UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 20-F

(Mark One)

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

OR

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

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.

OR

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

For the transition period from                     to                     

OR

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

Date of event requiring this shell company report                     

Commission file number: 001-38751

Tencent Music Entertainment Group

(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)

Unit 3, Building D, Kexing Science Park, Kejizhongsan Avenue,

Hi-Tech Park, Nanshan District,

Shenzhen, 518057, the People’s Republic of China

(Address of principal executive offices)

Ms. Min Hu, Chief Financial Officer

Unit 3, Building D, Kexing Science Park, Kejizhongsan Avenue,

Hi-Tech Park, Nanshan District,

Shenzhen, 518057, the People’s Republic of China

Tel: +86-755-8601 3388

E-mail: ir@tencentmusic.com

(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:

Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
American depositary shares, each ADS represents two Class A ordinary shares, par value US$0.000083 per share*	TME	The New York Stock Exchange

* Not for trading, but only in connection with the listing on the New York Stock Exchange of American depositary shares.

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

None

(Title of Class)

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

None

(Title of Class)

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

3,390,154,264 ordinary shares, comprised of 1,675,015,086 Class A ordinary shares, par value US$0.000083 per share, and 1,715,139,178 Class B ordinary shares, par value US$0.000083 per share, as of December 31, 2021.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Large accelerated filer	☒	Accelerated filer	☐
Non-accelerated filer	☐	Emerging growth company	☐

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.  ☐

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

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

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

U.S. GAAP  ☐	International Financial Reporting Standards as issued		Other  ☐
	by the International Accounting Standards Board	☒

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

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

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

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS

		Page
INTRODUCTION			i
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION			iv
PART I			1
ITEM 1.	IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS		1
ITEM 2.	OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE		1
ITEM 3.	KEY INFORMATION		1
ITEM 4.	INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY		58
ITEM 4A.	UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS		118
ITEM 5.	OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS		118
ITEM 6.	DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES		139
ITEM 7.	MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS		153
ITEM 8.	FINANCIAL INFORMATION		156
ITEM 9.	THE OFFER AND LISTING		158
ITEM 10.	ADDITIONAL INFORMATION		159
ITEM 11.	QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK		169
ITEM 12.	DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES OTHER THAN EQUITY SECURITIES		170
PART II			172
ITEM 13.	ITEM DEFAULTS, DIVIDEND ARREARAGES AND DELINQUENCIES		172
ITEM 14.	MATERIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE RIGHTS OF SECURITY HOLDERS AND USE OF PROCEEDS		172
ITEM 15.	CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES		172
ITEM 16.A.	AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT		173
ITEM 16.B.	CODE OF ETHICS		173
ITEM 16.C.	PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES		174
ITEM 16.D.	EXEMPTIONS FROM THE LISTING STANDARDS FOR AUDIT COMMITTEE		174
ITEM 16.E.	PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY THE ISSUER AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS		175
ITEM 16.F.	CHANGE IN REGISTRANT’S CERTIFYING ACCOUNTANT		175
ITEM 16.G.	CORPORATE GOVERNANCE		175
ITEM 16.H.	MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE		175
PART III			176
ITEM 17.	FINANCIAL STATEMENTS		176
ITEM 18.	FINANCIAL STATEMENTS		176
ITEM 19.	EXHIBITS		176
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS			F-1

INTRODUCTION

Except where the context otherwise indicates and for the purpose of this annual report only:

• “ADSs” refers to the American depositary shares, each representing two Class A ordinary shares;

• “AI” refers to artificial intelligence;

• “Beijing Gongse” refers to Beijing Gongse Enterprise Management Co., Ltd., one of the VIEs;

• “Beijing Shangqin” refers to Beijing Shangqin Culture Management Partnership (Limited Partnership), one of the VIEs;

• “Beijing Yuzhong” refers to Beijing Yuzhong Entertainment Culture Partnership (Limited Partnership), one of the VIEs;

• “Beijing Zhizheng” refers to Beijing Zhizheng Music Culture Co., Ltd., one of the VIEs;

• “Beijing Kuwo” refers to Beijing Kuwo Technology Co., Ltd., one of the VIEs;

• “CAC” refers to the Cyberspace Administration of China;

• “China” or “PRC” refers to the People’s Republic of China, excluding, for the purpose of this annual report only, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau;

• “CMC” refers to China Music Corporation;

• “Guangxi Hexian” refers to Guangxi Hexian Investment Management Co., Ltd., one of the VIEs;

• “Guangxi Qingse” refers to Guangxi Qingse Venture Capital Co., Ltd., one of the VIEs;

• “Guangzhou Kugou” refers to Guangzhou Kugou Computer Technology Co., Ltd., one of the VIEs;

• “Group” refers to our company, its subsidiaries, its controlled structured entities (“Variable interest entities”, or “VIEs”) and their subsidiaries;

• “HK$” or “Hong Kong dollars” refers to the legal currency of the Hong Kong SAR;

• “IFRS” refers to International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board;

