce, be notified in advance of any change-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of a PRC domestic enterprise. Moreover, the Anti-monopoly Law promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress which became effective on August 1, 2008 and was amended on June 24, 2022 requires that transactions which are deemed concentrations and involve parties with specified turnover thresholds must be cleared by the Ministry of Commerce before they can be completed. Where any operator implements concentration in violation of the Anti-monopoly Law, and the concentration has or may have the effect of eliminating or restricting competition, the enforcement department of the State Council shall order it to cease the implementation of concentration, dispose of the shares or assets within a time period, transfer the business within a time period and take other necessary measures to restore to the status before the concentration, and impose a fine of not more than 10% of its sales amount in the previous year; or impose a fine of not more than RMB5 million if the concentration has no effect of eliminating or restricting competition. In addition, the Rules of the Ministry of Commerce on Implementation of Security Review System of Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors issued by the Ministry of Commerce and became effective on September 1, 2011 specify that mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors that raise “national defense and security” concerns and mergers and acquisitions through which foreign investors may acquire de facto control over domestic enterprises that raise “national security” concerns are subject to strict review by the Ministry of Commerce, and the rules prohibit any activities attempting to bypass a security review, including by structuring the transaction through a proxy or contractual control arrangement. On December 19, 2020, the NDRC and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the Measures for the Security Review for Foreign Investment, which took effect on January 18, 2021.

In the future, we may pursue potential strategic acquisitions that are complementary to our business and operations. Complying with the requirements of the above-mentioned regulations and other rules to complete such transactions could be time-consuming, and any required approval processes, including obtaining approval or clearance from the Ministry of Commerce, may delay or inhibit our ability to complete such transactions, which could affect our ability to expand our business or maintain our market share.

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Any failure to comply with PRC regulations regarding the registration requirements for employee stock incentive plans may subject our 2015 Plan and 2020 Plan participants or us to fines and other legal or administrative sanctions.

On February 15, 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 and 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. 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 make payment under the incentive plans or receive dividends or sales proceeds related thereto in foreign currencies, or our ability to contribute additional capital into our PRC subsidiaries and limit our PRC subsidiaries’ 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—Regulation—Regulations Relating to Stock Incentive Plans.”

In addition, the State Administration of Taxation 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 the 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 the 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—Regulation—Regulations Relating to Stock Incentive Plans.”

Failure to comply with PRC laws and regulations on leased property may expose us to potential fines and negatively affect our ability to use the properties we lease.

Certain of our leasehold interests in leased properties have not been registered with the 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 PRC government authorities. Failure to complete the lease registration will not affect the legal effectiveness of the lease agreements according to PRC law, but the real estate administrative authorities may require the parties to the lease agreements to complete lease registration within a prescribed period of time, and the failure to do so may subject the parties to fines from RMB1,000 to RMB10,000 for each of such lease agreements.

Our lessors are required to comply with various laws and regulations to enable them to lease effective titles of their properties for our use. For instance, properties used for business operations and the underlying land should be approved for commercial use purposes by competent government authorities. Failure to do so may subject the lessors to monetary fines or other penalties and may lead to the invalidation or termination of our leases by competent government authorities, and therefore may adversely affect our ability to use the leased properties. In addition, certain lessors of our leased properties have not provided us with valid 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 or they have not obtained consents from the owners or their lessors or permits from the government authorities, our leases could be invalidated.

As of the date of this annual report, we are not aware of any material actions, claims or investigations threatened against us or our lessors with respect to the defects in our leasehold interests. However, if any of our leases is terminated as a result of challenges by third parties or governmental authorities for lack of title certificates or proof of authorization to lease, we do not expect to be subject to any fines or penalties, but we may be forced to relocate the affected offices and incur additional expenses relating to such relocation.

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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.

On July 4, 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. Beneficial owners of the offshore special purpose vehicle who are PRC residents are also required to make annual filing with the local banks regarding their overseas investment status. 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 or entities or our beneficial owners who are PRC residents do not complete their registrations or filings with the local SAFE branches, our PRC subsidiaries may be subject to fines and legal sanctions, and we may be prohibited from distributing its profits and proceeds from any reduction in capital, share transfer or liquidation to us, and we may be restricted in our ability to contribute additional capital to our PRC subsidiaries. On February 13, 2015, SAFE promulgated the Circular on Further Simplifying and Improving Foreign Exchange Administration Policy on Direct Investment, or SAFE Circular 13, effective on June 1, 2015. Under SAFE Circular 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.

We may not be informed of the identities of all the PRC residents or entities holding direct or indirect interest in our company, nor can we compel our beneficial owners to comply with SAFE registration or filing requirements. We cannot assure you that all shareholders or beneficial owners of ours who are PRC residents or entities have complied with, and will in the future make, obtain or update any applicable registrations, approvals or annual filings required by, SAFE regulations.

The failure or inability of such shareholders or beneficial owners to comply with SAFE regulations, or failure by us to complete or amend the foreign exchange registrations or annual filings of our PRC subsidiaries, could subject us to fines or legal sanctions, restrict our overseas or cross-border investment activities, limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to make distributions or pay dividends to us or affect our ownership structure. As a result, our business operations and our ability to distribute profits to you could be materially and adversely affected.

We may be materially adversely affected if our shareholders and beneficial owners who are PRC entities fail to comply with the PRC overseas investment regulations.

On December 26, 2017, the NDRC promulgated the Administrative Measures on Enterprise Overseas Investments, which took effect as of March 1, 2018. According to these administrative measures, non-sensitive overseas investment projects are subject to record-filing requirements with the local branch of the NDRC. On September 6, 2014, the Ministry of Commerce promulgated the Administrative Measures on Overseas Investments, which took effect as of October 6, 2014. According to this regulation, overseas investments of PRC enterprises that involve non-sensitive countries and regions and non-sensitive industries are subject to record-filing requirements with a local Ministry of Commerce branch. According to the Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Issuing the Regulations on Foreign Exchange Administration of the Overseas Direct Investment of Domestic Institutions, which was promulgated by SAFE on July 13, 2009 and took effect on August 1, 2009, PRC enterprises must register for overseas direct investment with a local SAFE branch.

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We may not be fully informed of the identities of all our shareholders or beneficial owners who are PRC entities, and we cannot provide any assurance that all of our shareholders and beneficial owners who are PRC entities will comply with our request to complete the overseas direct investment procedures under the aforementioned regulations or other related rules in a timely manner, or at all. If they fail to complete the filings or registrations required by the overseas direct investment regulations, the authorities may order them to suspend or cease the implementation of such investment and make corrections within a specified time, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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.

Dada is a Cayman Islands holding company and may rely principally on dividends and other distributions on equity from our PRC subsidiaries for its cash requirements, including the funds necessary to pay dividends and other cash distributions to its shareholders for services of any debt it may incur. If any of our PRC subsidiaries incurs debt on its own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict its ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to us. Under the PRC laws and regulations, our PRC subsidiaries, which are foreign-owned enterprises, may pay dividends only out of their respective accumulated profits as determined in accordance with in the Chinese mainland accounting standards and regulations in the Chinese mainland. In addition, our PRC subsidiaries are required to set aside at least 10% of its accumulated 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. Such reserve funds cannot be distributed to us as dividends.

Our PRC subsidiaries generate essentially 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 Chinese 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.

PRC regulation of loans to and direct investment in entities in the Chinese mainland by offshore holding companies and governmental control of currency conversion may delay or prevent us from using the proceeds of financing activities to make loans to our PRC subsidiaries and the VIE in the Chinese mainland, 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 the Chinese mainland through our PRC subsidiaries, the VIE and its subsidiaries. We may make loans to our PRC subsidiaries, the VIE and its subsidiaries, or we may make additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries, or we may establish new PRC subsidiaries and make capital contributions to these new PRC subsidiaries, or we may acquire offshore entities with business operations in the Chinese mainland in an offshore transaction.

Most of these ways are subject to PRC regulations and approvals. For example, loans by us to our wholly owned PRC subsidiaries to finance their activities cannot exceed statutory limits and must be registered with the local counterpart of SAFE or filed with SAFE in its information system. If we decide to finance our wholly owned PRC subsidiaries by means of capital contributions, these capital contributions are subject to the requirement of making necessary filings in the Foreign Investment Comprehensive Management Information System and registration with other governmental authorities in China. Due to the restrictions imposed on loans in foreign currencies extended to PRC domestic companies, we are not likely to make such loans to the VIE, which is a PRC domestic company. Further, we are not likely to finance the activities of the VIE by means of capital contributions due to regulatory restrictions relating to foreign investment in PRC domestic enterprises engaged in internet information and certain other businesses.

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SAFE promulgated the Notice on Reforming the Administration of Foreign Exchange Settlement of Capital of Foreign-invested Enterprises, or SAFE Circular 19, effective on June 1, 2015 and amended on December 30, 2019, in replacement of the former regulation. 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 to our PRC subsidiaries, which may adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business in the Chinese mainland. On October 23, 2019, SAFE promulgated the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Further Promoting the Convenience of Cross-border Trade and Investment, which, among other things, allows all foreign-invested companies to use Renminbi converted from foreign currency-denominated capital for equity investments in China, as long as the equity investment is genuine, does not violate applicable laws, and complies with the negative list on foreign investment. However, since this circular is newly promulgated, it is unclear how SAFE and competent banks will carry this out in practice.

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 VIE or future capital contributions by us to our PRC subsidiaries. As a result, uncertainties exist as to our ability to provide prompt financial support to our PRC subsidiaries or VIE when needed. If we fail to complete such registrations or obtain such approvals, our ability to use the proceeds we received from our financing activities 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.

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

The value of the Renminbi against the U.S. dollar and other currencies may fluctuate and is affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions in China and China’s foreign exchange policies. In 2005, the PRC government changed its decades-old policy of pegging the value of the Renminbi to the U.S. dollar, and the Renminbi appreciated more than 20% against the U.S. dollar over the following three years. Between July 2008 and June 2010, this appreciation halted and the exchange rate between Renminbi and the U.S. dollar remained within a narrow band. Since June 2010, Renminbi has fluctuated against the U.S. dollar, at times significantly and unpredictably. With the development of the foreign exchange market and progress towards interest rate liberalization and Renminbi internationalization, the PRC government may in the future announce further changes to the exchange rate system, and we cannot assure you that the 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 the Renminbi and the U.S. dollar in the future.

Significant revaluation of the Renminbi may have a material and adverse effect on your investment. For example, to the extent that we need to convert U.S. dollars we received from our financing activities into Renminbi for our operations, appreciation of the Renminbi against the U.S. dollar would have an adverse effect on the Renminbi amount we would receive from the conversion. Conversely, if we decide to convert our Renminbi into U.S. dollars for the purpose of making payments for dividends on our ordinary shares or ADSs or for other business purposes, appreciation of the U.S. dollar against the Renminbi would have a negative effect on the U.S. dollar amount available to us.

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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 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 foreign exchange regulations that restrict our ability to convert Renminbi into foreign currency.

Governmental control of currency conversion may affect our utilization of our revenues and the value of your investment.

The PRC government imposes regulations on the convertibility of the Renminbi into foreign currencies and, in certain cases, the remittance of currency out of the Chinese mainland. We receive substantially all of our revenues in Renminbi. Under our current corporate structure, our Cayman Islands holding company may rely on dividend payments from our PRC subsidiaries 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 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 subsidiaries in the Chinese mainland 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 the Chinese mainland 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 consolidated variable interest entity to pay off their respective debt in a currency other than Renminbi owed to entities outside the Chinese mainland, or to make other capital expenditure payments outside the Chinese mainland in a currency other than Renminbi.

In light of the flood of capital outflows of the Chinese mainland in 2016 due to the weakening Renminbi, the PRC government has further imposed foreign exchange policies and scrutiny on major outbound capital movement including overseas direct investment. If any of our shareholders regulated by such policies fails to satisfy the applicable overseas direct investment filing or approval requirement timely or at all, it may be subject to penalties from the PRC authorities. If the foreign exchange control system affects 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 the ADSs.

The PCAOB had historically been unable to inspect our auditor in relation to their audit work performed for our financial statements and the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of our auditor in the past has deprived our investors with the benefits of such inspections.

Our auditor, the independent registered public accounting firm that issues the audit report included elsewhere in this annual report, as an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the PCAOB, is subject to laws in the United States pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess its compliance with the applicable professional standards. The auditor is located in the Chinese mainland, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB was historically unable to conduct inspections and investigations completely before 2022. As a result, we and investors in the ADSs were deprived of the benefits of such PCAOB inspections. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of auditors in China in the past has made it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our independent registered public accounting firm’s audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of China that are subject to the PCAOB inspections. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB issued a report that vacated its December 16, 2021 determination and removed the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong from the list of jurisdictions where it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms. However, if the PCAOB determines in the future that it no longer has full access to inspect and investigate completely accounting firms in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, and we use an accounting firm headquartered in one of these jurisdictions to issue an audit report on our financial statements filed with the SEC, we and investors in our ADSs would be deprived of the benefits of such PCAOB inspections again, which could cause investors and potential investors in the ADSs to lose confidence in our audit procedures and reported financial information and the quality of our financial statements.

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Our ADSs may be prohibited from trading in the United States under the HFCAA in the future if the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely auditors located in the Chinese mainland. The delisting of the ADSs, or the threat of their being delisted, may materially and adversely affect the value of your investment.

Pursuant to the HFCAA, if the SEC determines that we have filed audit reports issued by a registered public accounting firm that has not been subject to inspections by the PCAOB for two consecutive years, the SEC will prohibit our shares or ADSs from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over-the-counter trading market in the United States.

On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a report to notify the SEC of its determination that the PCAOB was unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong and our auditor was subject to that determination. In May 2022, the SEC conclusively listed us as a Commission-Identified Issuer under the HFCAA following the filing of our annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB removed the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong from the list of jurisdictions where it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms. For this reason, we were not identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer under the HFCAA after we filed our annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, and do not expect to be so identified after we file this annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.

Each year, the PCAOB will determine whether it can inspect and investigate completely audit firms in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, among other jurisdictions. If the PCAOB determines in the future that it no longer has full access to inspect and investigate completely accounting firms in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong and we use an accounting firm headquartered in one of these jurisdictions to issue an audit report on our financial statements filed with the SEC, we would be identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer following the filing of the annual report on Form 20-F for the relevant fiscal year. In accordance with the HFCAA, our securities would be prohibited from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over-the-counter trading market in the United States if we are identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer for two consecutive years in the future. If our shares and ADSs are prohibited from trading in the United States, there is no certainty that we will be able to list on a non-U.S. exchange or that a market for our shares will develop outside of the United States. A prohibition of being able to trade in the United States would substantially impair your ability to sell or purchase our ADSs when you wish to do so, and the risk and uncertainty associated with delisting would have a negative impact on the price of our ADSs. Also, such a prohibition would significantly affect our ability to raise capital on terms acceptable to us, or at all, which would have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and prospects.

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, including recently imposed tariffs affecting certain products manufactured in China. It is unknown whether and to what extent new tariffs (or other new laws or regulations) will be adopted, or the effect that any such actions would have on us or our industry. Although cross-border business may not be an area of our focus, if we plan to expand our business internationally in the future or imported products begin to be or continue to be listed on our platforms, any unfavorable government policies on international trade, such as capital controls or tariffs, may affect the consumer demand for certain products listed on our platforms, prevent us from being able to list certain products on our platforms or provide services 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, results of operations.

