UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM20-F

(Mark One)

OR

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016.2017.

OR

For the transition period from                    to                    

OR

Date of event requiring this shell company report                    

Commission file number:001-34238

THE9 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)

Building No. 3, 690 Bibo Road

Zhang JiangHi-Tech Park

Pudong New Area, Pudong

Shanghai 201203

People’s Republic of China

(Address of principal executive offices)

George Lai, Chief Financial Officer

Tel:+86-21-5172-9999

Facsimile number:+86-21-5172-9903

Building No. 3, 690 Bibo Road

Zhang JiangHi-Tech Park

Pudong New Area, Pudong

Shanghai 201203

People’s Republic of China

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

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

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

None

(Title of Class)

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

None

(Title of Class)

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

57,283,92996,583,929 ordinary shares (including 27,039,893 ordinary shares we reserved for issuance upon the exercise of options under our share incentive plan and for our treasury ADSs), par value US$0.01 per share, as of December 31, 2016.2017.

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

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

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of RegulationS-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or anon-accelerated filer.filer, or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and large accelerated filer”“emerging growth company” in Rule12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

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

† The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012. Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

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

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS

i

INTRODUCTION

In this annual report, unless otherwise indicated, (1) the terms “we,” “us,” “our company,” “our” and “The9” refer to The9 Limited and, as the context may require, its subsidiaries and our consolidated affiliated entities, (2) the terms “affiliated entities” and “affiliated PRC entities” refer to our consolidated affiliated PRC entities, including, among others, Shanghai The9 Information Technology Co., Ltd., or Shanghai IT, in which we do not have direct equity interests but over which we effectively control through a series of contractual arrangements as described under “Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions—B. Related Party Transactions—Arrangements with Affiliated PRC Entities,” (3) the terms “shares” and “ordinary shares” refer to our ordinary shares, and “ADSs” refers to our American depositary shares, each of which represents one ordinary share, (4) “China” and “PRC” refer to the People’s Republic of China, and solely for the purpose of this annual report, excluding Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, (5) all references to “RMB” and “Renminbi” are to the legal currency of China and all references to “U.S. dollars,” “dollars,” “US$” and “$” are to the legal currency of the United States, (6) all discrepancies in any table between the amounts identified as total amounts and the sum of the amounts listed therein are due to rounding, and (7) all translations from RMBRenminbi to U.S. dollars and from U.S. dollars to RMB in this annual report were made at a rate of RMB6.9430RMB6.5063 to US$1.00, based on the H.10 weekly statistical release of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as of December 30, 2016.29, 2017. Such translations have been provided for the convenience of the reader only and should not be construed as representations that the RMB amounts represent, or have been or could be converted into, United States dollars at that or any other rate.

PART I

Item 1. IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS

Not Applicable.

Item 2. OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE

Not Applicable.

Item 3. KEY INFORMATION

The following table presents selected consolidated financial information for our company. You should read the following information in conjunction with “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” below. The selected consolidated statement of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 20162017 and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 20152016 and 20162017 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements and should be read in conjunction with those statements, which are included in this annual report beginning on pageF-1. The selected consolidated statement of operations data for the years ended December 31, 20122013 and 20132014 and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 20142015 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements, which are not included in this annual report. The consolidated financial statements were prepared and presented in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles, or U.S. GAAP.

		For the Year Ended December 31,
		2012				2013				2014				2015				2016
		RMB				RMB				RMB				RMB				RMB				US$(1)
		(in thousands, except for per share and per ADS data)
Consolidated Statement of Operation Data
Impairment onavailable-for-sale investment			—				—				—				—				(244,798	)			(35,258	)
Impairment on other investment			—				(47,971	)			—				—				(2,807	)			(404	)
Interest income			21,786				8,376				3,415				775				161				23
Interest expenses			—				—				—				(6,397	)			(56,472	)			(8,135	)
Fair value change on warrants liability			—				—				—				(7,129	)			48,057				6,922
Gain (loss) on disposal of equity investee andavailable-for-sale investment			15,726				—				33,154				—				(1,217	)			(175	)
Other income (expenses), net			4,644				9,302				(963	)			(1,917	)			(9,952	)			(1,433	)
Loss before income tax expense and share of loss in equity method investments			(550,235	)			(560,541	)			(125,229	)			(341,168	)			(562,634	)			(81,036	)
Impairment loss on investments			(3,244	)			—				—				—				—				—
Income tax benefit (expense)			—				—				—				—				6,079				876
Share of loss in equity investments			(6,347	)			(2,376	)			(3,713	)			(13,014	)			(110,535	)			(15,921	)
Net loss for the year			(559,826	)			(562,917	)			(128,942	)			(354,182	)			(667,090	)			(96,081	)
Net loss attributable to:
Noncontrolling interest			(45,824	)			(36,655	)			(21,443	)			(16,656	)			(58,584	)			(8,438	)
Redeemable noncontrolling interest			—				—				(20,877	)			(32,698	)			(14,724	)			(2,121	)
The9 Limited			(514,002	)			(526,262	)			(86,622	)			(304,828	)			(593,782	)			(85,522	)
Change in redemption value of redeemable noncontrolling interest			—				—				21,077				79,806				82,890				11,939
Net loss attributable to holders of ordinary shares			(514,002	)			(526,262	)			(107,699	)			(384,634	)			(676,672	)			(97,461	)
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Unrealized loss onavailable-for-sale investment			(57	)			(16	)			—				—				—				—
Currency translation adjustments			(980	)			(689	)			(1,204	)			5,009				(1,755	)			(253	)
Total comprehensive loss			(560,863	)			(563,622	)			(130,146	)			(349,173	)			(668,845	)			(96,334	)
Comprehensive loss attributable to:
Noncontrolling interest			(46,118	)			(35,084	)			(22,995	)			(16,913	)			(58,584	)			(8,438	)
Redeemable noncontrolling interest			—				—				(20,877	)			(32,698	)			(14,724	)			(2,121	)
The9 Limited			(514,745	)			(528,538	)			(86,274	)			(299,562	)			(595,537	)			(85,775	)
Change in redemption value of redeemable noncontrolling interest			—				—				21,077				79,806				82,890				11,939
			(514,745	)			(528,538	)			(107,351	)			(379,368	)			(678,427	)			(97,714	)
Net loss attributable to holders of ordinary shares per share
Basic			(20.98	)			(22.71	)			(4.65	)			(16.55	)			(28.34	)			(4.08	)
Diluted			(20.98	)			(22.71	)			(4.65	)			(16.55	)			(28.34	)			(4.08	)
Net loss attributable to holders of ordinary shares per ADS(2)
Basic			(20.98	)			(22.71	)			(4.65	)			(16.55	)			(28.34	)			(4.08	)
Diluted			(20.98	)			(22.71	)			(4.65	)			(16.55	)			(28.34	)			(4.08	)
		As of December 31,
		2012				2013				2014				2015				2016
		RMB				RMB				RMB				RMB				RMB				US$(1)
		(in thousands)
Consolidated Balance Sheet Data
Cash and cash equivalents			554,279				156,987				181,482				49,011				38,878				5,600
Non-current assets			447,730				328,617				261,477				460,837				262,854				37,859
Total assets			1,112,345				546,679				517,331				538,095				350,892				50,539
Total current liabilities			317,713				330,092				296,591				427,966				573,749				82,637
Total equity			749,212				190,133				64,888				(241,076	)			(702,054	)			(101,117	)
Redeemable noncontrolling interest			—				—				131,497				178,605				246,771				35,542
Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interest and equity			1,112,345				546,679				517,331				538,095				350,892				50,539

		For the Year Ended December 31,
		2013				2014				2015				2016				2017
		RMB				RMB				RMB				RMB				RMB				US$(1)
		(in thousands, except for per share and per ADS data)
Consolidated Statement of Operation Data
Cost of revenue			(107,803	)			(85,783	)			(67,744	)			(48,519	)			(23,782	)			(3,655	)
Gross (loss)/profit			(3,027	)			(21,506	)			(21,333	)			7,681				49,367				7,588
Operating expenses			(527,341	)			(139,404	)			(303,604	)			(306,892	)			(163,027	)			(25,057	)
Other operating income/(expenses)			120				75				(1,563	)			3,605				350				54
Loss from operations			(530,248	)			(160,835	)			(326,500	)			(295,606	)			(113,310	)			(17,415	)
Impairment onavailable-for-sale investment			—				—				—				(244,798)				—				—
Impairment on other investment			(47,971	)			—				—				(2,807	)			(9,109	)			(1,400	)
Interest income			8,376				3,415				775				161				31				5
Interest expenses			—				—				(6,397	)			(56,472	)			(83,922	)			(12,899	)
Fair value change on warrants liability			—				—				(7,129	)			48,057				12,615				1,939
Gain/(loss) on disposal of equity investee andavailable-for-sale investment			—				33,154				—				(1,217)				115				18
Foreign exchange (loss)/gain			(1,507	)			(3,087	)			(7,313	)			(13,131	)			19,206				2,952
Other income/(expenses), net			10,809				2,124				5,396				3,179				4,670				717
Loss before income tax expense and share of loss in equity method investments			(560,541	)			(125,229	)			(341,168	)			(562,634	)			(169,704	)			(26,083	)
Income tax benefit			—				—				—				6,079				—				—
Recovery of equity investment in excess of cost			—				—				—				—				60,549				9,306
Share of loss in equity investments			(2,376	)			(3,713	)			(13,014	)			(110,535	)			(2,938	)			(451	)
Net loss for the year			(562,917	)			(128,942	)			(354,182	)			(667,090	)			(112,093	)			(17,228	)
Net (loss)/gain attributable to:
Non-controlling interest			(36,655	)			(21,443	)			(16,656	)			(58,584	)			3,956				608
Redeemablenon-controlling interest			—				(20,877	)			(32,698	)			(14,724	)			2,117				325
The9 Limited			(526,262)				(86,622)				(304,828)				(593,782)				(118,166)				(18,161)
Change in redemption value of redeemablenon-controlling interest			—				21,077				79,806				82,890				57,126				8,780
Net loss attributable to holders of ordinary shares			(526,262	)			(107,699	)			(384,634	)			(676,672	)			(175,292	)			(26,941	)
Other comprehensive income/(loss):
Unrealized loss onavailable-for-sale investment			(16	)			—				—				—				—				—
Currency translation adjustments			(689	)			(1,204	)			5,009				(1,755	)			(9,526	)			(1,464	)
Total comprehensive loss			(563,622	)			(130,146	)			(349,173	)			(668,845	)			(121,619	)			(18,692	)
Comprehensive (loss)/gain attributable to:
Non-controlling interest			(35,084	)			(22,995	)			(16,913	)			(58,584	)			13,458				2,068
Redeemablenon-controlling interest			—				(20,877	)			(32,698	)			(14,724	)			2,117				326
The9 Limited			(528,538	)			(86,274	)			(299,562	)			(595,537	)			(137,194	)			(21,086	)

		For the Year Ended December 31,
		2013				2014				2015				2016				2017
		RMB				RMB				RMB				RMB				RMB				US$(1)
		(in thousands, except for per share and per ADS data)
Consolidated Statement of Operation Data
Change in redemption value of redeemablenon-controlling interest			—				21,077				79,806				82,890				57,126				8,780
Comprehensive loss attributable to holders of ordinary shares			(528,538	)			(107,351	)			(379,368	)			(678,427	)			(194,320	)			(29,866	)
Net loss attributable to holders of ordinary shares per share
Basic			(22.71	)			(4.65	)			(16.55	)			(28.34	)			(5.24	)			(0.81	)
Diluted			(22.71	)			(4.65	)			(16.55	)			(28.34	)			(5.24	)			(0.81	)
Net loss attributable to holders of ordinary shares per ADS(2)
Basic			(22.71	)			(4.65	)			(16.55	)			(28.34	)			(5.24	)			(0.81	)
Diluted			(22.71	)			(4.65	)			(16.55	)			(28.34	)			(5.24	)			(0.81	)

Exchange Rate Information

Our business is primarily conducted in China and a significant portion of our revenues are denominated in RMB. This annual report contains translations of RMB amounts into U.S. dollars based on the exchange rate set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. For the convenience of the readers only, this annual report contains translations of some RMB or U.S. dollar amounts for 20162017 at US$1.00 to RMB6.9430,RMB6.5063, which was the noon buying rate in effect as of December 30, 2016.29, 2017. The prevailing rate on March 31, 2017April 20, 2018 was US$1.00 to RMB6.8832.RMB 6.2940. We make no representation that any RMB or U.S. dollar amounts could have been, or could be, converted into U.S. dollars or RMB, as the case may be, at any particular rate, the rates stated below, or at all. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Future movements in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the RMB may adversely affect the value of our ADSs.”

The following table sets forth information concerning exchange rates between the RMB and the U.S. dollar for the periods indicated. These rates are provided solely for your convenience and are not necessarily the exchange rates that we used in this annual report or will use in the preparation of our other periodic reports or any other information to be provided to you.

Not Applicable.

Not Applicable.

D.	Risk Factors

Risks Related to Our Company and Our Industry

We may continue to incur losses, negative cash flows from operating activities and net current liabilities in the future. If we are not able to return to profitability or raise sufficient capital to cover our capital needs, we may not continue as a going concern.

We incurred a net loss of RMB128.9 million, RMB354.2 million, and RMB667.1 million and RMB112.1 million (US$96.117.2 million) for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2016,2017, respectively, as we continue to incur product development and sales and marketing expenses for our new products and general and administrative expenses while we have not generated significant revenues from our new games or other operations in those periods and since 2009. Our product development, sales and marketing and general and administrative expenses may increase in the future as we continue to explore various opportunities of new product and services development and business expansion in order to grow our revenues. In 2014 and 2015, we recorded a gross loss of RMB21.5 million and RMB21.3 million, respectively, reflecting lower revenues generated coupled with the continued incurrence of a relatively fixed portion of our costs, such as overhead, depreciation and rental charges. In 2016, we hadrecorded a gross gainprofit of RMB7.7 million (US$1.1 million), primarily due to a decrease in cost of revenue,revenues, which was resulted from a decrease in amortization of intangible assets following an impairment of intangible assets in 2016.mid-2016. In 2017, we had a gross profit of RMB49.4 million (US$7.6 million), primarily due to an increase in revenue, which was resulted from recognition of deferred licensing fees, and a decrease in cost of revenues, which was resulted from a decrease in amortization of intangible assets following an impairment of intangible assets inmid-2016. Our ability to achieve profitability depends on the competitiveness of our products and services as well as our ability to control costs and to provide new products and services to meet the market demands and attract new customers. Due to the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with our business, we may not be able to achieve profitability in the short-term or long-term.

In addition, our cash and cash equivalents have significantly and generally decreased since 2009, primarily due to the cash outflows from operating activities associated with our product development and sales and marketing efforts for our new games. Our cash and cash equivalents continued to decreaseincreased from RMB49.0RMB38.9 million as of December 31, 20152016 to RMB38.9RMB142.6 million (US$5.621.9 million) as of December 31, 2016,2017, primarily due to cash outflows to operating activities for product development and sales and marketing, offset by net proceedsthe settlement payment of US$25.0 million from a loan provided by a financial services company, a bank loan provided by Bankone of Shanghai and loans from related parties in 2016.our investee. We recorded negative operating cash flow of RMB269.1 million, RMB175.6 million, and RMB181.0 million and RMB86.7 million (US$26.113.3 million) for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2016,2017, respectively. Furthermore, as of December 31, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2016,2017, we recorded net current liabilities of RMB40.7 million, RMB350.7 million, and RMB485.7 million and RMB 636.3 million (US$70.097.8 million), respectively. Our net current liabilities positions as of December 31, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 20162017 were primarily due to the continuous cash outflow in connection with our product development and sales and marketing activities.See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—A. Operating Results—Results of Operations.” We cannot assure you that our liquidity position will improve in the future. We may continue to incur losses, negative cash flows from operating activities and net current liabilities, which may materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.

We havehad an accumulated deficit of approximately RMB2,897.8RMB3,016.0 million (US$417.4463.5 million) and total current liabilities exceeded total assets by approximately RMB222.9RMB496.3 million (US$32.176.3 million) as of December 31, 2016.2017. If we are unable to achieve profitability or raise sufficient capital to cover our capital needs, we may not continue as a going concern. There can be no assurance that we can obtain additional financing. Our ability to obtain additional financing is subject to a number of factors, which may be beyond our control. See “—We may not be able to obtain additional financing to support our business and operations, and our equity or debt financings may have an adverse effect on our business operations and share price.”

Our consolidated financial statements for each of the three years ended December 31, 20162017 included in this annual report beginning on pageF-1 have been prepared based on the assumption that we will continue on a going concern basis. The auditors of our consolidated financial statements have included in their audit reports an explanatory paragraph relating to substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts or amounts of liabilities that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Our business is intensely competitive and “hit” driven. If we do not deliver new “hit” products to the market, or if consumers prefer our competitors’ products or services over those we provide, our operating results will suffer.

We operate in a highly competitive and dynamic market, and our future success depends not only on the popularity of our existing online games but also, in a large part, on our ability to develop and introduce new games that are attractive to our customers. To achieve this, we need to anticipate and effectively adapt to rapidly changing consumer tastes and preferences and technological advances. The development of new games and the procurement of licenses from third-party developers can be very difficult and requires high levels of innovation and significant investments. We currently focus on and have made significant investment in developing our own proprietary games,games., primarily mobile games and a web game. games.However, we do not have a proven track record of developing such games or other online games. We also expect to invest a significant amount of financial and personnel resources in launching and operating CrossFire 2 in China, which was licensed by Smilegate Entertainment Inc., or Smilegate, to our joint venture and is being developed by Smilegate. While new products are regularly introduced, only a small number of “hit” titles account for a significant portion of total revenues in our industry. We may decide to cease to operate or develop any game that is no longer profitable. There is no assurance that any new game, proprietary, licensed or otherwise, to be introduced by us from time to time, including those named in “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Products and Services,” could become “hit” products and widely accepted by the customers and the market. We may continue to incur losses, and experience net cash outflow from operating activities, decrease in cash and cash equivalents balance and net current liabilities if we fail to introduce “hit” games or products which gain substantial market acceptance. In addition, “hit” products offered by our competitors may take a larger share of the market than we anticipate, which could cause revenues generated by our products to fall below expectations. Our competitors may develop more successful products, or offer similar products at lower price points or pursuant to payment models viewed as offering a better value than we do. Any such negative development may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We currently depend on a limited number of games, and we may not be able to successfully implement our growth strategies.

We currently depend on a limited number of games for substantially all of our revenues. In addition, we currently focus on developing a number of proprietary games and obtaining licenses to games to grow our business. For example, in November 2015, our joint venture Oriental Shiny obtained an exclusive license from Smilegate to publish and operate CrossFire 2 in China for an initial term of three years. Smilegate is currently in the process of developing CrossFire 2. We have also invested significant time and resources in developing our proprietary online games, on different platforms, including a new mobile game that we are developing based on the intellectual property relating to CrossFire, or the CrossFire New Mobile Game, and our web game called Soul Awake.Game. In addition, in June 2016, our subsidiary Asian Way Development Limited obtained a right from T3 Entertainment Co., Ltd., or T3 Entertainment, to develop a mobile game using augmented reality (AR) technologies based on the intellectual property relating to a game called Audition. Audition and has sub-licensed all of its rights and obligations with respect to the development, marketing, distribution and publishing of the game to a third-party entity.However, there is no assurance that we or Smilegate can successfully develop the games we invest in, that we may successfully launch the games as expected on a timely basis, or at all, or if any newly launched games such as CrossFire 2New Mobile Game would be widely accepted by game players. In particular, the development and operation of a game usually involves significant investments and dedication of time and resources, but the resulting game product may not yield the financial return that we anticipate. Our business strategies may also involve the development and marketing of new products and services for which there are no established markets in China or in which we lack experience and expertise. If any of our games encounters any adverse development or if we are unable to develop, purchase or license additional games that are attractive to users, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. We cannot assure you that we will be able to launch new games or continue operating existing games on a commercially viable basis or in a timely manner, or at all, or that we will be able to implement our other growth strategies. If any of these occur, our competitiveness may be harmed and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

New lines of business or new products and services may subject us to additional risks.

From time to time, we may implement new lines of business or offer new products and services within our existing lines of business. In January 2018, we decided to build up our blockchain-related technology capacities and we plan to provide customized services in connection with the development, offshore offering, investment and financing of blockchain-technology-enabled products, such as cryptocurrencies. However, there are substantial risks and uncertainties associated with these efforts, particularly in instances where the markets are not fully developed. There may be licensing and compliance requirements regarding new lines of business and the regulatory regime governing certain new markets could remain unclear. We may invest significant time and resources to develop new lines of business or new products and services, and the attention of our management may be distracted from our core business. Moreover, there can be no assurance that the introduction and development of new lines of business or new products and services would not encounter significant difficulties or delay or would achieve the profitability as we expect. Failure to successfully manage these risks in the development and implementation of new lines of business or new products or services could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and prospects.

We may not be able to obtain additional financing to support our business and operations, and our equity or debt financings may have an adverse effect on our business operations and share price.

We may continue to experience material decrease in cash and cash equivalents balance and we may require additional cash resources to fund our working capital and expenditure needs, such as product developments expenses, payment of license fees and royalties, sales and marketing activities, as well as investment or acquisition transactions. We expect to continue to incur product development costs to develop our proprietary online games, includingprimarily mobile games, and a web game, and license fees and royalties to obtain game licenses from third-party developers. If our internal financial resources are insufficient to satisfy our cash requirements, we may seek additional financing through the issuance of equity securities or through debt financing, such as borrowings from commercial banks or other financial institutions or lenders. To meet our anticipated capital needs, we have engaged and are considering multiple alternatives, including but not limited to additional equity financings, debt financings, launch of new games, other financing transactions, and cost control. See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—B. Liquidity and Capital Resources—Cash Flows and Working Capital.” There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully complete any such transaction or conduct any cost control measure with results favorable to us, or at all. If we are unable to obtain the necessary financing, we may need to license or sell our assets, seek to be acquired by another entity and/or cease operations.

Any equity or debt financing may result in dilution to our existing shareholders’ interests or an increase in our debt service obligations. For example, in December 2015, we issued and sold senior secured convertible notes, or the Convertible Notes, in an aggregate principal amount of US$40,050,000 to Splendid Days Limited, or Splendid Days, in three tranches at initial conversion prices of US$2.6, US$5.2 and US$7.8 per ADS, respectively. In connection with the sale of Convertible Notes, we also issued warrants, or the Warrants, in an aggregate principal amount of US$9,950,000 to Splendid Days in four tranches at initial exercise prices of US$1.5, US$2.6, US$5.2 and US$7.8 per ADS, respectively. In addition, in December 2015, we obtained an entrusted loan of approximately RMB31.6 million from a third party. In 2016, we obtained bank loans of approximately RMB25.0 million (US$3.63.8 million). which was subsequently fully repaid in 2017. See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—B. Liquidity and Capital Resources—Cash Flows and Working Capital.” In June 2017, we entered into a share purchase agreement with each of Ark Pacific Special Opportunities Fund I, L.P., or AP Fund, and Incsight Limited, or Incsight, which is wholly owned by Mr. Jun Zhu, our chairman and chief executive officer, for the issuance and sale of a total of 25,000,000 ordinary shares, par value of US$0.01, for a total consideration of US$30 million. We have issued 12,500,000 unpaid ordinary shares to AP Fund and 12,500,000 unpaid ordinary shares to Incsight in June 2017, respectively. In February 2018, AP Fund assigned its rights and obligations under the share purchase agreement as a whole as well as 12,500,000 unpaid ordinary shares to a third party, Jupiter Explorer Limited, or Jupiter, and Jupiter assumed all the rights and obligations of AP Fund under the share purchase agreement. Pursuant to the share purchase agreement, these shares will be subject to redemption rights of the subsidiary of AP Fund and Incsight as long as long as the market price of our ADSs fails to reach a floor price. Both transactions are subject to customary closing conditions and have not been completed as of the date of this annual report. The Convertible Notes and the aforesaid loans significantly increased our debt obligations and any conversion or exercise, as applicable, of the Convertible Notes and Warrants by Splendid Days and any issuance of new shares may cause significant dilution to our existing shareholders’ interest in our company.