• “MCSC” refers to the Music Copyright Society of China;

• “monthly ARPPU” of each of our online music services and social entertainment services for any given period refers to the monthly average of (i) the revenues of the respective services for that period divided by (ii) the number of paying users of the respective services for that period. The monthly ARPPU of social entertainment services is calculated based on revenues from social entertainment and others, including advertising services provided on our social entertainment platforms;

• “ordinary shares” refers to our ordinary shares of par value US$0.000083 per share;

• “paying ratio” for a given period is measured by the number of paying users as a percentage of the mobile MAUs for that period;

• “paying users” for our online music services (i) for any given quarter refers to the average of the number of users whose subscription packages remain active as of the last day of each month of that quarter; and (ii) for any given year refers to the average of the total number of paying users of the four quarters in that year. The number of paying users for our online music services for any given period excludes the number of users who only purchase digital music singles and albums during such period because these purchasing patterns tend to reflect specific releases, which may fluctuate from period to period;

i

• “paying users” for our social entertainment services (i) for any given quarter refers to the average of the number of paying users for each month in that quarter; (ii) for any given year refers to the average of the total number of paying users of the four quarters in that year. The number of paying users of our social entertainment services for a given month refers to the number of users who contribute revenues to our social entertainment services (primarily through purchases of virtual gifts or premium memberships) during that month;

• “publishing rights” refers to the copyrights of music and non-music works for the purpose of this annual report;

• “Qianhai Daizheng” refers to Shenzhen Qianhai Daizheng Music Culture Co., Ltd., one of the VIEs;

• “RMB” or “Renminbi” refers to the legal currency of the People’s Republic of China;

• “Shenzhen Lanren” refers to Shenzhen Lanren Online Technology Co, Ltd., which we acquired in March 2021;

• “Shenzhen Ultimate Music” refers to Shenzhen Ultimate Music Culture and Technology Co., Ltd., one of the VIEs;

• “Spotify” refers to Spotify Technology S.A., one of our principal shareholders;

• “Tencent” refers to Tencent Holdings Limited, our controlling shareholder;

• “US$,” “dollars” or “U.S. dollars” refers to the legal currency of the United States;

• “we,” “us,” “our company” and “our” refer to Tencent Music Entertainment Group (or, where the context requires, its predecessor), its subsidiaries and, in the context of describing our operations and consolidated financial information, its VIEs;

• with respect to MAU data used in this annual report:

• “mobile MAUs” or “PC MAUs” for a given month (i) with respect to each of our products (except WeSing) is measured as the number of unique mobile or PC devices, as the case may be, through which such product is accessed at least once in that month; and (ii) with respect to WeSing, is measured as the number of user accounts through which WeSing is accessed at least once in that month;

• “mobile MAUs” for a given period refers to the monthly average of the sum of the mobile MAUs for that period;

• “online music mobile MAUs” for a given month refers to the sum of mobile MAUs of our music products, namely QQ Music, Kugou Music and Kuwo Music, for that month; duplicate access of different services by the same device is not eliminated from the calculation;

• “social entertainment mobile MAUs” for a given month refers to the sum of mobile MAUs that have accessed the social entertainment services offered by (i) WeSing; (ii) Kugou’s Live Streaming services; (iii) Kuwo’s Live Streaming services; (iv) Kugou Changchang; and (v) QQ Music’s Live Streaming services; duplicate access of different services by the same user account or device is not eliminated from the calculation;

• “social entertainment mobile MAUs” for a given period refers to the monthly average of the sum of the social entertainment mobile MAUs for that period; and

• our MAUs are calculated using internal company data, treating each distinguishable user account or device as a separate MAU even though some users may access our services using more than one user account or device and multiple users may access our services using the same user account or device.

This annual report on Form 20-F includes our audited balance sheets as of December 31, 2020 and 2021 and our audited consolidated income statements, statements of comprehensive income, statements of changes in equity and statements of cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

ii

Substantially all of our operations are conducted in China and all of our revenues is denominated in Renminbi. Our reporting currency is the Renminbi. This annual report on Form 20-F also contains translations of certain foreign currency amounts into U.S. dollars for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise stated, all translations from Renminbi to U.S. dollars were made at RMB6.3726 to US$1.00, the noon buying rate on December 31, 2021 set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board. In addition, unless otherwise noted, all translations from Hong Kong dollars to U.S. dollars and from U.S. dollars to Hong Kong dollars in this annual report were made at a rate of HK$7.7996 to US$1.00, the exchange rate set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board on December 31, 2021. We make no representation that the Renminbi or U.S. dollar amounts referred to in this annual report could have been or could be converted into U.S. dollars or Renminbi, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all. The PRC government imposes control over its foreign currency reserves in part through direct regulation of the conversion of Renminbi into foreign exchange and through restrictions on foreign trade.