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Risks Related to Our ADSs

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

The closing trading price of our ADSs has ranged from US$3.01 to US$15.18 per ADS in 2023. The trading price of the ADSs is likely to be volatile and could fluctuate widely due to factors beyond our control. The trading performances of other Chinese companies’ securities, including internet and e-commerce companies, may affect the attitudes of investors toward Chinese 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 Chinese companies may also negatively affect the attitudes of investors towards Chinese companies in general, including us, regardless of our conduct. This may happen because of broad market and industry factors, including the performance and fluctuation of the market prices of other companies with business operations located mainly in China that have listed their securities in the United States. In addition to market and industry factors, the price and trading volume for the ADSs may be highly volatile for factors specific to our own operations, including the following:

Any of these factors may result in large and sudden changes in the volume and price at which the ADSs will trade. Furthermore, the stock market in general experiences price and volume fluctuations that are often unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of companies like us. These broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our ADSs. Volatility or a lack of positive performance in our ADS price may also adversely affect our ability to retain key employees, most of whom have been granted share incentives.

In the past, shareholders of public companies have often brought securities class action suits against companies following periods of instability in the market price of their securities. We have been named as a defendant in a putative shareholder class action lawsuit that could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operation, cash flows and reputation. See “—Risks Related to Our Business and Industry—We have been named as a defendant in a putative shareholder class action lawsuit that could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operation, cash flows and reputation.” 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.

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If securities or industry analysts cease to publish research or reports about our business, or if they adversely change their recommendations regarding the ADSs, the market price for the ADSs and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for the ADSs will be influenced by research or reports that industry or securities analysts publish about our business. If one or more analysts who cover us downgrade the ADSs, the market price for the ADSs would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease to cover us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which, in turn, could cause the market price or trading volume for the ADSs to decline.

Techniques employed by short sellers may drive down the market price of the ADSs.

Short selling is the practice of selling securities that a seller does not own but rather has borrowed from a third party with the intention of buying identical securities back at a later date to return to the lender. Short sellers hope to profit from a decline in the value of the securities between the sale of the borrowed securities and the purchase of the replacement shares, as short sellers expect to pay less in that purchase than they received in the sale. As it is in short sellers’ interest for the price of the security to decline, many short sellers publish, or arrange for the publication of, negative opinions and allegations regarding the issuer and its business prospects in order to create negative market momentum and generate profits for themselves after selling a security short. These short attacks have, in the past, led to selling of shares in the market.

We may be subject to short seller attacks from time to time in the future. If we were to become the subject of any unfavorable allegations, whether such allegations are proven to be true or untrue, we may have to expend a significant amount of resources to investigate such allegations and/or defend ourselves. While we would strongly defend against any such short seller attacks, we may be constrained in the manner in which we can proceed against the short sellers by principles of freedom of speech, applicable state law or issues of commercial confidentiality. Such a situation could be costly and time-consuming, and could divert management’s attention from the day-to-day operations of our company. Even if such allegations are ultimately proven to be groundless, allegations against us could severely impact the market price of our ADSs and our business operations.

The sale or availability for sale of substantial amounts of our ADSs could adversely affect their market price.

Sales of substantial amounts of our ADSs in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur, could adversely affect the market price of our ADSs and could materially impair our ability to raise capital through equity offerings in the future. The ADSs sold in our initial public offering and follow-on offering are freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and shares held by our existing shareholders may also be sold in the public market in the future subject to the restrictions in Rule 144 and Rule 701 under the Securities Act and the applicable lock-up agreements. We cannot predict what effect, if any, market sales of securities held by our significant shareholders or any other shareholder or the availability of these securities for future sale will have on the market price of our ADSs.

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.

In March 2022, we announced a share repurchase program, pursuant to which we were authorized to repurchase our own ordinary shares, in the form of ADSs, with an aggregate value of up to US$70 million during the 12-month period thereafter. We had purchased an aggregate of 8,534,445 ADSs for US$60.1 million on the open market under this program, at a weighted average price of US$7.04 per ADS, including repurchase commissions. We did not purchase any ordinary shares under the aforementioned share repurchase program in 2023. In March 2024, we announced a new share repurchase program, pursuant to which we were authorized to repurchase our own ordinary shares, in the form of ADSs, with an aggregate value of up to US$40 million during the two-year period through March 2026. Our share repurchase program could affect the price of our stock and increase volatility and may be suspended or terminated at any time.

We currently do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future and 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.

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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 exempted 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.

Our memorandum and articles of association contain anti-takeover provisions that could have a material adverse effect on the rights of holders of our ordinary shares and the ADSs.

Our currently effective 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 ordinary shares, including ordinary shares represented by ADSs. 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 the ADSs may fall and the voting and other rights of the holders of our ordinary shares and the ADSs may be materially and adversely affected.

The voting rights of holders of ADSs are limited by the terms of the deposit agreement, and you may not be able to exercise your right to direct the voting of the underlying ordinary shares represented by your ADSs.

Holders of ADSs do not have the same rights as our registered shareholders. As a holder of ADSs, you will not have any direct right to attend general meetings of our shareholders or to cast any votes at such meetings. You will only be able to exercise the voting rights attached to the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs indirectly by giving voting instructions to the depositary in accordance with the provisions of the deposit agreement. Where any matter is to be put to a vote at a general meeting, then upon receipt of your voting instructions, the depositary will try, as far as is practicable, to vote the underlying ordinary shares represented by your ADSs in accordance with your instructions. You will not be able to directly exercise your right to vote with respect to the underlying ordinary shares unless you cancel and 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 ordinary shares represented by 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 underlying ordinary shares represented by your ADSs and from 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. Where any matter is to be put to a vote at a general meeting, upon our instruction the depositary will notify you of the upcoming vote and will arrange to deliver our voting materials to you. 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 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 underlying ordinary shares

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represented by your ADSs are voted and you may have no legal remedy if the underlying ordinary shares represented by 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.

Further, under the deposit agreement for the ADSs, if you do not vote, the depositary will give us a discretionary proxy to vote the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs at shareholders’ meetings unless:

The effect of this discretionary proxy is that you cannot prevent our ordinary shares underlying your ADSs from being voted, except under the circumstances described above. This may adversely affect your interests and make it more difficult for shareholders to influence the management of our company. Holders of our ordinary shares are not subject to this discretionary proxy.

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 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. The depositary may refuse to deliver, transfer or register transfers of the ADSs generally when our share register or the books of the depositary are closed, or at any time if we or the depositary thinks it is 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.

You may experience dilution of your holdings due to inability to participate in rights offerings.

We may, from time to time, distribute rights to our shareholders, including rights to acquire securities. Under the deposit agreement, the depositary will not distribute rights to holders of ADSs unless the distribution and sale of rights and the securities to which these rights relate are either exempt from registration under the Securities Act with respect to all holders of ADSs, or are registered under the provisions of the Securities Act. The depositary may, but is not required to, attempt to sell these undistributed rights to third parties, and may allow the rights to lapse. We may be unable to establish an exemption from registration under the Securities Act, and we are under no obligation to file a registration statement with respect to these rights or underlying securities or to endeavor to have a registration statement declared effective. Accordingly, holders of ADSs may be unable to participate in our rights offerings and may experience dilution of their holdings as a result.

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. Our corporate affairs are governed by our memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (As Revised) 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 owed 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 owed to us 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, with respect to Cayman Islands

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companies, plaintiffs may face special obstacles, including those relating to jurisdiction and standing, in attempting to assert derivative claims in state or federal courts of the United States.

Shareholders of Cayman Islands exempted companies like us have no general rights under Cayman Islands law to inspect corporate records (other than our memorandum and articles of association and any special resolutions passed by our shareholders, and our register of mortgages and charges), 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 our board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a company incorporated in the United States. For a discussion of significant differences between the provisions of the Companies Act of the Cayman Islands and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders, see “Item 10. Additional Information—B. Memorandum and Articles of Association—Differences in Corporate Law.”

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

We are a Cayman Islands exempted company and substantially all of our assets are located outside of the United States. All of our current operations are conducted in the Chinese mainland. In addition, all of our current directors and officers are nationals and residents of countries other than the United States. 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 China may render you unable to enforce a judgment against our assets or the assets of our directors and officers.

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

The deposit agreement governing the ADSs representing our 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, our shares and the ADSs and the transactions contemplated thereby, and in that regard, to the fullest extent permitted by law, holders and beneficial owners of ADS 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 Class A ordinary 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 the visibility of the jury trial waiver provision within the deposit agreement is sufficiently prominent such that a party has knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily waived the right to a jury trial. We believe that this is the case with respect to the deposit agreement, our shares and the ADSs and the transactions contemplated thereby. It is advisable that you consult legal counsel regarding the jury waiver provision before investing in the ADSs.

In addition, the depositary may, in its sole discretion, require that any dispute or difference arising from the relationship created by the deposit agreement, our shares, the ADSs or the transactions contemplated thereby be referred to and finally settled by an arbitration conducted under the terms described in the deposit agreement, while to the extent there are specific federal securities law violation aspects to any claims against us or the depositary brought by any holder or beneficial owner of ADSs, the federal securities law violation aspects of such claims may, at the option of such holders or beneficial owners, remain in state or federal court in New York, New York. We believe that a contractual arbitration provision, especially when excluding matters relating to federal securities law violation, is generally enforceable, including under the laws of the State of New York, which govern the deposit agreement.

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The waiver of jury trial, exclusive jurisdiction and arbitration provision may, among other things, have the effect of limiting and discouraging lawsuits against us and/or the depositary, lead to increased costs to bring a claim, limit access to information and other imbalances of resources between holders and beneficial owners of ADSs and us, or limit your ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum you find favorable. If a lawsuit can only be heard 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. However, no condition, stipulation or provision of the deposit agreement or ADSs serves as a waiver by any holder or beneficial owner of ADSs of our or the depositary’s compliance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

As a 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 the Nasdaq listing standards.

As a Cayman Islands exempted company listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, we are subject to the Nasdaq listing standards, which requires listed companies to have, among other things, a majority of their board members to be independent and independent director oversight of executive compensation and nomination of directors. 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 the Nasdaq listing standards.

We are permitted to elect to rely on home country practice to be exempted from the corporate governance requirements. If we choose to follow home country practice in the future, our shareholders may be afforded less protection than they would otherwise enjoy if we complied fully with the Nasdaq listing standards.

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:

We are 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 Global Select 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.

There can be no assurance that we will not be a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes for any taxable year, which could result in significant adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. holders of the ADSs or our ordinary shares.

A non-U.S. corporation, such as our company, will be considered a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, for any taxable year if either (i) 75% or more of its gross income is passive income or (ii) 50% or more of the value of its assets (generally determined on the basis of a quarterly average) during such year is attributable to assets that produce or are held for the production of passive income. Although the law in this regard is not entirely clear, we treat the VIE and its subsidiaries as being owned by us for U.S. federal income

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tax purposes because we control its management decisions and are entitled to substantially all of the economic benefits associated with it. As a result, we consolidate its results of operations in the consolidated U.S. GAAP financial statements. If it were determined, however, that we are not the owner of the VIE for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we may be treated as a PFIC for the current taxable year and any subsequent taxable year.

Assuming that we are the owner of the VIE for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we do not believe we were a PFIC for the taxable year ended December 31, 2023. However, no assurance can be given that we will not be or become a PFIC in the current or future taxable years because the determination of whether we will be or become a PFIC is a factual determination made annually that will depend, in part, upon the composition of our income and assets and the value of our assets. Fluctuations in the market price of the ADSs may cause us to be classified as a PFIC for the current or future taxable years because the value of our assets for purposes of the asset test, including the value of our goodwill and unbooked intangibles, may be determined by reference to the market price of the ADSs from time to time (which may be volatile). In light of recent declines in the market price of our ADSs, our risk of becoming a PFIC has increased. The market price of our ADSs may continue to fluctuate considerably and, consequently, we cannot assure you of our PFIC status for any taxable year. Furthermore, the composition of our income and assets may also be affected by how, and how quickly, we use our liquid assets. Under circumstances where our revenue from activities that produce passive income significantly increases relative to our revenue from activities that produce non-passive income, or where we determine not to deploy significant amounts of cash for active purposes, our risk of becoming classified as a PFIC may substantially increase.

If we were treated as a PFIC for any taxable year during which a U.S. Holder (as defined in “Item 10. Additional Information—E. Taxation—United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—General”) held an ADS or an ordinary share, certain significant adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences could apply to the U.S. Holder. See “Item 10. Additional Information—E. Taxation—United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules.”

Item 4.Information on the Company

We commenced operations through Shanghai Qusheng Internet Technology Co., Ltd., or Shanghai Qusheng, and launched our Dada Now app in July 2014.

In July 2014, Dada Nexus Limited was incorporated in the Cayman Islands as an offshore holding company to facilitate our offshore financing activities. Shortly following its incorporation, Dada Nexus Limited established a wholly owned subsidiary in Hong Kong, Dada Group (HK) Limited, or Dada HK. In November 2014, Dada HK established its wholly owned subsidiary in the Chinese mainland, Dada Glory Network Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., or Dada Glory.

In April 2016, we established our cooperative relationship with JD Group, which became one of our strategic investors. We entered into a business cooperation agreement with JD Group, acquired the entire business of JDDJ through, among other things, acquiring all equity interests in Shanghai JD Daojia Yuanxin Information Technology Co., Ltd., or Shanghai JDDJ, and received US$200 million in cash. In exchange, we issued ordinary shares, preferred shares and a warrant to purchase preferred shares to JD Group. In December 2017, JD Group exercised its warrant to acquire additional preferred shares of ours. In August 2018, JD Group further invested a total of US$180 million in our preferred shares.

In June 2016, we entered into a business cooperation agreement with Walmart Group, which was amended and restated in August 2018. In October 2016, Walmart Group became one of our strategic investors and invested US$50 million in our preferred shares. In August 2018, Walmart Group further invested a total of US$320 million in our preferred shares.

For details of JD Group’s and Walmart Group’s beneficial ownership in our equity securities, please see “Principal Shareholders.”

In November 2014, we gained control over Shanghai Qusheng, through Dada Glory, by entering into a series of contractual arrangements with Shanghai Qusheng and its shareholders.

In June 2020, we listed our ADSs on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “DADA.”

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In March 2021, JD Group, through its subsidiary, entered into a share subscription agreement with us, which was amended in February 2022. Pursuant to the terms of the share subscription agreement, Dada issued an aggregate of 109,215,017 new ordinary shares to JD Group in consideration of a combination of US$546 million in cash and strategic resources offered by JD Group. The closing of the transaction took place on February 28, 2022. Immediately upon closing, JD Group held approximately 52% of Dada’s issued and outstanding shares.

In April 2023, JD Group, through its subsidiary, entered into a share subscription agreement with us. Pursuant to the terms of the share subscription agreement, Dada issued an aggregate of 18,927,876 new ordinary shares to JD Group in consideration for the traffic support offered by JD Group under the business cooperation agreement entered into in April 2023. The closing of the transaction took place in April 2023. Immediately upon closing, JD Group held approximately 53.9% of Dada’s issued and outstanding shares.

Our principal executive offices are located at 22/F, Oriental Fisherman’s Wharf, No. 1088 Yangshupu Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200082, People’s Republic of China. Our telephone number at this address is +86 21 31657167. Our registered office in the Cayman Islands is located at the office of Osiris International Cayman Limited, Suite #4-210, Governors Square, 23 Lime Tree Bay Avenue, P.O. Box 32311, Grand Cayman KY1-1209, Cayman Islands. Our agent for service of process in the United States is Cogency Global Inc., located at 122 East 42nd Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10168.