Our ability to make scheduled payments of the principal of, to pay interest on or to refinance, our indebtedness, including the Convertible Notes, depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive and other factors beyond our control. For example, in June 2016, Asian Development Limited, or Asian Development, our wholly-owned subsidiary, borrowed a loan of HK$92.3 million (US$11.9 million) from a financial services company, which is secured by a pledge of shares of L&A International Holding Limited, or L&A. As Asian Development is currently in default of the loan due to a sharp decline in the share price of L&A, the lender is entitled to foreclose the pledged L&A shares. If the market value of the pledged shares cannot cover the total outstanding amount owed by Asian Development to the lender, the lender may also make a claim against Asian Development for any outstanding amounts of the loan. As of the date of this annual report, we had not received any claims from the lender against Asian Development. Our business may not generate cash flow from operations in the future sufficient to service our debt and make necessary capital expenditures. If we are unable to generate such cash flow, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as selling assets, restructuring debt or obtaining additional equity capital. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, which could result in a default on our debt obligations. Incurrence of additional indebtedness could also result in operating and financing covenants restricting our business operations. In addition, we cannot assure you that any such future financing will be available to us in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all. If we fail to obtain sufficient financing to fund our capital needs, our business, financial condition and results or operations could be materially and adversely affected.

The Convertible Notes are subject to redemption rights by holders upon a change of control of our company or an event of default, and they contain covenants that may restrict our ability to declare dividends and our operational and financial flexibility.

In December 2015, we completed the issuance and sale of the Convertible Notes. Pursuant to the terms of the Convertible Notes, if we undergo a change of control, holders of the Convertible Notes will be entitled to require us to redeem all or part of the Convertible Notes, at a price payable in cash equal to 100% of the outstanding principal amount of the Convertible Notes, plus all accrued and unpaid interests thereon, if any. The Convertible Notes define a “change of control” to include: (1) our company’s consolidation with, or merger with or into, any other company, and vice versa; (2) our company disposing of all or substantially all of its assets; (3) the adoption of a plan relating to the liquidation or dissolution of our company; or (4) Mr. Jun Zhu, our chairman and chief executive officer, ceasing to directly or indirectly own 20% or more of the total outstanding and issued shares of our company on a fully-diluted andas-converted basis. In addition, pursuant to the terms of the Convertible Notes, if there is a continuing event of default, the holders will be entitled to declare any of the Convertible Notes immediately due and payable, and request redemption by us at a price equal to the outstanding principal amount plus all accrued and unpaid interests thereon, if any. “Events of default” as defined in the Convertible Notes include, among other things, an event of default of any indebtedness of our company or our principal subsidiaries in the amount exceeding US$500,000, and the delisting of our ADSs from the Nasdaq Global Market. In March 2017, AP Fund has provided us with a waiver agreement waiving its right to declare the Convertible Notes immediately due and payable and request redemption as a result of the default of Asian Development under the HK$92.3 million loan.If there is a change of control of our company and any event of default under the Convertible Notes, and our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligation, we may be forced to reduce or delay investments and capital expenditures, or to sell assets, seek additional capital or restructure or refinance our indebtedness. These alternative measures may not be successful and may not permit us to meet our scheduled debt service obligations, which could cause a material and adverse impact on our operations and financial results.

In addition, the Convertible Notes contains covenants that may limit our financial and operating flexibility. The covenants restrict our ability to, among other things, (1) make dividend or other distribution to our shareholders, and (2) sell or dispose of certain assets, if such action would result in an event of default under the Convertible Notes. As a result of the covenants, our ability to pay dividends or other distributions on our ordinary shares, including those represented by ADSs, may be limited. These covenants could also restrict our ability to raise additional capital in the future through bank borrowings and debt and equity issuances and may restrict our ability to engage in some transactions that we expect to be of benefit to us.

Certain ordinary shares issued in private placement are subject to redemption rights of our investors. If such investors exercise the redemption rights upon the occurrence of triggering event, our liquidity will be reduced.

In June 2017, we entered into a share purchase agreement with each of AP Fund and Incsight, respectively, pursuant to which we would issue and sell 12,500,000 ordinary shares of the Company, par value of US$0.01, at a per share price of US$1.2 to each of AP Fund and Incsight for an aggregate consideration of US$30 million.AP Fund is controlled by its general partner, Ark Pacific Investment Management Limited, or AP Management. Incsight is controlled and wholly owned by Mr. Jun Zhu, our chairman and executive officer. AP Management and Mr. Jun Zhu have been our major shareholders prior to such transactions. We have issued 12,500,000 unpaid ordinary shares to AP Fund and 12,500,000 unpaid ordinary shares to Incsight in June 2017, respectively. In February 2018, AP Fund assigned its rights and obligations under the share purchase agreement as a whole as well as 12,500,000 unpaid ordinary shares to Jupiter, a third party, and Jupiter assumed all the rights and obligations of AP Fund under the share purchase agreement. Both transactions are subject to customary closing conditions and have not been completed yet.

After the transactions described above complete, we will be subject to certain redemption rights of the investors in accordance with these agreements. Pursuant to these agreements, if (i) the rolling volume weighted average price of our ADS is below US$4.0 per ADS for any given 30 consecutive trading day period within the second year after the closing or (ii) any “Early Redemption Event” occurs within two years after the closing, Jupiter or Incsight may require us to redeem all of the ordinary shares issued under these agreement, at a price payable in cash equal to 120% of the purchase price. “Early Redemption Event” is defined to include, among other things, (1) the delisting or suspension of trading for more than 10 business days of our ADSs, (2) an event of default of any indebtedness of our group company in the amount exceeding US$500,000 that result in the accelerated repayment, our company’s consolidation with, or merger with or into, any other company, and vice versa; (3) Mr. Jun Zhu, our chairman and chief executive officer, ceasing to directly or indirectly own 20% or more of the total outstanding and issued shares of our company on a fully-diluted andas-converted basis; (4) material breach of the share purchase agreement or ancillary agreements by us or our Hong Kong subsidiary; and (5) insolvency of us, our Hong Kong subsidiary or other principal subsidiary. If our the market price of ADSs does not meet the floor price or any Early Redemption Event occurs within the specified period of time, we may be required to divert significant amount of cash to perform the redemption obligation, and therefore be forced to reduce or delay the expenditure in business operations or investment. We may also need to obtain additional financing for the payment of redemption price. Occurrence of any of the foregoing may materially and significantly affect our operations and financial results.

The Convertible Notes are secured by, among other things, a pledge of our 100% equity interest in The9 Computer, which may result in our loss of control over Shanghai IT if we default under the Convertible Notes.

The Convertible Notes are secured by a pledge of our 100% equity interest in each of The9 Computer Technology Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., or The9 Computer, and China The9 Interactive (Shanghai) Limited, or C9I Shanghai, our wholly-owned subsidiaries in China. Each of The9 Computer and C9I Shanghai holds a significant portion of our assets and operations in China, and The9 Computer possesses the effective control over Shanghai IT, the affiliated PRC entity that operates our online game business and other ICP related businesses, through a series of contractual arrangements. If we default under the Convertible Notes in the future, the holders may enforce their claims against our equity interests in these two wholly-owned subsidiaries to satisfy our obligations under the Convertible Notes. In such an event, the holders could gain ownership of all the equity interests in The9 Computer and C9I Shanghai, and, as a result, own and control these subsidiaries as well as Shanghai IT. As we conduct substantially all of our operations in China through Shanghai IT, if we default under the Convertible Notes, we could lose control or ownership of our assets and operations in China, which would materially and adversely affect our operations and financial results. In addition, the Convertible Notes are also secured by a mortgage over our office building in Shanghai, which we currently use as our principal executive offices.

Illegal game servers, unauthorized character enhancements and other infringements of our intellectual property rights, as well as theft ofin-game goods, could harm our business and reputation and materially and adversely affect our results of operation.

With the increase in the number of online game players in China, we face the risks of illegal game servers, unauthorized character enhancements and other infringements of our intellectual property rights as well as the risk of theft ofin-game goods purchased by our customers. Although we have adopted a number of measures to address illegal server usage, misappropriation of our game server installation software and the establishment of illegal game servers could harm our business and reputation and materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

From time to time, we have detected a number of players who have gained an unfair advantage by installing tools that fraudulently facilitate character progression. We have installed software patches designed to prevent unauthorized modifications to our execution files. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to identify and eliminate new illegal game servers, unauthorized character enhancements or other infringements of our intellectual property rights in a timely manner, or at all. The deletion of unauthorized character enhancements requires the affected players to restart with a new character from the starting level, and this may cause some of these players to cease playing the game altogether. If we are unable to eliminate illegal servers, unauthorized character enhancements or suffer other infringement of our intellectual property rights, our players’ perception of the reliability of our games may be negatively impacted, which may reduce the number of players using our games, shorten the lifespan of our games and adversely affect our results of operations.

Our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by the downturn in the global or Chinese economy.

Our operations are primarily conducted in China and a significant majority of our revenues are sourced from China. Accordingly, our results of operations, financial condition and prospects are influenced by economic, political and legal developmentsdevelopment in China. Although the Chinese economy has grown significantly in the past decade, it hasits growth started to slow down since 2012. 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. Subsequent to the financial crisis in 2008, there has been considerable uncertainty over the long-term effects of the expansionary monetary and fiscal policies adopted by the central banks and financial authorities of some of the world’s leading economies, including the United States and China. There have been concerns over unrest and terrorist threats in the Middle East and Africa, which have resulted in volatility in oil and other markets, and over the conflicts involving Ukraine and Syria. There have also been concerns on the relationship among China and other Asian countries, which may result in or intensify potential conflicts in relation to territorial disputes. Any prolonged slowdown in the global or Chinese economy or the recurrence of any financial disruptions in any jurisdiction may significantly restrict our ability to obtain financing in the capital markets or from financial institutions on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. In addition, our customers may reduce, delay or cease discretionary spending on our products and services, while we may have difficulty expanding our customer base fast enough, or at all, to offset the impact of decreased spending by our existing customers.

We face the risks of changing consumer preferences and uncertainty about market acceptance of our new products.

The online game industry is constantly evolving in China. Customer demand for and market acceptance of our online games is subject to a high degree of uncertainty. Our future operating results will depend on numerous factors beyond our control. These factors include, among others:

Our ability to plan for product development and distribution and promotional activities will be significantly affected by our ability to anticipate and adapt to relatively rapid changes in consumer tastes and preferences. We currently offer and develop online games, primarily a massively multiplayer online first-person shooter game, or MMOFPS, mobile games and a web game, as well as TV games. A decline in the popularity of the types of games we offer or develop could adversely affect our business and prospects.

We may not be able to recover our market share and profitability as we operate in a highly competitive industry with numerous competitors.

There are numerous online game operators in China. Given the relatively low entry barriers, an increasing number of companies have entered the online game industry in China and a wider range of online games have been introduced to the Chinese market, and we expect this trend to continue. Our competitors vary in size and include large companies, many of which have significantly greater financial, marketing and game development resources and name recognition than we have, such as Tencent Holdings Limited, Shanda Games Limited, NetEase, Inc., Happy-elements Inc., Giant Interactive Group Inc., Changyou.com Limited and Perfect World Co., Ltd. As a result, we may not be able to devote the same degree of resources as our competitors do to designing, developing, licensing or acquiring new games, undertaking extensive marketing campaigns, adopting aggressive pricing policies, paying high compensation to game developers or compensating independent game developers. Our competitors may introduce new business methods, technologies or gaming platforms from time to time. If these new business methods, technologies or gaming platforms are more attractive to customers than what we offer, our customers may switch to our competitors’ games, and we may lose market share. We cannot assure you that we will be able to compete successfully against new or existing competitors, or against new business methods, technologies or gaming platforms implemented by them. In addition, the increasing competition we experience in the online game industry may also reduce the number of our users or the growth rate of our user base or reduce the game points spending forin-game premiums. All of these competitive factors could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and prevent us from recovering market share and profitability.

If we or our joint ventures fail to renew or acquire new online game licenses on favorable terms or at all, our future results of operations and profitability may be materially impacted.

In addition to developing and offering our own proprietary games, we and our joint ventures also seek to offer games licensed from game licensors. For example, in November 2015, our joint venture Oriental Shiny obtained an exclusive license from Smilegate to publish and operate CrossFire 2 in China for an initial term of three years. Smilegate is currently in the process of developing CrossFire 2. Historically, we have operated a number of games licensed from game licensors, most of which already expired.expired or terminated. There is no assurance that we or our joint ventures will be able to acquire new online game licenses or favorable terms or at all, or that we or our joint ventures will be able to renew the game licenses upon their expiration.

We and our joint ventures need to renew existing licenses and may need to obtain new online game licenses, and any failure to do so on favorable terms or at all may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Online game developers may not grant or continue to grant licenses to us or our joint ventures due to commercial or other reasons. For example, our exclusive license from Smilegate Entertainment Inc., or Smilegate, to publish and operate CrossFire 2 in China was terminated in 2017 due to the slowdown of massively multiplayer online game market. If we or our joint ventures are unable to maintain a satisfactory relationship with the online game developers that have licensed games to us or our joint ventures, resulting in licenses not being renewed or licenses being prematurely terminated, or should any of these game developers either establish similar or more favorable relationships with our competitors in violation of their contractual arrangements with us or our joint ventures, or otherwise, our operating results and our business would be harmed. We cannot assure you that online game developers will renew their license agreements with us or our joint ventures, or grant us or our joint ventures a license for any new online games that they will develop or make available to us or our joint ventures expansion packs for existing games. Any failure to obtain or renew online game licenses from online game operators could harm our future results of operations or the growth of our business.

If we and our joint venture Oriental Shiny are unable to successfully launch and operate CrossFire 2New Mobile Game in China, our future results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We plan to investhave invested a significant amount of financial and personnel resources in launchingdevelopment of our proprietary CrossFire New Mobile Game and operating CrossFire 2 in China, which was licensed by Smilegatewe expect to our joint venture Oriental Shiny in November 2015 for an initial term of three years, subject to an extension to five years. Oriental Shiny is a joint venture formed by Smilegate and Globe Wealthy Link Limited, or Globe Wealthy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of System Link Corporation Limited, or System Link, our 50%-owned joint venture that we formed with Qihoo 360. CrossFire 2 is the sequel of CrossFire, a first-person-shooter PC onlinelaunch this game in China, and Smilegate is2019. In November 2017, we entered into an exclusive publishing agreement with a third-party company, pursuant to which this third-party company was granted with an exclusive right to publish the developer of both games. Smilegate is currentlyCrossFire New Mobile Game in the process of developing CrossFire 2.China. There is no assurance that CrossFire 2New Mobile Game can be successfully developed, localized, tested and launched, or that once CrossFire 2New Mobile Game is launched, Oriental Shinywe will be able to continue to operate the game at a profit or at all. The relevant Chinese governmental authorities may delay or deny the granting of the approvals required for the open beta test, commercial launch or operation of CrossFire 2New Mobile Game due to the content of the game or other factors. Furthermore, there is no assurance that CrossFire 2New Mobile Game will attract sufficient users and be commercially successful.

In addition, we have made and may continue to make significant financial commitments under the CrossFire 2 license agreement. Pursuant to the CrossFire 2 license agreement, Oriental Shiny and Beijing Zhi’ao Network Technology Co., Ltd., or Beijing Zhi’ao, the PRC entity established to operate CrossFire 2 in China, has paid an initial license fee of US$50 million to Smilegate and may pay additional license fees of up to US$450 million subject to certain development milestones of CrossFire 2 and extension of the term of the license. The payment of license fee is partly guaranteed by us based on our equity interest in System Link. Oriental Shiny and Beijing Zhi’ao are also required to pay to Smilegate royalties, and Globe Wealthy is required to make additional cash contributions to Oriental Shiny as may be necessary for publishing, operating and marketing CrossFire 2. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Arrangements with Smilegate regarding CrossFire 2.” If Oriental Shiny loses the exclusive CrossFire 2 license for failure to meet its financial obligations or other reasons, or if Oriental Shiny is unable to successfully launch and operate CrossFire 2 and generate revenues therefrom enough to offset our CrossFire2-related costs and expenses, our results of operations and financial position may be materially and adversely affected.

Future acquisitions may have an adverse effect on our ability to manage our business and our results of operations.

SelectivePursuing selective acquisitions was a part of our strategy to expand our business in the past. Although we currently may not have the necessary capital to conduct future acquisitions given the significant net loss and negative operating cash flow we have been experiencing, we may opportunistically acquire or invest in assets, businesses or companies that we believe would be beneficial for our company. Any acquisition or investment that we make may divert the attention of our management away from our ordinary course of business and any difficulties encountered in the integration process could have an adverse effect on our ability to manage our business. In addition, our ability to grow through future acquisitions, investments or organic means will also depend on the availability of suitable acquisitions and investment targets at an acceptable cost as well as our ability to compete effectively to attract these candidates. We may face significant competition in acquiring new businesses or companies, which may hinder the execution of our growth strategy. Future acquisitions or investments could result in a potential dilutive issuance of equity securities or the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities, impairment losses or amortization expenses related to goodwill and other intangible assets, each of which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. The benefits of an acquisition or investment may also take considerable time to develop and we cannot be certain that any particular acquisition or investment will produce its intended benefits. Future acquisitions would also expose us to potential risks, including risks associated with the assimilation of new operations, technologies and personnel, unforeseen or hidden liabilities, the diversion of resources from our existing businesses, sites and technologies, the inability to generate sufficient revenue to offset the costs and expenses of acquisitions, and potential loss of, or harm to, our relationships with employees, customers, licensors and other suppliers as a result of the integration of new businesses.

Our equity investments or establishment of joint ventures and any material disputes with our investment or joint venture partners may have an adverse effect on our financial results, business prospects and our ability to manage our business.

From time to time, subject to the availability of the necessary financial resources, we make equity investments into selected targets, such as online game developers, operators or application platforms, or establish joint venture with business partners, to seek business growth opportunities. For example, in August 2014, we formed a joint venture company, System Link, with Qihoo 360, for publishing and operating Firefall, a MMOFPS, in China. In the same month, System Link licensed Firefall from our subsidiary Red 5 Singapore Pte. Ltd., or Red 5 Singapore, for a term of five years. In November 2015, our joint venture Oriental Shiny, which is majority-owned by System Link, obtained an exclusive license from Smilegate to publish and operate CrossFire 2 in China for an initial term of three years, subject to an extension to five years. We may have limited power to direct or otherwise participate in the management of operations and strategies of the companies in which we invest or the joint venture we establish. The diversion of our management’s attention away from our business and any difficulties encountered in managing our interests in the respective investees or joint ventures could have an adverse effect on our ability to manage our business. Any material disputes with our investment or joint venture partners and existing shareholders may also require us to allocate significant corporate and other resources. For example, Red 5 isand its affiliates are currently in dispute with Qihoo 360 and its affiliates regarding System Link and Firefall.Firefall and various legal proceedings have been initiated and are ongoing in connection with such dispute. The process of legal proceedings may be lengthy and costly and may divert the attention of our management. If we cannot settle the dispute with Qihoo 360 and cannot obtain a judgment in favor of us, we may incur additional costs or damages and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. In addition, if our relationship with Qihoo 360 continues to deteriorate and if we fail to identify an alternative partner with similar resources, we may no longer be able to continue to carry out the business conducted through System Link including the operation of CrossFire 2,or its affiliates, and our operating results, business prospect and reputation may be materially and adversely affected.In addition, we may not recover our equity investments if the companies in which we invest do not perform well and equity investments could result in the incurrence of impairment losses, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

Undetected programming errors or flaws in our games could harm our reputation or decrease market acceptance of our games, which would materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

Our games may contain errors or flaws, which may only be discovered after their release, particularly as we launch new games or introduce new features to existing games under tight time constraints. If our games contain programming errors or other flaws, our customers may be less inclined to continue playing our games or to recommend our games to other potential customers, and may switch to our competitors’ games. Undetected programming errors and game defects can disrupt our operations, adversely affect the gaming experience of our users, harm our reputation, cause our customers to stop playing our games, divert our resources and delay market acceptance of our games, any of which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

We may not be able to prevent others from infringing upon our intellectual property rights, which may harm our business and expose us to litigation.

We regard our proprietary software, domain names, trade names, trademarks and similar intellectual properties as critical to our business. Intellectual property rights and confidentiality protection in China may not be as effective as in the United States or other countries. Monitoring and preventing the unauthorized use of proprietary technology is difficult and expensive. The steps we have taken may be inadequate to prevent the misappropriation of our proprietary technology. Any misappropriation could have a negative effect on our business and operating results. We may need to resort to court proceedings to enforce our intellectual property rights in the future. Litigation relating to our intellectual property might result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention away from our business. See “—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could adversely affect us.”

Any delay or failure by the online game platforms or distributors to successfully market or sell our products and services could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We primarily rely on game platforms and distributors to distribute, promote, market and sell our games in China and overseas markets, such as North America and Southeast Asia.China. End users can purchase our virtual currencies and prepaid cards through such game platforms and distributors. A substantial portion of our sales are carried out via such game platforms and distributors. We do not have long-term agreements with any online game platforms or distributors. A delay or failure by the online game platforms or distributors to successfully market or sell our prepaid cards or products may adversely affect our business and results of operations. We cannot assure you that we will continue to maintain favorable relationships with the online game platforms and distributors, and any failure to do so could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

We rely on services and licenses from third parties to carry out our businesses, and if there is any negative development in these services or licenses, our end users may cease to use our products and services.

We rely on third parties for certain services and licenses for our business, including game platforms and distributors for the distribution of our games, and other services and licenses for our operations. For example, we rely on third-party licenses for some of the software underlying our technology platform, and on China Telecom’s Internet data centers for hosting our servers. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Pricing, Distribution and Marketing.”

Any interruption or any other negative development in our ability to rely on these services and licenses, such as material deterioration of quality of the third-party services or the loss of intellectual property relating to licenses held by our licensors, could have a material and adverse impact on our business operations. In particular, our game licensors may be subject to intellectual property rights claims with respect to the games or software licensed to us. If such licensors cannot prevail on the legal proceedings brought against them, we could lose the right to use the licensed games or software. Furthermore, if our arrangements with any of these third parties are terminated or modified against our interest, we may not be able to find alternative solutions on a timely basis or on terms favorable to us. If any of these events occur, our end users may cease using our products and services, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Unexpected network interruptions caused by system failures or other internal or external factors may lead to user attrition, revenue reductions and may harm our reputation.

Any failure to maintain satisfactory performances, reliability, security and availability of our network infrastructure may cause significant harm to our reputation and our ability to attract and maintain users. The system hardware for our operations is located in several cities in China. We maintain our backup system hardware and operate ourback-end infrastructure in Shanghai and Wuxi.Shanghai. Server interruptions, breakdowns or system failures in the cities where we maintain our servers and system hardware, including failures that may be attributable to sustained power shutdowns, or other events within or outside our control that could result in a sustained shutdown of all or a material portion of our services, could adversely impact our ability to service our users.

Our network systems are also vulnerable to damage from computer viruses, fire, flood, earthquake, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer hacking and similar events. We maintain property insurance policies covering our servers, but do not have business interruption insurance.

Our business may be harmed if our technology becomes obsolete or if our system infrastructure fails to operate effectively.

The online game industry is subject to rapid technological change. We need to anticipate the emergence of new technologies and games, assess their acceptance and make appropriate investments. If we are unable to do so, new technologies in online game programming or operations could render our games obsolete or unattractive. In addition, our business may be harmed if we are unable to upgrade our systems fast enough to accommodate fluctuations in future traffic levels, avoid obsolescence or successfully integrate any newly developed or acquired technology with our existing systems. Capacity constraints could cause unanticipated system disruptions and slower response times, affecting data transmission and game play. These factors could, among other things, cause us to lose existing or potential customers and existing or potential game development partners.

We have been and may be subject to future intellectual property rights claims or other claims, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our financial and management resources away from our business.

There is no assurance that our online games, including our mobile games, or other content posted on our websites, whether proprietary or licensed from third parties, do not or will not infringe upon patents, valid copyrights or other intellectual property rights held by third parties. We may be subject to legal proceedings and claims from time to time relating to the intellectual property of others. For example, in May 2012, the People’s Supreme Court of China affirmed a judgment against us and other defendants in a lawsuit filed by Beijing Founder Electronics Co., Ltd., which ruled that WoW client installation packages sold by us in 2007 contained fonts that infringed Beijing Founder Electronics Co., Ltd.’s intellectual property rights. Based on the People’s Supreme Court’s judgment, we were required to compensate Beijing Founder Electronics Co., Ltd. an aggregate amount of RMB2.2 million, which we have fully settled. In June 2013, Beijing No.1 People’s Intermediate Court issued a judgment against us in a lawsuit filed by Diego Maradona, a former Argentina soccer player, which ruled that we infringed Maradona’s personal right by using his name and photos on our game “Winning Goal,” a web and social game we previously operated, without proper authorization. We were required to compensate Maradona an aggregate amount of RMB3.0 million and any accrued interests thereof for late payment. In February 2015, we agreed with the plaintiff to settle the claim with RMB3.3 million, which we have fully paid. See “Item 8. Financial Information—A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information—Legal Proceedings.”