We completed an initial public offering of our ADSs on December 14, 2018. The ADSs, each representing two Class A ordinary shares, are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “TME.”

iii

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This annual report contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

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

• our growth strategies;

• our future business development, financial condition and results of operations;

• our ability to retain, grow and engage our user base and expand our music and audio entertainment content offering;

• our ability to retain and grow our paying users and drive their spending on our services;

• expected changes in our revenues, content-related costs and operating margins;

• our ability to retain key personnel and attract new talent;

• competition landscape in China’s online music and audio entertainment industry;

• general economic, political, demographic and business conditions in China and globally; and

• the regulatory environment in which we operate.

We would like to caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and you should read these statements in conjunction with the risk factors disclosed in “Item 3. Key Information—3.D. Risk Factors.” Other sections of this annual report include additional factors which could adversely impact our business and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. New risk factors and uncertainties emerge from time to time and it is not possible for our management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements. We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements except as required under applicable law. You should read this annual report and the documents that we reference in this annual report completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect.

You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

iv

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

3.A. Reserved

3.B. Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

3.C. Reason for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

3.D. Risk Factors

Tencent Music Entertainment Group is a Cayman Islands holding company. It does not engage in operations itself but rather conducts its operations through its PRC subsidiaries and consolidated variable interest entities, or the VIEs. However, we and our direct and indirect subsidiaries do not, and it is virtually impossible for them to, have any equity interests in the VIEs in practice as current PRC laws and regulations restrict foreign investment in companies that engage in value-added telecommunication services and online cultural services. As a result, we depend on certain contractual arrangements with the VIEs to operate a significant portion of our business. This structure allows us to exercise effective control over the VIEs, and is designed to replicate substantially the same economic benefits as would be provided by direct ownership. The VIEs are owned by certain nominee shareholders, not us. Investors of our ADSs are purchasing equity securities of a Cayman Islands holding company rather than equity securities issued by our subsidiaries and the VIEs. Investors who are non-PRC residents may never directly hold equity interests in the VIEs under current PRC laws and regulations. As used in this annual report, “we,” “us,” “our company,” “our,” or “TME” refers to Tencent Music Entertainment Group and its subsidiaries, and, in the context of describing our consolidated financial information, business operations and operating data, our consolidated VIEs.

Our corporate structure involves unique risks to investors in the ADSs. In 2019, 2020 and 2021, the amount of revenues generated by the VIEs accounted for 99.8%, 99.8% and 99.1%, respectively, of our total net revenues. As of December 31, 2020 and 2021, total assets of the VIEs, excluding amounts due from other companies in the Group, equaled to 26.5% and 26.9% of our consolidated total assets as of the same dates, respectively. Our contractual arrangements with the VIEs have not been tested in court. If the PRC government deems that our contractual arrangements with the VIEs do not comply with PRC regulatory restrictions on foreign investment in the relevant industries, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations change in the future, we could be subject to material penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations or otherwise significantly change our corporate structure. We and our investors face significant uncertainty about potential future actions by the PRC government that could affect the legality and enforceability of the contractual arrangements with the VIEs and, consequently, significantly affect our ability to consolidate the financial results of the VIEs and the financial performance of our company as a whole. Our ADSs may decline in value or become worthless if we are unable to effectively enforce our contractual control rights over the assets and operations of the VIEs that conduct a significant portion of our business in China. See “Item 3. Key Information—3.D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure” for detailed discussion.

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We face various legal and operational risks and uncertainties as a company based in and primarily operating in China. The PRC government has significant authority to exert influence on the ability of a China-based company, like us, to conduct its business, accept foreign investments or be listed on a U.S. stock exchange. For example, we face risks associated with regulatory approvals of offshore offerings, anti-monopoly regulatory actions, cybersecurity and data privacy, as well as the lack of inspection from the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB, on our auditor. The PRC government may also intervene with or influence our operations as the government deems appropriate to further regulatory, political and societal goals. The PRC government has recently published new policies that significantly affected our industry and we cannot rule out the possibility that it will in the future further release regulations or policies regarding our industry that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any such action, once taken by the PRC government, could cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or in extreme cases, become worthless.

Below please find a summary of the principal risks and uncertainties we face, organized under relevant headings. In particular, as we are a China-based company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, you should pay special attention to subsections headed “Item 3. Key Information—3.D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China” and “Item 3. Key Information—3.D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure.”

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

• If we fail to anticipate user preferences to provide online music and/or long-form audio entertainment content catering to user demands, our ability to attract and retain users may be materially and adversely affected.

• We depend upon third-party licenses for the content of our content offerings, and any adverse changes to or loss of, our relationships with these content providers may materially and adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.

• We may not have obtained complete licenses for certain copyrights with respect to a portion of the content offered on our platform.

• We allow user-generated content to be uploaded on our platform. If users have not obtained all necessary copyright licenses in connection with such uploaded content, we may be subject to potential disputes and liabilities.

• Assertions or allegations that we have infringed or violated intellectual property rights, even not true, could harm our business and reputation.