The SEC maintains an internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC on www.sec.gov. You can also find information on our website ir.imdada.cn. The information contained on our website is not a part of this annual report.

We are a leading platform of local on-demand retail and delivery in China.

Our Business Model

We operate two major complementary business platforms: JDDJ, one of China’s largest local on-demand retail platforms, and Dada Now, a leading local on-demand delivery platform.

JDDJ

JDDJ is one of China’s largest local on-demand retail platforms, benefiting participants including consumers, retailers and brand owners. As of December 31, 2023, JDDJ covered around 2,300 cities and counties in China. The following diagram outlines the order and fulfillment process of JDDJ.

How JDDJ benefits consumers

Consumers can directly access the JDDJ platform via the JDDJ website and mobile app, Weixin public accounts and mini-programs or through entry points operated by third parties. Through our cooperation with JD, access to JDDJ is embedded into the JD mobile app, JD.com and JD’s Weixin mini-program.

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Values for consumers

Great variety of products and retailers at finger tips. JDDJ hosts a wide range of retailers, offering a variety of products with multiple retailers for each product. Categories of retailers include supermarkets, fresh produce marketplaces, pharmacies, flowers shops, bakeries and fashion stores. In particular, leading supermarket chains that we partner with, such as Walmart, Yonghui, CR Vanguard, are accessible on JDDJ.

Personalized access to retailers and informed choice. Consumer can filter and choose retailers based on a variety of factors, including location, popularity and quality rating. Utilizing our data analytics capacity, we provide consumers with personalized content and interface that match their purchasing habits and geographic proximity to retailers, in the form of different SKU layouts, item recommendations and tailored search results. Consumers can also stay informed about value-for-money deals on our platform or follow a certain retailer to receive promotion messages from the particular retailer. Before ordering, consumers can read ratings of the retailer and products from other consumers, and compare the prices for each product by searching the item across different retailers.

Convenient ordering and speedy fulfillment. JDDJ offers a quick and easy way for consumers to order products. The on-demand retail service ensures speedy fulfillment of orders only by a few clicks, allowing consumers to get instant gratification with the desired products in their hands. In particular, leveraging the synergy with our Dada Now platform, we can timely deliver the orders. Moreover, consumers can store payment and delivery details, as well as details of previous orders and favorites, for future ease of ordering.

Consumer interaction

Consumer management. We timely follow up with new consumers after they have placed their first orders. We offer incentives, such as coupons, to new consumers to encourage repeated purchases. In addition, we invite new consumers to join a Weixin-based live chatting community primarily maintained by us to enhance their engagement through community-based marketing and encourage repeated purchases. Utilizing consumer profiles based on consumer behavior analysis, we adopt different approaches in interacting with different types of consumers. For example, we adopt different promotional activities and marketing strategies for consumers with different purchasing power in different cities.

Promotional events. We carry out promotional events from time to time by rewarding consumers with discount coupons and vouchers. For instance, each Wednesday, we deliver a limited number of orders that are above a certain order value threshold on JDDJ without charging delivery fees.

Membership programs. We offer membership programs, through which members enjoy some special benefits, such as member-only discount coupons and promotional items. Further, consumers can also join membership programs of retailers and brand owners through our platform, and receive membership benefits provided by the retailers and brand owners.

How JDDJ benefits retailers

We empower retailers to conduct their on-demand retail business in a more efficient way. We help retailers improve sales per square foot and labor efficiency with on-demand delivery infrastructure and technology-based services and solutions. In 2023, JDDJ had more than 431,400 active stores that had orders completed during the year, representing an increase of 88.6% from about 228,800 active stores in 2022.

On-demand delivery infrastructure

Local on-demand delivery infrastructure is critical to the success of local retail business. Leveraging our Dada Now platform, we are able to fulfill orders placed on JDDJ in a speedy manner.

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Commercial support

JDDJ brings a significant amount of online traffic, so that retailers can access a broader range of potential consumers who are not within the reach of offline sales channels. Such consumers include those who are less willing to visit brick-and-mortar stores due to factors such as purchasing habits, convenience and time availability. Additionally, consumers that are attracted by JDDJ’s various benefits may purchase at a retailer more frequently through JDDJ compared with through offline channels. JDDJ hence provides an additional channel for attracting consumers and boosting sales. In addition, through our cooperation with brand owners, our platform facilitates retailer’s access to brand resources.

Technology-based services and solutions

We provide comprehensive retail solutions and CRM services to retailers.

Comprehensive retail solutions. We provide an omni-channel online retail operation system that allows a retailer to manage its online SKUs, inventories, and promotions, as well as process online orders across multiple channels. We provide other comprehensive solutions that facilitate retailers throughout the process of handling online orders, including warehouse management and order picking.

Our WMS tracks and manages the inventory of SKUs for online sales that are stored in the pick zone of a retail store or a warehouse. It maintains the isle and shelf number of each SKU and helps the store staff who picks items quickly locate them through our “Picking Assistant” app. When the inventory of a SKU is running low, WMS sends out instructions to store staff to replenish its inventory to a level calculated based on its sales record. Using WMS to accurately manage and replenish inventory, a retailer can effectively reduce the out-of-stock ratio in consumer orders.

Different retail stores have different needs based on their sizes, product offerings and layout of shelves. We provide three picking solutions for retailers with different needs, namely, the full-pick-zone solution, the pick-from-store solution, and the hybrid solution. For the full-pick-zone solution, all items for online sale are stored and picked entirely in a dedicated pick-zone inside a retail store, and the picking of an order can take as fast as three minutes. The pick-from-store solution requires no pick zone, and the items of an online order are picked from the shelves in the marketplace of the store. For the hybrid solution, some items of an online order are picked from the pick zone while others are picked from the marketplace of the store, possibly by different staff. We provide professional advice to retailers to help them choose the picking solution most suitable to their needs, and assist them with implementing the solution, such as building facilities, installation of relevant software and training of picking staff.

We have developed a “Picking Assistant” app to help staff at retailers view orders and pick items accordingly. When a consumer order is placed for a store, the app displays the picture and UPC (Universal Product Code) of each item in the order for the staff to locate the item quickly and accurately. The “Picking Assistant” app is also able to bundle multiple orders into a single picking task by re-grouping items in such orders by product categories. This app greatly improves picking efficiency and accuracy for retailers.

CRM services. We provide CRM services to help retailers on the JDDJ platform interact with their current and potential consumers. Through our “Membership Pass” program, we help a retailer establish an online membership program or link its existing offline membership program with online consumers to create an omni-channel membership program. Based on such program, we enable the retailer to digitize its customer base. Furthermore, we have built in CRM tools in our “Pan’gu Marketing” system, which allow retailers to send promotional push notifications and text messages. Through such CRM tools, we empower retailers to target and communicate with their members and potential consumers for effective marketing. As of March 31, 2024, our CRM tools embedded in “Pan’gu Marketing” system have been adopted by more than 79,700 stores.

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Operational insights

Based on our analysis of consumer feedback and behavior across the JDDJ platform, we share operational insights with retailers. We believe such insights are more comprehensive than those can be obtained by one single retailer, and are valuable in helping retailers improve their inventory and logistics planning, sales plans and merchandise offerings. For example, we can generate sales forecasts for each product item and provide product assortment and replenishment recommendations to help retailers increase sales and improve inventory turnover efficiency.

Retailers can also benefit from the insights offered by consumers via the ratings posted by them on JDDJ.

We gained valuable experience from our cooperation with leading supermarket chains, which in turn can be utilized to help improve the operation capabilities of other cooperative retailers.

How JDDJ benefits brand owners

With the fast growing on-demand retail business, JDDJ acts as an important and efficient promotional channel for brand owners, helping them reach more consumers. Many brand owners have successfully built brand awareness and run brand promotions on our platform.

We help brand owners run special promotions and targeted marketing campaigns utilizing our extensive insights on consumer behavior and consumer feedback. Through traditional offline sales channels, it is usually difficult for brand owners to obtain such insights given the fragmented distribution channels and difficulties in collecting and analyzing sales data on a real-time basis. We enable brand owners to better understand consumers, and to carry out promotions more efficiently towards prospective consumer groups.

More and more brand owners are launching their new products on our platform. Combined with promotions on JDDJ featuring the new product that help boost sales of the new product through retail channels, we help brand owners raise awareness of the new product among consumers on our platform in a cost-effective way. In addition, by utilizing the insights gained from our platform, brand owners can better develop new products catering to evolving consumption behavior.

Our platform enables brand owners to reach retailers directly. Through their better interaction with retailers, brand owners can expand their outreach to consumers in lower-tiered cities and enrich product offerings to those consumers. In particular, consumers in lower-tiered cities can access new products more easily and quickly, which in turn increases sales volume for brands.

Moreover, we also help brand owners optimize their sales channels and product offerings by utilizing insights gained on our platform. Leveraging insights on consumer behavior and consumer feedback, brand owners can have a better understanding of sales through different retail channels and therefore optimize allocation of brand resources to consumers’ preferred retail channels. With such consumer insights, brand owners can also optimize their product offerings and portfolios through retail channels.

Furthermore, we help brand owners cultivate their own membership programs. For instance, we cooperate with brand owners to acquire new members for them by offering consumers discount vouchers for certain branded items. We also provide interface for brand owners to access and manage their consumer profiles more easily.

Dada Now

Dada Now is a leading local on-demand delivery platform, providing both intra-city delivery and last-mile delivery services on an on-demand basis. As of December 31, 2023, our intra-city delivery service covered around 2,500 cities and counties in China, and our last-mile delivery service covered around 2,600 cities and counties in China. Both services covered all the tier 1 and tier 2 cities, and we continue to penetrate into lower-tiered cities. We define tier 1 cities in China as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen and tier 2 cities in China as Hangzhou, Nanjing, Jinan, Chongqing, Qingdao, Dalian, Ningbo, Xiamen, Tianjin, Chengdu, Wuhan, Harbin, Shenyang, Xi’an, Changchun, Changsha, Fuzhou, Zhengzhou, Shijiazhuang, Suzhou, Foshan, Dongguan, Wuxi, Taiyuan, Hefei, Kunming, Nanchang, Nanning and Wenzhou. In 2023, our riders collectively delivered 2,191 million orders. In 2021, 2022 and 2023, we delivered more than 9.5 million, 13.6 million and 15.7 million orders on the respective peak day of such period.

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Intra-city delivery service

Our intra-city delivery service enables merchants and individual senders to have their parcels delivered quickly on an on-demand basis. We typically complete intra-city delivery orders within a three-kilometer radius less than 30 minutes after order placement. Orders for delivery outside a radius of three kilometers may take longer to complete.

The following diagram illustrates the typical process of an intra-city delivery order.

We have developed a proprietary smart order recommendation and dispatching system that automatically matches orders on a real-time basis with riders on our crowdsourcing platform. In most cases, the system recommends a waiting order to a group of riders selected based on factors such as the riders’ real-time location relative to locations of the sender and recipient, the riders’ usual service coverage and service rating, and the nature of the other orders they are currently delivering. The riders then have the option to respond to the waiting order, and the system assigns the order to the rider who responds first. The first responder collects the parcel from the sender and delivers the parcel to the designated recipient. In certain scenarios where the orders are more time-sensitive or require instant responsiveness, we designate a number of riders to be stationed at a particular store of a merchant, and our system automatically assigns each order from this store to one of these stationed riders. If needed, our crowdsourced riders can also supplement the delivery capacity of the stationed riders. The flexibility of the foregoing two approaches, together with the strong technological foundation of our smart order recommendation and dispatching system, enables us to optimize the performance and efficiency of our delivery network.

Our system tracks the direction and location of each rider on a real-time basis, and calculates and recommends the optimal delivery route based on the respective locations of the rider, the sender and the recipient. The system also automatically batches the orders that can be efficiently delivered as a bundle, and recommends the optimal delivery sequence and routes.

Order sources

We provide intra-city delivery services to a broad range of senders, including chain merchants, small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) merchants and individual senders. Merchants either use Dada Now to fulfill their orders from JDDJ or place delivery orders directly with Dada Now. Individual senders place intra-city delivery orders directly with Dada Now.

Chain merchants. We provide on-demand delivery service to large chain merchants with national or regional coverage, in particular leading supermarket chains, such as Walmart, Yonghui and CR Vanguard, helping them fulfill orders placed on the JDDJ platform as well as via other channels. Leveraging our inter-connected platforms and technology capabilities, we are able to provide these supermarkets with value-added services and solutions covering picking and delivery processes, which greatly improves their fulfillment efficiency and in turn distinguishes us from other delivery service providers. Other chain merchants mainly include pharmacies, restaurants and fresh produce marketplaces that operate under a chain business model.

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We typically establish communications with chain merchants at the headquarters level to obtain a holistic view of their requirements and preferences, and provide services and support to each store in their chains. Our business development team is dedicated to establishing and maintaining long-term relationships with our chain merchants. This team works closely with chain merchants to better understand their overall strategies and needs. As we strengthen our relationships with chain merchants, we are able to provide services catering to their requirements and explore additional services tailored to their changing preferences. Through our cooperation with chain merchants, we also gain valuable industry and market insights, which helps us improve our service quality.

SME merchants. Our SME merchants, such as restaurants, flower shops and bakery stores, have limited geographical coverage. We identify SME merchants and maintain cooperative relationships with them at a local level, since familiarity with the local market is key to providing satisfactory services to SME merchants.

Individual senders. Individual senders use our services to satisfy their daily delivery needs that are time sensitive. We offer three types of services to individual senders, namely, “deliver for me,” “fetch for me” and “buy for me.” “Deliver for me” enables individual senders to have their items picked up at specified places and delivered to designated recipients by our riders. As to “fetch for me” service, riders pick up items at specified places designated by recipients and deliver to recipients. “Buy for me” enables individuals to instruct riders to shop their desired merchandise at specified or any local stores and deliver to them.

Pricing

We use two pricing models when charging merchants and individual senders for our intra-city delivery service. For certain chain merchants, a fixed rate is attached to each parcel, as adjusted pursuant to pre-agreed variances under our respective agreements with such chain merchants. In other cases, primarily for SME merchants and individual senders, a variable per-order rate is calculated based on an algorithm taking into account the city/region, distance to deliver, and parcel weight/volume, and a “surge price” is sometimes applied in case of short rider supply caused by bad weather conditions or other reasons.

On the rider side, the delivery fee paid to the rider for each order is dynamically calculated by our proprietary real-time automated pricing system. Using deep learning technologies, the automated pricing system sets the delivery fee of each order algorithmically based on distance, parcel weight/volume and other factors, as well as the real-time rider supply in the area and weather conditions. We believe this system ensures on-time acceptance and delivery of each order while keeping the delivery cost efficient.

Last-mile delivery service

Our last-mile delivery service enables merchants to deliver parcels from the merchant’s delivery station to a final destination on an on-demand basis. Fulfillment of our last-mile delivery services typically takes less than four hours. The following diagram illustrates the process for the completion of a typical on-demand last-mile delivery order.

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Our system matches riders with merchants’ delivery stations. Riders collect parcels from delivery stations and deliver them to designated recipients. For each rider, orders are assigned to him or her by the director of the matched delivery station through our system. As a rider delivers more orders for the matched delivery station, the station’s director understands better such rider’s delivery area and capacity. The director generally assigns orders that fall within the rider’s usual delivery coverage area to leverage his or her experience in navigating the routes and neighborhood to achieve optimal delivery efficiency.