Some of our employees were previously employed at other companies, including our current and potential competitors. We also intend to hire additional personnel to expand our product development and technical support teams. To the extent these employees have been involved in research at our company similar to research in which they had been involved at their former employers, we may become subject to claims that such employees have used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former employers. In addition, our competitors may file lawsuits against us in order to gain an unfair competitive advantage over us.

If any such claim arises in the future, litigation or other dispute resolution proceedings may be necessary to retain our ability to offer our current and future games, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our financial and management resources. Furthermore, if we are found to have violated the intellectual property rights of others, we may be enjoined from using such intellectual property, incur additional costs to license or develop alternative games and be forced to pay fines and damages, each of which may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our operating results may fluctuate due to various factors, and therefore may not be indicative of our future results.

Our operating results have experienced fluctuations from time to time and will likely continue to fluctuate in the future. These fluctuations in operating results depend on a variety of factors, including the timing of new game launches, the expiration or termination of existing game licenses, and acquisition or disposal of subsidiaries. Other factors include the demand for our products and the products of our competitors, the level of usage of illegal game servers, the level of usage of the Internet, the size and rate of growth of the online game market and development and promotional expenses related to the introduction of new products. In addition, because our game software is susceptible to unauthorized character enhancements, we may periodically delete characters that are enhanced with unauthorized modifications. This has caused some affected customers to stop playing the respective game, which, in the aggregate, may cause our operating results to fluctuate.

To a significant degree, our operating expenses are based on planned expenditures and our expectations regarding prospective customer usage. Failure to meet our expectations could disproportionately and adversely affect our operating results in any given period. As a result, our historical operating results may not necessarily be indicative of our future results.

Our business depends substantially on the continuing efforts of our senior executives, and our business may be severely disrupted if we lose their services.

Our business and prospect depend heavily upon the continued services of our senior executives. We rely on their expertise in business operations, technology support and sales and marketing and on their relationships with our shareholders and distributors. We do not maintainkey-man life insurance for any of our key executives. If one or more of our key executives are unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, we may not be able to replace them easily or at all. As a result, our business may be severely disrupted, our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected, and we may incur additional expense to recruit and train personnel.

Each of our executive officers has entered into an employment agreement with us, which contains confidentiality andnon-competition provisions. If any disputes arise between our executive officers and us, we cannot assure you the extent to which any of these agreements could be enforced in China, where these executive officers reside and hold most of their assets, in light of uncertainties with the PRC legal system. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could adversely affect us.”

If we are unable to attract, train and retain key individuals and highly skilled employees, our business may be adversely affected.

Our business relies on our ability to hire and retain additional qualified employees, including skilled and experienced online game developers. Since our industry is characterized by high demand and intense competition for talent, we may need to offer higher compensation and other benefits in order to retain key personnel in the future. We cannot assure you that we will be able to attract or retain the qualified game developers or other key personnel that we will need to achieve our business objectives.

PRC laws and regulations restrict foreign ownership of Internet content provision, Internet culture operation and Internet publishing licenses, and substantial uncertainties exist with respect to the application and implementation of PRC laws and regulations.

We are a Cayman Islands exempted company and, as such, we are classified as a foreign enterprise under PRC laws. Various regulations in China currently restrict foreign or foreign-owned entities from holding certain licenses required in China to provide online game operation services over the Internet, including Internet content provision, or ICP, Internet culture operation and Internet publishing licenses. In light of such restrictions, we primarily rely on Shanghai IT, one of our affiliated PRC entities, to hold and maintain the licenses necessary for the operation of our online games in China.

In July 2006, the Ministry of Information Industry (which has subsequently been reorganized as the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology), or MIIT, issued a notice entitled “Notice on Strengthening Management of Foreign Investment in Operating Value-Added Telecommunication Services,” or the MII Notice, which prohibits ICP license holders from leasing, transferring or selling a telecommunications business operating license to foreign investors in any form, or providing resources, sites or facilities to any foreign investors for their illegal operation of a telecommunications business in China. The notice also requires that ICP license holders and their shareholders directly own the domain names and trademarks used by such ICP license holders in their daily operations. The notice further requires each ICP license holder to have the necessary facilities for its approved business operations and to maintain such facilities in the regions covered by its license. In addition, all value-added telecommunication service providers are required to maintain network and information security in accordance with the standards set forth under relevant PRC regulations. The local authorities in charge of telecommunications services are required to ensure that existing ICP license holders conduct a self-assessment of their compliance with the MII Notice and submit status reports to MIIT before November 1, 2006. Since the MII Notice was issued, we have transferred to Shanghai IT all of the domain names used in our daily operations and certain trademarks used in our daily operations, as required under the MII Notice. All relevant transfers have been completed and relevant approvals have been obtained.

In September 2009, the General Administration of Press and Publication, Radio, Film and Television, or GAPPRFT (formerly known as the General Administration of Press and Publication, or GAPP), promulgated the Circular Regarding the Implementation of the Department Reorganization Regulation by State Council and Relevant Interpretation by State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform to Further Strengthen the Administration ofPre-approval on Online Games and Approval on Import Online Games, or the GAPP Circular, which provides that foreign investors shall not control or participate in PRC online game operation businesses indirectly or in a disguised manner by establishing joint venture companies or entering into relevant agreements with, or by providing technical supports to, such PRC online game operation companies, or by inputting the users’ registration, account management or game card consumption directly into the interconnected gaming platform or fighting platform controlled or owned by the foreign investor. In addition, on February 4, 2016, the GAPPRFT and the MIIT jointly issued the Administrative Measures on Network Publication, or the Network Publication Measures, which took effect in March 2016. Pursuant to the Network Publication Measures, wholly foreign-owned enterprises, Sino-foreign equity joint ventures and Sino-foreign cooperative enterprises shall not engage in the provision of web publishing services, including online game services. Project cooperation involving internet publishing services between an internet publishing service provider and a wholly foreign-owned enterprise, Sino-foreign equity joint venture, or Sino-foreign cooperative enterprise within China or an overseas organization or individual shall be subject to prior examination and approval by the GAPPRFT. It is unclear whether the authorities will deem our VIE structure as a kind of such “manners of cooperation” by foreign investors to gain control over or participate in domestic online game operators, and it is not clear whether GAPPRFT and MIIT have regulatory authority over the ownership structures of online game companies based in China and online game operation in China.

Subject to the interpretation and implementation of the GAPP Circular and the Network Publication Measures, the ownership structure and the business operation models of our PRC subsidiaries and affiliated PRC entities comply with all applicable PRC laws, rules and regulations, and no consent, approval or license is required under any of the existing laws and regulations of China for their ownership structure and business operation models except for those which we have already obtained or which would not have a material adverse effect on our business or operations as a whole. There are, however, substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current or future PRC laws and regulations. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that PRC government authorities will ultimately take a view that is consistent with the opinion of our PRC legal counsel.

For example, the Ministry of Commerce, or MOFCOM, promulgated the Rules of Ministry of Commerce on Implementation of Security Review System of Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors in August 2011, or the MOFCOM Security Review Rules, to implement the Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Establishing the Security Review System for Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors promulgated on February 3, 2011, or Circular No. 6. The MOFCOM Security Review Rules came into effect on September 1, 2011 and replaced the Interim Provisions of the Ministry of Commerce on Matters Relating to the Implementation of the Security Review System for Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors promulgated by MOFCOM in March 2011. According to these circulars and rules, a security review is required for mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors having “national defense and security” concerns and mergers and acquisitions by which foreign investors may acquire the “de facto control” of domestic enterprises having “national security” concerns. In addition, when deciding whether a specific merger or acquisition of a domestic enterprise by foreign investors is subject to the security review, MOFCOM will look into the substance and actual impact of the transaction. The MOFCOM Security Review Rules further prohibit foreign investors from bypassing the security review requirement by structuring transactions through proxies, trusts, indirect investments, leases, loans, control through contractual arrangements or offshore transactions. There is no explicit provision or official interpretation stating that our online game operation services falls into the scope subject to the security review, and there is no requirement for foreign investors in those merger and acquisition transactions already completed prior to the promulgation of Circular No. 6 to submit such transactions to MOFCOM for security review. As we have already obtained the “de facto control” over our affiliated PRC entities prior to the effectiveness of these circulars and rules, we do not believe we are required to submit our existing contractual arrangement to MOFCOM for security review. However, we are advised by our PRC legal counsel that, as there is a lack of clear statutory interpretation on the implementation of these circulars and rules, there is no assurance that MOFCOM will have the same view as we do when applying these national security review-related circulars and rules.rules.

We have been further advised by our PRC counsel that if we, any of our PRC subsidiaries or affiliated PRC entities are found to be in violation of any existing or future PRC laws or regulations, including the MII Notice, the GAPP Circular and the Network Publication Measures, or fail to obtain or maintain any of the required permits or approvals, the relevant PRC regulatory authorities, would have broad discretion in dealing with such violations, including:

The imposition of any of these penalties could result in a material and adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business and on our results of operations. If any of these penalties results in our inability to direct the activities of Shanghai IT that most significantly impact its economic performance, and/or our failure to receive the economic benefits from Shanghai IT, we may not be able to consolidate Shanghai IT in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

We rely on contractual arrangements for our operations and operating licenses in China, which may not be as effective in providing operational control as direct ownership.

Because the PRC government restricts our ownership of ICP, Internet culture operation and Internet publishing businesses in China, we primarily depend on Shanghai IT, in which we have no ownership interest, to operate our online game business and other ICP related businesses, and hold and maintain the requisite licenses. We have relied and expect to continue to rely on contractual arrangements to obtain effective control over Shanghai IT. Such contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over the Shanghai IT. From the legal perspective, if Shanghai IT fails to perform its obligations under the contractual arrangements, we may have to incur substantial costs and spend other resources to enforce such arrangements, and rely on legal remedies under PRC law, including seeking specific performance or injunctive relief and claiming damages. For example, if the shareholders of Shanghai IT were to refuse to transfer their equity interests in Shanghai IT to us or our designee when we exercise the call option pursuant to the Call Option Agreement, or if such shareholders otherwise act in bad faith toward us, we may have to take legal action to compel it to fulfill their contractual obligations, which could be time consuming and costly.

These contractual arrangements are governed by PRC law and provide for the resolution of disputes through arbitration in the PRC. The legal environment in the PRC is not as developed as in some other jurisdictions, such as the United States. As a result, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. In particular, a recently released draft version of the PRC Foreign Investment Law from the MOFCOM may have a substantial impact on our corporate structure as well as our business operations. See “—Substantial“ —Substantial uncertainties exist with respect to the enactment timetable, interpretation and implementation of the draft PRC Foreign Investment Law and how it may impact the viability of our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business operations.” We have historically derived significant revenues from Shanghai IT. For the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2016,2017, Shanghai IT contributed 66.4%74.1%, 74.1%60.4% and 60.4%25.8%, respectively, of our total revenues. In the event we are unable to enforce the contractual arrangements, we may not be able to have the power to direct the activities that most significantly affect the economic performance of Shanghai IT, and our ability to conduct our business may be negatively affected, and we may not be able to consolidate the financial results of Shanghai IT into our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

We believe that our option to purchase all or part of the equity interests in Shanghai IT, when and to the extent permitted by PRC law, or request any existing shareholder of Shanghai IT to transfer all or part of the equity interest in Shanghai IT to another PRC person or entity designated by us at any time in our discretion, and the rights under the Shareholder Voting Proxy Agreement that the shareholders of Shanghai IT have granted to us, effectively enable us to have the ability to cause the related contractual arrangements to be renewed when needed. However, if we are not able to effectively enforce these agreements or otherwise renew the relevant agreements when they expire, our ability to receive the economic benefits of Shanghai IT may be adversely affected.

Our ability to enforce the Equity Pledge Agreements between us and the shareholders of Shanghai IT may be subject to limitations based on PRC laws and regulations.

Pursuant to the Equity Pledge Agreements with the shareholders of Shanghai IT, such shareholders agreed to pledge their equity interests in Shanghai IT to secure their performance under the relevant contractual arrangements. The equity pledges of Shanghai IT under these Equity Pledge Agreements have been registered with the relevant local administration for industry and commerce pursuant to the new PRC Property Rights Law. According to the PRC Property Rights Law and PRC Guarantee Law, the pledgee and the pledgor are prohibited from making an agreement prior to the expiration of the debt performance period to transfer the ownership of the pledged equity to the pledgee when the obligor fails to pay the debt due. However, under the PRC Property Rights Law, when an obligor fails to pay its debt when due, the pledgee may choose to either conclude an agreement with the pledgor to obtain the pledged equity or seek payments from the proceeds of the auction orsell-off of the pledged equity. If Shanghai IT or its shareholders fail to perform their obligations secured by the pledges under the Equity Pledge Agreements, one remedy in the event of default under the agreements is to require the pledgors to sell the equity interests of Shanghai IT in an auction or private sale and remit the proceeds to our wholly-owned subsidiaries in China, net of related taxes and expenses. Such an auction or private sale may not result in our receipt of the full value of the equity interests in Shanghai IT. We consider it very unlikely that the public auction process would be undertaken since, in an event of default, our preferred approach is to ask The9 Computer, our PRC wholly-owned subsidiary and a party to the Call Option Agreement, to replace or designate another PRC person or entity to replace the existing shareholders of Shanghai IT pursuant to the direct transfer option we have under the option agreement.

In addition, in the registration forms of the local branch of State Administration for Industry and Commerce for the pledges over the equity interests under the Equity Pledge Agreements, the amount of registered equity interests in Shanghai IT pledged to us was stated as RMB23.0 million, which represent 100% of the registered capital of Shanghai IT. The Equity Pledge Agreements with the shareholders of Shanghai IT provide that the pledged equity interest shall constitute continuing security for any and all of the indebtedness, obligations and liabilities under all of the contractual arrangements and the scope of pledge shall not be limited by the amount of the registered capital of Shanghai IT. However, it is possible that a PRC court may take the position that the amount listed on the equity pledge registration forms represents the full amount of the collateral that has been registered and perfected. If this is the case, the obligations that are supposed to be secured under the Equity Pledge Agreements in excess of the amount listed on the equity pledge registration forms could be determined by the PRC court as unsecured debt, which takes last priority among creditors and often does not have to be paid back at all. We do not have agreements that pledge the assets of Shanghai IT for the benefit of us.

Our contractual arrangements with our affiliated entities may result in adverse tax consequences to us.

We could face material and adverse tax consequences if the PRC tax authorities determine that our contractual arrangements with Shanghai IT and our other affiliated entities were not made on reasonable or arm’s length commercial terms or otherwise. If this were to occur, they may adjust our income and expenses for PRC tax purposes in the form of a transfer pricing adjustment. A transfer pricing adjustment could result in a reduction, for PRC tax purposes, of costs and expenses recorded by our affiliated entities, which could adversely affect us by: (i) increasing the tax liability of our affiliated entities without reducing our other PRC subsidiaries’ tax liability, which could further result in late payment fees and other penalties to our affiliated entities for underpaid taxes; or (ii) limiting the abilities of our affiliated entities to maintain preferential tax treatments and other financial incentives.

We may not be able to get approval for renewing our current foreign games, or for licensing new foreign games, if the PRC regulatory authorities promote a policy of domestic online or mobile game development and tighten approval criteria for online or mobile game imports.

We license and operate foreign games and may continue to do so in the near future. In the past, such foreign games mainly included MMORPGsmassively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) or casual games. With mobile social gaming being one of our new businesses, we also license foreign mobile games. Since 2004, relevant government authorities have promulgated several circulars, according to which the development of domestically developed online games, including mobile games, will be strategically supported by the PRC government. For example, in July 2005, MIIT and the Ministry of Culture issued the Opinion on Development and Management of Online Games, or the Opinion. The Opinion provided that domestic software development companies, network service providers and content providers will be encouraged, guided and supported to develop and promote self-developed and self-owned online games so that such games can take up a leading position in the domestic market and expand into the international market.

The government will also encourage the development of derivative products to domestic online games. In support of this policy, GAPPRFT may tighten approval criteria for online game imports in an effort to protect the development of domestic online game enterprises, as well as to limit the influence of foreign culture on Chinese youth. If GAPPRFT implements such rules and policies, we may not be able to get approval for renewing our current foreign game licenses or for licensing new foreign games, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Failure to obtain or renew approvals or filings for online games and mobile games we operate may adversely affect our operations or subject us to penalties.

The Ministry of Culture has promulgated laws and regulations that require, among other things, (i) the review and prior approval of all new online games licensed from foreign game developers and related license agreements, (ii) the review of patches and updates with substantial changes of games which have already been approved, and (iii) the filing of domestically developed online games. Furthermore, online games, regardless of whether imported or domestic, will be subject to content review and approval by GAPPRFT prior to the commencement of games operations in China. Failure to obtain or renew approvals or complete filings for online games, including mobile games, may materially delay or otherwise affect a game operator’s plan to launch new games, and the operator may be subject to fines, the restriction or suspension of operations of the related games or revocation of licenses in the event that the relevant governmental authority believes that the violation is severe.

We have obtained all the necessary approvals from, and have completed the necessary filings with, the Ministry of Culture and GAPP for operations of applicable games. Consistent with the general practice of the mobile and TV game industry in China, we have not yet completed filings with the Ministry of Culture and GAPPRFT for our mobile and TV games before we commenced our operations. From time to time, we also rely on certain third-party licensors of domestically developed online games to obtain approvals and complete filings with the PRC regulatory authorities. If we or any such third partythird-party licensors fail to obtain the required approvals or complete the filings, we may not be able to continue the operation of such games. If any such negative event occurs, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

The principal shareholders of our affiliated PRC entities have potential conflicts of interest with us, which may adversely affect our business.

Zhimin Lin and Wei Ji, two of our employees, are the principal shareholders of Shanghai IT, one of our affiliated entities. Thus, there may be conflicts of interest between their respective duties to our company as employees and their respective shareholder interests in these affiliated PRC entities. We cannot assure you that when conflicts of interest arise, these persons will act in our best interests or that conflicts of interests will be resolved in our favor. These persons could violate their legal duties, including duties under theirnon-competition or employment agreements with us, by engaging in activities that are not in the best interest in our company, such as diverting business opportunities from us. In any such event, we would have to rely on the PRC legal system to enforce these agreements. Any legal proceeding could result in the disruption of our business, diversion of our resources and the incurrence of substantial costs. See “—Risks“ —Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could adversely affect us.”

Our subsidiaries in China are subject to restrictions on paying dividends or making other payments.

From time to time, we may rely on dividends paid by our subsidiaries in China to fund our operations, such as paying dividends to our shareholders or meeting obligations under any indebtedness incurred by us or our overseas subsidiaries. Current PRC regulations restrict our subsidiaries in China from paying dividends in the following two principal aspects: (i) our subsidiaries in China are only permitted to pay dividends out of their respectiveafter-tax profits, if any, determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations, and (ii) these entities are required to allocate at least 10% of their respectiveafter-tax profits each year, if any, to fund statutory reserve funds until the cumulative total of the allocated reserves reaches 50% of registered capital, and a portion of their respectiveafter-tax profits to their staff welfare and bonus reserve funds as determined by their respective boards of directors or shareholders. These reserves are not distributable as dividends. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Government Regulations.” Further, if these entities incur debt on their behalf in the future, the instruments governing such debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other payments. Our inability to receive dividends or other payments from our PRC subsidiaries may adversely affect our ability to continue to grow our business and make cash or other distributions to the holders of our ordinary shares and ADSs. In addition, failure to comply with relevant State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, regulations may restrict the ability of our subsidiaries to make dividend payments to us. See “—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—PRC regulations relating to the establishment of offshore special purpose companies by PRC residents may subject our PRC resident shareholders or us to penalties and fines, and limit our ability to inject capital into our PRC subsidiaries, limit our subsidiaries’ ability to increase their registered capital, distribute profits to us, or otherwise adversely affect us.”

We could be liable for breaches of security of third-party online payment channels, which may have a material adverse effect on our reputation and business.

Currently, a portion of our online game operation revenues are generated from sales through third-party online payment platforms. In such transactions, secured transmission of confidential information, such as customers’ credit card numbers and expiration dates, personal information and billing addresses, over public networks, in some cases including our website, is essential to maintain consumer confidence. While we have not experienced any material breach of our security measures to date, we cannot assure you that our current security measures are adequate. We do not have control over the security measures of our third-party online payment vendors and we cannot assure you that these vendors’ security measures are adequate or will be adequate with the expected increased usage of online payment systems. Security breaches of the online payment systems that we use could expose us to litigation and possible liability for failing to secure confidential customer information and could harm our reputation, ability to attract customers and ability to encourage customers to purchasein-game items.

Existing major shareholders have substantial control over us and could delay or prevent a change in corporate control.

Incsight Limited, or Incsight, a company wholly-owned by Jun Zhu, our chairman and chief executive officer, and Bosma Limited, or Bosma, the two largest shareholders of our company, collectively own a significant percentage of our outstanding ordinary shares. Incsight and Bosma have entered into a voting agreement to vote together with respect to the election of our directors. See “Item 6. Directors, Senior Management and Employees—C. Board Practices—Voting Agreement.” As a result, these shareholders will continue to exert significant control over all matters requiring shareholder approval, including but not limited to, the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. This voting power could delay or prevent an acquisition of our company on terms that other shareholders may desire. In addition, the rights of minority shareholders and the fiduciary duties of directors in the Cayman Islands may not be as extensive as those in the United States or elsewhere, and the ability to assert shareholder rights may be comparatively limited.

The PRC income tax laws may increase our tax burden or the tax burden on the holders of our shares or ADSs, and tax benefits available to us may be reduced or repealed, causing the value of your investment in us to decrease.

Our subsidiaries and affiliated entities in the PRC are subject to enterprise income tax, or EIT, on the taxable income as reported in their respective statutory financial statements adjusted in accordance with the Enterprise Income Tax Law of the People’s Republic of China, or EIT Law, which was approved by the National People’s Congress on March 16, 2007. The EIT Law went into effect as of January 1, 2008 and was amended on February 24, 2017, which unified the tax rate generally applicable to both domestic and foreign-invested enterprises in the PRC. Our subsidiaries and affiliated entities in the PRC are generally subject to EIT at a statutory rate of 25%. Shanghai IT, our affiliated entity which holds a High and New Technology Enterprise, or HNTE, qualification is entitled to enjoy a 15% preferential EIT rate. However, we cannot assure you that Shanghai IT will meet these criteria and continue to be qualified as an HNTE if we apply to the tax authorities in the future.

Moreover, unlike the tax regulations effective before 2008, which specifically exempted withholding taxes on dividends payable tonon-PRC investors from foreign-invested enterprises in the PRC, the EIT Law and its implementation rules provide that a withholding income tax rate of 10% will be applicable to dividends payable by Chinese companies tonon-PRC-resident enterprises unless otherwise exempted or reduced according to treaties or arrangements between the PRC central government and the governments of other countries or regions. While the Tax Agreement between the PRC and Hong Kong provides dividends paid by a foreign-invested enterprise in the PRC to its corporate shareholder, which is considered a Hong Kong tax resident, will be subject to withholding tax at the rate of 5% of total dividends, this is limited to instances where the corporate shareholder directly holds at least 25% of the shares of the company that is to pay dividends for at least twelve consecutive months immediately prior to receiving the dividends and meets certain other criteria prescribed by the relevant regulations. EntitlementFurthermore, under the Administrative Measures forNon-Resident Enterprises to a lower tax rate on dividends accordingEnjoy Treatments under Tax Treaties,non-resident taxpayers which satisfy the criteria for entitlement to tax treatiestreaty benefits may, at the time of tax declaration or arrangements betweenwithholding declaration through a withholding agent, enjoy the PRC central governmenttax treaty benefits, and governments of other countries or regions is furtherbe subject to approvalfollow-up administration by the tax authorities. If thenon-resident taxpayer does not apply to the withholding agent for the tax treaty benefits, or such taxpayer do not satisfy the criteria for entitlement of tax treaty benefits, the relevantwithholding agent will withhold tax authority.pursuant to the provisions of PRC tax laws.