• Our license agreements are complex, impose numerous obligations upon us and may make it difficult to operate our business. Any breach or adverse change to the terms of such agreements could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

• Minimum guarantees required under certain of our license agreements for music and long-form audio content may limit our operating flexibility and may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

• If we are unable to obtain accurate and comprehensive information necessary to identify the copyright ownership of the content offered on our platform, our ability to obtain necessary or commercially viable licenses from the copyright owners may be adversely affected, which may result in us having to remove content from our platform, and may subject us to potential copyright infringement claims and difficulties in controlling content-related costs.

• If music copyright owners withdraw all or a portion of their music works from the MCSC to the extent the MCSC had not obtained authorization to license from the relevant copyright owners, we may

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have to enter into direct licensing agreements with these copyright owners, which may be time-consuming and costly, and we may not be able to reach an agreement with some copyright owners, or may have to pay higher rates than we currently pay.

• Uncertainties surrounding our monetization efforts may cause us to lose users and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

• Complying with evolving laws and regulations regarding cybersecurity, information security, privacy and data protection and other related laws and requirements may be expensive and force us to make adverse changes to our business. Many of these laws and regulations are subject to changes and uncertain interpretations, and any failure or perceived failure to comply with these laws and regulations could result in negative publicity, legal proceedings, suspension or disruption of operations, increased cost of operations, or otherwise harm our business.

Risks Related to Our Relationship with Tencent

• If we are no longer able to benefit from our business cooperation with Tencent, our business may be adversely affected.

• Any negative development in Tencent’s market position, brand recognition or financial condition may materially and adversely affect our user base, marketing efforts and the strength of our brand.

• Tencent, our controlling shareholder, has had and will continue to have effective control over the outcome of shareholder actions in our company. The interests of Tencent may not be aligned with the interests of our other shareholders and holders of the ADSs.

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

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

• There are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current and future PRC laws, regulations, and rules relating to the agreements that establish the VIE structure for our operations in China, including potential future actions by the PRC government, which could affect the enforceability of our contractual arrangements with the VIEs and, consequently, significantly affect the financial condition and results of operations performance of TME. If the PRC government finds such agreements non-compliant with relevant PRC laws, regulations, and rules, or if these laws, regulations, and rules or the interpretation thereof change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in the VIEs.

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

• The approval, filing or other requirements of the China Securities Regulatory Commission or other PRC government authorities may be required under PRC law in connection with our issuance of securities overseas.

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

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

3

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

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

• Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system, including those regarding the enforcement of laws, and sudden or unexpected changes in policies, laws and regulations in China, could materially and adversely affect us.

• The custodians or authorized users of our controlling non-tangible assets, including chops and seals, may fail to fulfill their responsibilities, or misappropriate or misuse these assets.

• Our operations depend on the performance of the internet infrastructure and telecommunications networks in China, which are in large part operated and maintained by state-owned operators.

• The PCAOB is currently unable to inspect our auditor in relation to their audit work performed for our financial statements and the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections over our auditor deprives our investors with the benefits of such inspections.

• Our ADSs may be delisted and our ADSs and shares prohibited from trading in the over-the-counter market under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCAA, if the PCAOB is unable to inspect or fully investigate auditors located in China. On December 16, 2021, PCAOB issued the HFCAA Determination Report, according to which our auditor is subject to the determinations that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely. Under the current law, delisting and prohibition from over-the-counter trading in the U.S. could take place in 2024. If this happens there is no certainty that we will be able to list our ADSs or shares on a non-U.S. exchange or that a market for our shares will develop outside of the U.S. The delisting of our ADSs, or the threat of their being delisted, may materially and adversely affect the value of your investment.

• The potential enactment of the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act would decrease the number of non-inspection years from three years to two, thus reducing the time period before our ADSs may be prohibited from over-the-counter trading or delisted. If this bill were enacted, our ADSs could be delisted from the exchange and prohibited from over-the-counter trading in the U.S. in 2023.

Risks Related to the ADSs or our Ordinary Shares

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

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

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

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

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

If we fail to anticipate user preferences to provide online music and/or long-form audio entertainment content catering to user demands, our ability to attract and retain users may be materially and adversely affected.

Our ability to attract and retain our users, drive user engagement and deliver a superior online music and long-form audio entertainment experience depends largely on our ability to continue to offer attractive content,

4

including songs, playlists, video, long-form audio, lyrics, live streaming of performances and karaoke-related content. Content that was once popular with our users may become less attractive if user preferences evolve. The success of our business relies on our ability to anticipate changes in user preferences and industry dynamics, and respond to such changes in a timely, appropriate and cost-effective manner. If we fail to cater to the tastes and preferences of our users, or fail to deliver superior user experiences, we may suffer from reduced user traffic and engagement, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We strive to generate creative ideas for content acquisition and to source high-quality content, including both popular, mainstream content and long-tail content. Sourcing attractive content may be challenging, expensive and time-consuming. We have invested and intend to continue to invest substantial resources in content acquisition and production. However, we may not be able to successfully source attractive content or to recover our content acquisition and production investments. Any deterioration in our content quality, failure to anticipate user preferences, inability to acquire attractive content, or any negative feedback of users to our existing content offerings may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

We depend upon third-party licenses for the content of our content offerings, and any adverse changes to or loss of, our relationships with these content providers may materially and adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Significant portions of our music and long-form audio offerings are licensed from our content partners, including leading publishers and labels in China and internationally with whom we have entered into distribution and licensing agreements. There is no assurance that the licenses currently available to us will continue to be available in the future at royalty rates and on terms that are favorable, commercially reasonable or at all.