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Order sources

We mainly provide last-mile delivery services to logistics service providers, such as JD Logistics, Inc. or JD Logistics. Typically, those logistics service providers have their own network of delivery stations and our riders pick up parcels from these delivery stations. Orders for our last-mile delivery service are usually placed in batches.

We act as a local delivery partner for JD Logistics. Orders from JD Logistics accounted for a substantial majority of our total last-mile delivery orders in 2023. We help JD Logistics deliver orders as a last-mile delivery force, especially in peak seasons, such as the anniversary sales promotional campaign of JD.com around June 18 each year and the Singles’ Day promotion period around November 11 each year.

We have also started to diversify our merchant types beyond logistics service providers and broaden our service offerings. Our reliable and efficient last-mile delivery coverage matches with the needs of local merchants that require time-sensitive on-demand order fulfillment. For example, we provide on-demand last-mile delivery service to merchants with no offline storefronts, such as online bakery stores, and pick up orders directly from their distribution outlets for seamless and speedy delivery to their customers. We also help deliver insurance documents, such as insurance policies and invoices, for reputable insurance companies on an on-demand basis.

Pricing

Pricing terms for our last-mile delivery service are specified under our framework agreements with merchants, mostly renewed on an annual basis. We generally charge a fixed fee for our last-mile delivery orders, which may be adjusted from time to time based on supplemental agreements with the merchants.

Riders

Our rider team consists of mostly part-time crowdsourced individuals, as well as some riders from outsourced delivery agencies. The riders are equipped with fit-for-purpose packaging kits, uniform, helmets and other equipment that bear our logo and brand name. We also set up supply stations for the riders to recharge their electric vehicle batteries and to rest.

We attract new riders primarily through strong word-of-mouth referrals. We also provide incentives to retain riders, such as weekly rewards distributed to certain qualified riders. Moreover, we provide incentives to riders delivering orders in unfavorable weather conditions.

Each rider is required to undergo a personal identification verification and screening process before becoming a rider on our platform. Further, we require the “rider comprehensive insurance,” which covers personal accident, third-party personal injury and property damage, to be purchased for each active rider every day before the rider responds to the first waiting order available to him or her. We define active rider as a rider who delivered at least one order on Dada Now during a specified period. The insurance premium is paid by the riders.

As riders directly interact with consumers and merchants, we believe training programs play an important role in enhancing customer experience and building our brand image. We provide both online and offline training programs to our riders. In particular, we have systematically designed training programs aiming at improving the service quality of our riders, and we mandate additional trainings for underperforming riders. The training programs generally cover the introduction of the delivery process, demonstrative use of the app specifically designed for our riders, communication with consumers and merchants and safety precautions.

We also have a digitalized rider management system to record, monitor and manage the riders, covering registration, training and delivery performance. We keep track of a list of rider-related indicators by region, city and business module both on a daily and real-time basis. Based on these indicators, we can better analyze our delivery capacity and arrange our delivery force appropriately. In addition, we closely follow newly registered riders and their training progress, which helps us to better allocate riders and formulate rider recruitment plans. Moreover, we have established a rider ranking system by classifying riders into different levels. The level of each rider is largely determined based on his or her service rating which is linked to the riders’ level of activity and customer feedbacks. This system allows us to evaluate rider performance and reward and retain good riders accordingly, hence ensuring riders’ service quality and enhancing customer experience.

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Others

We have been and will continue to explore new growth initiatives under our mission to bring people everything on demand. Historically we have tried front-end warehouses and unmanned retail shelves businesses, and we also started offering freight service to logistics companies and retailer shippers.

Our Controlling Shareholder and Strategic Partners

JD Group

JD Group, a leading technology driven e-commerce company transforming to become the leading supply chain-based technology and service provider, is our controlling shareholder, strategic partner and investor. In April 2016, we entered into a business cooperation agreement with JD Group covering cooperation in areas such as logistics, user traffic and supply chain, for a term of seven or ten years, depending on the cooperation area, with early termination rights of JD Group in the event of change of control of our Company, or the issuance of our equity interests to adverse persons, primarily being competitors of JD Group or ours, or the shut down or material alteration of substantially all of the operation of JDDJ platform, or our sale or other disposition of substantially all of the operation of JDDJ platform. Under this business cooperation agreement, JD Group made a non-compete commitment to us with a term of seven years. In February 2022, we entered into another business cooperation agreement with JD Group covering cooperation in areas such as user traffic and search results, for a term of five years. In April 2023, we entered into another business cooperation agreement with JD Group covering cooperation in traffic support for a term of three years. As part of our strategic partnership, JD Group offers us the access points embedded into the JD mobile app, JD.com and JD’s Weixin mini-program, which channels us to the consumer traffic available on its platforms. Meanwhile, we act as a local delivery partner for JD Logistics. Orders from JD Logistics accounted for a substantial majority of our total last-mile delivery orders in 2023. Apart from the last-mile delivery service, we are now cooperating with JD Retail to provide retailers with intra-city delivery services of a wide selection of goods, such as grocery, fresh produce and 3C products. We will continue to work closely with JD Group and seek to further expand our service offerings to JD Group.

Walmart Group

Walmart Group is also our strategic partner and investor. Walmart Group is a leading retailer globally with extensive experience in e-commerce, merchandising, procurement and vendor management, logistics and other related areas. In June 2016, we entered into a business cooperation agreement with Walmart Group, which was amended and restated in August 2018. The amended and restated business cooperation agreement has a term of six years, with early termination right of either party in the event of mutual agreement, or material breach of contract by the other party, or the bankruptcy, insolvency or similar proceeding of the other party. We help Walmart Group deliver orders placed on JDDJ or other sources in a speedy manner. We provide Walmart Group with an additional channel for attracting consumers and boosting sales. Moreover, we also offer technology-based services and solutions to Walmart Group, such as the picking solutions and CRM tools.

In 2021, 2022 and 2023, 13.9%, 20.3% and 24.5% of our net revenues were derived from services provided to JD Group, respectively. Walmart Group became a related party of ours in August 2018, and in 2021, 2022 and 2023, 20.2%, 21.6% and 20.6% of our net revenues were derived from services provided to Walmart Group, respectively.

Our Technology Capabilities and Empowerment

We consider technologies our core competence. We have invested strategically and steadily to build our technology capabilities in-house, with the goal of improving user experience and operational efficiency for both of our on-demand retail and on-demand delivery platforms, as well as empowering the retailers on our platform.

On-demand retail

For our on-demand retail business, we utilize the insights gained from consumer behavior and feedbacks on our platform to enhance their shopping experience. We are able to empower retailers to improve product assortment, marketing efficiency and their customer experience, and enable brand owners to launch new products and conduct targeted marketing more effectively. Key components of our technology for the retail business include omni-channel online retail solution, fulfillment solution, customization of shopping experience and assortment recommendation.

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Omni-channel online retail solution

Our omni-channel online retail solution serves as an operating system for a retailer’s online business. It allows a retailer to efficiently manage its online SKUs, inventories, and promotions, as well as process online orders across multiple channels, through a unified set of tools and interfaces.

Fulfillment solution

We provide retailers with an end-to-end online order fulfillment solution, including the WMS for managing in-store pick zone, the “Picking Assistant” app for improving picking efficiency and accuracy, and various picking and delivery strategies based on customized requirement of retailers.

This solution achieves highly efficient order fulfillment by optimizing all stages of the fulfillment process in an integrated manner.

Customization of shopping experience

We utilize insights on consumers’ purchasing and browsing behaviors on our platform to train a machine learning model to predict how likely a consumer will purchase a certain item. The content and experience of our JDDJ consumer app is highly personalized according to this model. For example, it displays items and product categories in different orders, provides different product recommendations, and shows different search results for different consumers, in order to improve consumer experience and purchase rate.

Assortment recommendation

Based on sales data across all retailers on our platform, we are able to provide product assortment and replenishment recommendations better than those based on each retailer’s own data. For example, we compile a list of “must-have” items for each store based on the purchasing history of consumers in this area. This optimizes product portfolios, improves the sales of retailers on our platform, and helps with product turnover.

On-demand delivery

In our on-demand delivery service, we collect a vast amount of data related to our riders and the delivery orders, and apply data mining and AI technologies to achieve higher operational efficiency, lower delivery cost, and enhance merchants’ and individual senders’ experience. Key components of our on-demand delivery system include a smart order recommendation and dispatching system, an automated order pricing system, and a digitalized rider management system.

Smart order recommendation and dispatching

Our system keeps track of the real-time locations of all riders and the orders they are currently delivering. When a new order is created, we compute a matching score between the order and each of the riders nearby, based on a simulation of the optimal route that rider would take if he or she chooses this order. For example, a rider who can deliver this order together with his or her existing orders via same or similar route is considered more efficient for the task, and therefore assigned a higher score. Such simulation happens at the rate of tens of thousands every second.

The order is then recommended to the riders with high matching scores, or in some cases directly assigned to the rider with the highest score. The system also automatically batches orders that can be efficiently delivered as a bundle, and suggests the best route that the rider should follow to deliver multiple orders. Through this system, we believe we are able to optimize the operational efficiency of the delivery network and lower the delivery cost.

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Automated order pricing

The crowdsourced riders on our platform have the option to choose which orders to deliver based on their delivery fee and other factors. Using deep learning technologies, we train a sophisticated AI model from a vast amount of historical data to predict in real-time the probability that an order is chosen by riders nearby at a certain price point, considering factors such as parcel distance and weight, and the current rider supply in the area. Based on the predicted probability, our algorithm sets the delivery fee of the order high enough to guarantee it will be chosen by riders quickly, but not excessively high to maximize operating profit.

Digitalized rider management

We build a digitalized system to record, monitor, and manage the performance of our riders on our platform from their registration and on-boarding to their daily working. For example, we assign a rating to each rider based on his or her service quality such as the ratio of on-time delivery and sender feedbacks, and reward riders based on such ratings, as a way to retain high-quality riders and improve senders’ and recipients’ experience. We provide tools to set up and deploy customized rider campaigns to, for example, increase rider supply around certain retail stores for a promotional event. This system allows us to effectively manage millions of riders with a small operational team, and empowers the outsourced delivery agencies on our platform to manage their riders as well.

Our Technology Infrastructure and Team

We build a scalable technology infrastructure relying primarily on proprietary software and systems to support our growing business and customer base. We host our services on servers and network infrastructure rented from third-party cloud computing vendors such as UCloud and JD Cloud, which allows us to scale up our services to meet peak demands especially during promotional seasons in a cost-effective way.

We focus on maintaining and enhancing the reliability and scalability of our systems as it is critical to the 24-7 operation of our business. We design our software architecture in a way that it can be easily scaled up or down according to real-time demands, and deployed quickly to new data centers when an existing data center fails. We have a comprehensive monitoring and alerting system in place to help us locate weaknesses of our systems promptly, and an on-call team to act on any emergencies. We set up a technical committee to regularly evaluate the health of our systems and conduct disaster recovery drills to make sure we can prevent and deal with emergencies effectively.

We have a dedicated in-house research and development team. As of December 31, 2023, this team had 615 members consisting of engineers, product managers, designers, and data analysts. They are engaged in building our technology platform and developing new online and mobile solutions and tools.

Intellectual Property

We regard our trademarks, copyrights, patents, domain names, technological know-how, proprietary technologies, and similar intellectual properties as critical to our success. As of December 31, 2023, we mainly owned and used 126 computer software copyrights, 12 other copyrights and 12 patents in China for various aspects of our operations and mainly maintained over 1,673 trademark registrations in China. As of December 31, 2023, we had mainly registered or acquired 49 domain names, including imdada.cn and jddj.com, among others.

Data Privacy and Security

We have collected a vast amount of data that are related to our on-demand retail and on-demand delivery business, all with consent from owners of such information. We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of such data. We have established and implemented a strict platform-wide policy on data collection, processing and usage.

To ensure the confidentiality and integrity of our data, we maintain a comprehensive and rigorous data security policy. We anonymize and encrypt confidential personal information and take other technological measures to ensure the secure processing, transmission and usage of data. We have also established stringent internal protocols under which we grant classified access to confidential personal data only to limited employees with strictly defined and layered access authority.

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We back-up our data on a daily basis in multiple secured data storage systems to minimize the risk of data loss. We also conduct frequent reviews of our back-up systems to ensure that they function properly and are well maintained. We have also established an information security team to protect our systems from unauthorized access and malicious attacks, and safeguard the integrity and security of our user data.

See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Industry—Our business is subject to complex and evolving laws and regulations regarding data privacy and cybersecurity. Failure to protect confidential information of our customers and network against security breaches could damage our reputation and brand and substantially harm our business and results of operations.”

Customer and Rider Care

We believe our superior customer service enhances our customer loyalty and brand image. Our customer service personnel interact with all participants on our platforms, including consumers, merchants and riders, to facilitate and smoothen our delivery and retail service process.

We have set up a user experience management department and a customer service management department. The user experience management department is responsible for continually (i) tracking and monitoring user experience, (ii) optimizing service processes, customer service systems and interactive tools, and (iii) establishing efficient user satisfaction and feedback monitoring mechanisms. The customer service management department is in charge of providing timely answers and solutions to customers’ questions and feedbacks via telephone, Weixin or email, and enhancing customer service quality through systematic training and quality management.

As part of customer service management, we operate a call center located in Shanghai and online live-chat system providing real-time assistance seven days a week. The system is available 24 hours for rider-related inquiries, from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. for customer complaints, and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for other inquiries. In addition, our “Help Center” module with lists of frequently asked questions and answers helps address inquiries outside of real-time assistance hours.

Branding and Marketing

We are committed to building well-trusted brands representing efficiency, timeliness and convenience. We employ a variety of methods to promote our brands and attract potential consumers, merchants and other platform participants.

The uniforms, packaging kits and accessories of our riders bearing our logo creates a significant visual presence. Our riders that wear uniforms showing JDDJ or Dada Now logos function as our brand ambassadors. They also carry our branded bags or boxes that help raise brand awareness.

In addition to the general promotion of our brands, we attract new consumers by offering vouchers both to them and to existing consumers who have recommended our platforms to them. In addition, we conduct media advertising to attract new consumers as well.

We utilize our existing retailer network for our marketing efforts, which we believe is a highly cost-efficient marketing strategy. For example, we provide retailers with our posters, stickers, booklets, coupons, or other in-store promotion materials to advertise our platform, and offer incentives to working staff in the retail stores for successful acquisition of new users to our platforms.

Competition

Although we are not aware of any peer companies in the industry that operate under a business model that directly resembles ours, our two platforms face competition in their respective markets. There are multiple existing market players that operate on-demand retail and/or on-demand delivery business, such as Ele.me, Meituan, and SF Intracity, and there may be new entrants emerging, in each of the markets we operate in, and these market players compete to attract, engage and retain consumers and merchants.

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Our on-demand retail platform has a reputation of delivering top-notch services, and we have developed a network of strategic partnerships with almost all the leading supermarket chains in China. Our strong technological infrastructure and our logistics capacity powers and continually improves the delivery efficiency of our on-demand delivery platform. Entry barriers in the local on-demand retail market mainly include brand recognition and reputation, product quality and selections, top retailer resources, fulfillment infrastructure and technology capabilities. Entry barriers in the local on-demand delivery market mainly include brand recognition and reputation, delivery capacity, efficiency and performance and technology capabilities. Given our competitive advantages, we believe that we are positioned favorably against our competitors.