Furthermore,

In February 2018, the State Administration of Taxation, or SAT promulgatedissued the NoticeAnnouncement of the State Administration of Taxation on HowIssues Relating to Understand and Determine the Beneficial Owners“Beneficial Owner” in Tax AgreementTreaties on issues relating to “beneficial owner” in October 2009,tax treaties, or Circular 601,No. 9, which took effect on April 1, 2018. Circular No. 9 provides detailed guidance forto determine whether the applicant engages in substantive business activities to constitute a “beneficial owner”. When determining whether a residentthe applicant’s status of a contracting state is the “beneficial owner” of an item of income under China’sregarding tax treatments in connection with dividends, interests or royalties in the tax treaties, several factors, including without limitation, whether the applicant is obligated to pay more than 50% of his or her income in the past twelve months to residents in third country or region, whether the business operated by the applicant constitutes the actual business activities, and whether the other country or region to the tax arrangements. Accordingtreaties does not levy any tax or grant tax exemption on relevant incomes at all or levy tax at an extremely low rate, will be taken into account, and it will be analyzed according to Circular 601, a beneficial owner generally must be engaged in substantive business activities. Anthe actual circumstances of the specific cases. If thenon-resident taxpayer does not apply to the withholding agent or conduit company will not be regarded as a beneficial owner and, therefore, will not be qualified for treaty benefits. A conduit company normally refers to a company that is set up for the purposetax treaty benefits, or such taxpayer does not satisfy the criteria to be entitled to tax treaty benefits, the withholding agent should withhold tax pursuant to the provisions of avoiding or reducing taxes or transferring or accumulating profits. In June 2012, SAT further promulgated the Announcement on Determining the Beneficial Owners in Tax Agreement, or Circular 30, which provides that thePRC tax authorities shall make the decision based on a comprehensive consideration of all determining factors provided in Circular 601 rather than the status of a single determining factor.laws. We cannot assure you that any dividends to be distributed by our subsidiaries to us or by us to ournon-PRC shareholders and ADS holders, whose jurisdiction of incorporation has a tax treaty with China providing a different withholding arrangement, will be entitled to the benefits under the relevant withholding arrangement.

In addition, the EIT Law deems an enterprise established offshore but having its management organ in the PRC as a “resident enterprise” that will be subject to PRC tax at the rate of 25% of its global income. Under the Implementation Rules of the EIT Law, the term “management organ” is defined as “an organ which has substantial and overall management and control over the manufacturing and business operation, personnel, accounting, properties and other factors.” On April 22, 2009, the SAT further issued a notice regarding recognizing an offshore-established enterprise controlled by PRC shareholders as a resident enterprise according to its management organ, or Circular 82. According to Circular 82, a foreign enterprise controlled by a PRC company or a PRC company group shall be deemed a PRC resident enterprise, if (i) the senior management and the core management departments in charge of its daily operations are mainly located and function in the PRC; (ii) its financial decisions and human resource decisions are subject to the determination or approval of persons or institutions located in the PRC; (iii) its major assets, accounting books, company seals, minutes and files of board meetings and shareholders’ meetings are located or kept in the PRC; and (iv) more than half of the directors or senior management with voting rights reside in the PRC. On July 27, 2011, SAT issued the Administrative Measures of Enterprise Income Tax of Chinese-Controlled Offshore Incorporated Resident Enterprises (Trial), or SAT Bulletin 45, which was amended in April 2015 and June 2016. SAT Bulletin 45 further clarified the detailed procedures for determining resident status under Circular 82, competent tax authorities in charge and post-determination administration of such resident enterprises. Although our offshore companies are not controlled by any PRC company or PRC company group, we cannot assure you that we will not be deemed to be a “resident enterprise” under the EIT Law and thus be subject to PRC EIT on our global income.

According to the EIT Law and its implementation rules, dividends are exempted from income tax if such dividends are received by a resident enterprise on equity interests it directly owns in another resident enterprise. However, foreign corporate holders of our shares or ADSs may be subject to taxation at a rate of 10% on any dividends received from us or any gains realized from the transfer of our shares or ADSs if we are deemed to be a resident enterprise or if such income is otherwise regarded as income from “sources within the PRC.” The EIT Law empowers the PRC State Council to enact appropriate implementing rules and measures and there is no guarantee that we or our subsidiaries will be entitled to any of the preferential tax treatments. Nor can we assure you that the tax authorities will not, in the future, discontinue any of our preferential tax treatments, potentially with retroactive effect. Any significant increase in the EIT rate under the EIT Law applicable to our PRC subsidiaries and affiliated entities, or the imposition of withholding taxes on dividends payable by our subsidiaries to us, or an EIT levy on us or any of our subsidiaries or affiliated entities registered outside the PRC, or dividends or capital gains received by our shareholders due to shares or ADSs held in us will have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and financial conditions and the value of investments in us.

We are required to pay value added tax as a result of tax reforms in various regions in China and we may be subject to similar tax treatments elsewhere in China.

On November 16, 2011, the Ministry of Finance and the SAT jointly issued the Circular on the Pilot Program for the Collection of Value Added Tax Instead of Business Tax, or Circular 110, and the Circular on the Pilot Program for the Collection of Value Added Tax Instead of Business Tax in the Transportation and Certain Modern Service Sectors in Shanghai, or Circular 111, which became effective on January 1, 2012. Pursuant to Circular 110 and Circular 111, a tax reform pilot program came into effect in Shanghai, which was chosen by the PRC government as the first pilot city for such reform. Starting from January 1, 2012, companies which are designated by Shanghai local tax authorities as operating in certain modern service sectors are required to pay value added tax, or VAT, in lieu of business tax. On July 31, 2012, the Ministry of Finance and the SAT jointly issued the Circular on the Pilot Program for the Collection of Value Added Tax Instead of Business Tax in the Transportation and Certain Modern Service Sectors in Eight Cities and Provinces such as Beijing, or Circular 71, which further extended areas subject to the pilot program to cover eight more provinces. On December 12, 2013, the Ministry of Finance and the SAT jointly issued the Interim Implementation Rules on the Pilot Program for the Collection of Value Added Tax Instead of Business Tax and a series of other rules, which annulled the preceding trial rules and extended applicable areas of the pilot program to the whole country. As a result of such Implementation Rules, some of our services provided by Shanghai IT and The9 Computer are subject to VAT at the rate of 6%. Shanghai IT and The9 Computer, as General VAT Payers under the applicable tax regulations, may reduce their VAT payable amount by the VAT which they paid in connection with its purchasing activities, or its Input VAT. Certain services provided by Wuxi The9 Chuangyou Technology Co. Ltd. and our other PRC subsidiaries or affiliated PRC entities shall be subject to VAT at the rate of 3%, and these companies as Small-scale VAT Payers under the applicable tax regulations may not reduce their VAT payable by their Input VAT. There is significant uncertainty relating to the interpretation and enforcement of such circulars by the national and the local tax authorities and other relevant authorities. Beginning from August 1, 2013, the VAT reform was expanded to all regions in the PRC. As a result, we may be subject to more unfavorable tax treatment with respect to our business operations as a result of the VAT reform, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

On March 23, 2016, the Ministry of Finance and the SAT jointly issued the Circular on the Pilot Program for Overall Implementation of the Collection of Value Added Tax Instead of Business Tax, or Circular 36, which took effect on May 1, 2016. Pursuant to Circular 36, all companies operating in construction, real estate, finance, modern service or other sectors which were required to pay business tax are required to pay VAT in lieu of business tax. As a result of Circular 36, the services provided by Shanghai IT, The9 Computer, C9I Shanghai, Shanghai Fire Wing and The9 Education as general VAT payers will be subject to VAT at the rate of 6%, and the services provided by our other PRC subsidiaries and affiliated PRC entities as small-scale VAT payers will be subject to VAT at the rate of 3%. While as general VAT payers may reduce their VAT payable amount by the VAT which they paid in connection with their purchasing activities, or the Input VAT, those companies as small-scale VAT payers may not reduce their VAT payable amount by their Input VAT. As a result, some of our subsidiaries and affiliated PRC entities may be subject to more unfavorable tax treatment as a result of the tax reform, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Strengthened scrutiny over acquisition transactions by the PRC tax authorities may have a negative impact on our acquisition strategy.

In connection with the EIT Law, the Ministry of Finance and SAT jointly issued, on April 30, 2009, the Notice on Issues Concerning Process of Enterprise Income Tax in Enterprise Restructuring Business, or Circular 59. On December 10, 2009, the SAT issued the Notice on Strengthening the Management on Enterprise Income Tax forNon-resident Enterprises Equity Transfer, or Circular 698. Both Circular 59 and Circular 698 became effective retroactively on January 1, 2008. Under the two circulars,non-PRC-resident enterprises may be subject to income tax on capital gains generated from their transfers of equity interests in PRC resident enterprises. The PRC tax authorities have the discretion under Circular 59 and Circular 698 to make adjustments to the taxable capital gains based on the difference between the fair value of the equity interests transferred and the cost of the investment. In addition, by promulgating and implementing the circulars, the PRC tax authorities have strengthened their scrutiny over the direct or indirect transfer of equity interests in a PRC resident enterprise by anon-PRC-resident enterprise. For example, Circular 698 specifies that the PRC SAT is entitled to redefine the nature of an equity transfer where offshore vehicles are interposed fortax-avoidance purposes and without reasonable commercial purpose.

On February 3, 2015, the SAT issued the Notice on Several Issues regarding Enterprise Income Tax for Indirect Property Transfer byNon-resident Enterprises, or SAT Circular 7, which further specifies the criteria for judging reasonable commercial purpose, and the legal requirements for the voluntary reporting procedures and filing materials in the case of indirect property transfer. SAT Circular 7 has listed several factors to be taken into consideration by tax authorities in determining whether an indirect transfer has a reasonable commercial purpose. However, despite these factors, an indirect transfer satisfying all the following criteria shall be deemed to lack reasonable commercial purpose and be taxable under the PRC laws: (i) 75% or more of the equity value of the intermediary enterprise being transferred is derived directly or indirectly from the PRC taxable properties; (ii) at any time during the one year period before the indirect transfer, 90% or more of the asset value of the intermediary enterprise (excluding cash) is comprised directly or indirectly of investments in the PRC, or 90% or more of its income is derived directly or indirectly from the PRC; (iii) the functions performed and risks assumed by the intermediary enterprise and any of its subsidiaries that directly or indirectly hold the PRC taxable properties are limited and are insufficient to prove their economic substance; and (iv) the foreign tax payable on the gains derived from the indirect transfer of the PRC taxable properties is lower than the potential PRC tax on the direct transfer of such assets. Nevertheless, the indirect transfer falling into the scope of the safe harbor under SAT Circular 7 may not be subject to PRC tax and such safe harbor includes qualified group restructuring, public market trading and tax treaty exemptions. According to SAT Circular 7, where the payer fails to withhold tax in a sufficient amount, the transferor can declare and pay such tax to the tax authority by itself within the statutory time period. Late payment of applicable tax will subject the transferor to default interest.

On October 17, 2017, the SAT released the Public Notice Regarding Issues Concerning the Withholding ofNon-resident Enterprise Income Tax at Source, or SAT Public Notice 37, which further elaborates the relevant implementation rules regarding the calculation, reporting and payment obligations of the withholding tax by thenon-resident enterprises.

Under SAT Circular 7 and SAT Public Notice 37, the entities or individuals obligated to pay the transfer price to the transferor shall be the withholding agent and shall withhold the PRC tax from the transfer price. If the withholding agent fails to do so, the transferor shall report to and pay the PRC tax to the PRC tax authorities. In case neither the withholding agent nor the transferor complies with the obligations under SAT Circular 7 and SAT Public Notice 37, other than imposing penalties such as late payment interest on the transferors, the tax authority may also hold the withholding agent liable and impose a penalty of 50% to 300% of the unpaid tax on the withholding agent, provided that such penalty imposed on the withholding agent may be reduced or waived if the withholding agent has submitted the relevant materials in connection with the indirect transfer to the PRC tax authorities in accordance with SAT Circular 7.7 and SAT Public Notice 37.

Since we may pursue acquisition as one of our growth strategies, and have conducted and may conduct acquisitions involving complex corporate structures, the PRC tax authorities may, at their discretion, adjust the capital gains and impose tax return filing obligations on us or request us to submit additional documentation for their review in connection with any of our acquisitions, thus causing us to incur additional acquisition costs.

We have adopted a shareholders rights plan, which, together with the other anti-takeover provisions of our articles of association, could discourage a third party from acquiring us, which could limit our shareholders’ opportunity to sell their shares, including ordinary shares represented by our ADSs, at a premium.

On January 8, 2009, our board of directors adopted a shareholder rights plan.plan, which was subsequently amended from time to time. Under the rights plan, as amended, one right was distributed with respect to each of our ordinary shares outstanding at the close of business on January 22, 2009. In the event that, subject to limited exceptions, a person or group obtains beneficial ownership of 15% or more of our voting securities (including by acquisition of our ADSs representing ordinary shares), or enters into an acquisition transaction without the approval of our board of directors, such person or group will become the acquiring person under the plan. As a result, these rights will entitle the holders, other than the acquiring person, to purchase upon the exercise of such right the number of our ordinary shares having a market value of two times the then current purchase price associated with the right. For example, at a purchase price of US$19.50 per right, each right not owned by an acquiring person would entitle its holder to purchase US$39.00 worth of our ordinary shares for US$19.50.

This rights plan and the other anti-takeover provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association 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 existing authorized ordinary shares confer on the holders of our ordinary shares equal rights, privileges and restrictions. The shareholders have, by virtue of adoption of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, authorized the issuance of shares of par value of US$0.01 each without specifying any special rights, privileges and restrictions. Therefore, our board of directors may, without further action by our shareholders, issue ordinary shares, or issue shares of such class and attach to such shares special rights, privileges or restrictions, which may be different from those associated with our ordinary shares. Preferred shares could also 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 ordinary shares or preferred shares, the price of our ADSs may fall and the voting and other rights of the holders of our ordinary shares and ADSs may be materially and adversely affected.

We have limited business insurance coverage in China.

The insurance industry in China is still at an early stage of development. Insurance companies in China offer limited business insurance products. As a result, we do not have any business liability or disruption insurance coverage for our operations in China. Any business disruption, litigation or natural disaster might result in our incurring substantial costs and the diversion of our resources.

Some of our subsidiaries, affiliated entities and joint ventures in China engaged in certain business activities beyond the authorized scope of their respective licenses, and if they are subject to administrative penalties or fines, our operating results may be adversely affected.

Some of our subsidiaries, affiliated entities and joint ventures in China engaged in business activities that were not within the authorized scope of their respective licenses in the past. The relevant PRC authorities may impose administrative fines or other penalties for thenon-compliance with the authorized scope of the business licenses, which may in turn adversely affect our operating results.

Failure to achieve and maintain effective internal controls could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and the trading price of our ADSs.

We are subject to reporting obligations under the U.S. securities laws. The Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, has adopted rules requiring public companies to include a report of management in its annual report that contains management’s assessment of the effectiveness of such company’s internal controls over financial reporting.

Our management has concluded that our internal controls over financial reporting were effective as of December 31, 2016.2017. We however were not subject to the requirement to provide an attestation report on our management’s assessment of our internal control over financial reporting as we were not an accelerated filer or a large accelerated filer (as defined in §240.12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act) as of December 31, 2016.2017.

However, if we fail to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting in the future, our management and, if applicable, our independent registered public accounting firm may not be able to conclude that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting at a reasonable assurance level. This could result in a loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial conditions which in turn could negatively impact the trading price of our ADSs and result in lawsuits being filed against us by our shareholders or otherwise harm our reputation. Furthermore, we have incurred and anticipate that we will continue to incur considerable costs and use significant management time and other resources in an effort to comply with Section 404 and other requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

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

As an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and as an audit firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB, our independent registered public accounting firm is required by the laws of the United States to undergo regular inspections by the PCAOB. As our auditor is located in the PRC, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB is currently unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the PRC authorities, our auditor, like other independent registered public accounting firms operating in the PRC, is not currently inspected by the PCAOB. On May 24, 2013, the PCAOB announced that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding on enforcement and cooperation with the CSRC and the PRC Ministry of Finance, or the MOF, which establishes a cooperative framework between the parties for the production and exchange of audit documents relevant to investigations in the United States and China. However, direct PCAOB inspections of independent registered accounting firms in China are still not permitted by Chinese authorities.

The lack of direct PCAOB inspections in China prevents the PCAOB from regularly evaluating audit documentation located in China and its related quality control procedures. As a result, our investors may be deprived of the benefits of the PCAOB’s oversight of our auditors through such inspections. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of our auditors’ work papers in China makes it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our auditor’s audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of China that are subject to PCAOB inspections. Investors may consequently lose confidence in our reported financial information and procedures and the quality of our financial statements.

On December 3, 2012, the SEC issued an order instituting administrative proceedings against five of the largest global public accounting firms relating to work performed in the PRC and such firms’ failure to provide audit work papers to the SEC in this regard. Our independent registered public accounting firm is not one of the accounting firms referenced in the order. On January 22, 2014, an initial administrative law decision was issued, censuring the five accounting firms and suspending four of the five firms from practicing before the SEC for a period of six months. On February 12, 2014, four of thesePRC-based accounting firms appealed to the SEC against this decision. In February 2015, each of the fourPRC-based accounting firms agreed to a censure and to pay a fine to the SEC to settle the dispute and avoid suspension of their ability to practice before the SEC. The settlement requires the firms to follow detailed procedures to seek to provide the SEC with access to Chinese firms’ audit documents via the CSRC. If the firms do not follow these procedures, the SEC could impose penalties such as suspensions, or it could restart the administrative proceedings.

In the event that the SEC restarts the administrative proceedings, depending upon the final outcome, listed companies in the United States with majorsignificant PRC operations may find it difficult or impossible to retain auditors in respect of their operations in the PRC, which could result in financial statements being determined to not be in compliance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, including possible delisting. Moreover, any negative news about the proceedings against these audit firms may cause investor uncertainty regarding China-based, United States-listed companies and the market price of our shares may be adversely affected.

If our independent registered public accounting firm was denied, temporarily, the ability to practice before the SEC and we were unable to timely find another registered public accounting firm to audit and issue an opinion on our financial statements, our financial statements could be determined to not be in compliance with the requirements of the Exchange Act. Such a determination could ultimately lead to the delisting of our ordinary shares from Nasdaq or deregistration from the SEC, or both, which would substantially reduce or effectively terminate the trading of our ADSs in the United States.

We face risks related to health epidemics and other natural disasters.

Our business could be adversely affected by swine or avian influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, or another epidemic or outbreak. Any prolonged recurrence of swine or avian influenza, SARS or other adverse public health developments in China may have a material adverse effect on our business operations. Our operations may be impacted by a number of health-related factors, including, among other things, quarantines or closures of our offices which could severely disrupt our operations, the sickness or death of our key officers and employees and closure of Internet cafés and other public areas where people access the Internet. Any of the foregoing events or other unforeseen consequences of public health problems could adversely affect our business and results of operations. We have not adopted any written preventive measures or contingency plans to combat any future outbreak of swine or avian influenza, SARS or any other epidemic. In addition, other major natural disasters may also adversely affect our business by, for example, causing disruptions of the Internet network or otherwise affecting access to our games, or resulting in damages to our facilities.

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

Our business may be adversely affected by public opinion and government policies in China.

Currently, most of our recurring users are young males, including students. Due to the recent population and higher degree of user loyalty to MMORPGs,mobile games, easy access to personal computers and Internet cafés,mobile devices, and lack of more appealing forms of entertainment in China, many teenagers frequently play online games. This may result in these teenagers spending less time on, or refraining from, other activities, including education and sports. Internet cafés, which are currently the most important outlets for online games, have been criticized by the general public in China as exerting a negative influence on young people. Due primarily to such adverse public reaction, some local governments in China have tightened their regulation of Internet café operations through, among other things, limiting the number of new operating licenses issued and further reducing the hours during which Internet cafés are permitted to be open for business. Also, local and higher-level governmental authorities may from time to time decide to more strictly enforce the customers’ age limit and other requirements relating to Internet cafés as a result of the occurrence of, and the media attention on, gang fights, arson or other incidents in or related to Internet cafés. As a significant portion of our customers’ access our games from Internet cafés, any restrictions placed on Internet café operations could result in a reduction of the amount of time our customers spend on our online games or a reduction or slowdown in the growth of our customer base, thus adversely affecting our business and results of operations.

In April 2007, various governmental authorities, including GAPP, MIIT, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Security, and other relevant authorities jointly issued a circular concerning the mandatory implementation of an “anti-fatigue system” in online games, which aims to protect the physical and psychological health of minors. This circular required all online games to incorporate an “anti-fatigue system” and an identity verification system, both of which have limited the amount of time that a minor or other user may continuously spend playing an online game. We have implemented such “anti-fatigue” and identification systems on all of our online games as required. Since March 2011, various governmental authorities, including MIIT, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Security, and other relevant authorities have jointly launched the “Online Game Parents Guardianship Project for Minors,” which allows parents to require online game operators to take relevant measures to limit the time spent by the minors playing online games and the minors’ access to their online game accounts. On February 5, 2013, the Ministry of Culture, MIIT, GAPP and various other governmental authorities, jointly issued the Working Plan on the Comprehensive Prevention Scheme on Online Game Addiction of Minors, which further strengthens the administration of Internet cafés, reinstates the importance of the “anti-fatigue system” and “Online Game Parents Guardianship Project for Minors” as prevention measures against the online game addiction of minors and orders all relevant governmental authorities to take all necessary actions in implementing such measures. In addition, on December 1, 2016, MOC issued the Circular on Regulating Online Game Operations and Strengthening Interim and Ex Post Regulation, or the MOC Online Games Regulation, which will becomebecame effective on May 1, 2017. Pursuant to the MOC Online Games Regulation, an enterprise engaged in online game operations shall strictly comply with the provisions of the “Online Game Parents Guardianship Project for Minors,” and online game operators are encouraged to set upper limits on the consumption by users who are minors, limit the amount of time that such users are allowed to spend on online games, and take technical measures to block scenes and functions, among other things, that are not suitable for users who are minors. Further strengthening of these systems, or enactment by the PRC government of any additional laws to further tighten its administration over the Internet and online games or its supervision of Internet cafés may result in less time spent by customers or fewer customers playing our online games, which may materially and adversely affect our business results and prospects for future growth.

Adverse changes in economic and political policies of the PRC government could have a material adverse effect on the overall economic growth of China, which could adversely affect our business.

We conduct substantially all of our business operations in China. As the gaming industry is highly sensitive to business and personal discretionary spending, it tends to decline during general economic downturns. Accordingly, our results of operations, financial condition and prospects are subject to a significant degree to economic, political and legal developments in China. China’s economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including with respect to the amount of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources. While the PRC economy has experienced significant growth in the past twenty years, growth has slowed down since 2012 and has been uneven across different regions and among various economic sectors of China. The PRC government has implemented various measures to encourage economic development and guide the allocation of resources. While some of these measures benefit the overall PRC economy, they may also have a negative effect on us. For example, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations that are applicable to us. As the PRC economy is increasingly intricately linked to the global economy, it is affected in various respects by downturns and recessions of major economies around the world. The various economic and policy measures the PRC government enacts to forestall economic downturns or shore up the PRC economy could affect our business.

Although the PRC government has implemented measures emphasizing the utilization of market forces for economic reform, the reduction of state ownership of productive assets and the establishment of improved corporate governance in business enterprises, a substantial portion of productive assets in China are still owned by the PRC government. In addition, the PRC government continues to play a significant role in regulating industry development by imposing industrial policies. The PRC government also exercises significant control over China’s economic growth through the allocation of resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies. These actions, as well as future actions and policies of the PRC government, could materially affect our liquidity and access to capital and our ability to operate our business.

The laws and regulations governing the online game industry in China are developing and subject to future changes. If we fail to obtain or maintain all applicable permits and approvals, our business and operations could be materially and adversely affected.

The online game industry in China is highly regulated by the PRC government. Various regulatory authorities of the PRC central government, such as the State Council, MIIT, GAPPRFT, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Public Security, are empowered to issue and implement regulations governing various aspects of the online games industry.