The royalty rates and other terms of these licenses may change as a result of various reasons beyond our control, such as changes in our bargaining power, changes in the industry, or changes in the law or regulatory environment. If our content partners are no longer willing or able to license content to us on terms acceptable to us, the breadth or quality of our content offerings may be adversely affected or our content acquisition costs may increase. Likewise, increases in royalty rates or changes to other terms of our licenses may materially and adversely affect the breadth and quality of our content offerings and may, in turn, materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

There also is no guarantee that we have all of the licenses for the content available on our platform, as we need to obtain licenses from many copyright owners, some of whom are unknown, and there are complex legal issues such as open questions of law as to when and whether particular licenses are needed. Additionally, there is a risk that copyright owners (particularly aspiring artists), their agents, or legislative or regulatory bodies may require or attempt to require us to enter into additional license agreements with, and pay royalties to, newly defined groups of copyright owners, some of which may be difficult or impossible to identify.

Even when we are able to enter into license agreements with content partners, we cannot guarantee that such agreements will continue to be renewed indefinitely. It is also possible that such agreements will never be renewed at all. The non-renewal or termination of one or more of our license agreements, the renewal of license agreements on less favorable terms, any deterioration in our relationships with content providers or the entry of license agreements between our content providers and any of our competitors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may not have obtained complete licenses for certain copyrights with respect to a portion of the content offered on our platform.

Under PRC law, to secure the rights to provide music or long-form audio content on the internet or for our users to download or stream music or long-form audio from our platform, or to provide other related online

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music or long-form audio services, we must obtain licenses from the appropriate copyright owners for one or more of the economic rights, including the content publishing and recording rights, among others. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—4.B. Business Overview—Regulations—Regulations on Intellectual Property Rights—Copyright.”

We may not have complete licenses for the copyrights underlying a portion of the content offered on our platform, and therefore we may be subject to assertions by third parties of infringement or other violations by us of their copyright in connection with such content. As of December 31, 2021, we offered over 90 million music tracks on our platform. We have sought, and will continue to seek, licenses to the remaining tracks to the extent we identify the relevant copyright owners and enter into agreements with them.

In addition, with respect to the musical compositions and lyrics we license from certain content partners, there is no guarantee that such content partners have the rights to license the copyright underlying all music content covered by our agreements. With respect to any musical compositions and lyrics that the MCSC, a collective copyright organization, was not authorized to sublicense to us, the MCSC undertook to resolve such disputes and compensate the relevant copyright owners from infringement claims made by third-party rights owners against us for using their content on our platform if the infringement happened within the validity period of the contract entered into between the MCSC and us. Despite such undertakings by the MCSC, there is no guarantee that we will not be subject to potential copyright infringement claims by third parties in relation to content licensed from the MCSC.

We allow user-generated content to be uploaded on our platform. If users have not obtained all necessary copyright licenses in connection with such uploaded content, we may be subject to potential disputes and liabilities.

We allow users to upload user-generated content on our platform, which exposes us to potential disputes and liabilities in connection with third-party copyright. When users register on our platform, they agree to our standard agreement, under which they agree not to disseminate any content infringing on third-party copyright.

However, we have historically allowed users to upload content anonymously, and our platform has over the years accumulated user-generated content for which users or performers may not have obtained proper and complete copyright licenses. Given the large volume of such user-generated content available on our platform, it is challenging for us to accurately identify and verify the individual users or performers that uploaded such content, the copyright status of such content, and the appropriate copyright owners from whom copyright licenses should be obtained.

Under PRC laws and regulations, online service providers, which provide storage space for users to upload works or links to other services or content, may be held liable for copyright infringement under various circumstances, including situations where the online service provider knows or should reasonably have known that the relevant content uploaded or linked to on its platform infringes upon the copyright of others and the online service provider profits from such infringing activities. For example, online service providers are subject to liability if they fail to take necessary measures, such as deletion, blocking or disconnection, after being duly notified by the legal right holders.