As we introduce new services similar to ones in the current market, or as other companies introduce new products or services, we may become subject to additional competition. Moreover, new competitive business models may appear, for example based on new forms of social media or social commerce. Further, certain large retailers may build or further develop their own on-demand delivery networks. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Industry—We face intense competition and could lose market share, which could adversely affect our results of operations.”

Insurance

We maintain various insurance policies to safeguard against risks and unexpected events. We require “rider comprehensive insurance,” covering personal accident, third-party personal injury and property damage, to be purchased for each active rider every day before the rider responds to the first waiting order available to him or her. The insurance premium is paid by the riders.

We provide social security insurance including pension insurance, maternity insurance, unemployment insurance, work-related injury insurance and medical insurance to our employees. We also provide supplemental commercial medical insurance for our employees.

Regulation

Regulations Relating to Foreign Investment

Investment activities in the Chinese mainland by foreign investors and foreign-owned enterprises were principally governed by the Special Administrative Measures for Access of Foreign Investments (2021 Edition) promulgated on December 27, 2021 and effective on January 1, 2022 and the Catalog of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment (2022 Edition) promulgated on October 26, 2022 and effective on January 1, 2023. According to the current regulations, any industry not listed in the 2021 edition of the negative list is a permitted industry and is generally open to foreign investment unless specifically prohibited or restricted by PRC laws and regulations. According to the 2021 edition of the negative list, the foreign investment in value-added telecommunications services provider shall not exceed 50% (excluding e-commerce, domestic multi-party telecommunication, storage and forwarding business, and call center).

In order to coincide the implementation of the PRC Foreign Investment Law and the Implementing Regulations of the PRC Foreign Investment Law, the Ministry of Commerce and the SAMR promulgated the Measures for Reporting of Information on Foreign Investment on December 30, 2019 and effective on January 1, 2020, which stipulates that foreign investors or foreign-invested enterprises shall submit investment information by submitting initial reports, change reports, cancellation reports, annual reports etc., through enterprise registration system and national enterprise credit information publicity system. Announcement of the Ministry of Commerce 2019 No. 62—Announcement on Matters Concerning Foreign Investment Information Reporting promulgated by the Ministry of Commerce on December 31, 2019 and the Circular of the State Administration for Market Regulation on Effective Work on Registration of Foreign-invested Enterprises for the Implementation of the PRC Foreign Investment Law promulgated by the SAMR on December 28, 2019 further refine the related rules.

Foreign investment law

Limited liability companies and joint stock companies established and operated in the Chinese mainland are subject to the PRC Company Law, which was promulgated by the Standing Committee of National People’s Congress and was last amended on December 29, 2023. The latest amended PRC Company Law will come into effect on July 1, 2024. The main amendments in the PRC Company Law include improving the establishment and exit procedures for companies, optimizing organizational structure of companies, detailing the exercise of shareholder rights, enhancing the capital systems and strengthening the responsibilities of controlling shareholders and management personnel, among other things. Foreign-invested companies must comply with the PRC Company Law, unless otherwise stipulated by foreign investment laws.

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On March 15, 2019, the National People’s Congress promulgated the PRC Foreign Investment Law, which became effective on January 1, 2020 and replaced the Sino-foreign Equity Joint Venture Enterprise Law, the Sino-foreign Cooperative Joint Venture Enterprise Law and the Wholly Foreign-invested Enterprise Law, together with their implementation rules and ancillary regulations. The organization form, organization and activities of foreign-invested enterprises shall be governed, among others, by the PRC Company Law and the PRC Partnership Enterprise Law. Foreign-invested enterprises established before the implementation of the PRC Foreign Investment Law may retain the original business organization and so on within five years after the implementation of this law. The PRC Foreign Investment Law mainly stipulates four forms of foreign investments: (i) a foreign investor, individually or collectively with other investors, establishes a foreign-invested enterprise within the Chinese mainland; (ii) a foreign investor acquires stock shares, equity shares, interests in assets, or other like rights and interests of an enterprise within the Chinese mainland; (iii) a foreign investor, individually or collectively with other investors, invests in a new project within the Chinese mainland; and (iv) foreign investors invest in China through any other methods under laws, administrative regulations, or provisions prescribed by the PRC State Council. It does not mention the concept and regulatory regime of VIE structures and uncertainties still exist in relation to its interpretation and implementation.

On December 26, 2019, the State Council promulgated the Implementing Regulations of the PRC Foreign Investment Law, which became effective on January 1, 2020. These implementing regulations strictly implement the legislative principles and purpose of the PRC Foreign Investment Law and emphasize promoting and protecting the foreign investment and refines the specific measures. On the same day, the Supreme People’s Court issued an Interpretation on the Application of the PRC Foreign Investment law, which also came into effect on January 1, 2020. This interpretation shall apply to any contractual dispute arising from the acquisition of the rights and interests by a foreign investor by way of gift, division of property, merger of enterprises, division of enterprises, etc.

Regulations Relating to Value-added Telecommunications Services

Foreign investment in value-added telecommunications

Foreign direct investment in telecommunications companies in the Chinese mainland is regulated by the Administrative Provisions on Foreign-Invested Telecommunications Enterprises, which was issued by the State Council on December 11, 2001 and most recently amended on March 29, 2022, effective from May 1, 2022. These provisions stipulate that a foreign-invested telecommunications enterprise in the Chinese mainland must be established as a sino-foreign equity joint venture for operations in the Chinese mainland. Under these provisions and agreements related to World Trade Organization, the foreign party investing in a foreign-invested telecommunications enterprise engaging in value-added telecommunications services may hold up to 50% of the ultimate equity interests of this foreign-invested telecommunications enterprise. The foreign-invested telecommunications enterprise must obtain approvals from the MIIT and the Ministry of Commerce or their authorized local counterparts, which retain considerable discretion in granting approvals. Furthermore, the foreign party investing in e-commerce business, as a type of value-added telecommunications services, has been allowed to hold up to 100% of the equity interests of the foreign-invested telecommunications enterprise based on the Circular of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Removing the Restrictions on Shareholding Held by Foreign Investors in Online Data Processing and Transaction Processing (Operating E-commerce) Business issued on June 19, 2015 and the current effective Catalogue of Telecommunications Services.

On July 13, 2006, the PRC Ministry of Information Industry (which is the predecessor of the MIIT) promulgated the Circular on Strengthening the Administration of Foreign Investment in and Operation of Value-added Telecommunications Business, which reiterates certain requirements of the Regulations for the Administration of Foreign-Invested Telecommunications Enterprises and strengthens the administration. Under this notice, if a foreign investor intends to invest in value-added telecommunications business in the Chinese mainland, the foreign investor must establish a foreign-invested telecommunications enterprise and apply for the License for Value-added Telecommunications Services. In addition, a domestic company that holds a license for the provision of value-added telecommunications services is prohibited from leasing, transferring or selling the license to foreign investors in any form, and from providing any assistance, including providing resources, sites or facilities, to foreign investors to conduct value-added telecommunications businesses illegally in the Chinese mainland. Trademarks and domain names that are used in the provision of value-added telecommunications services must be owned by the license holder or its shareholders. The notice also requires that each value-added telecommunications services license holder have appropriate facilities for its approved business operations and maintain such facilities in the business regions covered by its license. The value-added telecommunications services license holder shall perfect the measures for safeguarding the network and information, establish the administrative policies on information safety, set up the procedures for handling network emergencies and information safety and implement the liabilities system for information safety.

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Telecommunications regulations

The PRC Telecommunications Regulations promulgated on September 25, 2000 and most recently amended on February 6, 2016, are the primary PRC regulations governing telecommunications services, which set out the general framework for the provision of telecommunications services by PRC companies. These regulations require that telecommunications service providers shall obtain licenses prior to commencing operations. The regulations draw a distinction between basic telecommunications services and value-added telecommunications services. The Catalogue of Telecommunications Services promulgated by the PRC Ministry of Information Industry on February 21, 2003, issued as an attachment to these Regulations and most recently amended by the MIIT on June 6, 2019, identifies internet information services and online data processing and transaction processing as value-added telecommunications services.

On July 3, 2017, the MIIT issued the revised Administrative Measures for the Licensing of Telecommunications Business, effective on September 1, 2017, to supplement the PRC Telecommunications Regulations. The measures require that an operator of value-added telecommunications services obtain a License for Value-added Telecommunications Services from the MIIT or its provincial level counterparts. The term of a License for Value-added Telecommunications Services is five years and license holder is subject to annual inspection.

Internet information services

On September 25, 2000, the State Council promulgated the Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services, as amended on January 8, 2011. Under these measures, the internet information service is categorized into commercial internet information services and non-commercial internet services. The operators of non-commercial internet information services must file with the governmental authorities and operators of commercial internet information services in the Chinese mainland must obtain an ICP License from the governmental authorities. The provision of particular information services, such as news, publishing, education, healthcare, medicine and medical device must also comply with the laws and regulations and obtain the approval from competent governmental authorities.

Internet information service providers are required to monitor their websites. They may not post or disseminate any content that falls within prohibited categories provided by laws or administrative regulations and must stop providing any such content on their websites. The PRC government may order ICP License holders that violate the content restrictions to correct those violations and revoke their ICP Licenses under serious conditions.

The MIIT released the Circular on Regulating the Use of Domain Names in Internet Information Services on November 27, 2017, effective on January 1, 2018, which provides that the domain names used by the internet information service provider in providing internet information services shall be registered and owned by such internet information service provider, and if the internet information service provider is a legal entity, the domain name registrant shall be the legal entity (or any of its shareholders), or its principal or senior manager.

Mobile internet applications information services

On June 28, 2016, the CAC promulgated the Administrative Provisions on Mobile Internet Applications Information Services, which was amended on June 14, 2022 and became effective on August 1, 2022. Under these provisions, mobile application providers are prohibited from engaging in any activity that is prohibited by laws and regulations and may endanger national security, disturb the social order, or infringe the legal rights of third parties through mobile applications. The provisions also require application providers to obtain the qualifications as required by laws and regulations for providing the internet information services through such applications and require application distribution platforms to register with local branches of the CAC within 30 days after its online operation.

Furthermore, on December 16, 2016, the MIIT promulgated the Interim Measures on the Administration of Pre-Installation and Distribution of Applications for Mobile Smart Terminals, which took effect on July 1, 2017. The interim measures require, among others, that internet information service providers should ensure that a mobile application, as well as its ancillary resource files, configuration files and user data can be uninstalled by a user on a convenient basis, unless it is a basic function software, which refers to a software that supports the normal functioning of hardware and operating system of a mobile smart device.

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Regulations Relating to Online Operation of Drugs and Medical Devices

Internet drug information service

The Administrative Measures for Internet Drug Information Service was promulgated by the State Food and Drug Administration, or the SFDA (which is the predecessor of the China Food and Drug Administration, or the CFDA) on July 8, 2004 and amended by the CFDA (which is the predecessor of the National Medical Products Administration) on November 17, 2017, pursuant to which the internet drug information service means service activities of providing online users with drug (including medical device) information via internet and is divided into commercial internet drug information services and non-commercial internet drug information services. The website operator that provides drugs (including medical devices) information services must obtain an Internet Drug Information Service Qualification Certificate from the competent counterpart of the CFDA. The valid term for an Internet Drug Information Service Qualification Certificate is five years and may be renewed at least six months prior to its expiration date upon a re-examination by the governmental authorities.

Furthermore, as requested by the administrative measures, the information relating to drugs shall be accurate and scientific in nature, and its provision shall comply with the laws and regulations. No product information of narcotic drugs, psychotropic drugs, medicinal toxic drugs, radiopharmaceutical, detoxification drugs and pharmaceutics made by medical institutes shall be published on the website. In addition, advertisements relating to drugs (including medical devices) shall be approved by the CFDA or its competent counterparts.

Internet drug transaction services

The previous provisions on internet drug transaction services require enterprises engaging in providing drug transaction services over the internet must obtain approval from the CFDA. However, according to the Decision of the State Council on Canceling the Third Batch of Administrative Licensing Items Designated by the Central Government for Implementation by Local Government released on January 12, 2017, except for third-party platforms, all examination and approval of internet drug transaction service enterprises implemented by counterparts of the CFDA at the provincial level are canceled. Furthermore, according to the Decision of the State Council on Canceling a Batch of Administrative Licensing Items released on September 22, 2017, the enterprises engaging in internet drug transaction service as a third-party platform shall no longer be subject to the examination and approval of the CFDA before carrying out such business. On November 1, 2017, the General Office of the CFDA promulgated a Notice on Strengthening the Regulation of Transactions of Drugs and Medical Devices via the Internet, which specifies that the approval to conduct internet drug transaction service as the third-party platform is canceled, but enterprises carrying out internet drug (including medical) transaction services shall establish a comprehensive supervision system in general. The notice also requires local counterparts of the CFDA to implement day-to-day supervision and examination with respect to entry control, products inspection, transaction data storage and legal liabilities, among other things.

Online sales of drugs and medical device

The PRC Drug Administration Law promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and most recently amended on August 26, 2019, regulates all entities or individuals engaging in research, manufacture, operation, use, supervision and management of drugs within the Chinese mainland. According to the PRC Drug Administration Law, none of the drugs subject to the State’s special control may be distributed online, such as vaccines, blood products, narcotic drugs, psychotropic drugs, toxic drugs for medical use, radioactive drugs and pharmaceutical precursor chemicals. Meanwhile, according to the PRC Drug Administration Law, third-party platform operator shall make record-filing with the competent medical products administration at provincial level. In particular, third-party platform operator shall, in accordance with the law, verify the qualifications of drug marketing license holders and drug distributors that apply for business operation on the platform to ensure the compliance thereof with the statutory requirements and manage drug distribution activities carried out on the platform.

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On December 20, 2017, the CFDA promulgated the Measures for the Administration and Supervision of Online Sales of Medical Devices, which became effective on March 1, 2018. According to the measures, enterprises engaged in online sales of medical devices must be medical device manufacturer and operation enterprises that have obtained a medical devices production license or operation license or have filed for record, unless such licenses or record-filing is not required by laws and regulations, and the third-party platform providing online medical devices transaction services shall obtain an Internet Drug Information Service Qualification Certificate. Enterprises engaged in online sales of medical devices and operators of third-party platforms providing online trading service for medical devices shall take technical measures to ensure that the data and materials of online sales of medical devices are authentic, complete and traceable. For example, the records of sales information of medical devices shall be kept for two years after the lifetime of the medical devices, and for no less than five years in case of no lifetime limit, or be kept permanently in case of implanted medical devices.

Regulations Relating to Online Trading and E-commerce

On March 15, 2021, the SAMR promulgated the Supervision and Administrative Measures for Online Trading, which became effective on May 1, 2021. Furthermore, the Ministry of Commerce promulgated the Provisions on the Procedures for Formulating Transaction Rules of Third-Party Online Retail Platforms (Trial) on December 24, 2014, which became effective on April 1, 2015, to guide and regulate the formulation, revision and enforcement of transaction rules by online retail third-party platforms operators. These measures impose more stringent requirements and obligations on third-party platform operators. For example, third-party platform operators are obligated to make their transaction rules publicly available and file them with the Ministry of Commerce or their respective provincial counterparts, examine and register the legal status of each third-party merchant selling products or services on their platforms and display on a prominent location of the merchant’s webpage the information stated in the merchant’s business license or a link to its business license. Where third-party platform operators also conduct proprietary operation of products or services on the platform, these third-party platform operators must make a clear distinction between their online direct sales and sales of products by third-party merchants on their third-party platforms to avoid misleading the consumers.