We are required to obtain applicable permits or approvals from different regulatory authorities in order to provide online games to our customers. For example, an Internet content provider must obtain a value-added telecommunications business operating license for ICP, or ICP License, in order to engage in any commercial ICP operations within China. In addition, an online games operator must also obtain a license from the Ministry of Culture and a license from GAPPRFT in order to distribute games through the Internet. Furthermore, an online game operator is required to obtain approval from the Ministry of Culture in order to distribute virtual currencies for online games such as prepaid value cards, prepaid money or game points. If we fail to obtain or maintain any of the required filings, permits or approvals in the future, we may be subject to various penalties, including fines and the discontinuation or restriction of our operations. Any such disruption in our business operations would materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

As the online gamesgame industry is at an early stage of development in China, new laws and regulations may be adopted from time to time to require additional licenses and permits other than those we currently have, and may address new issues that arise from time to time. As a result, substantial uncertainties exist regarding the interpretation and implementation of current and any future PRC laws and regulations applicable to the online gaming industry. We cannot assure you that we will be able to timely obtain any new license required in the future, or at all. While we believe that we are in compliance in all material respects with all applicable PRC laws and regulations currently in effect, we cannot assure you that we will not be found in violation of any current or future PRC laws and regulations.

Regulation and censorship of information disseminated over the Internet in China may adversely affect our business, and we may be liable for information displayed on, retrieved from, or linked to our Internet websites.

The PRC government has adopted certain regulations governing Internet access and the distribution of news and other information over the Internet. Under these regulations, Internet content providers and Internet publishers are prohibited from posting or displaying over the Internet content that, among other things, violates PRC laws and regulations, impairs the national dignity of China, or is obscene, superstitious, fraudulent or defamatory. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in the revocation of ICP and other required licenses and the closure of the concerned websites. The website operator may also be held liable for such prohibited information displayed on, retrieved from or linked to such website.

The Ministry of Culture has promulgated laws and regulations that reiterate the government’s policies to prohibit the distribution of games with violence, cruelty or other elements that are believed to have the potential effect of instigating crimes, and to prevent the influx of harmful cultural products from overseas.

The Ministry of Culture has promulgated laws and regulations that require, among other things, (i) the review and prior approval of all new online games licensed from foreign game developers and related license agreements, (ii) the review of patches and updates with substantial changes of games which have already been approved, and (iii) the filing of domestically developed online games. Furthermore, online games, regardless of whether imported or domestic, will be subject to content review and approval by GAPPRFT prior to the commencement of games operations in China. Failure to obtain or renew approvals or to complete filings for online games, including mobile games, may materially delay or otherwise affect game operator’s plans to launch new games, and the operator may be subject to fines, restriction or suspension of operations of the related games or revocation of licenses in the event that the relevant governmental authority believes that the violation is severe. We obtained the necessary approvals from and completed necessary filings with the Ministry of Culture and GAPP for operations of our games as applicable. Consistent with the general practice of the mobile and TV game industry in China, we have not yet completed filings with the Ministry of Culture and GAPPRFT for our mobile and TV games before we commenced our operations. If any such negative event occurs, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

In addition, MIIT has published regulations that subject website operators to potential liability for content included on their websites and the actions of users and others using their websites, including liability for violations of PRC laws prohibiting the dissemination of content deemed to be socially destabilizing. The Ministry of Public Security has the authority to order any local Internet service provider to block any Internet website maintained outside China at its sole discretion. Periodically, the Ministry of Public Security has stopped the dissemination over the Internet of information which it believes to be socially destabilizing. The State Secrecy Bureau, which is directly responsible for the protection of State secrets of the PRC government, is authorized to block any website it deems to be leaking state secrets or failing to meet the relevant regulations relating to the protection of state secrets in the dissemination of online information.

As these regulations are subject to interpretation by the relevant authorities, it may not be possible for us to determine in all cases the type of content that could result in liability for us as a website operator. In addition, we may not be able to control or restrict the content of other Internet content providers linked to or accessible through our websites, or content generated or placed on our websites by our users, despite our attempt to monitor such content. To the extent that regulatory authorities find any portion of our content objectionable, they may require us to limit or eliminate the dissemination of such information or otherwise curtail the nature of such content on our websites, which may reduce our user traffic and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we may be subject to significant penalties for violations of those regulations arising from information displayed on, retrieved from or linked to our websites, including a suspension or shutdown of our operations.

Future movements in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the RMB may adversely affect the value of our ADSs.

We are exposed to foreign exchange risk arising from various currency exposures. A portion of our financial assets and liabilities, primarily the Convertible Notes, and our profit or loss in Red 5 are denominated in U.S. dollars while currently a significant portion of our revenues are denominated in RMB, the legal currency in China. We have not used any forward contracts or currency borrowings to hedge our exposure to foreign currency risk. The value of the RMB against the U.S. dollar and other currencies may fluctuate and is affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions and China’s foreign exchange policies. On July 21, 2005, the PRC government changed itsdecade-old policy of pegging the value of the RMBRenminbi to the U.S. dollar. Under the new policy, the RMB is permitted to fluctuate within a managed band based on market supply and demand and by reference to a basket of certain foreign currencies. Since the change in policy in July 2005, the RMB 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 the RMB and the U.S. dollar remained within a narrow band. In June 2010, the People’s Bank of China announced that the PRC government would reform the RMB exchange rate regime and increase the flexibility of the exchange rate. Between June 30, 2010 and December 30, 2011, the value of the RMB appreciated approximately 7.2% against the U.S. dollar. On April 16, 2012, the People’s Bank of China further enlarged the floating band of RMB’s trading prices against the U.S. dollar in the inter-bank spot foreign exchange market from 0.5% to 1% around the middle rate released by the China Foreign Exchange Trade System each day. There remains significant international pressure on the PRC government to adopt a more lenient RMB policy, which could result in further appreciation of RMB against other major currencies. It is difficult to predict how long the current situation may last and when and how RMB exchange rates may change going forward. Renminbi was added to its group of global reserve currencies by The International Monetary Fund on November 30, 2015, which makes Renminbi to some extent more susceptible to market forces.

A significant portion of our revenues and costs are denominated in RMB, while a portion of our financial assets and liabilities are denominated in U.S. dollars. We rely substantially on dividends and other fees paid to us by our subsidiaries and affiliated entities in China. Any significant appreciation of RMB against the U.S. dollar may adversely affect our cash flows, revenues, earnings and financial position, and the value of, and any dividends payable on, our ADSs in U.S. dollars. For example, an appreciation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar would make any new RMB denominated investments or expenditures more costly to us, to the extent that we need to convert U.S. dollars into RMB for such purposes. An appreciation of RMB against the U.S. dollar would also result in foreign currency translation losses for financial reporting purposes when we translate our U.S. dollar denominated financial assets into RMB, as RMB is our reporting currency. Conversely, a significant depreciation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar may significantly reduce the U.S. dollar equivalent of our earnings, which in turn could adversely affect the price of our ADSs.

Restrictions on currency exchange in China limit our ability to utilize our revenues effectively, make dividend payments and meet our foreign currency denominated obligations.

Currently, a significant portion of our revenues are denominated in RMB. Restrictions on currency exchange in China limit our ability to utilize revenues generated in RMB to fund our business activities outside China, make dividend payments in U.S. dollars, or obtain and remit sufficient foreign currency to satisfy our foreign currency-denominated obligations, such as paying license fees and royalty payments. The principal regulation governing foreign currency exchange in China is the Foreign Exchange Administration Rules (1996), as amended. Under such rules, the RMB is generally freely convertible for trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions, but not for direct investment, loans or investment in securities outside China unless the prior approval of SAFE or designated banks is obtained. Although the PRC government regulations now allow greater convertibility of RMB for current account transactions, significant restrictions still remain. For example, foreign exchange transactions under our PRC subsidiaries’ capital account, including principal payments in respect of foreign currency-denominated obligations, remain subject to significant foreign exchange controls and the approval of SAFE.SAFE or designated banks. These limitations could affect our ability to obtain foreign exchange for capital expenditures. We cannot be certain that the PRC regulatory authorities will not impose more stringent restrictions on the convertibility of the RMB, especially with respect to foreign exchange transactions.

PRC regulations relating to the establishment of offshore special purpose companies by PRC residents may subject our PRC resident shareholders or us to penalties and fines, and limit our ability to inject capital into our PRC subsidiaries, limit our subsidiaries’ ability to increase their registered capital, distribute profits to us, or otherwise adversely affect us.

On July 4, 2014, SAFE issued the Circular on Several Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Administration of Domestic Residents Engaging in Overseas Investment, Financing and Round-Trip Investment via Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 37. SAFE Circular 37 and its detailed guidelines require PRC residents to register with the local branch of SAFE before contributing their legally owned onshore or offshore assets or equity interest into any special purpose vehicle, or SPV, directly established, or indirectly controlled, by them for the purpose of investment or financing. SAFE Circular 37 further requires that when there is (a) any change to the basic information of the SPV, such as any change relating to its individual PRC resident shareholders, name or operation period or (b) any material change, such as increase or decrease in the share capital held by its individual PRC resident shareholders, a share transfer or exchange of the shares in the SPV, or a merger or split of the SPV, the PRC resident must register such changes with the local branch of SAFE on a timely basis.

We have requested all of our shareholders who, based on our knowledge, are PRC residents or whose ultimate beneficial owners are PRC residents to comply with all applicable SAFE registration requirements. However, we have no control over our shareholders. We cannot assure you that the PRC beneficial owners of our company and our subsidiaries have completed the required SAFE registrations or complied with other related requirements. Nor can we assure you that they will be in full compliance with the SAFE registration in the future. Anynon-compliance by the PRC beneficial owners of our company and our subsidiaries may subject us or such PRC resident shareholders to fines and other penalties. It may also limit our ability to contribute additional capital to our PRC subsidiaries and our subsidiaries’ ability to distribute profits or make other payments to us.

Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could adversely affect us.

We conduct our business primarily through our subsidiaries and consolidated affiliated entities incorporated in China. These entitiesOur PRC subsidiaries are generally subject to laws and regulations applicable to foreign investment in China and, in particular, laws applicable to wholly-foreign ownedwholly-foreign-owned enterprises. We entered into a series of contractual arrangements with our consolidated affiliated entities in PRC to exercise effective control over these entities. Almost all of thesethe agreements under those contractual arrangements are governed by PRC law and disputes arising out of these agreements are expected to be decided by arbitration in China. The PRC legal system is based on written statutes. Prior court decisions may be cited for reference but have limited precedential value. PRC legislation and regulations have significantly enhanced the protections afforded to various forms of foreign investments in China for the past decades. However, since the PRC legal system continues to rapidly evolve, the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules are not always uniform and enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules involves uncertainties, which may limit legal protections available to us. In addition, any litigation in China may be protracted and result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention.

Substantial uncertainties exist with respect to the enactment timetable, interpretation and implementation of the draft PRC Foreign Investment Law and how it may impact the viability of our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business operations.

In January 2015, MOFCOM published a draft of the proposed Foreign Investment Law, or Draft FIL. If enacted, the Draft FIL would replace the existing laws regulating foreign investment in China and harmonize the regulations governing both foreign invested enterprises and PRC domestic entities. However, foreign invested enterprises that operate in industries deemed to be either “restricted” or “prohibited” in a “negative list” will be subject to entry clearance and other approvals not required for PRC domestic entities unless such foreign invested enterprises can demonstrate that the ultimate controlling person(s) is/are of PRC nationality (either PRC citizen, or PRC government and its branches or agencies). Because the negative list has yet to be published, it is unclear whether it will differ from the current list of industries subject to restrictions or prohibitions on foreign investment. The entry clearance and approvals could prevent certain foreign invested enterprises that operate in industries on the negative list from continuing to conduct their operations through contractual arrangements.

There is substantial uncertainty regarding the Draft FIL, including, the content of its final form and the timing of its adoption and implementation. For example, our actual controlling person,chairman, chief executive officer and largest shareholder, Mr. Jun Zhu, is a citizen of Singapore, which could be one of the significant factors for purposes of determining whether we are ultimately controlled by persons that are of PRC nationality under the Draft FIL. Moreover, it is uncertain whether the Internet content provision service, online gaming, internet publishing and other internet-based industries, in which our subsidiaries and affiliated entities operate, will be subject to the foreign investment restrictions or prohibitions set forth in the “negative list” to be issued. If adopted in its current form, the Draft FIL could have a material and adverse impact on our ability to participate in key sectors of the Chinese economy, including the online game business, as well as the effectiveness or the necessity of our contractual arrangements with our affiliated entities.

We may not be able to pursue growth through strategic acquisitions in China due to complicated procedures under PRC laws and regulations for foreign investors to acquire PRC companies.

In recent years, certain PRC laws and regulations have established procedures and requirements that are expected to make merger and acquisition activities in China by foreign investors more time-consuming and complex. These laws and regulations include, without limitation, the Rules on the Merger and Acquisition of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors, or the M&A Rules, and the Anti-Monopoly Law and the MOFCOM Security Review Rules. In some instances, MOFCOM needs to be notified in advance of anychange-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of a PRC domestic enterprise. The approval by MOFCOM may also need to be obtained in circumstances where overseas companies established or controlled by PRC enterprises or residents acquire affiliated domestic companies. PRC laws and regulations also require certain merger and acquisition transactions to be subject to merger control review or security review. The MOFCOM Security Review Rules, effective from September 1, 2011, provide that, when deciding whether a specific merger or acquisition of a domestic enterprise by foreign investors shall be subject to the security review by MOFCOM, the principle of substance over form shall be applied. In particular, foreign investors are prohibited from bypassing the security review requirement by structuring transactions through proxies, trusts, indirect investments, leases, loans, control through contractual arrangements or offshore transactions.

If the business of any target company that we expect to acquire becomes subject to the security review, we may not be able to successfully complete the acquisition of such company, either by equity or asset acquisition, capital contribution or through any contractual arrangement. Complying with the requirements of the PRC laws and regulations to complete acquisition transactions could become more time-consuming and complex. Any required approval, such as approval by MOFCOM, may delay or inhibit our ability to complete such transactions, which could affect our ability to grow our business or increase our market share. Furthermore, it is uncertain whether the M&A Rules, security review rules or the other PRC regulations regarding the acquisitions of PRC companies by foreign investors will be amended when the Draft FIL becomes effective in the future.

The limited use of personal computers in China and the relatively high cost of Internet access with respect to per capita gross domestic product may limit the development of the Internet in China and impede our growth.

Although the use of personal computers in China has increased in recent years, the penetration rate for personal computers in China is significantly lower than in the United States and other developed countries. Furthermore, despite a decrease in the cost of Internet access in China due to a decrease in the cost of personal computers and the introduction and expansion of broadband access, the cost of Internet access in China still remains relatively high compared to the average per capita income. The limited use of personal computers in China and the relatively high cost of Internet access may limit the growth of our business. In addition, there is no assurance that there will not be any increase in Internet access or telecommunication fees in China. If that happens, the number of our users may decrease and the growth of our user base may be materially impeded.

The continued growth of China’s Internet market depends on the establishment of adequate telecommunications infrastructure.

Although private sector Internet service providers currently exist in China, almost all access to the Internet is maintained through state-owned telecommunication operators under the administrative control and regulatory supervision of China’s MIIT. In addition, the national networks in China connect to the Internet through government-controlled international gateways. These government-controlled international gateways are the only channel through which a domestic PRC user can connect to the international Internet network. We rely on this infrastructure to provide data communications capacity primarily through local telecommunications lines. Although the government has announced plans to aggressively develop the national information infrastructure, we cannot assure you that this infrastructure will be developed as planned or at all. In addition, we will have no access to alternative networks and services, on a timely basis if at all, in the event of any infrastructure disruption or failure. The Internet infrastructure in China may not support the demands necessary for the continued growth in Internet usage.

Risks Related to Our Shares and ADSs

We currently fail to meet two of the continued listing requirements for the Nasdaq Global Market. If we fail to regain compliance with the listing requirement on a timely basis or fail to meet other listing requirements for the Nasdaq Global Market, ourOur ADSs may be delisted from the Nasdaq Global Market or need to be transferred to other stock exchanges or trading venues, which may materially and adversely affect the market liquidityas a result of our ADSs and our ability to obtain financing.not meeting the Nasdaq Global Market continued listing requirements.

Our ADSs are currently listed on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “NCTY.” We must continue to meet the relevant continued listing requirements set forth in orderNasdaq Listing Rule 5450 to remain listedlisting on the Nasdaq Global Market. The listing standards of the NASDAQNasdaq Global Market provide that a company, in order to qualify for continued listing, must maintain a minimum ADS price of US$1.00 and satisfy standards relative to minimum shareholders’ equity, minimum market value of publicly held shares (MVPHS), minimum market value of listed securities (MVLS) and various additional requirements. On January 20,November 30, 2017, we received a written notification from Nasdaq indicating that we no longer met the continued listing requirement of minimum bid price per ADS for the Nasdaq Global Market because our bid price for a period of 30 consecutive business days was below US$1.0. On March 19, 2018, we received a written notification from Nasdaq indicating that we no longer met the continued listing requirement of minimum MVPHS for the Nasdaq Global Market because our MVPHS for the last 30 consecutive business days was below the minimum requirement of US$15 million. On April 4, 2018, we received a written notification from Nasdaq indicating that we no longer met the continued listing requirement of minimum MVLS for the Nasdaq Global Market because the market value of our total outstanding shares for the last 30 consecutive business days was below the minimum requirement of US$50 million. On February 22, 2017, we received a second written notification from Nasdaq indicating that we no longer met the continued listing requirement of minimum MVPHS for the Nasdaq Global Market because our MVPHS for the last 30 consecutive business days was below the minimum requirement of US$15 million. Pursuant to the relevant Nasdaq listing rules, we have a compliance period of 180 calendar days, or until July 19, 2017May 29, 2018, September 17, 2018 and August 21, 2017,October 1, 2018, respectively, to regain compliance with the minimum bid price, minimum MVLS and MVPHS requirements. If at any time during the applicable compliance period our MVLS and MVPHS close at or above US$50 million and US$15 million, respectively, for a minimum of ten consecutive business days, Nasdaq will notify us and the relevant matter will be closed. If we do not regain compliance prior to the expiration of the applicable compliance period, we will receive written notification that our securities are subject to delisting from the NASDAQ Global Market, at which time we may appeal the delisting determination to a hearings panel. Our management is looking into various options available to regain compliance and maintain our continued listing on the Nasdaq Global Market, and is also considering other options, including a potential transfer of its listing of securities to the Nasdaq Capital Market. If we fail to regain compliance with either of the above-said requirements on a timely basis or fail to satisfy other Nasdaq Global Market’s continued listing requirements and fail to regain compliance on a timely basis, our ADSs could be delisted from Nasdaq Global Market, and we may need to transfer the listing or trading of our ADSs to other stock exchange or trading venues.

However, there can be no assurance that our ADSs will be eligible for trading on any such alternative exchanges or markets in the United States. If Nasdaq determines to delist our ordinary shares, or if we fail to list our ADSs on other stock exchanges or find alternative trading venues, which may materially and adversely affectvenue for our ADSs, the market liquidity and the price of our ADSs and our ability to obtain financing for our operations.operations could be materially and adversely affected.

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

Based on the market price of our ADSs and the value and composition of our assets and liabilities, we believe we were not a “passive foreign investment company,” or PFIC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes for our taxable year ended December 31, 2016. However, as previously disclosed, although not free from doubt, we believed that we were a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes for prior years. In addition, it is possible that one or more of our subsidiaries were also PFICs for such year for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Anon-U.S. corporation will be a PFIC for any taxable year if either (1) at least 75% of its gross income for such year consists of certain types of passive income, or (2) at least 50% of the average quarterly value of its assets (as generally determined on the basis of fair market value) during such year produce or are held for the production of passive income. We must make a separate determination after the close of each taxable year as to whether we were a PFIC for that year. Because the value of our assets for purposes of the PFIC test will generally be determined by reference to the market price of our ADSs or ordinary shares, our PFIC status will depend in part on the market price of the ADSs or ordinary shares, which may fluctuate significantly, and the composition of our assets and liabilities.

Based on the market price of our ADSs and the value and composition of our assets and liabilities, we believe we were not a “passive foreign investment company,” or PFIC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes for our taxable year ended December 31, 2017. However, as previously disclosed, although not free from doubt, we believed that we were a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes for prior years. In addition, it is possible that one or more of our subsidiaries were also PFICs for such year for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

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—U.S. Federal Income Taxation) holds our ADSs or ordinary shares, such U.S. Holders may incur significantly increased U.S. income tax on gain recognized on the sale or other disposition of the ADSs or ordinary shares and on the receipt of distributions on the ADSs or ordinary shares to the extent such gain or distribution is treated as “excess distribution” under the U.S. federal income tax rules. Further, a U.S. Holder will generally be treated as holding an equity interest in a PFIC in the first taxable year of the U.S. Holder’s holding period in which we become classified as a PFIC and subsequent taxable years (“PFIC-Tainted Shares”) even if, we in fact, cease to be a PFIC in subsequent taxable years. See “Item 10. Additional Information—E. Taxation—U. S. Federal Income Taxation—Passive Foreign Investment Company.”

You are strongly urged to consult your tax advisors regarding the impact of our being a PFIC in any taxable year on your investment in our ADSs and ordinary shares as well as the application of the PFIC rules.

Substantial future sales or the perception of sales of our ADSs or ordinary shares could adversely affect the price of our ADSs.

If our shareholders sell or are perceived by the market to sell substantial amounts of our ADSs, including those issued upon the exercise of outstanding options, in the public market, the market price of our ADSs could fall. Such sales also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and price that we deem appropriate. If any existing shareholder or shareholders sell or are perceived by the market to sell a substantial amount of ordinary shares, the prevailing market price for our ADSs could be adversely affected. In December 2015, we issued and sold the Convertible Notes in an aggregate principal amount of US$40,050,000 to Splendid Days in three tranches at initial conversion prices of US$2.6, US$5.2 and US$7.8 per ADS, respectively. In connection with the sale of Convertible Notes, we also issued the Warrants in an aggregate principal amount of US$9,950,000 to Splendid Days in four tranches at initial exercise prices of US$1.5, US$2.6, US$5.2 and US$7.8 per ADS, respectively. See “Item 5—Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—B. Liquidity and Capital Resources—Cash Flows and Working Capital.” Pursuant to the relevant agreement, we registered the ordinary shares into which the Convertible Notes are convertible and the Warrants are exercisable on a registration statement onF-3, which was declared effective by the SEC on June 17, 2016. Upon registration, any ordinary shares that Splendid Days would acquire by conversion of the Convertible Notes or exercise of the Warrants will become freely tradable. In June 2017, we entered into a share purchase agreement with each of Ark Pacific Special Opportunities Fund I, L.P., or AP Fund, and Incsight Limited, or Incsight, which is wholly owned by Mr. Jun Zhu, our chairman and chief executive officer, for the issuance and sale of a total of 25,000,000 ordinary shares, par value of US$0.01, for a total consideration of US$30 million. We have issued 12,500,000 unpaid ordinary shares to AP Fund in June 2017. In February, 2018, AP Fund assigned its rights and obligations under the share purchase agreement as a whole to Jupiter, a third party. Both transactions are subject to customary closing conditions and have not been completed yet.

In addition, we may issue additional ordinary shares or ADSs for future acquisitions. If we pay for our future acquisitions in whole or in part with additionally issued ordinary shares or ADSs, your ownership interest in our company would be diluted and this, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on the price of our ADSs.

The market price for our ADSs may be volatile.

The market price for our ADSs is likely to be highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations in response to factors including the following:

In addition, the securities market has from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that are not related to the operating performance of particular companies. These market fluctuations may also materially and adversely affect the market price of our ADSs.

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

Our corporate affairs are governed by our memorandum and articles of association and by the Companies Law (2016(2018 Revision) and common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary duties of our directors under Cayman Islands law are not as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedents in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a less developed body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and provides significantly less protection to investors. Therefore, our public shareholders may have more difficulties protecting their interests in the face of actions by our management, directors or controlling shareholders than would shareholders of a corporation incorporated in a jurisdiction in the United States. In addition, shareholders of Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholder derivative action before the federal courts of the United States. As a result, our shareholders may not be able to protect their interests if they are harmed in a manner that would otherwise enable them to sue in a United States federal court.

Your ability to bring an action against us or against our directors and officers, or to enforce a judgment against us or them, will be limited because we are incorporated in the Cayman Islands, because we conduct a substantial portion of our operations in China and because the majority of our directors and officers reside outside of the United States.

We are an exempted company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, and we conduct a substantial portion of our operations through our wholly-owned subsidiaries and affiliated entities in China. Most of our directors and officers reside outside of the United States and most of the assets of those persons are located outside of 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 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.

You may not be able to exercise your right to vote.