As an online service provider, we have adopted measures to reduce the likelihood of using, developing or making available any content without the proper licenses or necessary consents. Such measures include (i) requiring users to acknowledge and agree that they will not upload or perform content which may infringe upon others’ copyright; (ii) putting in place procedures to block users on our blacklists from uploading content; and (iii) implementing “notice and take-down” policies to be eligible for the safe harbor exemption for user-generated content. However, these measures may not be effective in preventing the unauthorized posting and use of third parties’ copyrighted content or the infringement of other third-party intellectual property rights. Specifically, it is possible that such acknowledgments and agreements by users may not be enforceable against

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third parties who file claims against us. Furthermore, a plaintiff may not be able to locate users who generate content that infringes on the plaintiff’s copyright and may choose to sue us instead. In addition, individual users who upload infringing content on our platform may not have sufficient resources to fully indemnify us, if at all, for any such claims. Also, such measures may fail or be considered insufficient by courts or other relevant governmental authorities. If we are not eligible for the safe harbor exemption, we may be subject to joint infringement liability with the users, and we may have to change our policies or adopt new measures to become eligible and retain eligibility for the safe harbor exemption, which could be expensive and reduce the attractiveness of our platform to users.

Assertions or allegations that we have infringed or violated intellectual property rights, even not true, could harm our business and reputation.

Third parties, including artists, copyright owners and other online music, long-form audio and other platforms, have asserted, and may in the future assert, that we have infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated their copyright or other intellectual property rights. As we face increasing competition in China and globally, the possibility of intellectual property rights claims against us grows.

We have adopted robust screening processes to filter out or disable access to potentially infringing content. We have also adopted procedures to enable copyright owners to provide us with notice and evidence of alleged infringement, and are generally willing to enter into license agreements to compensate copyright owners for works distributed on our platform. However, given the volume of content available on our platform, it is not possible to identify and promptly remove all alleged infringing content that may exist. Third parties may take action against us if they believe that certain content available on our platform violates their copyright or other intellectual property rights. Moreover, while we use location-based controls and technology to prevent all or a portion of our services and content from being accessed outside of the PRC as required by certain licensing agreements with our content partners, these controls and technology may be breached and the content available on our platform may be accessed from geographic locations where such access is restricted, in which case we may be subject to potential liabilities, regardless of whether there is any fault and/or negligence involved on our part.

We have been involved in litigation based on allegations of infringement of third-party copyright due to the content available on our platform. We may be involved in similar litigation and disputes or subject to allegations of infringement, misappropriation or other violations of intellectual property rights in China, as well as globally as we seek to expand our international footprint. If we are forced to defend against any infringement or misappropriation claims, whether they are with or without merit, are settled out of court, or are determined in our favor, we may be required to expend significant time and financial resources to defend such claims. Furthermore, an adverse outcome of a dispute may damage our reputation, force us to adjust our business practices, or require us to pay significant damages, cease providing content that we were previously providing, enter into potentially unfavorable license agreements in order to obtain the right to use necessary content or technologies, and/or take other actions that may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

We also distribute some of our licensed content to other platforms. Our agreements with such third-party platforms typically require them to comply with the terms of the license and applicable copyright laws and regulations. However, there is no guarantee that the third-party platforms that we distribute our licensed content to will comply with the terms of our license arrangements or all applicable copyright laws and regulations. In the event of any breach or violation by such platforms, we may be held liable to the copyright owners for damages and be subject to legal proceedings as a result, in which case our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

In addition, music, long-form audio, internet, technology and media companies like us are frequently subject to litigation based on allegations of infringement, misappropriation, or other violations of intellectual property rights. Other companies in these industries may have larger intellectual property portfolios than we do, which

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could make us a target for litigation as we may not be able to assert counterclaims against parties that sue us for intellectual property infringement. Furthermore, from time to time, we may introduce new products and services, which could increase our exposure to intellectual property claims. It is difficult to predict whether assertions of third-party intellectual property rights or any infringement or misappropriation claims arising from such assertions will substantially harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our license agreements are complex, impose numerous obligations upon us and may make it difficult to operate our business. Any breach or adverse change to the terms of such agreements could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

Many of our license agreements are complex and impose numerous obligations on us, including obligations to:

• calculate and make payments based on complex royalty structures that involve a number of variables, including the revenue generated and size of user base, which requires tracking usage of content on our platform that may have inaccurate or incomplete metadata necessary for such calculation;

• make minimum guaranteed payments;

• use reasonable efforts to achieve certain paying user conversion targets;

• adopt and implement effective anti-piracy and geo-blocking measures;

• monitor performance by third parties to whom we distribute our licensed content of their obligations with respect to content distribution and copyright protections; and

• comply with certain security and technical specifications.

Many of our license agreements grant the licensors the right to audit our compliance with the terms and conditions of such agreements. If we materially breach such obligation or any other obligations set forth in any of our license agreements, we could be subject to monetary penalties and our rights under such license agreements could be terminated, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Minimum guarantees required under certain of our license agreements for music and long-form audio content may limit our operating flexibility and may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Certain of our license agreements for music and long-form audio content require that we make minimum guarantee payments to copyright owners, that may be tied to our number of users or the amount of content used or distributed on our platform. Accordingly, our ability to achieve and sustain profitability and operating leverage in part depends on our ability to increase our revenue through increased sales of our music and long-form audio services to our users in order to maintain a healthy gross margin. The duration of our license agreements that contain minimum guarantees is typically between one to three years, but our paying users may cancel their subscriptions at any time. To the extent we continue to make minimum guarantee payments to copyright owners, if our paying user growth do not meet our expectations or our sales or revenue do not grow as fast as expected or even decline during the term of our license agreements, our results of operations and financial conditions may be materially and adversely affected. To the extent our revenues do not meet our expectations, our business, financial condition and results of operations also could be adversely affected as a result of such minimum guarantees. In addition, the fixed cost nature of these minimum guarantees may limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the markets in which we operate.