On August 31, 2018, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress promulgated the PRC E-commerce Law, which became effective on January 1, 2019. The promulgation of the PRC E-commerce Law established the basic legal framework for the development of China’s e-commerce business and clarified the obligations of the operators of e-commerce platforms and the possible legal consequences if operators of e-commerce platforms are found to be in violation of legal obligations. For example, pursuant to the PRC E-commerce Law, an operator of an e-commerce platform shall give appropriate reminders to and facilitate the business operators on its platform who have not completed the formalities for the registration of market entities to complete such formalities. Also, an operator of an e-commerce platform is legally obligated to verify and register the information of the business operators on its platform, prepare emergency plans in response to possible cyber security incidents, keep the transaction information for no less than three years from the date on which the transaction has been completed, establish rules on the protection of intellectual property rights and conform to the principle of openness, fairness and justice. Violation of the provisions of the PRC E-commerce Law may result in being ordered to make corrections within a prescribed period of time, confiscation of illegally obtained gains, fines, suspension of business, inclusion of such violations in the credit records and possible civil liabilities.

Regulations Relating to Food Business

The PRC Food Safety Law, which took effective from June 1, 2009 and most recently amended by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on April 29, 2021, and the Implementation Regulations of the PRC Food Safety Law, which took effect from July 20, 2009 and were most recently amended by the State Council on March 26, 2019, regulate food safety and set up a system of the supervision and administration of food safety and stipulate food safety standards. The State Council implements a licensing system for food production and transaction. To engage in food production, sale or catering services, the business operator shall obtain a license in accordance with the laws. Furthermore, the State Council implements strict supervision and administration for special categories of foods such as healthcare foods, formula foods for special medical purposes. Pursuant to these laws and regulations, third-party platform providers of online transactions of food shall conduct real name registration for participating food business operators, and specify their food safety management responsibilities, and where a permit is required, the permit shall be examined. Upon discovery of any violation by participating food business operators, third-party platform providers for online food transactions shall promptly suspend the business of the offender and forthwith report to the food safety supervision and administration department. Upon discovery of a serious illegal act, the third-party platform provider shall forthwith stop providing online trading platform service.

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The Administrative Measures for Food Operation Licensing, promulgated by the CFDA on August 31, 2015 and amended on November 17, 2017, regulate the food business licensing activities, strengthen the supervision and management of food business and ensure food safety. Food business operators shall obtain one Food Business License for one business venue where they engage in food business activities. The term of a food business license is five years.

In addition, on July 13, 2016, the SFDA promulgated the Measures of Investigation of Illegal Conducts Concerning the Safety of Food Sold Online, which was amended by the SAMR on April 2, 2021, and pursuant to which a third-party platform operator for online food trading in the Chinese mainland shall file a record with the market regulation administration at the provincial level and obtain a filing number.

Regulations Relating to Product Quality and Consumers Protection

According to the PRC Product Quality Law, which took effect on September 1, 1993 and was most recently amended by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on December 29, 2018, provides that products for sale must satisfy the safety standards and sellers shall adopt measures to maintain the quality of products for sale. Sellers may not mix impurities or imitations into products, or pass counterfeit goods off as genuine ones, or defective products as good ones or substandard products as standard ones. For sellers, any violation of state or industrial standards for health and safety or other requirements may result in civil liabilities and administrative penalties, such as compensation for damages, fines, confiscation of products illegally manufactured or sold and the proceeds from the sales of such products illegally manufactured or sold and even revoking business license; in addition, severe violations may subject the responsible individual or enterprise to criminal liabilities.

According to the PRC Consumers Rights and Interests Protection Law, which became effective on January 1, 1994 and was most recently amended by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on October 25, 2013, business operators should guarantee that the products and services they provide satisfy the requirements for personal or property safety, and provide consumers with authentic information about the quality, function, usage and term of validity of the products or services. The consumers whose interests have been damaged due to the products or services that they purchase or receive on the internet trading platforms may claim damages to sellers or service providers. Where the operators of the online trading platforms are unable to provide the real names, addresses and valid contact details of the sellers or service providers, the consumers may also claim damages to the operators of the online trading platforms. Operators of online trading platforms that clearly knew or should have known that sellers or service providers use their platforms to infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of consumers but fail to take necessary measures must bear joint and several liabilities with the sellers or service providers. Moreover, if business operators deceive consumers or knowingly sell substandard or defective products, they should not only compensate consumers for their losses, but also pay additional damages equal to three times the price of the goods or services.

On January 6, 2017, the SAIC issued the Interim Measures for Seven-day Unconditional Return of Online Purchased Goods, which became effective on March 15, 2017 and was amended on October 23, 2020, further clarifying the scope of consumers’ rights to make returns without a reason, including exceptions, return procedures and online trading platform operators’ responsibility to formulate seven-day unconditional return rules and related consumer protection systems, and supervise the merchants for compliance with these rules.

Regulations Relating to Pricing

In the Chinese mainland, the prices of a small number of products and services are guided or fixed by the government. According to the PRC Pricing Law promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on December 29, 1997 and effective on May 1, 1998, business operators must, as required by the government departments in charge of pricing, mark the prices explicitly and indicate the name, origin of production, specifications and other related particulars clearly. Business operators may not sell products at a premium or charge any fees that are not explicitly indicated. Business operators must not commit the specified unlawful pricing activities, such as colluding with others to manipulate the market price, using false or misleading prices to deceive consumers to transact, or conducting price discrimination against other business operators. Failure to comply with the PRC Pricing Law may subject business operators to administrative sanctions such as warning, ceasing unlawful activities, compensation, confiscating illegal gains and fines. The business operators may be ordered to suspend business for rectification or have their business licenses revoked under severe circumstances.

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Regulations Relating to Leasing

Pursuant to the PRC Law on Administration of Urban Real Estate promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on July 5, 1994 and recently amended on August 26, 2019 and effective on January 1, 2020, the lessor and lessee are required to enter into a written lease contract when leasing premises, containing such provisions as the leasing term, use of the premises, rental and repair liabilities, and other rights and obligations of both parties. Both lessor and lessee are also required to register the lease with the real estate administration department. If the lessor and lessee fail to go through the registration procedures, both lessor and lessee may be subject to fines.

According to the PRC Civil Code, the lessee may sublease the leased premises to a third party, subject to the consent of the lessor. Where the lessee subleases the premises, the lease contract between the lessee and the lessor remains valid. The lessor is entitled to terminate the lease contract if the lessee subleases the premises without the consent of the lessor. In addition, if the lessor transfers the premises, the lease contract between the lessee and the lessor will still remain valid.

Meanwhile, pursuant to the PRC Civil Code, if a mortgagor leases the mortgaged property before the mortgage contract is executed, the previously established leasehold interest will not be affected by the subsequent mortgage; and where a mortgagor leases the mortgaged property after the creation and registration of the mortgage interest, the leasehold interest will be subordinated to the registered mortgage.

Regulations Relating to Road Transportation

Pursuant to the Regulations on Road Transportation promulgated by the State Council on April 30, 2004 and most recently amended on July 20, 2023, and the Provisions on Administration of Road Freight Transportation and Stations (Sites) issued by the Ministry of Transportation on June 16, 2005 and most recently amended on November 10, 2023, the business operations of road freight transportation refer to commercial road freight transportation activities that provide public services. The road freight transportation includes general road freight transportation, special road freight transportation, road transportation of large articles, and road transportation of dangerous cargos. Under the Provisions on Administration of Road Freight Transportation and Stations (Sites), anyone engaging in the business of operating road freight transportation must obtain a Road Transportation Operation License from the local county-level road transportation administrative bureau, and each vehicle used for road freight transportation must have a road transportation certificate from the same authority. The incorporation of a subsidiary of a road freight transportation operator that intends to engage in road transportation business is subject to the same approval procedure. If a road freight transportation operator intends to establish a branch, it should file with the local road transportation administrative bureau where the branch is to be established.

Regulations Relating to Advertising

In 1994, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress promulgated the PRC Advertising Law, which was recently amended on April 29, 2021 and became effective on the same date. The PRC Advertising Law regulates commercial advertising activities in the Chinese mainland and sets out the obligations of advertisers, advertising operators, advertising publishers and advertisement endorsers, and prohibits any advertisement from containing any obscenity, pornography, gambling, superstition, terrorism or violence-related content. Any advertiser in violation of such requirements on advertisement content will be ordered to cease publishing such advertisements and imposed a fine, the business license of such advertiser may be revoked, and the authorities may revoke the approval document for advertisement examination and refuse to accept applications submitted by such advertiser for one year. In addition, any advertising operator or advertising publisher in violation of such requirements will be imposed a fine, and the advertisement fee received will be confiscated; in severe circumstances, the business license of such advertising operator or advertising publisher may be revoked.

The Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising regulating the internet-based advertising activities were adopted by the SAMR on February 25, 2023 and became effective on May 1, 2023. According to these measures, internet advertisers are responsible for the authenticity of the advertisements content. Publishing and circulating advertisements through the internet shall not affect the normal use of the internet by users. It is not allowed to induce users to click on the content of advertisements by any fraudulent means, or to attach advertisements or advertising links in the emails without permission.

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The Interim Measures for the Examination and Administration of Advertisements for Medicines, Medical Devices, Health Food and Formula Food for Special Medical Purposes were promulgated by the SAMR on December 24, 2019 and became effective on March 1, 2020. According to these interim measures, for medical devices advertisement to be released and published, a manufacturer of medical devices shall obtain an approval from the SAMR or the National Medical Products Administration at provincial level.

Regulations Relating to Internet Information Security and Privacy Protection

Regulations Relating to Information Security

The National People’s Congress has enacted legislation that prohibits use of the internet that breaches the public security, disseminates socially destabilizing content or leaks state secrets. Breach of public security includes breach of national security and infringement on legal rights and interests of the state, society or citizens. Socially destabilizing content includes any content that incites defiance or violations of PRC laws or regulations or subversion of the PRC government or its political system, spreads socially disruptive rumors or involves cult activities, superstition, obscenities, pornography, gambling or violence. State secrets are defined broadly to include information concerning PRC national defense, state affairs and other matters as determined by the PRC authorities.

Pursuant to applicable regulations, ICP operators must complete mandatory security filing procedures and regularly update information security and monitoring systems for their websites with local public security authorities, and must also report any public dissemination of prohibited content.

On December 13, 2005, the Ministry of Public Security issued the Regulations on Technological Measures for Internet Security Protection, which took effect on March 1, 2006. The measures require internet service providers to take proper measures including anti-virus, data back-up and other related measures, and to keep records of certain information about their users (including user registration information, log-in and log-out time, IP address, content and time of posts by users) for at least 60 days, discover and detect illegal information, stop transmission of such information, and keep relevant records. Internet services providers are prohibited from unauthorized disclosure of users’ information to any third parties unless such disclosure is required by the laws and regulations. They are further required to establish management systems and take technological measures to safeguard the freedom and secrecy of the users’ correspondences.

On December 27, 2015, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress promulgated the PRC Anti-terrorism Law, which took effect on January 1, 2016 and was amended on April 27, 2018. According to the PRC Anti-terrorism Law, telecommunication service operators or internet service providers shall (i) carry out pertinent anti-terrorism publicity and education to society; (ii) provide technical interfaces, decryption and other technical support and assistance for the competent departments to prevent and investigate terrorist activities; (iii) implement network security and information monitoring systems as well as safety and technical prevention measures to avoid the dissemination of terrorism information, delete the terrorism information, immediately halt its dissemination, keep relevant records and report to the competent departments once the terrorism information is discovered; and (iv) examine customer identities before providing services. Any violation of the PRC Anti-terrorism Law may result in severe penalties, including substantial fines.

On November 7, 2016, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress promulgated the PRC Cybersecurity Law, which took effect on June 1, 2017. In accordance with the PRC Cybersecurity Law, network operators must comply with applicable laws and regulations and fulfill their obligations to safeguard network security in conducting business and providing services. Network service providers must take technical and other necessary measures as required by laws, regulations and mandatory requirements to safeguard the operation of networks, respond to network security effectively, prevent illegal and criminal activities, and maintain the integrity, confidentiality and usability of network data. On April 13, 2020, the CAC, NDRC and the other ten governmental authorities jointly promulgated Measures for Cybersecurity Review, which became effective on June 1, 2020 and was recently amended on December 28, 2021, to provide for more detailed rules regarding cybersecurity review requirements.

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For the further purposes of regulating data processing activities, safeguarding data security, promoting data development and utilization, protecting the lawful rights and interests of individuals and organizations and maintaining national sovereignty, security and development interests, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress published the PRC Data Security Law on June 10, 2021, which took effect on September 1, 2021. The PRC Data Security Law requires data processing, which includes the collection, storage, use, processing, transmission, provision, publication of data, to be conducted in a legitimate and proper manner. The PRC Data Security Law provides for data security and privacy obligations on entities and individuals carrying out data activities. The PRC Data Security Law also introduces a data classification and hierarchical protection system based on the importance of data in economic and social development, and the degree of harm it may cause to national security, public interests, or legitimate rights and interests of individuals or organizations if such data are tampered with, destroyed, leaked, illegally acquired or illegally used. The appropriate level of protection measures is required to be taken for each respective category of data. For example, a processor of important data is required to designate the personnel and the management body responsible for data security, carry out risk assessments of its data processing activities and file the risk assessment reports with the competent authorities. State core data, i.e. data having a bearing on national security, the lifelines of national economy, people’s key livelihood and major public interests, shall be subject to stricter management system. Moreover, the PRC Data Security Law provides a national security review procedure for those data activities which affect or may affect national security and imposes export restrictions on certain data and information. In addition, the PRC Data Security Law also provides that any organization or individual within the territory of China shall not provide any foreign judicial body and law enforcement body with any data without the approval of the competent PRC governmental authorities.

On July 6, 2021, certain PRC regulatory authorities issued Opinions on Strictly Scrutinizing Illegal Securities Activities in Accordance with the Law, which, among others, provides for improving the laws and regulations on data security, cross-border data transmission, and confidential information management. It provided that efforts will be made to revise the regulations on strengthening the confidentiality and file management relating to the offering and listing of securities overseas, to implement the responsibility on information security of overseas listed companies, and to strengthen the standardized management of cross-border information provision mechanisms and procedures.

Pursuant to the current Measures for Cybersecurity Review, the scope of review under the current measures extends to critical information infrastructure operators that intend to purchase internet products and services and data processing operators engaging in data processing activities, which affect or may affect national security. According to Article 7 of the Measures for Cybersecurity Review, a network platform operator that has the personal information of more than one million users shall apply to the Cybersecurity Review Office for cybersecurity reviews when it seeks to list overseas. Besides, the Measures for Cybersecurity Review also provide that if the authorities consider that certain network products and services, data processing activities and listings in foreign countries affect or may affect national security, the authorities may initiate a cybersecurity review even if the operators do not have an obligation to report for a cybersecurity review under such circumstances. The Measures for Cybersecurity Review also elaborate the factors to be considered when assessing the national security risks of the activities, including among others, risks of core data, important data or a large amount of personal information being stolen, leaked, destroyed, and illegally used or exited the country and risks of critical information infrastructure, core data, important data or a large amount of personal information data being affected, controlled and maliciously used by foreign governments after a foreign listing.