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 may instructgive voting instructions to the depositary of our ADSs to vote the underlying shares underlyingrepresented by your ADSs but only if we ask the depositary to request your instruction. Otherwise, you will not be able to exercise your right to vote with respect to the underlying shares represented by your ADSs unless you withdraw the shares.shares and become the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date for the general meeting. However, you may not know aboutreceive sufficient advance notice of a shareholders’ meeting enough in advance to withdraw the shares.underlying 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. Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, a shareholders’ meeting may be convened by us on seven business days’ notice. If we ask for your instructions, the depositary will notify you of the upcoming vote and 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 shares represented by your shares.ADSs. Pursuant to the amended and restated Deposit Agreementdeposit agreement dated November 2010 that we entered into with our depositary, if after complying with the procedures set forth in the deposit agreement, the depositary does not receive voting instructions from the ownerholder of a receiptthe relevant ADSs on or before the instruction date, the depositary shall vote such deposited securitiesunderlying shares represented by the relevant ADSs in accordance with the recommendations of our board of directors as advised by our company in writing. In addition, the depositary and its agents are not responsible for failing to carry out your voting instructions or for the manner of carrying out your voting instructions, if any such action ornon-action is in good faith. This means that you may not be able to exercise your right to votedirect how the underlying shares represented by your ADSs are voted and thereyou may be nothing you can dohave no legal remedy if the underlying shares underlyingrepresented by your ADSs are not voted as you request.requested.

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

We may from time to time distribute rights to our shareholders, including rights to acquire our securities. However, we cannot make rights available to you in the United States unless we register the rights and the securities to which the rights relate under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, or an exemption from the registration requirements is available. Also, under the deposit agreement, the depositary bank will not make rights available to you unless the distribution to ADS holders of both the rights and any related securities are either registered under the Securities Act, or exempt from registration under the Securities Act. We are under no obligation to file a registration statement with respect to any such rights or securities or to endeavor to cause such a registration statement to be declared effective. Moreover, we may not be able to establish an exemption from registration under the Securities Act. The depositary may, but is not required to, sell such undistributed rights to third parties in this situation. Accordingly, you may be unable to participate in our rights offerings and may experience dilution in your holdings.

You may not receive distributions on ordinary shares or any value for them if it is illegal or impractical to make them available to you.

The depositary of our ADSs has agreed to pay to you the cash dividends or other distributions it or the custodian receives on ordinary shares or other deposited securities after deducting its fees and expenses. You will receive these distributions in proportion to the number of ordinary shares your ADSs represent. However, the depositary is not responsible if it decides that it is unlawful or impractical to make a distribution available to any holders of ADSs. We have no obligation to register ADSs, ordinary shares, rights or other securities under U.S. securities laws. We also have no obligation to take any other action to permit the distribution of ADSs, ordinary shares, rights or anything else to holders of ADSs. This means that you may not receive the distribution we make on our ordinary shares or any value for them if it is illegal or impractical for us to make them available to you. These restrictions may have a material adverse effect on the value of your ADSs.

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

Your ADSs are transferable on the books of the depositary. However, the depositary may close its transfer books at any time or from time to time when it deems expedient in connection with the performance of its duties. In addition, the depositary may refuse to deliver, transfer or register transfers of ADSs generally when our books or the books of the depositary are closed, or at any time if we or the depositary deem it advisable to do so because of any requirement of law or of any government or governmental body, or under any provision of the deposit agreement, or for any other reason.

Item 4. INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY

A.     History and Development of the Company

We were incorporated in the Cayman Islands on December 22, 1999 under the name GameNow.net Limited as a company limited by shares and were renamed The9 Limited in February 2004. We formed GameNow.net (Hong Kong) Limited, or GameNow, on January 17, 2000 in Hong Kong, as a wholly-owned subsidiary. We have historically conducted our operations in large part through The9 Computer, a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of GameNow in China.

Due to the current restrictions on foreign ownership of ICP and Internet culture operation in China, currently, we primarily rely on Shanghai IT, one of our affiliated PRC entities, in holding certain licenses and approvals necessary for our business online game operations through a series of contractual arrangements with Shanghai IT and its shareholders. See “Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions—B. Related Party Transactions—Arrangements with Affiliated PRC Entities” for details of the contractual arrangements with Shanghai IT and its shareholders. We do not hold any equity interest in Shanghai IT.

We operated WoW, a MMORPG licensed from Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., in China between June 2005 and June 2009 and had relied on the game as a major source of revenue during that period. After thenon-renewal of the WoW license, we continued to operate our other licensed and proprietary games.

In April 2010, we acquired a controlling interest in Red 5 Studios, Inc., or Red 5, an online game developer based in the United States. In June 2016, we completed a share exchange transaction with L&A International Holding Limited, or L&A, a Cayman Islands company with shares publicly listed on the Growth Enterprise Market of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (Stock Code:(HKEx: 8195), and certain other shareholders of Red 5, whereby we exchanged approximately 30.6% equity interest (on a fully-diluted basis) that we owned in Red 5 for a total of 769,481,940 (after aone-to-five stock split) newly issued shares of L&A, which are held by Asian Development, our wholly-owned subsidiary.

In July 2014, we and Qihoo 360 entered into an agreement to form a joint venture in which each party shall own 50% equity interest in the joint venture and share profits based on the respective equity interests in the joint venture. The joint venture, System Link Corporation Limited, or System Link, was formed in August 2014. In August 2014, our subsidiary Red 5 Singapore Pte. Ltd., or Red 5 Singapore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Red 5, entered into a license agreement with System Link for publishing and operating Firefall, a MMOFPS game, for a five-year term in China. In April 2016, System Link ceased to operate Firefall in China. We do not consolidate the results of System Link into our results of operations and treat it as an equity investee. Currently, Red 5 and its affiliates are in dispute with Qihoo 360 and its affiliates regarding System Link and Firefall and various legal proceedings have been initiated and are ongoing in connection with such dispute. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Company and Our Industry—Our equity investments or establishment of joint ventures and any material disputes with our investment or joint venture partners may have an adverse effect on our financial results, business prospects and our ability to manage our business.”

In February 2013, we established a new joint venture, namely Zhongxing The9 Network Technology Co., Ltd., or ZTE9, in cooperation with Shanghai Zhongxing Communication Technology Enterprise Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Ruigao Information Technology Co., Ltd., in Wuxi, Jiangsu province of China, to develop and operate the business of “Fun Box,” a home entertainment set top box. In February 2014, Guangdong Hongtu Guangdian Investment Limited Company made a capital investment of RMB12.5 million to acquire 10% equity interests in ZTE9. As of December 31, 2016,2017, we held 28.8%26.0% equity interest of ZTE9. We do not consolidate the results of ZTE9 into our results of operations and treat it as an equity investee.

In August 2014, Shanghai IT sold 100% equity interest in Huopu Cloud Computing Terminal Technology Co., Ltd., or Huopu Cloud, to Shanghai Zhengwu Investment Center (Limited Partnership), a third party, for a total consideration of RMB200 million in cash. Huopu Cloud developed and held a web game QiJiGuiLai.

In August 2015, Globe Wealthy Link Limited, or Globe Wealthy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of System Link, entered into an agreement with Smilegate Entertainment Inc., or Smilegate, a Korean game developer, to form a joint venture. The joint venture, Oriental Shiny Star Limited, or Oriental Shiny, was formed in August 2015. Smilegate shall hold nominal shares in Oriental Shiny upon the incorporation of Oriental Shiny. In November 2015, Oriental Shiny entered into a license agreement with Smilegate for publishing and operating CrossFire 2 in China on an exclusive basis for an initial term of three years, subject to an extension to five years. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Arrangements with Smilegate regarding CrossFire 2.” Smilegate is currentlywhich has been terminated in the process of developing CrossFire 2.2017. We do not consolidate the results of Oriental Shiny into our results of operations and treat it as an equity investee.

In November 2015, we disposed of 58% equity interest in Shanghai Jiucheng Advertisement Co., Ltd., or Shanghai Jiucheng Advertisement, which operates a mobile advertising platform and was wholly-ownedwholly owned by Shanghai IT prior to such disposal. We account for Shanghai Jiucheng Advertisement as an equity investment after such disposal.

In April 2016, Shanghai The9 Education Technology Co., Ltd., or The9 Education, one of our consolidated affiliated entities, listed its shares on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, commonly known as the New Third Board, an emergingover-the-counter market in China. In August 2017, Shanghai IT entered into a transaction with Beijing Yingke Artwork Co., Ltd., or Beijing Yingke, and certain other parties, pursuant to which Beijing Yingke will acquire all of the equity interest in The9 Education for an aggregate consideration of RMB12.0 million and Shanghai IT will assume the assets and liabilities of The9 Education after the completion of the transactions. Prior to the transaction, Shanghai IT and an unrelated third party held 70% and 30% of equity interest in The9 Education, respectively. Moreover, The9 Education issued certain new shares to Beijing Yingke in November 2017. As of the date of this prospectus, the transaction was not completed, and Shanghai IT received partial consideration of RMB6.8 million and owned 8.75% equity interest in The9 Education.

In July 2017, we completed a share exchange transaction with a Korean company IE Limited, or IE, whereby we exchanged approximately 12,500,000 ordinary shares newly issued by us at a per share price of US$1.2 for approximately 14.6% equity interest of Smartposting Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of IE, held by IE. We do not consolidate the results of Smartposting Co., Ltd. into our results of operations and treat it as an equity investee.

In January 2018, we completed a share exchange transaction with Red Ace Limited, or Red Ace, a BVI company, whereby we exchanged approximately 3,571,429 ordinary shares newly issued by us for approximately 29.0% equity interest of Maxline Holdings Limited, a Hong Kong company engaged in the provision of information technology infrastructure solutions, website and mobile app design, held by Red Ace. We do not consolidate the results of Maxline Holdings Limited into our results of operations and treat it as an equity investee.

On April 24, 2018, we, through The Bank of New York Mellon, announced a ratio change on the ADSs from one ADS representing one ordinary share to a new ratio of one ADS representing three ordinary shares, which we anticipate to be effective on May 9, 2018.

On January 20, 2017, we received a written notification from the Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. indicating that we no longer met the continued listing requirement of minimum market value of listed securities (MVLS) for the Nasdaq Global Market because the market value of our total outstanding shares for the last 30 consecutive business days was below the minimum requirement of US$50 million. On February 22, 2017, we received a second written notification from Nasdaq indicating that we no longer met the continued listing requirement of minimum market value of publicly held shares (MVPHS) for the Nasdaq Global Market because our MVPHS for the last 30 consecutive business days was below the minimum requirement of US$15 million. WeOn July 3, 2017, we received two notification letters from Nasdaq stating that we have aregained compliance periodwith the requirement of 180 calendar days, or until July 19, 2017 and August 21, 2017, respectively, to regain compliance. If at any time during the applicable compliance period ourminimum MVLS and MVPHS close at or above US$50 million and US$15 million, respectively, forMVPHS. On November 30, 2017, we received a written notification from Nasdaq indicating that we no longer met the continued listing requirement of minimum bid price per ADS. On December 27, 2017, we received another written notification from Nasdaq indicating that we no long met the continued listing requirement of ten consecutive business days,minimum MVPHS. On January 29, 2018, we received a notification letter from Nasdaq will notify us andstating that we have regained compliance with the relevant matter will be closed. Ifrequirement of minimum MVPHS. On March 19, 2018, we do not regain compliance prior toreceived a written notification from the expirationNasdaq Stock Market indicating that we no longer met the continued listing requirement of minimum MVPHS. On April 4, 2018, we received another written notification from the Nasdaq Stock Market indicating that we no longer met the continued listing requirement of minimum MVLS. As of the applicable compliance period, we will receive written notification that our securities are subject to delisting fromdate of this annual report, the NASDAQ Global Market, at which time we may appealmatters regarding the delisting determination to a hearings panel. Seeminimum bid price, minimum MVPHS and minimum MVLS have not been closed yet. For further discussion about Nasdaq rules deficiency, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Shares and ADSs—We currently fail to meet two of the continued listing requirements for the Nasdaq Global Market. If we fail to regain compliance with the listing requirement on a timely basis or fail to meet other listing requirements for the Nasdaq Global Market, ourOur ADSs may be delisted from the Nasdaq Global Market or need to be transferred to other stock exchanges or trading venues, which may materially and adversely affect the market liquidityas a result of our ADSs and our ability to obtain financing.not meeting the Nasdaq Global Market continued listing requirements.”

Our principal executive office is located at Building No. 3, 690 Bibo Road, ZhangjiangHi-Tech Park, Pudong New Area, Shanghai 201203, People’s Republic of China, and our telephone number is+86-21-5172-9999. Our registered office in the Cayman Islands is located at the offices of CARD Corporate Services Ltd, c/o Collas Crill Corporate Services Limited, Floor 2, Willow House, Cricket Square, PO Box 709, Grand CaymanKY1-1107 Cayman Islands. Our agent for service of process in the United States is CT Corporation System located at 111 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York 10011.

We primarily operate and develop proprietary and licensed online games. We have developed proprietary games, including Song of Knights, and are developing several proprietary mobile games, including CrossFire New Mobile Game and a web game. We have also obtained an exclusive license to operate CrossFire 2, an MMOFPS in development, in China through a joint venture. We also develop and operate the business of “Fun Box,” a home entertainment set top box, which enables online video and video games on TV, through a joint venture.Knight Forever.

We generate our online game service revenues primarily through an item-based revenue model, under which players play games for free, but they are charged forin-game items, such as performance-enhancing items, clothing and accessories. Our customers typically access our online games through personal computers, mobile devices or TVs.

In 2018, we started to step into the blockchain-related service market. We plan to provide services related to the development, offshore offering, investing and financing of blockchain-technology-enabled products.

Products and Services

Online Games

We operate and develop proprietary or licensed online games, primarily a MMOFPS, mobile games, a web game and TV games.

As of the date of this annual report, we or our joint ventures own or have licenses to operate or develop the following online games in China and other countries:

	•
Song of Knights		Song of Knights. Developed in 2014, Song of Knights is a proprietary mobileThe9		Mobile game that we have commercialized in China. We also licensed Song of Knights to different game operators for distribution		Commercialized in Korea, Taiwan Malaysia,and Thailand and Canada.

In a typical MMOFPS, thousands of players play in the same game world at the same time. MMOFPS players can select a specific character to compete within the game with which they develop experience and enhance game attributes, which can be carried over into the next higher game levels. MMOFPSs incorporate many cutting-edge technology features, including:

In preparation for the commercial launch of a new game, we conduct “closed beta testing” of the game to resolve operational issues, which is followed by “limited commercial release” and “open beta testing.” In both limited commercial release and open beta testing, we allow our registered users to play without removing theirin-game data to ensure the performance consistency and stability of our operating systems. While we limit the number of users allowed to play the game in limited commercial release, we do not set such a limit in open beta testing. We can choose to start charging users in limited commercial release or open beta testing or at a later stage at our discretion.

Our online games are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our users can access our online games from any location with an Internet connection. Substantially all of our users in China access the game servers either from cell phones, personal computers at home or at Internet cafés equipped with multiple personal computers that have Internet access.

TV Game Platform. In February 2013, we established ZTE9, a joint venture, with Shanghai Zhongxing Communication Technology Enterprise Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Ruigao Information Technology Co., Ltd. in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province of China. In February 2014, Guangdong Hongtu Guangdian Investment Limited Company made capital investment to ZTE9. The joint venture operates the business of “Fun Box,” a home entertainment set top box, which enables online video and video games on TV.

Blockchain-Related Services

In January 2018, The9 Singapore Pte. Ltd, our wholly-owned subsidiary in Singapore, reached a partnership agreement with Gingkoo Technology Company Limited, or Gingkoo Technology, to provide blockchain related services. We plan to provide the services related to the development, offshore offering, investment and financing of blockchain-technology-enabled products, such as cryptocurrencies, to global enterprises, while Gingkoo Technology will provide technical support for us to build up the block-chain technology capacities.

We also intend to explore other applications and business opportunities of blockchain technology. In February 2018, The9 Singapore Pte. Ltd entered into a partnership agreement with C&I Singapore Renewable and Innovative Tech Pts. Ltd., or C&I, a joint venture established by Comtec Solar Systems Group Limited (SEHK: 00712) and ISDN Holdings Limited (SEHK: 01656 and SGX:I07). Pursuant to this agreement, we will provide C&I with related blockchain technology with respect to the trading and distribution of solar energy. We are also contemplating to explore further cooperation to create a decentralized platform for the trading and distribution of solar generated energy with other solar energy companies and consumers.

Other Products and Services

Our other products and services mainly consist of training services, primarily smartphone application programming trainings provided to college students in China.

Arrangements with Smilegate regarding CrossFire 2

In 2015, Globe Wealthy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of System Link, our 50%-owned joint venture, and Smilegate formed Oriental Shiny as a joint venture company for publishing and operating CrossFire 2 in China on an exclusive basis for an initial term of three years, subject to an extension to five years. Certain principal terms of the contractual arrangements are described below.

Joint Venture Agreement dated August 20, 2015 by and between Globe Wealthy and Smilegate. Pursuant to this agreement, Globe Wealthy shall contribute to Oriental Shiny an initial capital of US$50 million, and additional capital of US$70 million and US$180 million after closed beta testing and commercial launch of CrossFire 2, respectively. Such capital shall be used to pay the license fee for the initial three-year term under the CrossFire 2 license agreement between Oriental Shiny and Smilegate. In addition, Globe Wealthy will make additional cash contributions to Oriental Shiny as may be necessary for publishing, operating and marketing CrossFire 2. If the CrossFire 2 license is extended for two years for an additional license fee of US$200 million pursuant to the terms of the license agreement, Globe Wealthy will be required to make an additional capital contribution of US$200 million to Oriental Shiny for the payment of such additional license fee. Smilegate shall hold nominal shares in Oriental Shiny upon the incorporation of Oriental Shiny. Pursuant to the agreement, in the event of a successful commercial launch of CrossFire 2, Smilegate will be entitled to a 30% equity interest (inclusive of the initial nominal shares) in Oriental Shiny on a fully diluted basis.

Pursuant to the joint venture agreement, Oriental Shiny shall establish a wholly-owned subsidiary in China, which will operate CrossFire 2 through a PRC entity that it effectively controls through a series of contractual arrangements. The wholly-owned subsidiary, Oriental Shiny Star Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., or Oriental IT, was formed in February 2016, and the operating PRC entity, Beijing Zhi’ao Network Technology Co., Ltd., or Beijing Zhi’ao, was formed in October 2015. Oriental IT has entered into contractual arrangements with Beijing Zhi’ao and the shareholders of Beijing Zhi’ao to obtain effective control over Beijing Zhi’ao. The board of Oriental Shiny consists of three directors, including two directors nominated by Globe Wealthy and one director nominated by Smilegate. Certain matters of Oriental Shiny require the unanimous consent of the directors, including, among other things, appointment and removal of senior management, disposal of material assets, the entering into, amendment or termination of material contracts, transfer or licensing of intellectual property or technology, declaration of dividend, and making or extension of loans. Certain matters of Oriental Shiny require consents of both Globe Wealthy and Smilegate, including, among other things, amendment to the articles of association, change in capital structure and merger and acquisition with other companies. The initial term of the joint venture is 20 years, and may be terminated at any time by written agreement between Globe Wealthy and Smilegate.

Exclusive License and Distribution Agreement dated November 24, 2015 by and among Oriental Shiny, Beijing Zhi’ao and Smilegate. Pursuant to this agreement, Smilegate granted to Oriental Shiny and Beijing Zhi’ao an exclusive,non-sublicenseable andnon-transferable license to publish and operate CrossFire 2 in China. Oriental Shiny and Beijing Zhi’ao shall pay an initial license fee of US$50 million, and additional license fees of US$70 million and US$180 million after closed beta testing and commercial launch of CrossFire 2, respectively. The payment of license fee is guaranteed by Qihoo 360 and our company based on the respective equity interests of the parties in System Link. Oriental Shiny and Beijing Zhi’ao are also required to pay royalties to Smilegate. This agreement has an initial term of three years after the commercial launch of CrossFire 2, and will be extended for two years (i) automatically if the total gross revenue is larger than the total costs and expenses incurred by Oriental Shiny and Beijing Zhi’ao for the initial three-year term, or (ii) at the option of Oriental Shiny and Beijing Zhi’ao. In either case, any extension for atwo-year term will be subject to an additional license fee of US$200 million. This agreement may be terminated upon agreement by the parties.

Guarantee Letter dated November 24, 2015 by and among the our company, Shanghai IT and Smilegate.Our company and Shanghai IT agreed to jointly and severally guarantee the payment of license fee by Globe Wealthy under the Exclusive License and Distribution Agreement proportional to our equity interest in System Link. The remaining licensing fee is guaranteed by Qihoo 360 under a separate guarantee letter.

Customer Service

Since our inception, we have continuously focused on providing excellent customer service in order to retain our existing customers and to attract new customers. Our online games customers can access our customer service center via phone ore-mail at any time, or visit our visitor center in Shanghai during regular business hours. We havein-game game masters dedicated to each of the online games that we operate. Game masters are responsible for organizingin-game events, troubleshooting and actively and continuously monitoring the online game environment. Game masters are available to respond to players’ inquiries, to initiate the bug reporting and removal processes, as well as to identify, record and deal with players’ inappropriate behavior such as dishonesty, fraud or other conducts that violates our rules and policies. We believe that positioning game masters to monitor the gaming environment is important to us to maintain customer loyalty and to efficiently address any technical problems that may arise.

Purchase ofIn-game Items

A customer can access online games free of charge and buyin-game items online by charging a payment directly to Alipay, or by credit card or debit card.

Pricing, Distribution and Marketing

Pricing. We price ourin-game virtual items near the end of the free testing period based on several factors, including the prices of other comparable games, the technological and other features of the game, and the targeted marketing position of the game. Our prepaid game cards are offered in a variety of denominations to provide users with maximum flexibility.

Distribution. We primarily rely on game platforms and distributors to distribute, promote, market and sell our games in China and overseas markets, such as North America and Southeast Asia.China. End users can purchase our virtual currencies and prepaid cards through such game platforms and distributors. A substantial portion of our sales are carried out via such game platforms and distributors. We do not have long-term agreements with any online game platforms or distributors. In addition, we also directly sell game points through our game players’ online accounts.

Marketing. Our overall marketing strategy is to rapidly attract new customers and increase revenues from recurring customers. The marketing programs and promotional activities that we employ to promote our games include:

Advertising and Online Promotion. We place advertisements in many game magazines and on online game sites, which are updated regularly.

Cross-Marketing. We have cross-marketing relationships with major consumer brands, technology companies and major telecom carriers. We believe that our cross-marketing relationships with well-known companies will increase the recognition of our online game brands.

On-Site Promotion. We distribute free game-related posters, promotional prepaid cards for beginners, game-related souvenirs such as watches, pens, mouse pads and calendars at trade shows, selected Internet cafés and computer stores.

In-Game Marketing. We conduct“in-game” marketing programs from time to time, including online adventures for grand prizes.

Game Development and Licensing

We believe that the online game industry in China will continue its pattern of developing increasingly sophisticated online games tailored to the local market. In order to remain competitive, we focus on continuing to develop new proprietary online games, includingprimarily mobile games and a web game.games. Our product development team is responsible for game design, technical development and art design. We also plan to further enhance our game development capability and diversify our game portfolio and pipeline.

Our game licensing process begins with a preliminary screening, review and testing of a game, followed by a cost analysis, negotiations and ultimate licensing of a game, including all regulatory and approval processes. A team is then designated to conduct “closed beta testing” of the game to resolve operational matters, followed by “open beta testing” during which our registered users may play the game without removing theirin-game data to ensure performance consistency and stability of our operation systems. Testing generally takes three to six months, during which time we commence other marketing activities.

Technology

We aim to build a reliable and secure technology infrastructure to fully support our operations, and we maintain separate technology networks for each of our games. Our current technology infrastructure consists of the following:

We have a network operation team responsible for the stability and security of our network. The team monitors our server and works to detect, record, analyze and solve problems that arise from out network. In addition, we frequently upgrade our game server software to ensure the stability of our operations and to reduce the risks of hacking.

Competition

Our major competitors include, but are not limited to, online game operators in China. These include Tencent Holdings Limited (which operates CrossFire, League of Legends and Dungeon & Fighter), Shanda Games Limited (which operates Woool, Mir II and Dragon Nest), NetEase, Inc. (which operates Fantasy Westward Journey, World of Warcraft and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft)Onmyoji, Knives Out), Giant Interactive GroupHappy-elements Inc. ( which operates ZT Online and Passion Leads Army Online), Changyou.com Limited (which operates Dragon Oath 3D and The Legend of Qin II), Perfect World Co., Ltd. (which operates Perfect World II, Zhu Xian3 and DOTA2)Anipop).