We rely on estimates of the market share of licensable content controlled by each content partner, as well as our own user growth and forecasted revenue, to forecast whether such minimum guarantees could be recouped against our actual content acquisition costs incurred over the duration of the license agreement. To the extent that our actual revenue and/or market share underperform relative to our expectations, leading to content acquisition costs that do not exceed such minimum guarantees, our margins may be materially and adversely affected.

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If we are unable to obtain accurate and comprehensive information necessary to identify the copyright ownership of the content offered on our platform, our ability to obtain necessary or commercially viable licenses from the copyright owners may be adversely affected, which may result in us having to remove content from our platform, and may subject us to potential copyright infringement claims and difficulties in controlling content-related costs.

Comprehensive and accurate copyright owner information for their publishing rights and recording rights underlying our music and long-form audio content is sometimes unavailable to us or difficult or, in some cases, impossible for us to obtain for various reasons beyond our control. For example, such information may be withheld by the owners or administrators of such rights, especially with regards to user-generated content or content provided by aspiring artists. If we are unable to identify comprehensive and accurate copyright owner information for the music or long-form audio content offered on our platform, such as identifying which composers, publishers or collective copyright organizations own, administer, license or sublicense music or long-form audio works, or if we are unable to determine which music or long-form audio works correspond to specific recordings, it may be difficult for us to (i) identify the appropriate copyright owners to whom to pay royalties or from whom to obtain a license or (ii) ascertain whether the scope of a license we have obtained covers specific music or long-form audio works. This also may make it difficult to comply with the obligations of any agreements with those rights holders.

If we do not obtain necessary and commercially viable licenses from copyright owners, whether due to the inability to identify or verify the appropriate copyright owners or for any other reason, we may be found to have infringed on the copyright of others, potentially resulting in claims for monetary damages, government fines and penalties, or a reduction of content available to users on our platform, which would adversely affect our ability to retain and expand our user base, attract paying users for our paid music and long-form audio services and generate revenue from our content library. Any such inability may also involve us in expensive and protracted copyright disputes.

If music copyright owners withdraw all or a portion of their music works from the MCSC to the extent the MCSC had not obtained authorization to license from the relevant copyright owners, we may have to enter into direct licensing agreements with these copyright owners, which may be time-consuming and costly, and we may not be able to reach an agreement with some copyright owners, or may have to pay higher rates than we currently pay.

Based on the framework agreement we previously entered into with the MCSC, we obtained licenses from the MCSC with respect to musical composition and lyrics for a substantial portion of our music content library. We cannot guarantee that composers and lyricists in China will not withdraw all or part of their music works from the MCSC. To the extent that the MCSC had not obtained authorization to license from the relevant copyright owners, including circumstances where the copyright owners choose not to be represented by the MCSC, our ability to secure favorable licensing arrangements could be negatively affected, our content licensing cost may increase, and we may be subject to liabilities for copyright infringement. If we are unable to reach an agreement with respect to the content of any music copyright owners who withdraw all or a portion of their music works from the MCSC, or if we have to enter into direct licensing agreements with such music copyright owners at rates higher than those set by the MCSC for the use of music works, our ability to offer music content may be limited or our service costs may significantly increase, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Uncertainties surrounding our monetization efforts may cause us to lose users and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We have devoted substantial efforts to monetize our content and user base by increasing our number of paying users and cultivating our users’ willingness to pay for content. We currently generate our revenues from (i) online music services, and (ii) social entertainment services and others. At the strategic level, we plan to

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continue to optimize our existing monetization strategies and explore new monetization opportunities. However, if these efforts fail to achieve our anticipated results, we may not be able to increase or even maintain our revenue growth. For example, we generated most of the revenue for our live streaming services from the sale of virtual gifts. Users of our live streaming services get free access to the live music performance or other types of music content with the option to purchase virtual gifts to send to performers and other users. User demand for live streaming services may decrease substantially or we may fail to anticipate and serve user demands effectively. Furthermore, the PRC regulatory authorities’ recent heightened scrutiny and regulation of live streaming businesses may also have a negative impact on our monetization opportunities. See “ – Our business operations may be adversely affected by the PRC government’s heightened oversight and scrutiny on live streaming platforms and performers.” In addition, we introduced the pay-for-streaming model for our online music services in the first quarter of 2019 and have been increasing the number of songs that fall into the pay-for-streaming scope. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—4.B. Business Overview—How We Generate Revenues—Online Music Services – Paid Music and Audio Content” for more information of the pay-for-streaming model. While we believe the adoption of pay-for-streaming has driven the number of paying users, paying ratio and paying user retention of our online music services, we cannot guarantee that its early popularity will continue, or that our attempts to explore new monetization models or enhance our paying user conversion will be successful.