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On November 14, 2021, the CAC released the Network Data Security Management Regulations (Draft for Comments) and would accept public comments until December 13, 2021. The draft regulations provide that data processors refer to individuals or organizations that autonomously determine the purpose and the manner of processing data. In accordance with the draft regulations, data processors shall apply for a cybersecurity review for the following activities: (i) merger, reorganization or division of Internet platform operators that have acquired a large number of data resources related to national security, economic development or public interests to the extent that affects or may affect national security; (ii) listing abroad of data processors which process over one million users’ personal information; (iii) listing in Hong Kong which affects or may affect national security; or (iv) other data processing activities that affect or may affect national security. Besides, data processors that are listed overseas shall carry out an annual data security assessment. The draft regulations remain unclear on whether the applicable requirements will be applicable to companies that have been listed in the United States and Hong Kong, such as us. We cannot predict the impact of the draft regulations, if any, at this stage, and we will closely monitor and assess any development in the rule-making process. If the enacted versions of the draft regulations mandate clearance of cybersecurity review and other specific actions to be completed by China-based companies listed on a U.S. stock exchange and Hong Kong Exchanges, such as us, we face uncertainties as to whether such clearance can be timely obtained, or at all. In addition, if a final version of the draft regulations is adopted, we may be subject to review when conducting data processing activities and annual data security assessment and may face challenges in addressing its requirements and make necessary changes to our internal policies and practices in data processing. Based on the foregoing, our PRC legal counsel does not expect that, as of the date of this annual report, the current applicable PRC laws on cybersecurity would have a material adverse impact on our business.

On July 30, 2021, the State Council issued the Regulations on Security Protection of Critical Information Infrastructure. Pursuant to these regulations, critical information infrastructure shall mean the important network facilities or information systems of key industries or fields such as public communication and information service, energy, transportation, water conservation, finance, public services, e-government affairs and national defense science, and important network facilities or information systems which may endanger national security, people’s livelihood and public interest once there occur damage, malfunctioning or data leakage to them. The regulations provide that no individual or organization may carry out any illegal activity of intruding into, interfering with, or sabotaging any critical information infrastructures, or endanger the security of any critical information infrastructures. The regulations also require that critical information infrastructure operators shall establish a cybersecurity protection system and accountability system, and that the main responsible person of a critical information infrastructure operator shall take full responsibility for the security protection of the critical information infrastructures operated by it. In addition, the administration departments of each important industry and sector shall be responsible for formulating the rule of critical information infrastructure determination applicable to their respective industry or sector, and determine the critical information infrastructure operators in their industry or sector.

On July 12, 2021, the MIIT and two other authorities jointly issued the Provisions on the Administration of Security Vulnerabilities of Network Products. The provisions state that no organization or individual may abuse the security vulnerabilities of network products to engage in activities that endanger network security, or to illegally collect, sell, or publish the information on such security vulnerabilities. Anyone who is aware of the aforesaid offences shall not provide technical support, advertising, payment settlement and other assistance to the offenders. According to the Provisions, network product providers, network operators, and platforms collecting network product security vulnerabilities shall establish and improve channels for receiving network product security vulnerability information and keep such channels available, and retain network product security vulnerability information reception logs for at least six months. The Provisions also bans provision of undisclosed vulnerabilities to overseas organizations or individuals other than to the product providers.

On July 7, 2022, the CAC issued the Measures for Security Assessment of Cross-border Data Transfer. According to these measures, in addition to the internal risk assessment requirement for provision of any data outside China, a data processor shall apply to the competent cyberspace department for data security assessment and clearance of outbound data transfer in any of the following events: (i) outbound transfer of important data by a data processor; (ii) outbound transfer of personal information by an operator of critical information infrastructure, or a data processor which has processed more than one million users’ personal information; (iii) outbound transfer of more than one hundred thousand users’ personal information or more than ten thousand users’ sensitive personal information cumulatively since January 1st of the last year; (iv) such other circumstances where ex-ante security assessment and evaluation of cross-border data transfer is required by the CAC.

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On March 22, 2024, the CAC promulgated the Provisions on Promoting and Regulating Cross-border Data Transfer, or the Data Transfer Regulations, which took effect on the same day, According to these provisions, any data processor which exports personal information shall apply for a security assessment before transferring any personal information abroad, including any of the following circumstances: (i) personal information and important data will be provided overseas by any operator of critical information infrastructure; (ii) important data will be provided overseas by any data processor other than an operator of critical information infrastructure, or personal information of more than one million individuals in aggregate (excluding sensitive personal information) or sensitive personal information of more than ten thousand individuals in aggregate has been provided overseas since January 1 of the current year. If personal information of more than one hundred thousand individuals but less than one million individuals in aggregate (excluding sensitive personal information) or sensitive personal information of less than ten thousands individuals in aggregate has been provided overseas by any data processor other than an operator of critical information infrastructure since January 1 of the current year, standard contracts for personal information transfer shall be entered into with the overseas receivers or the certification of personal information protection shall be passed in accordance with the law.

In addition, the State Secrecy Bureau has issued provisions authorizing the blocking of access to any website it deems to be leaking state secrets or failing to comply with the legislation regarding the protection of state secrets during online information distribution. Specifically, internet companies in the Chinese mainland with bulletin boards, chat rooms or similar services must apply for specific approval prior to operating such services.

Furthermore, the Decision on Strengthening Network Information Protection promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on December 28, 2012 states that ICP operators must request identity information from users when ICP operators provide information publication services to the users. If ICP operators come across prohibited information, they must immediately cease the transmission of such information, delete the information, keep relevant records, and report to the government authorities.

On October 21, 2019, the PRC Supreme People’s Court and the PRC Supreme People’s Procuratorate jointly issued the Interpretations on Certain Issues Regarding the Applicable of Law in the Handling of Criminal Case Involving Illegal Use of Information Networks and Assisting Committing Internet Crimes, which came into effect on November 1, 2019, and further clarifies the meaning of Internet service provider and the severe situations of the crimes.

Regulations Relating to Internet Privacy

The PRC Constitution states that PRC law protects the freedom and privacy of communications of citizens and prohibits infringement of these rights. The PRC government authorities have enacted legislation on internet use to protect personal information from any unauthorized disclosure. The Decision on Strengthening Network Information Protection provides that electronic information that identifies a citizen or involves privacy of any citizen is protected by law and must not be unlawfully collected or provided to others. ICP operators collecting or using personal electronic information of citizens must specify the purposes, manners and scopes of information collection and uses, obtain consent of the citizens, and keep the collected personal information confidential. ICP operators are prohibited from disclosing, tampering with, damaging, selling or illegally providing others with, collected personal information. ICP operators are required to take technical and other measures to prevent the collected personal information from any unauthorized disclosure, damage or loss. The Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services prohibit an ICP operator from insulting or slandering a third party or infringing upon the lawful rights and interests of a third party. According to the Provisions on Protection of Personal Information of Telecommunication and Internet Users, which was promulgated by MIIT on July 16, 2013 and became effective on September 1, 2013, telecommunication business operators and ICP operators are responsible for the security of the personal information of users they collect or use in the course of their provision of services. Without obtaining the consent from the users, telecommunication business operators and ICP operators may not collect or use the users’ personal information. The personal information collected or used in the course of provision of services by the telecommunication business operators or ICP operators must be kept in strict confidence, and may not be divulged, tampered with or damaged, and may not be sold or illegally provided to others. The ICP operators are required to take certain measures to prevent any divulgence of, damage to, tampering with or loss of users’ personal information. In accordance with the PRC Cybersecurity Law, network operators are required to collect and use personal information in compliance with the principles of legitimacy, properness and necessity, and strictly within the scope of authorization by the subject of personal information unless otherwise prescribed by laws or regulations. In the event of any unauthorized disclosure, damage or loss of collected personal information, network operators must take immediate remedial measures, notify the affected users and report the incidents to the authorities in a timely manner. If any user knows that a network operator illegally collects and uses his or her personal information in violation of laws, regulations or any agreement with the user, or the collected and stored personal information is inaccurate or wrong, the user has the right to request the network operator to delete or correct the collected personal information.

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The telecommunications authorities are further authorized to order ICP operators to rectify unauthorized disclosure. ICP operators are subject to legal liability, including warnings, fines, confiscation of illegal gains, revocation of licenses or filings, closing of the relevant websites, administrative punishment, criminal liabilities, or civil liabilities, if they violate the provisions on internet privacy. Pursuant to the Ninth Amendment to the Criminal Law issued by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on August 29, 2015 and become effective on November 1, 2015, the standards of crime of infringing citizens’ personal information were amended accordingly and the criminal culpability of unlawful collection, transaction, and provision of personal information has been reinforced. In addition, any ICP operator that fails to fulfill the obligations related to internet information security administration as required by applicable laws and refuses to rectify upon orders, will be subject to criminal liability for (i) any dissemination of illegal information in large scale; (ii) any severe effect due to the leakage of the client’s information; (iii) any serious loss of evidence of criminal activities; or (iv) other severe situations, and any individual or entity that (x) sells or provides personal information to others unlawfully, or (y) steals or illegally obtains any personal information, will be subject to criminal liability in severe situations. In addition, the Interpretations of the PRC Supreme People’s Court and the PRC Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Infringing Personal Information, effective on June 1, 2017, have clarified certain standards for the conviction and sentencing in relation to personal information infringement. The PRC government has the power and authority to order ICP operators to turn over personal information if an internet user posts any prohibited content or engages in illegal activities on the internet. The Civil Code further provides in a stand-alone chapter of right of personality and reiterate that the personal information of a natural person shall be protected by the law. Any organization or individual shall legitimately obtain such personal information of others in due course on a need-to-know basis and ensure the safety and privacy of such information, and refrain from excessively handling or using such information.

With respect to the security of information collected and used by mobile apps, pursuant to the Announcement of Conducting Special Supervision against the Illegal Collection and Use of Personal Information by Apps, which was issued on January 23, 2019, app operators should collect and use personal information in compliance with the PRC Cybersecurity Law and should be responsible for the security of personal information obtained from users and take effective measures to strengthen the personal information protection. Furthermore, app operators should not force their users to make authorization by means of bundling, suspending installation or in other default forms and should not collect personal information in violation of laws, regulations or breach of user agreements. Such regulatory requirements were emphasized by the Notice on the Special Rectification of Apps Infringing upon User’s Personal Rights and Interests, which was issued by MIIT on October 31, 2019. On November 28, 2019, the CAC, the MIIT, the Ministry of Public Security and the SAMR jointly issued the Methods of Identifying Illegal Acts of Apps to Collect and Use Personal Information. This regulation further illustrates certain commonly seen illegal practices of apps operators in terms of personal information protection, including “failure to publicize rules for collecting and using personal information,” “failure to expressly state the purpose, manner and scope of collecting and using personal information,” “collection and use of personal information without consent of users of such App,” “collecting personal information irrelevant to the services provided by such app in violation of the principle of necessity,” “provision of personal information to others without users’ consent,” “failure to provide the function of deleting or correcting personal information as required by laws” and “failure to publish information such as methods for complaints and reporting.” Among others, any of the following acts of an app operator will constitute “collection and use of personal information without consent of users”: (i) collecting an user’s personal information or activating the permission for collecting any user’s personal information without obtaining such user’s consent; (ii) collecting personal information or activating the permission for collecting the personal information of any user who explicitly refuses such collection, or repeatedly seeking for user’s consent such that the user’s normal use of such app is disturbed; (iii) any user’s personal information which has been actually collected by the app operator or the permission for collecting any user’s personal information activated by the app operator is beyond the scope of personal information which such user authorizes such app operator to collect; (iv) seeking for any user’s consent in a non-explicit manner; (v) modifying any user’s settings for activating the permission for collecting any personal information without such user’s consent; (vi) using users’ personal information and any algorithms to directionally push any information, without providing the option of non-directed pushing such information; (vii) misleading users to permit collecting their personal information or activating the permission for collecting such users’ personal information by improper methods such as fraud and deception; (viii) failing to provide users with the means and methods to withdraw their permission of collecting personal information; and (ix) collecting and using personal information in violation of the rules for collecting and using personal information promulgated by such app operator.

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On August 22, 2019, the CAC promulgated the Children Information Protection Provisions, which took effect on October 1, 2019, requiring that before collecting, using, transferring or disclosing the personal information of a child, the Internet service operator should inform the child’s guardians in a noticeable and clear manner and obtain their consents. Meanwhile, internet service operators should take measures like encryption when storing children’s personal information. On March 12, 2021, the CAC and three other authorities jointly issued the Rules on the Scope of Necessary Personal Information for Common Types of Mobile Internet Applications, which became effective on May 1, 2021. The Rules specifies the scope of necessary personal information to be collected each for a variety of common mobile internet applications, such as maps and navigation apps, online ride-hailing apps, instant messaging apps, online community apps. Operators of such apps shall not refuse to provide basic services to users on the ground of users’ refusal to provide their personal non-essential information. On April 26, 2021, the MIIT issued the Interim Administrative Provisions on Personal Information Protection in Internet Mobile Applications (Draft for Comment),. The interim administrative provisions sets forth two principles of collection and utilization of personal information, namely “explicit consent” and “minimum necessity.”

On August 20, 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress promulgated the Personal Information Protection Law which took effect on November 1, 2021. The Personal Information Protection Law requires, among others, that (i) the processing of personal information should have a clear and reasonable purpose which should be directly related to the processing purpose, in a method that has the least impact on personal rights and interests, and (ii) the collection of personal information should be limited to the minimum scope necessary to achieve the processing purpose to avoid the excessive collection of personal information. Different types of personal information and personal information processing will be subject to various rules on consent, transfer, and security. Entities handling personal information shall bear responsibilities for their personal information handling activities, and adopt necessary measures to safeguard the security of the personal information they handle. The entities failing to comply could be ordered to correct, or suspend or terminate the provision of services, and face confiscation of illegal income, fines or other penalties.

Regulations Relating to Payment Services

According to Measures for the Administration of Payment Services of Non-financial Institutions which were promulgated by the People’s Bank of China on June 14, 2010, took effect on September 1, 2010, and amended by the People’s Bank of China on March 5, 2020 and took effect on April 29, 2020, and Detailed Implementing Rules for the Measures for the Administration of Payment Services of Non-financial Institution which were promulgated by the People’s Bank of China on December 1, 2010 and were most recently amended on July 20, 2021, the payment services provided by non-financial institutions refer to some or all of the following monetary capital transfer services provided by the non-financial institutions as intermediary agencies between payers and payees: (i) payment through the internet; (ii) issuance and acceptance of prepaid cards; (iii) bankcard acquiring; and (iv) other payment services as determined by the People’s Bank of China. Non-financial institutions which provide payment services shall obtain a “Payment Business License” and become a “payment institution.” Payment Business License is valid for five years from the date of issuance. Payment institutions shall carry out business activities in compliance with the scope of business approved by the Payment Business License, and shall not outsource any businesses, transfer, lease, or lend its Payment Business License. Any non-financial institutions and individuals shall not directly or indirectly engage in the payment business without the approval of the People’s Bank of China. For any non-financial institution or individual that engages in payment service without the approval of the People’s Bank of China whether explicitly or otherwise, the People’s Bank of China and the branches thereof shall order the non-financial institution or individual to terminate payment business; where a crime is suspected, the non-financial institution or individual shall be transferred to the public security organ in accordance with law for investigation; where a crime is constituted, the non-financial institution or individual shall be subject to criminal responsibilities.