Our existing and potential competitors may compete with us on marketing activities, quality of online games and sales and distribution networks. Some of our existing and potential competitors have greater financial and marketing resources than us. For a discussion of risks relating to competition, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Company and Our Industry—We may not be able to recover our market share and profitability as we operate in a highly competitive industry with numerous competitors.”

Intellectual Property

Our intellectual property rights include trademarks and domain names associated with the name “The9” in China and copyright and other rights associated with our websites, technology platform, self-developed software and other aspects of our business. We regard our intellectual property rights as critical to our business. We rely on trademark and copyright law, trade secret protection,non-competition and confidentiality agreements with our employees, and license agreements with our partners, to protect our intellectual property rights. We require our employees to enter into agreements requiring them to keep confidential all information relating to our customers, methods, business and trade secrets during and after their employment with us and assign their inventions developed during their employment to us. Our employees are required to acknowledge and recognize that all inventions, trade secrets, works of authorship, developments and other processes made by them during their employment are our property.

We have registered our domain names with third-party domain registration entities, and have legal rights over these domain names through Shanghai IT, our affiliated PRC entity. We conduct our business under the “The9 Limited” brand name and “The9” logo.

Legal Proceedings

See “Item 8. Financial Information—A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information—Legal Proceedings.”

Government Regulations

Current PRC laws and regulations impose substantial restrictions on foreign ownership of the online gaming and ICP businesses in China. As a result, we conduct our online gaming and ICP businesses in China through contractual arrangements with Shanghai IT, one of our affiliated PRC entities. Shanghai IT is owned by Zhimin Lin and Wei Ji, both of whom are PRC citizens.

In the opinion of our PRC counsel, Zhong Lun Law Firm, subject to the interpretation and implementation of the GAPP Circular and the Network Publication Measures, the ownership structure and the business operation models of our PRC subsidiaries and our affiliated PRC entities comply with all applicable PRC laws, rules and regulations, and no consent, approval or license is required under any of the existing laws and regulations of China for their ownership structure and business operation models except for those which we have already obtained or which would not have a material adverse effect on our business or operations as a whole.

In the online gamesgame industry in China, new laws and regulations may be adopted from time to time to require additional licenses and permits other than those we currently have, and address new issues that arise from time to time. As a result, substantial uncertainties exist regarding the interpretation and implementation of current and any future PRC laws and regulations applicable to the online games industry. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—The laws and regulations governing the online game industry in China are developing and subject to future changes. If we fail to obtain or maintain all applicable permits and approvals, our business and operations could be materially and adversely affected.”

Regulations on Internet Content Provision Service, Online Gaming and Internet Publishing

Our provision of online game-related content on our websites is subject to various PRC laws and regulations relating to the telecommunications industry, Internet and online gaming, and is regulated by various government authorities, including MIIT, the Ministry of Culture, GAPPRFT and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. The principal PRC regulations governing the ICP industry as well as the online gaming services in China include:

In July 2006, MIIT issued the MII Notice. The MII Notice prohibits ICP license holders from leasing, transferring or selling a telecommunications business operating license to any foreign investors in any form, or providing any resource, sites or facilities to any foreign investors for their illegal operation of telecommunications businesses in China. The notice also requires that ICP license holders and their shareholders directly own the domain names and trademarks used by such ICP license holders in their daily operations. The notice further requires each ICP license holder to have the necessary facilities for its approved business operations and to maintain such facilities in the regions covered by its license. In addition, all the value-added telecommunication service providers are required to maintain network and information security in accordance with the standards set forth under relevant PRC regulations. The local authorities in charge of telecommunications services are required to ensure that existing ICP license holders conduct a self-assessment of their compliance with the MII Notice and submit status reports to MIIT before November 1, 2006. For those which are not in compliance with the above requirements and further fail to rectify the situation, the relevant governmental authorities would have broad discretion in adopting one or more measures against them, including but not limited to revoking their operating licenses. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Company and Our Industry—PRC laws and regulations restrict foreign ownership of Internet content provision, Internet culture operation and Internet publishing licenses, and substantial uncertainties exist with respect to the application and implementation of PRC laws and regulations.”

Under these regulations, a foreign investor is currently prohibited from owning more than 50% of the equity interest in a PRC entity that provides value-added telecommunications services (except fore-commerce services). ICP services are classified as value-added telecommunications businesses, and a commercial operator of such services must obtain an ICP License from the appropriate telecommunications authorities in order to carry on any commercial ICP operations in China.

With respect to the online gaming industry in China, since online games fall into the definition of “Internet culture products” under The Tentative Measures for Administration of Internet Culture (2011)(2017), a commercial operator of online games must, in addition to obtaining the ICP License, obtain an Internet culture operation license from the appropriate culture administrative authorities for its operation of online games. Furthermore, according to The Tentative Measures for Administration of Internet Publication (2002), the provision of online games is deemed an Internet publication activity. Therefore, approval from the appropriate press and publication administrative authorities as an Internet publisher or cooperation with a licensed Internet publisher is required for an online game operator to carry on its online gaming businesses in China. In February 2016, the GAPPRFT and the MIIT jointly issued the Administrative Measures on Network Publication, which took effect in March 2016 and replaced the Tentative Administrative Measures on Internet Publication. The Administrative Measures on Network Publication further strengthen and expand the supervision and management on the network publication service, including online games service. Furthermore, online games, including mobile games, regardless of whether imported or domestic, shall be subject to a content review and approval by or a filing with the Ministry of Culture and GAPPRFT prior to commencement of operations in China.

GAPPRFT and MIIT jointly impose a license requirement for any company that intends to engage in network publishing, defined as any activity of providing network publications to the public through information networks. Network publications refer to the digitalized works with publishing features such as editing, producing and processing. Furthermore, the distribution of online game cards andCD-keys for online gaming programs is subject to a licensing requirement. Shanghai IT holds the license necessary to distribute electronic publications, which allows it to distribute prepaid cards andCD-Keys for the games we operate. We sell our prepaid cards andCD-Keys through third-party distributors, which are responsible for maintaining requisite licenses for distributing our prepaid cards and CD Keys in China.

On February 15, 2007, fourteen governmental authorities, including the Ministry of Culture, MIIT, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and the People’s Bank of China, or the PBOC, jointly issued a circular entitled Circular for Further Strengthening the Administration of Internet Café and Online Games. This circular gave the PBOC administrative authority over virtual currencies issued by online game operators for use by players in online games to avoid the potential impact such virtual currencies may have on the real-world financial systems. According to this circular, the volume that may be issued and the purchase of such virtual currencies must be restricted, and virtual currency must not be used for the purchase of any physical products, refunded with a premium or otherwise illegally traded. The Notice of Strengthening the Management of Virtual Currency of Online Games promulgated by the Ministry of Culture and MOFCOM on June 4, 2009 and the Tentative Measures for Administration of Online Games promulgated by the Ministry of Culture on June 3, 2010 impose more restrictions and requirements on online game operators that issue virtual currencies. According to the above regulations, an online game operator which issues virtual currency used for online game services shall apply for approval from the Ministry of Culture. An online game operator shall further report detailed rules of issuance for virtual currencies, such as distribution scope, pricing, and terms for refunds and shall make certain periodic and supplementary filings as required by the relevant regulations. In addition, under these rules, online game operators are prohibited from assigning game tools or virtual currency to users by way of drawing lots, random samplings or other arbitrary means in exchange for users’ cash or virtual currency. These rules also require that service agreements entered into between online game operators and end users contain the general terms of a standard online game service agreement issued by the Ministry of Culture.

In September 2009, GAPP further promulgated the GAPP Circular, which provides that foreign investors are prohibited from making investment and engaging in online game operation services by setting up foreign-invested enterprises in China. Further, foreign investors shall not control and participate in PRC online game operation businesses indirectly or in a disguised manner by establishing joint venture companies or entering into agreements with or providing technical support to such PRC online game operation companies, or by inputting the users’ registration, account management, game cards consumption directly into the interconnected gaming platform or fighting platform controlled or owned by the foreign investor. In addition, on February 4, 2016, the GAPPRFT and the MIIT jointly issued the Administrative Measures on Network Publication, or the Network Publication Measures, which took effect in March 2016. Pursuant to the Network Publication Measures, wholly foreign-owned enterprises, Sino-foreign equity joint ventures and Sino-foreign cooperative enterprises shall not engage in the provision of web publishing services, including online game services. Project cooperation involving internet publishing services between an internet publishing service provider and a wholly foreign-owned enterprise, Sino-foreign equity joint venture, or Sino-foreign cooperative enterprise within China or an overseas organization or individual shall be subject to prior examination and approval by the GAPPRFT. It is not clear whether GAPPRFT and MIIT have regulatory authority over the ownership structures of online game companies based in China and online game operation in China. The relevant governmental authorities have broad discretion in adopting one or more of administrative measures against companies now in compliance with these measures, including revoking relevant licenses and relevant registration. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Company and Our Industry—PRC laws and regulations restrict foreign ownership of Internet content provision, Internet culture operation and Internet publishing licenses, and substantial uncertainties exist with respect to the application and implementation of PRC laws and regulations.”

On December 1, 2016, MOC issued the Circular on Regulating Online Game Operations and Strengthening Interim and Ex Post Regulation, or the MOC Online Games Regulation, which will becomebecame effective on May 1, 2017. Pursuant to the MOC Online Games Regulation, MOC further clarified the scope of online game operations. Online game operations shall include technical testing of online games by means of, for example, making the online games available for user registration, opening thefee-charging system of the online games, and providingclient-end software with direct server registration and login functions. In addition, enterprises that engage in providing user systems,fee-charging systems, program downloading, publicity and promotion and other services for online game products of other operating enterprises and that share revenue from online game operations shall be deemed as engaging in joint operations, and shall be subject to relevant obligations. In addition, this circular sets the regulatory standard for distributing virtual items, as follows:

In addition, enterprises engaged in online game operations shall require online game users to register their real names by using valid identity documents and shall limit the amount that an online game user may top up each time in each game. Such enterprises shall also send information that requires confirmation by users when they top up or engage in consumption, and shall display their contact details for handling matters relating to use rights protection in conspicuous locations within each online game.

On May 24, 2016, the GAPPRFT issued the Circular on the Administration over Mobile Game Publishing Services to further regulate the administration of mobile game publishing services. Pursuant to this circular, game publishing service entities shall be responsible for examining the contents of their games, applying for publication and applying for game publication numbers. Upgrades or new expansions of a mobile game that have been approved for publication shall be deemed as new works and the relevant publishing service entities shall go through relevant approval formalities again depending on the classification of the new works. Entities engaged in the joint operation of such new works must verify whether such games have gone through all the relevant approval formalities and whether the relevant information has been clearly displayed, or otherwise refrain from the joint operation. Mobile games without the required approval formalities shall be treated as illegal publications and the relevant entities shall be punished accordingly. The operation of SMS in China is classified as a value-added telecommunication business and SMS service providers shall obtain the relevant value-added telecommunication business permits.

Regulations on Internet Content

The PRC government has promulgated measures relating to Internet content through a number of ministries and agencies, including MIIT, the Ministry of Culture and GAPPRFT. These measures specifically prohibit Internet activities, including the operation of online games that result in the publication of any content which is found to, among other things, propagate obscenity, gambling or violence, instigate crimes, undermine public morality or the cultural traditions of the PRC, or compromise State security or secrets. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—The laws and regulations governing the online game industry in China are developing and subject to future changes. If we fail to obtain or maintain all applicable permits and approvals, our business and operations could be materially and adversely affected.” If an ICP license holder violates these measures, the PRC government may revoke its ICP license and shut down its websites.

In April 2007, various governmental authorities, including GAPP, MIIT, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Security, and other relevant authorities jointly issued a circular concerning the mandatory implementation of an “anti-fatigue system” in online games, which was aimed at protecting the physical and psychological health of minors. This circular required all online games to incorporate an “anti-fatigue system” and an identity verification system, both of which have limited the amount of time that a minor or other user may continuously spend playing an online game. We have implemented such “anti-fatigue” and identification systems on all of our online games as required. Since March 2011, various governmental authorities, including the Ministry of Culture, MIIT, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Security, and other relevant authorities have jointly launched the “Online Game Parents Guardianship Project for Minors,” which allows parents to require online game operators to take relevant measures to limit the time spent by the minors on playing online games and the minors’ access to their online game accounts. On February 5, 2013, the Ministry of Culture, MIIT, GAPP and various other governmental authorities, jointly issued the Working Plan on the Comprehensive Prevention Scheme on Online Game Addiction of Minors, which further strengthened the administration of the Internet cafés, reinstated the importance of the “anti-fatigue system” and “Online Game Parents Guardianship Project for Minors” as prevention measures against the online game addiction of minors and ordered all relevant governmental authorities to take all necessary actions in implementing such measures. In addition, pursuant to the MOC Online Games Regulation, which was issued on December 1, 2016 by MOC, an enterprise engaged in online game operations shall strictly comply with the provisions of the “Online Game Parents Guardianship Project for Minors,” and online game operators are encouraged to set upper limits on the consumption by users who are minors, limit the amount of time that such users are allowed to spend on online games, and take technical measures to block scenes and functions, among other things, that are not suitable for users who are minors. Additional requirements for anti-fatigue and identification systems in our games, as well as the implementation of any other measures required by any new regulations the PRC government may enact to further tighten its administration of the Internet and online games, and its supervision of Internet cafés, may limit or slow down our prospects for growth, or may materially and adversely affect our business results. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Our business may be adversely affected by public opinion and government policies in China.”

Internet content in China is also regulated and restricted from a state security standpoint. The National People’s Congress, China’s national legislative body, has enacted a law that may subject to criminal punishment in China any effort to: (1) gain improper entry into a computer or system of strategic importance; (2) disseminate politically disruptive information; (3) leak state secrets; (4) spread false commercial information; or (5) infringe intellectual property rights.

The Ministry of Public Security has promulgated measures that prohibit the use of the Internet in ways which, among other things, results in a leakage of state secrets or a spread of socially destabilizing content. The Ministry of Public Security has supervision and inspection rights in this regard, and we may be subject to the jurisdiction of the local security bureaus. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Regulation and censorship of information disseminated over the Internet in China may adversely affect our business, and we may be liable for information displayed on, retrieved from, or linked to our Internet websites.” If an ICP license holder violates these measures, the PRC government may revoke its ICP license and shut down its websites.

Regulations on Privacy Protection

PRC laws and regulations do not prohibit Internet content providers from collecting and analyzing personal information from their users subject to the user’s prior consent. We require our users to accept a user agreement whereby they agree to provide certain personal information to us. PRC law prohibits Internet content providers from disclosing to any third parties any information transmitted by users through their networks unless otherwise permitted by law. If an Internet content provider violates these regulations, it may be liable for damages caused to its users and it may be subject to administrative penalties such as warnings, fines, confiscation of its unlawful income, revocation of licenses, cancellation of filings, shutdown of their websites or even criminal liabilities.

Import Regulations

Our ability to obtain licenses for online games from abroad and import them into China is regulated in several ways. We are required to register with MOFCOM any license agreement with a foreign licensor that involves an import of technologies, including online game software into China. Without that registration, we may not remit licensing fees out of China to any foreign game licensor. In addition, the Ministry of Culture requires us to submit for its content review and/or approval any online games we want to license from overseas game developers or any patch or updates for such game if it contains substantial changes. If we license and operate games without that approval, the Ministry of Culture may impose penalties on us, including revoking the Internet culture operation license required for the operation of online games in China. Also, pursuant to a jointly issued notice in July 2004, GAPP and the State Copyright Bureau require us to obtain their approval for imported online game publications. Furthermore, the State Copyright Bureau requires us to register copyright license agreements relating to imported software. Without the State Copyright Bureau registration, we cannot remit licensing fees out of China to any foreign game licensor and we are not allowed to publish or reproduce the imported game software in China.

Regulations on Intellectual Property Rights

The State Council and the State Copyright Bureau have promulgated various regulations and rules relating to the protection of software in China. Under these regulations and rules, software owners, licensees and transferees may register their rights in software with the State Copyright Bureau or its local branches and obtain software copyright registration certificates. Although such registration is not mandatory under PRC law, software owners, licensees and transferees are encouraged to go through the registration process and registered software rights may receive better protection. We have registered most of ourin-house developed online games with the State Copyright Bureau.

Regulations on Foreign Currency Exchange and Dividend Distribution

Foreign Currency Exchange. Foreign currency exchange regulation in China is primarily governed by the following rules:

Pursuant to the Foreign Exchange Administration Rules (1996), as amended in 1997 and 2008, the RMB is generally freely convertible for trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions, but not for direct investment, loans, investment in securities, or other transactions through a capital account outside China unless the prior approval of SAFE or designated banks is obtained. Furthermore, foreign investment enterprises in China in general may purchase foreign exchange without the approval of SAFE or designated banks for trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions by providing commercial documents evidencing these transactions. Foreign investment enterprises that need foreign exchange for the distribution of profits to their shareholders may effect payment from their foreign exchange account or purchase and pay foreign exchange at the designated foreign exchange banks to their foreign shareholders by producing board resolutions for such profit distribution. Under the Administration Rules of the Settlement, Sale and Payment of Foreign Exchange (1996), based on their needs, foreign investment enterprises are permitted to open foreign exchange settlement accounts for current account receipts and payments of foreign exchange along with specialized accounts for capital account receipts and payments of foreign exchange at certain designated foreign exchange banks.

On November 19, 2012, SAFE promulgated the Circular of Further Improving and Adjusting Foreign Exchange Administration Policies on Foreign Direct Investment, or SAFE Circular 59, which became effective on December 17, 2012. The major developments under SAFE Circular 59 were that the opening of various special purpose foreign exchange accounts (e.g.pre-establishment expenses account, foreign exchange capital account, guarantee account) no longer required the approval of SAFE. Furthermore, multiple capital accounts for the same entity may be opened in different provinces, which was not possible before the issuance of SAFE Circular 59. Reinvestment of RMB proceeds by foreign investors in the PRC no longer required SAFE approval or verification, and remittance of foreign exchange profits and dividends by a foreign-invested enterprise to its foreign shareholders no longer required SAFE approval.

On May 10, 2013, SAFE promulgated the Circular on Printing and Distributing the Provisions on Foreign Exchange Administration over Domestic Direct Investment by Foreign Investors and the Supporting Documents, which specifies that the administration by SAFE or its local branches over direct investment by foreign investors in the PRC shall be based on registration. Institutions and individuals shall register with SAFE and/or its branches for their direct investment in the PRC. Banks shall process foreign exchange business relating to the direct investment in the PRC based on the registration information provided by SAFE and its branches.

On February 13, 2015, SAFE issued the Circular on Further Simplifying and Improving the Foreign Exchange Administration Policies on Direct Investments, or SAFE Circular 13, which took effect on June 1, 2015. Pursuant to SAFE Circular 13, the administrative examination and approval procedures with SAFE or its local branches relating to the foreign exchange registration approval for domestic direct investments as well as overseas direct investments have been cancelled, and qualified banks are delegated the power to directly conduct such foreign exchange registrations under the supervision of SAFE or its local branches.

On April 26, 2016, SAFE issued the Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Further Promoting Trade and Investment Facility and Improving the Examination and Verification of the Authenticity, pursuant to which when handling the remittance of profits exceeding the equivalent of US$50,000 abroad for a domestic institution, a bank should examine the authenticity of the transaction by reviewing related corporate approvals, tax filing record and other materials.

On June 9, 2016, 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 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 tonon-affiliated enterprises.

Dividend Distribution. The principal regulations governing distribution of dividends of foreign holding companies include:

Under these regulations, foreign investment enterprises in China may pay dividends only out of their accumulated profits, if any, determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. In addition, foreign investment enterprises in China are required to allocate at least 10% of their respective profits each year, if any, to fund certain reserve funds until the cumulative total of the allocated reserve funds reaches 50% of an enterprise’s registered capital and a portion of their respectiveafter-tax profits to their staff welfare and bonus reserve funds as determined by their respective board of directors or shareholders. These reserves are not distributable as dividends.

Regulations on Foreign Exchange in Certain Onshore and Offshore Transactions

On July 4, 2014, SAFE issued SAFE Circular 37, which is the Circular on Several Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Administration of Domestic Residents Engaging in Overseas Investment, Financing and Round-Trip Investment via Special Purpose Vehicles. SAFE Circular 37 and its detailed guidelines require PRC residents to register with the local branch of SAFE before contributing their legally owned onshore or offshore assets or equity interest into any SPV directly established, or indirectly controlled, by them for the purpose of investment or financing. In addition, when there is (a) any change to the basic information of the SPV, such as any change relating to its individual PRC resident shareholders, name or operation period or (b) any material change, such as increase or decrease in the share capital held by its individual PRC resident shareholders, a share transfer or exchange of the shares in the SPV, or a merger or split of the SPV, the PRC resident must register such changes with the local branch of SAFE on a timely basis. According to the relevant SAFE rules, failure to comply with the registration procedures set forth in SAFE Circular 37 may result in restrictions being imposed on the foreign exchange activities of the relevant onshore companies of SPVs, including the payment of dividends and other distributions to its offshore parent or affiliate and the capital inflow from such offshore entity, and may also subject the relevant PRC residents and onshore companies to penalties under PRC foreign exchange administration regulations. Further, failure to comply with various SAFE registration requirements described above would result in liability for foreign exchange evasion under PRC laws. On February 13, 2015, SAFE issued SAFE Circular 13, which is the Circular on Further Simplifying and Improving the Foreign Exchange Administration Policies on Direct Investments, which took effect on June 1, 2015. Under SAFE Circular 13, qualified banks are delegated the power to register all PRC residents’ investments in SPVs pursuant to SAFE Circular 37, saving for supplementary registration application made by PRC residents who failed to comply with SAFE Circular 37, which shall still fall into the jurisdiction of the local branch of SAFE.

As a result of the uncertainties relating to the interpretation and implementation of SAFE Circular 37 and other regulations of SAFE, we cannot predict how these regulations will affect our business operations or strategies. For example, our present or future PRC subsidiaries’ ability to conduct foreign exchange activities, such as remittance of dividends and foreign-currency-denominated borrowings, may be subject to compliance with such SAFE registration requirements by relevant PRC residents, over whom we have no control. In addition, we cannot assure you that any such PRC residents will be able to complete the necessary approval and registration procedures required by the SAFE regulations. We have requested all of our shareholders who, based on our knowledge, are PRC residents or whose ultimate beneficial owners are PRC residents to comply with all applicable SAFE registration requirements, but we have no control over our shareholders. We cannot assure you that the PRC beneficial owners of our company and our subsidiaries have completed the required SAFE registrations. Nor can we assure you that they will be in full compliance with the SAFE registration in the future. Anynon-compliance by the PRC beneficial owners of our company and our subsidiaries may subject us or such PRC resident shareholders to fines and other penalties. It may also limit our ability to contribute additional capitals to our PRC subsidiaries and our subsidiaries’ ability to distribute profits or make other payments to us.

The following diagram illustrates our organizational structure, the place of formation, ownership interest of each of our significant subsidiaries and material affiliated entities as of the date of this annual report:

D.     Property, Plants and Equipment

Our headquarters are located on premises comprising approximately 14,000 square meters in an office building in Shanghai, China. We purchased the office building in which our headquarters are located, and lease all of our other premises from unrelated third parties.third-parties. Our office building has been mortgaged to secure the Convertible Notes in the aggregate principal amount of US$40,050,000 issued and sold to Splendid Days and an entrusted loan of approximately RMB31.6 million (US$4.6 million) that we obtained from a third party in December 2015. In addition, we have subsidiaries located in the United States, Singapore and South Korea and small branch offices in Beijing, Nanjing, Wuhan, Xi’an, Chengdu and Shenyang, China. Our equipment consists substantially of numerous servers and network devices located in two Internet data centers in China.

Item 4A. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

Item 5. OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS

The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations is based upon and should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and their related notes included in this annual report. This report contains forward-looking statements. See “—G. Safe Harbor.” In evaluating our business, you should carefully consider the information provided under the caption “Risk Factors” in this annual report. We caution you that our businesses and financial performance are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties.

The major factors affecting our results of operations and financial conditions include:

Revenue Composition and Sources of Revenue. In 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2016,2017, we generated substantially all of our revenues from online game services, and the remaining portion of our revenues from other services. The following table sets forth our revenues generated from providing online game services and other services, both in absolute amounts and as percentages of total revenues for the periods indicated.