On November 13, 2017, the People’s Bank of China published the Notice on Further Strengthening the Remediation of Unlicensed Business Payment Services on the investigation and administration of illegal offering of settlement services by financial institutions and third-party payment service providers to unlicensed entities. The notice intended to prevent unlicensed entities from using licensed payment service providers as a conduit for conducting the unlicensed payment settlement services, so as to safeguard the fund security and information security.

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Regulations Relating to Unfair Competition

According to the PRC Anti-unfair Competition Law, promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on September 2, 1993 and most recently amended on April 23, 2019, effective on April 23, 2019, operators shall not undermine their competitors by engaging in improper activities, including taking advantage of powers or influence to affect a transaction, market confusion, commercial bribery, misleading false publicity, infringement on trade secrets, price dumping, illegitimate premium sale and commercial libel. Any operators who violate the PRC Anti-unfair Competition Law by engaging in the foregoing unfair competitive activities shall be ordered to cease such illegal activities, eliminate the influence of such activities or compensate for the damages caused to any party. The competent supervision and inspection authorities may also confiscate the illegal gains or impose fines on such operators.

Regulations Relating to Intellectual Property

China has adopted comprehensive legislation governing intellectual property rights, including copyrights, trademarks, patents and domain names. China is a signatory to the primary international conventions on intellectual property rights and has been a member of the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights since its accession to the World Trade Organization in December 2001.

Copyright

The PRC Copyright Law promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on September 7, 1990 and most recently amended on November 11, 2020, effective on June 1, 2021, extends copyright protection to internet activities, products disseminated over the internet and software products. In addition, there is a voluntary registration system administered by the Copyright Protection Center of China.

The Regulations on the Protection of the Right to Network Dissemination of Information effective on July 1, 2006 and amended on January 30, 2013, further provided that an internet information service provider may be held liable under various situations, including that if it knows or should reasonably have known a copyright infringement through the internet and the service provider fails to take measures to remove or block or disconnect links to the relevant content, or, although not aware of the infringement, the internet information service provider fails to take such measures upon receipt of the copyright holder’s notice of such infringement.

In order to further implement the Regulations on Computer Software Protection promulgated by the State Council on December 20, 2001 and most recently amended on January 30, 2013, the National Copyright Administration issued the Measures for the Registration of Computer Software Copyright on February 20, 2002, which specify detailed procedures and requirements with respect to the registration of software copyrights.

Trademark

According to the PRC Trademark Law promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on August 23, 1982 and last amended on April 23, 2019, the Trademark Office of the SAIC is responsible for the registration and administration of trademarks in the Chinese mainland. The SAIC under the State Council has established a Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to resolve trademark disputes. Registered trademarks are valid for ten years from the date when the registration is approved. A registrant may apply to renew a registration within twelve months before the expiration date of the registration. If the registrant fails to apply in a timely manner, a grace period of six additional months may be granted. If the registrant fails to apply before the grace period expires, the registered trademark shall be deregistered. Renewed registrations are valid for ten years. On April 29, 2014, the State Council issued the revised the Implementing Regulations of the PRC Trademark Law, which specified the requirements of applying for trademark registration and renewal.

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Patent

According to the PRC Patent Law promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in 1984 and last amended on October 17, 2020, effective on June 1, 2021, and the Implementation Rules of the PRC Patent Law promulgated by the State Council on June 15, 2001 and last amended on December 11, 2023, the patent administrative department under the State Council is responsible for the administration of patent-related work nationwide and the patent administration departments of provincial or autonomous regions or municipal governments are responsible for administering patents within their respective administrative areas. The PRC Patent Law and the Implementation Rules of the PRC Patent Law provide for three types of patents, namely “inventions,” “utility models” and “designs.” Invention patents are valid for twenty years, while utility model patents are valid for ten years and design patents are valid for fifteen years, from the date of application. The Chinese patent system adopts a “first come, first file” principle, which means that where more than one person files a patent application for the same invention, a patent will be granted to the person who files the application first. An invention or a utility model must possess novelty, inventiveness and practical applicability to be patentable. Third parties must obtain consent or a proper license from the patent owner to use the patent. Otherwise, the unauthorized use constitutes an infringement on the patent rights.

Domain names

On August 24, 2017, the MIIT promulgated the Administrative Measures for Internet Domain Names, which became effective on November 1, 2017.

Regulations Relating to Foreign Exchange

The principal regulations governing foreign currency exchange in China are the PRC Administrative Regulations on Foreign Exchange, which were promulgated by the State Council on January 29, 1996, became effective on April 1, 1996 and was most recently amended on August 5, 2008, and the Administrative Regulations on Foreign Exchange Settlement, Sales and Payment which was promulgated by the People’s Bank of China on June 20, 1996 and became effective on July 1, 1996. Under these regulations, payments of current account items, such as profit distributions and trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions, can be made in foreign currencies without prior approval from SAFE, by complying with certain procedural requirements. By contrast, approval from or registration with appropriate government authorities is required where Renminbi is to be converted into foreign currency and remitted out of the Chinese mainland to pay capital account items such as the repayment of foreign currency denominated loans, direct investment overseas and investments in securities or derivative products outside of the Chinese mainland. Foreign-invested enterprises are permitted to convert their after-tax dividends into foreign exchange and to remit such foreign exchange out of their foreign exchange bank accounts in the Chinese mainland.

On March 30, 2015, SAFE promulgated the Notice on Reforming the Administration of Foreign Exchange Settlement of Capital of Foreign-invested Enterprises, or the SAFE Circular 19, which took effect on June 1, 2015 and was amended on December 30, 2019. According to the SAFE Circular 19, the foreign currency capital contribution to a foreign-invested enterprise in its capital account may be converted into Renminbi on a discretional basis.

On June 9, 2016, SAFE promulgated the Circular on Reforming and Regulating Policies on the Management of the Settlement of Foreign Exchange of Capital Accounts, or the SAFE Circular 16. The SAFE Circular 16 unifies the Discretional Foreign Exchange Settlement for all the domestic institutions. The Discretional Foreign Exchange Settlement means that the foreign exchange capital in the capital account which has been confirmed by the policies to be subject to the discretional foreign exchange settlement (including foreign exchange capital, foreign loans and funds remitted from the proceeds from the overseas listing) can be settled at the banks based on the actual operational needs of the domestic institutions. The proportion of Discretional Foreign Exchange Settlement of the foreign exchange capital is temporarily determined as 100%. Violations of the SAFE Circular 19 or the SAFE Circular 16 could result in administrative penalties in accordance with the PRC Administrative Regulations on Foreign Exchange and relevant provisions.

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Furthermore, the SAFE Circular 16 stipulates that the use of foreign exchange incomes of capital accounts by foreign-invested enterprises shall follow the principles of authenticity and for the enterprises’ own use within the business scope of the enterprises. The foreign exchange incomes of capital accounts and capital in RMB obtained by the foreign-invested enterprise from foreign exchange settlement shall not be used for the following purposes: (i) directly or indirectly used for the payment beyond the business scope of the enterprises or the payment prohibited by the laws and regulations; (ii) directly or indirectly used for investment in securities or financial schemes other than bank guaranteed products unless otherwise provided by the laws and regulations; (iii) used for granting loans to non-affiliated enterprises, unless otherwise permitted by its business scope; and (iv) used for the construction or purchase of real estate that is not for the constructor or purchaser’s own use (except for the real estate enterprises).

On October 23, 2019, SAFE promulgated the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Further Promoting the Convenience of Cross-border Trade and Investment. This circular stipulates that non-investment foreign-invested enterprises may use capital to carry out domestic equity investment in accordance with the law under the premise of not violating the Negative list and the projects invested are true and in compliance with laws and regulations.

On April 10, 2020, SAFE issued the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Optimizing Foreign Exchange Administration to Support the Development of Foreign-related Business. This notice provides that under the condition that the use of funds is genuine and compliant with current administrative provisions on use of income relating to capital account, enterprises are allowed to use income under capital account such as capital funds, foreign debts and overseas listings for domestic payment, without submission to the bank prior to each transaction of materials evidencing the veracity of such payment.

Regulations Relating to Dividend Distributions

The principal regulations governing distribution of dividends of wholly foreign-owned enterprises include the PRC Company Law. Under these regulations, wholly foreign-owned enterprises in the Chinese mainland may pay dividends only out of their accumulated profits, if any, determined in accordance with the PRC accounting standards and regulations. In addition, foreign-invested enterprises in China are required to allocate at least 10% of their accumulated profits each year, if any, to fund certain reserve funds unless these reserves have reached 50% of the registered capital of the enterprises. These reserves are not distributable as cash dividends.

Regulations Relating to Foreign Debts

A loan made by foreign investors as shareholders in a foreign-invested enterprise is considered to be foreign debt in China and is regulated by various laws and regulations, including the PRC Administrative Regulations on Foreign Exchange, the Interim Provisions on the Management of Foreign Debts promulgated by SAFE, the NDRC and the Ministry of Finance, effective on March 1, 2003 and further amended by the NDRC on July 26, 2022 and the Administrative Measures for Registration of Foreign Debts promulgated by SAFE on April 28, 2013 and amended by the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Abolishing and Amending the Normative Documents Related to the Reform of the Registered Capital Registration System on May 4, 2015. Under these rules, a shareholder loan in the form of foreign debt made to a Chinese entity does not require the prior approval of SAFE. However, such foreign debt must be registered with and recorded by local banks. The Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Further Promoting the Convenience of Cross-border Trade and Investment provides that a non-financial enterprise in the pilot areas may register the permitted amounts of foreign debts, which is as twice of the non-financial enterprise’s net assets, at the local foreign exchange bureau. Such non-financial enterprise may borrow foreign debts within the permitted amounts and directly handle the procedures in banks without registration of each foreign debt. However, the non-financial enterprise shall report its international income and expenditure regularly.

Regulations Relating to Offshore Special Purpose Companies Held by PRC Residents

According to the Circular on Printing and Distributing the Provisions on Foreign Exchange Administration over Domestic Direct Investment by Foreign Investors and the Supporting Documents promulgated by SAFE on May 11, 2013 and most recently amended on December 30, 2019, the administration by SAFE or its local branches over direct investment by foreign investors in China shall be conducted by way of registration and banks shall process foreign exchange business relating to the direct investment in China based on the registration information provided by SAFE and its branches.

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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 the SAFE Circular 37, on July 4, 2014 that requires PRC residents or entities to register with SAFE or its local branch in connection with their establishment or control of an offshore entity established for the purpose of overseas investment or financing. In addition, such PRC residents or entities must update their SAFE registrations when the offshore special purpose vehicle undergoes material events relating to any change of basic information (including change of such PRC citizens or residents, name and term of operation), capital increase or capital reduction, transfers or exchanges of shares, or mergers or divisions.

SAFE further enacted the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Further Simplifying and Improving the Foreign Exchange Management Policies for Direct Investment, or the SAFE Circular 13, which allows PRC residents or entities to register with qualified banks in connection with their establishment or control of an offshore entity established for the purpose of overseas investment or financing. However, remedial registration applications made by PRC residents that previously failed to comply with the SAFE Circular 37 continue to fall under the jurisdiction of the local branch of SAFE. In the event that a PRC shareholder holding interests in a special purpose vehicle fails to fulfill the required SAFE registration, the PRC subsidiaries of that special purpose vehicle may be prohibited from distributing profits to the offshore parent and from carrying out subsequent cross-border foreign exchange activities, and the special purpose vehicle may be restricted in its ability to contribute additional capital into its PRC subsidiary.

On January 26, 2017, SAFE issued the Notice on Improving the Check of Authenticity and Compliance to Further Promote Foreign Exchange Control, which stipulates several capital control measures with respect to the outbound remittance of profit from domestic entities to offshore entities, including (i) under the principle of genuine transaction, banks shall check board resolutions regarding profit distribution, the original version of tax filing records and audited financial statements; and (ii) domestic entities shall hold income to account for previous years’ losses before remitting the profits. Moreover, pursuant to this notice, domestic entities shall make detailed explanations of the sources of capital and utilization arrangements, and provide board resolutions, contracts and other proof when completing the registration procedures in connection with an outbound investment.

Regulations Relating to Stock Incentive Plans

According to the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Issues Relating to the Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in Stock Incentive Plan of Overseas Listed Company which was issued on February 15, 2012 and other regulations, directors, supervisors, senior management and other employees participating in any share incentive plan of an overseas publicly listed company who are PRC citizens or non-PRC citizens residing in China for a continuous period of not less than one year, subject to certain exceptions, are required to register with SAFE. All such participants need to authorize a qualified PRC agent, such as a PRC subsidiary of the overseas publicly listed company to register with SAFE and handle foreign exchange matters such as opening accounts, transferring and settlement of the proceeds. The notice further requires an offshore agent to be designated to handle matters in connection with the exercise of share options and sales of proceeds for the participants of the share incentive plans. Failure to complete the said SAFE registrations may subject our participating directors, supervisors, senior management and other employees to fines and legal sanctions.

In addition, the State Administration of Taxation has issued certain circulars concerning employee stock options and restricted shares. Under these circulars, employees working in China who exercise stock options or are granted restricted shares will be subject to PRC individual income tax. The PRC subsidiaries of an overseas listed company are required to file documents related to employee stock options and restricted shares with the tax authorities and to withhold individual income taxes of employees who exercise their stock option or purchase restricted shares. If the employees fail to pay or the PRC subsidiaries fail to withhold income tax in accordance with the laws and regulations, the PRC subsidiaries may face sanctions imposed by the tax authorities or other PRC governmental authorities.

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Regulation Relating to Outbound Direct Investment

On December 26, 2017, the NDRC promulgated the Administrative Measures on Overseas Investments of Enterprises, which took effect on March 1, 2018. According to these administrative measures, non-sensitive overseas investment projects are required to make record filings with the local branch of the NDRC. On September 6, 2014, the Ministry of Commerce promulgated the Administrative Measures on Overseas Investments, which took effect on October 6, 2014. According to such regulation, overseas investments of PRC enterprises that involve non-sensitive countries and regions and non-sensitive industries must make record filings with a local branch of the Ministry of Commerce. According to the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Further Improving and Adjusting Foreign Exchange Administration Policies for Direct Investment, as amended, PRC enterprises must register for overseas direct investment with local banks. The shareholders or beneficial owners who are PRC entities are required to be in compliance with the related overseas investment regulations. If they fail to complete the filings or registrations required by overseas direct investment regulations, the authority may order them to suspend or cease the implementation of such investment and make corrections within a specified time.

Regulations Relating to Taxation

Income tax

According to the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law which was promulgated on March 16, 2007, became effective from January 1, 2008 and was most recently amended on December 29, 2018, an enterprise established outside China with de facto management bodies within China is considered a resident enterprise for PRC enterprise income tax purposes and is generally subject to a uniform 25% enterprise income tax rate on its worldwide income. The Implementing Rules of the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law defines a “de facto management body” as a managing body that in practice exercises “substantial and overall management and control over the production and operations, personnel, accounting, and properties” of the enterprise. Non-PRC resident enterprises without any branches in China pay an enterprise income tax in connection with their income originating from the PRC at the tax rate of 10%.

Enterprises that are recognized as high and new technology enterprises in accordance with the Administrative Measures for the Determination of High and New Tech Enterprises issued by the Ministry of Science, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation are entitled to enjoy a preferential enterprise income tax rate of 15%. Under which the validity period of the high and new technology enterprise qualification shall be three years from the date of issuance of the certificate. An enterprise can re-apply for such recognition as a high and new technology enterprise before or after the previous certificate expires.