Online Game Services. In 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2016,2017, revenues from our online game services amounted to RMB55.4 million, RMB40.5 million, and RMB48.6 million and RMB71.6 million (US$7.011.0 million), respectively. We primarily generate our online game service revenues through item-based revenue models. Under an item-based revenue model, players of our games play the games for free, but are charged for purchases ofin-game items, such as performance-enhancing items, clothing and accessories. Thus, we generate revenues through the sale of suchin-game premium features that players use game points to purchase. The distribution of points to end users is typically made through sales of prepaid online points. Fees from prepaid online points are deferred when initially received. This revenue is recognized over the life of the premium features or as the premium features are consumed. Future usage patterns may differ from the historical usage patterns on which the virtual items and services consumption model is based. We will continue to monitor the operational statistics and usage patterns affecting our recognition of these revenues.

Other Revenues. Other revenues mainly included revenues from mobile app training services and, starting in 2016, revenues from the provision of game development and technical services to customers.

Cost of Revenue. Our cost of revenue consists of costs directly attributable to rendering our services, including online game royalties, payroll, sharing to third partythird-party game platform, telecom carries and other suppliers, depreciation and rental of Internet data center sites, depreciation and amortization of computer equipment and software, intangible assets amortization and other overhead expenses directly attributable to the services we provide.

Operating Expenses. Our operating expenses consist primarily of product development expenses, sales and marketing expenses, general and administrative expenses, impairment on intangible assets and impairment on goodwill.

Product Development ExpensesExpenses.. Our product development expenses consist primarily of compensation to our product development personnel, outsourced research and development expenses, equipment and software depreciation charges and other overhead expenses for the development of our proprietary games. Our product development expenses amounted to RMB156.3 million, RMB135.0 million, and RMB78.0 million and RMB45.1 million (US$11.26.9 million) for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2016,2017, respectively. Most of our proprietary online games have entered into their final stages of development and we have the ability to control the level of discretionary spending on product development in the near future.

Sales and Marketing Expenses. Our sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of advertising and marketing expenses incurred to promote our games and compensation expenses relating to our sales and marketing personnel. Our sales and marketing expenses amounted to RMB51.8 million, RMB31.7 million, and RMB21.3 million and RMB9.1 million (US$3.11.4 million) for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2016,2017, respectively.

General and Administrative Expenses. Our general and administrative expenses consist primarily of compensation and travel expenses for our administrative staff, depreciation of property and equipment, entertainment expenses, administrative office expenses, as well as fees paid to professional service providers for auditing, legal services and legal services.equity transactions. General and administration expenses amounted to RMB111.2 million, RMB131.8 million, and RMB129.0 million and RMB108.8 million (US$18.616.7 million) for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2016,2017, respectively. General and administrative expenses continued to decrease from 20152016 to 2016,2017, which reflects our cost cutting efforts.

Impairment on Intangible Assets. We had impairment charges on certain intangible assets of RMB68.0 million (US$9.8 million) for the year ended December 31, 2016. We did not have such impairment charges for the years ended December 31, 20142015 and 2015.2017.

Impairment Loss on Goodwill. We had no impairment charges of goodwill for the year ended December 31, 2017. We had impairment charges on goodwill of RMB10.6 million (US$1.5 million) infor the year ended December 31, 2016, which represented the impairment of goodwill in connection with our acquisition of Red 5 in 2010.In 2016, due to the weaker-than-expected operating performance of Red5,Red 5, we concluded that the goodwill was fully impaired. We did not have such impairment charges for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2015.

Other Operating Income(Expenses)Income(Expenses). We had operating income of RMB0.3 million (US$0.05 million) for the year ended December 31, 2017, including office rental fee of RMB0.4 million. We had operating income of RMB3.6 million (US$0.5 million) infor the year ended December 31, 2016, including primarily IDC rental fee and office rental fee of RMB4.2 million, (US$0.6 million), which were partially offset by the disposal of property, equipment and software of RMB0.6 million (US$0.09 million).million. We had operating expenses of RMB1.6 million infor the year ended December 31, 2015, representing a loss on disposal of property, equipment and software. Our other operating income in 2014, which amounted to RMB75,000, represented rental income.

Holding Company Structure

We are a holding company incorporated in the Cayman Islands and rely primarily on dividends and other distributions from our subsidiaries and our affiliated entities in China for our cash requirements. Current PRC regulations restrict our affiliated entities and subsidiaries from paying dividends in the following two principal aspects: (i) our affiliated entities and subsidiaries in China are only permitted to pay dividends out of their respective accumulated profits, if any, determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations; and (ii) these entities are required to allocate at least 10% of their respective accumulated profits each year, if any, to fund certain capital reserves until the cumulative total of the allocated reserves reach 50% of registered capital, and a portion of their respectiveafter-tax profits to their staff welfare and bonus reserve funds as determined by their respective boards of directors. These reserves are not distributable as dividends. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Government Regulations.” In addition, failure to comply with relevant SAFE regulations may restrict the ability of our subsidiaries to make dividend payments to us. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—PRC regulations relating to the establishment of offshore special purpose companies by PRC residents may subject our PRC resident shareholders or us to penalties and fines, and limit our ability to inject capital into our PRC subsidiaries, limit our subsidiaries’ ability to increase their registered capital, distribute profits to us, or otherwise adversely affect us.”

Income and Sales Taxes

The National People’s Congress of the PRC adopted and promulgated the EIT Law on March 16, 2007. The EIT Law went into effect as of January 1, 2008 and revised on February 24, 2017, and unified the tax rate generally applicable to both domestic and foreign-invested enterprises in the PRC. Our company’s subsidiaries and affiliated entities in the PRC are generally subject to EIT at a statutory rate of 25%. Our subsidiaries and affiliated entities in the PRC that hold a HNTE qualification are entitled to enjoy a 15% preferential EIT rate.

In addition, under the EIT Law, enterprises organized under the laws of their respective jurisdictions outside the PRC may be classified as either“non-resident enterprises” or “resident enterprises.”Non-resident enterprises are subject to withholding tax at the rate of 20% with respect to theirPRC-sourced dividend income if they have no establishment or place of business in the PRC or if such income is not related to their establishment or place of business in the PRC, unless otherwise exempted or reduced according to treaties or arrangements between the PRC central government and the governments of other countries or regions. The State Council has reduced the withholding tax rate to 10% in the newly promulgated implementation rules of the EIT Law. As we are incorporated in the Cayman Islands, we may be regarded as a“non-resident enterprise.” We hold equity interests in certain PRC subsidiaries through subsidiaries in Hong Kong. According to the Tax Agreement between the PRC and Hong Kong, dividends paid by a foreign-invested enterprise in the PRC to its corporate shareholder in Hong Kong holding 25% or more of its equity interest may be subject to withholding tax at the maximum rate of 5% if certain criteria are met. Entitlement to such lower tax rate on dividends according to tax treaties or arrangements between the PRC central government and governments of other countries or regions is further subject to approval of relevant tax authority.

Furthermore,

In February 2018, the SAT promulgatedissued the Announcement of the State Administration of Taxation on Issues Relating to “Beneficial Owner” in Tax Treaties on issues relating to “beneficial owner” in tax treaties, or Circular 601No. 9, which took effect on April 1, 2018. Circular No. 9 provides a more elastic guidance forto determine whether the applicant engages in substantive business activities to constitute a “beneficial owner.” When determining whether a residentthe applicant’s status of a contracting state is the “beneficial owner” of an Item of income under China’sregarding tax treatments in connection with dividends, interests or royalties in the tax treaties, several factors, including without limitation, whether the applicant is obligated to pay more than 50% of his or her income in the past twelve months to residents in third country or region, whether the business operated by the applicant constitutes the actual business activities, and whether the other country or region to the tax arrangements. Accordingtreaties does not levy any tax or grant tax exemption on relevant incomes at all or levy tax at an extremely low rate, will be taken into account, and it will be analyzed according to Circular 601,the actual circumstances of the specific cases. This circular further provides that applicants who intend to prove his or her status of the “beneficial owner” shall submit the relevant documents to the relevant tax bureau according to the Administrative Measures for Non-Resident Enterprises to Enjoy Treatments under Tax Treaties, pursuant to whichnon-resident taxpayers which satisfy the criteria to be entitled to tax treaty benefits may, at the time of tax declaration or withholding declaration through a beneficial owner generally mustwithholding agent, enjoy the tax treaty benefits, and be engaged in substantial business activities. Ansubject tofollow-up administration by the tax authorities. If thenon-resident taxpayer does not apply to the withholding agent or conduit company will not be regarded as a beneficial owner and, therefore, will not qualify for treaty benefits. The conduit company normally refers to a company that is set up for the purposetax treaty benefits, or such taxpayer does not satisfy the criteria to be entitled to tax treaty benefits, the withholding agent should withhold tax pursuant to the provisions of avoiding or reducing taxes or transferring or accumulating profits. In June 2012, SAT further promulgated Circular 30 which provides that thePRC tax authorities shall make the decision based on comprehensive consideration of all determining factors provided in Circular 601 rather than the status of a single determining factor.laws. We cannot assure you that any dividends to be distributed by us or by our subsidiaries to ournon-PRC shareholders and ADS holders whose jurisdiction of incorporation has a tax treaty with China providing a different withholding arrangement will be entitled to the benefits under the relevant withholding arrangement.

The EIT law deems an enterprise established offshore but having its management organ in the PRC as a “resident enterprise” that will be subject to PRC tax at the rate of 25% of its global income. Under the Implementation Rules of the New Enterprise Income Tax Law, the term “management organ” is defined as “an organ which has substantial and overall management and control over the manufacturing and business operation, personnel, accounting, properties and other factors.” On April 22, 2009, the SAT further issued Circular 82. According to Circular 82, a foreign enterprise controlled by a PRC company or a PRC company group shall be deemed a PRC resident enterprise, if (i) the senior management and the core management departments in charge of its daily operations are mainly located and function in the PRC; (ii) its financial decisions and human resource decisions are subject to the determination or approval of persons or institutions located in the PRC; (iii) its major assets, accounting books, company seals, minutes and files of board meetings and shareholders’ meetings are located or kept in the PRC; and (iv) more than half of the directors or senior management with voting rights reside in the PRC. On July 27, 2011, SAT issued SAT Bulletin 45 which further clarified the detailed procedures for determination of the resident status provided in Circular 82, competent tax authorities in charge and post-determination administration of such resident enterprises. Although our offshore companies are not controlled by any PRC company or PRC company group, we cannot assure you that we will not be deemed to be a “resident enterprise” under the EIT Law and thus be subject to PRC EIT on our global income.

According to the EIT Law and its implementation rules, dividends are exempted from income tax if such dividends are received by a PRC resident enterprise on equity interests it directly owns in another PRC resident enterprise. However, foreign corporate holders of our shares or ADSs may be subject to taxation at a rate of 10% on any dividends received from us or any gains realized from the transfer of our shares or ADSs if we are deemed to be a resident enterprise or if such income is otherwise regarded as income “sourced within the PRC.” See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Company and Our Industry—The PRC income tax laws may increase our tax burden or the tax burden on the holders of our shares or ADSs, and tax benefits available to us may be reduced or repealed, causing the value of your investment in us to decrease.”

With respect to sales taxes, before December 31, 2011, all the services provided by our PRC subsidiaries were subject to business taxes at the rate of 5%. In October, 2011, China’s Ministry of Finance and the SAT jointly issued the Circular 110 to launch the VAT reform pilot program in Shanghai. Following the Circular 110, the Ministry of Finance and the SAT jointly issued the Circular 111 in November 2011 to provide detailed implementation rules for the program. The two circulars, which would be effective from January 1, 2012, stipulated that certain services, subject to the pilot programs, shall be subject to VAT instead of business tax. On July 31, 2012, the Ministry of Finance and the SAT jointly issued Circular 71 which further extended areas subject to the pilot program to eight more provinces. On December 12, 2013, the Ministry of Finance and the SAT jointly issued the Interim Implementation Rules on the Pilot Program for the Collection of Value Added Tax Instead of Business Tax and a series of other rules, which annulled the preceding trial rules and extended applicable areas of the pilot program to the whole country. As a result of such Implementation Rules, some of our services provided by Shanghai IT and The9 Computer are subject to VAT at the rate of 6%. Shanghai IT and The9 Computer, as General VAT Payers under the applicable tax regulations, may reduce their Input VAT. Certain services provided by Shanghai The9 Education Technology Co., Ltd. and other PRC subsidiaries or affiliated PRC entities shall be subject to VAT at the rate of 3%, and these companies as Small-scale VAT Payers under the applicable tax regulations may not reduce their VAT payable by their Input VAT.

On March 23, 2016, the Ministry of Finance and the SAT jointly issued the Circular on the Pilot Program for Overall Implementation of the Collection of Value Added Tax Instead of Business Tax, or Circular 36, which took effect on May 1, 2016. Pursuant to Circular 36, all companies operating in construction, real estate, finance, modern service or other sectors which were required to pay business tax are required to pay VAT in lieu of business tax.tax As a result of Circular 36, the services provided by Shanghai IT, The9 Computer, C9I Shanghai, Shanghai Fire Wing and The9 Education as general VAT payers will be subject to VAT at the rate of 6%, and the services provided by our other PRC subsidiaries or affiliated PRC entities as small-scale VAT payers will be subject to VAT at the rate of 3%.

Our subsidiaries in the United States are registered in California and are subject to U.S. federal corporate marginal income tax at a rate of 34%35% and state income tax at a rate of 0.23%8.84%, respectively.

Inflation

Since our inception, inflation in China has not materially impacted our results of operations. According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the year-over-year percent changes in the consumer price index for December 2014, 2015, 2016 and 20162017 increases of 1.5%1.6%, 1.6%2.1% and 2.1%1.8%, respectively. Although we have not been materially affected by inflation, we may be affected if China experiences higher rates of inflation in the future.

Critical Accounting Policies

We prepare financial statements in conformity with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or U.S. GAAP, which requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities on the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the financial reporting period. We continually evaluate these estimates and assumptions based on the most recently available information, our own historical experience and various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Since the use of estimates is an integral component of the financial reporting process, actual results could differ from those estimates. Some of our accounting policies require higher degrees of judgment than others in their application. We consider the policies discussed below to be critical to an understanding of our financial statements as their application assists management in making their business decisions.

Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities, or VIEs

PRC laws and regulations, including the GAPP Circular and the Network Publication Measures, currently prohibit or restrict foreign ownership of Internet-related businesses. We believe, consistent with the view of our PRC legal counsel, that our current structure complies with these foreign ownership restrictions, subject to the interpretation and implementation of the GAPP Circular and the Network Publication Measures. Specifically, we operate our business through Shanghai IT and have entered into a series of contractual arrangements with Shanghai IT and its equity owners. See the contractual arrangements set forth in “Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions—B. Related Party Transactions.” As a result of these contractual arrangements, we are entitled to receive service fees for services provided to Shanghai IT for an amount determined at our discretion, up to 90% of PRC entities’ profits. In addition, the equity owners of record for these entities have pledged all their equity interests in the VIEs to us as collateral for all of their payments due to the wholly-owned foreign enterprise, or WOFE, and to secure performance of all obligations of the VIEs and their shareholders under various agreements. In addition, the agreements provide that any dividend distributions made by the VIEs, if any, are required to be deposited in an escrow account over which we have exclusive control. Moreover, through the Call Option Agreements and Shareholder Voting Proxy Agreements, each shareholder of the VIEs granted WOFE or any third parties designated by the WOFE an irrevocable power of attorney to act on all matters pertaining to the VIEs. We believe that the terms of the Call Option Agreements are currently exercisable and legally enforceable under the PRC laws and regulations. We also believe that the minimum amount of consideration permitted by the applicable PRC law to exercise the options does not represent a financial barrier or disincentive for us to exercise our rights under the Call Option Agreements. A simple majority vote of our board of directors is required to pass a resolution to exercise our rights under the Call Option Agreements, for which consent of the shareholder of the VIEs is not required. As a result of the totality of these arrangements, we have both the power to direct activities that most significantly impact the VIEs economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses of or right to receive benefits from the VIEs that are significant to Shanghai IT. As a result, we concluded we are the primary beneficiary of Shanghai IT and as such Shanghai IT is consolidated VIE of our company.

The GAPP Circular reiterates and reinforces the long-standing prohibition of foreign ownership of Internet-related publication businesses via direct, indirect or disguised methods, and the Network Publication Measures provides that the manner of project cooperation shall be subject to prior examination and approval by the GAPPRFT. However, it is not clear whether GAPPRFT and MIIT have regulatory authority over the ownership structures of online game companies based in China and online game operation in China. In addition, the GAPP Circular and the Network Publication Measures do not specifically invalidate VIE agreements, and we are not aware of any online game companies adopting similar contractual arrangements as ours having been penalized or ordered to terminate such arrangements since the GAPP Circular first became effective. Therefore, we believe that our ability to direct the activities of Shanghai IT that most significantly impact our economic performance is not affected by the GAPP Circular. Any changes in PRC laws and regulations that affect our ability to control Shanghai IT might preclude us from consolidating Shanghai IT in the future. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Company and Our Industry—PRC laws and regulations restrict foreign ownership of Internet content provision, Internet culture operation and Internet publishing licenses, and substantial uncertainties exist with respect to the application and implementation of PRC laws and regulations.”

Revenue Recognition

Online Game Services

We earn revenue from provision of online game operation services to players on our game servers and thirdthird- party platform and overseas licensing of the online game to other operators. We recognize revenues when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, services are delivered or performed, our price is fixed or determinable and collectability is reasonably assured. We will adopt the new guidance using the modified retrospective transition approach method, reflecting the cumulative effect of initially applying the new standard to revenue recognition in 2018. We are in the process of completing the process for all revenue streams to evaluate the impact of the new standard on revenue contracts. While we continues to assess all potential impacts effects from the updates new guidance, we currently believes the most significant potential impact relates to the accounting is for licensing agreements and sales-based royalty agreements.

Online game services to players on our game server

We generate revenue primarily from the sale of prepaid online points for our online game services products to distributors who in turn ultimately sell them to players. We also sell the points directly to players via certain online payment platforms.

We utilize a virtual item/service consumption model to recognize revenue. Under this model, we generate online game service revenues through the sale ofin-game premium features. In this model, players can access our basic games free of charge and then may purchase game points to acquirein-game premium features. The distribution of points to players is typically made through sales of prepaid online points. Fees for prepaid online points are deferred when initially received. This revenue is recognized over the estimated life of the premium features or as the premium features are consumed.

Forin-game premium features that are immediately consumed, revenue is recognized upon consumption. For premium features with a stated expiration time, which ranges from one to 180 days, revenue is recognized ratably over the period starting from when the feature is first used to the expiration time. For perpetual features with no predetermined expiration, revenue is recognized ratably over the estimated average lives of the perpetual features, which are typically less than one year. When estimating the average lives of thein-game perpetual features, we consider the average period that players typically play the game, other player behavior patterns, and factors including the acceptance and popularity of expansion packs, promotional events launched, and market conditions. Future usage patterns of players may differ from the historical usage patterns on which the virtual item / service consumption revenue recognition model is based. We continually monitor the operational statistics and usage patterns.patterns, and adjust its estimates accordingly.

Online game services over third partythird-party platform

Certain social games, TV games, certain web games and certain MMOGS, have adopted the virtual item / service consumption model, and are launched on the third partythird-party game platforms and telecom carriers. Revenue from social and web games operated through third partythird-party game platforms are recognized upon consumption of thein-game premium features with the amount net of remittance to the third partythird-party game platforms as we do not set the pricing of thein-game currency of the third partythird-party game platforms.

Revenue from TV games operated through telecom carriers and certain MMOGS operated on the third partythird-party game platforms are recognized upon consumption of thein-game premium features based on the gross amount paid, as we are the primary obligor of the games operation. The remittance to the telecom carrier and third partythird-party game platforms is recognized as costs of revenue when incurred.

Licensing revenue

We license our proprietary online games to other game operators and receive license fees and royalty income in connection with their operation of the games. License fee revenue is recognized over the license period upon the commercialization of the game in the overseas market. Royalty income is recognized when earned, provided that collectability is reasonably assured.

Other Revenues

Other revenues mainly include those generated from mobile app training services and from the provision of game development and technical services to third parties.

Training and advertisement

Training and advertisement revenue include revenues generated from providing technical training to college students on mobile application programming and, prior to the sale of our 58% equity interest in our mobile advertising platform, advertising services on our mobile advertising platform.programming. These revenues are recognized when delivery of the website advertisementservice has occurred or when services have been rendered and the collection of the related fees is reasonably assured.

Income Taxes

We account for income taxes under the asset and liability method. Deferred taxes are determined based upon the differences between the carrying value of assets and liabilities for financial reporting and tax purposes at currently enacted statutory tax rates for the years in which the differences are expected to reverse. The effect on deferred taxes of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period of change.

A valuation allowance is provided on deferred tax assets to the extent that it is more likely than not that such deferred tax assets will not be realized. The total income tax provision includes current tax expenses under applicable tax regulations and the change in the balance of deferred tax assets and liabilities. Realization of the future tax benefits related to the deferred tax assets is dependent on many factors, including our ability to generate taxable income within the period during which the temporary differences reverse or our tax loss carry forwards expire, the outlook for the PRC economic environment, and the overall future industry outlook. We consider these factors in reaching our conclusion on the recoverability of the deferred tax assets and determine the valuation allowances necessary at each balance sheet date.

We recognize the impact of an uncertain income tax position at the largest amount that ismore-likely-than-not to be sustained upon audit by the relevant tax authority. Income tax related interest is classified as interest expenses and penalties as income tax expense. As of December 31, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2016,2017, we did not have any material liability for uncertain tax positions. Our policy is to recognize, if any,tax-related interest as interest expenses and penalties as income tax expenses. For the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2016,2017, we did not have any material interest and penalties associated with tax positions.

Intangible Assets

Our intangible assets consist primarily of acquired game licenses and acquired game development costs from business combination.

Acquired game licenses are amortized on a straight-line basis over the shorter of the useful economic life of the relevant online game or license period, which range from two to seven years. Amortization of upfront licensing fees commences upon the monetization of the related online game. We recognize intangible assets acquired through business acquisitions as assets separate from goodwill. Acquiredin-process research and development costs are initially considered an indefinite-lived asset. Subsequently, they are recorded as acquired game development cost upon completion of the research and development efforts and are amortized on a straight-line basis over the useful economic life of the relevant online game. Amortization of acquired game development cost commences upon the monetization of the related online game.

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of the identifiable assets and liabilities acquired as a result of an acquisition we make.our business acquisition. Goodwill is not amortized, but tested for impairment annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that it might be impaired. In September 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, issued an authoritative pronouncement related to testing goodwill for impairment. The guidance permits us to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is “more likely than not” that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount as a basis for determining whether it is necessary to perform thetwo-step goodwill impairment test. We have adopted this pronouncement since 2012. If it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, we complete atwo-step goodwill impairment test in December of each year, we test impairment of goodwill at the reporting unit level and recognize impairment in the event that the carrying value exceedsyear. The first step is to compare the fair value of each reporting unit to its carrying amount, including goodwill. If the fair value of a reporting unit exceeds its carrying amount, goodwill is not considered to be impaired and the second step will not be required. If the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, the second step is to compare the implied fair value of goodwill to the carrying value of a reporting unit’s goodwill. The implied fair value of goodwill is determined in a manner similar to accounting for a business combination with the allocation of the assessed fair value determined in the first step to the assets and liabilities of the reporting unit. Goodwill impairment assessment requires significant judgment, including assumptions used to determineThe excess of the fair value of the reporting units. We determineunit over the fair value of our reporting units based onamounts assigned to the present value of estimated future cash flows of the reporting units. If the carrying amountassets and liabilities is in excess of the fair value, step two requires the comparison of the implied fair value of goodwill. This allocation process is only performed for purposes of evaluating goodwill impairment and does not result in an entry to adjust the reporting unit’s goodwill with the carrying amountvalue of the reporting unit’s goodwill. Anyany assets or liabilities. An impairment loss is recognized for any excess ofin the carrying value of the reporting unit’s goodwill over the implied fair value of the reporting unit’s goodwill is recorded as an impairment loss.goodwill. After completing our annual impairment reviews during the fourth quarter of 2014 and 2015, the reporting unit that was subject to the annual impairment testing had a fair value which exceeded its respective carrying value by a significant margin with no risk of failing the first step of the impairment test. We concluded that goodwill was not impaired as of December 31, 2014 and 2015. In 2016, due to the weaker-than- expectedweaker-than-expected operating performance of Red 5, we concluded that goodwill was fully impaired as of December 31, 2016. There was no goodwill as of December 31, 2017.