In order to increase the number of our paying users and cultivate our users’ willingness to pay for content, we will need to address a number of challenges, including:

• providing consistently high-quality and user-friendly experience, particularly with the development of our pay-for-streaming model for our online music services;

• continuing to curate a catalog of engaging content;

• continuing to introduce new, appealing products, services and content that users are willing to pay for;

• continuing to innovate and stay ahead of our competitors;

• continuing to maintain and enhance the copyright protection environment; and

• maintaining and building our relationships with our content providers and other industry partners.

If we fail to address any of these challenges, especially if we fail to offer high-quality content and superior user experience to meet user preferences and demands, we may not be successful in increasing the number of our paying users and cultivating our users’ willingness to pay for content, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business depends on our strong brands, and any failure to maintain, protect and enhance our brands could hurt our ability to retain or expand our user base and advertising customers.

We rely on our strong brands, principally QQ Music, Kugou, Kuwo, WeSing and Lazy Audio, to maintain our market leadership. Maintaining and enhancing our brands depends largely on our ability to continue to deliver comprehensive, high-quality content and service offerings to our users, which may not always be successful. Maintaining and enhancing our brands also depends largely on our ability to remain a leader in China’s online music and audio entertainment market, which could be difficult and expensive. If we do not successfully maintain our strong brands, our reputation and business prospect could be harmed.

Our brands may be impaired by a number of factors, including any failure to keep pace with technological advances, slower load times for our services, a decline in the quality or breadth of our content offerings, any failure to protect our intellectual property rights, or alleged violations of law and regulations or public policy. Additionally, if our content partners fail to maintain high standards, our brands could be adversely affected.

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If we fail to keep up with industry trends or technological developments, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

The online music and audio entertainment market is rapidly evolving and subject to continuous technological changes. Our success will depend on our ability to keep up with the changes in technology and user behavior resulting from new developments and innovations. For example, as we provide our product and service offerings across a variety of mobile systems and devices, we are dependent on the interoperability of our services with popular mobile devices and mobile operating systems that we do not control, such as Android and iOS. If any changes in such mobile operating systems or devices degrade the functionality of our services or give preferential treatment to competitive services, the usage of our services could be adversely affected.

Technological innovations may also require substantial capital expenditures in product development as well as in modification of products, services or infrastructure. We cannot assure you that we can obtain financing to cover such expenditure. See “—We require a significant amount of capital to fund our content acquisitions, user acquisitions and technology investments. If we cannot obtain sufficient capital, our business, financial condition and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.” If we fail to adapt our products and services to such changes in an effective and timely manner, we may suffer from decreased user traffic and user base, which, in turn, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

China’s internet, music entertainment and long-form audio industries are highly regulated. Our failure to obtain and maintain requisite licenses or permits or to respond to any changes in government policies, laws or regulations may materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operation.

The PRC government regulates the internet industry extensively, including foreign ownership of companies in the internet industry and the licensing requirements pertaining to them. A number of regulatory authorities, such as the Ministry of Commerce, or the MOFCOM, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Copyright Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Radio and Television Administration and the CAC regulate different aspects of the internet industry. In addition to complying with the laws and regulations promulgated and enforced by Chinese governmental authorities, operators in the internet industry may also need to rely heavily on Chinese governmental authorities’ policies and guidelines. Such laws, regulations, policies and guidelines cover many aspects of the telecommunications, internet information services, copyright, internet culture, internet publishing industries and online audio-visual products services, including entry into such industries, scope of permitted business activities, licenses and permits for various business activities and foreign investments into such industries. Operators are required to obtain various government approvals, licenses and permits in connection with their provision of internet information services, internet culture services, internet publication services, online audio-visual products and other related value-added telecommunications services. If we fail to obtain and maintain approvals, licenses or permits required for our business, we could be subject to liabilities, penalties and operational disruption and our business could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, if we fail to follow applicable laws, regulations, policies and guidelines, or applicable laws, regulations, policies and guidelines are tightened by any regulatory authorities, or if there are new laws, regulations, policies or guidelines introduced to impose additional government approvals, licenses, permits and requirements, our business may be disrupted and our results of operations may suffer.

Tencent Music Entertainment (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., or Tencent Music Shenzhen, a wholly owned subsidiary of Guangzhou Kugou Computer Technology Co., Ltd., or Guangzhou Kugou, operates our online music services, QQ Music, and online karaoke business, WeSing. Tencent Music Shenzhen also intends to apply for Value-added Telecommunications Business Operation License, or the ICP License and an Online Publishing Service Permit for releasing music works for the first time via the internet. As of the date of this annual report, Tencent Music Shenzhen has not been subject to any legal or regulatory penalties in the past for the lack of any of these licenses. However, we cannot assure you that it can successfully obtain these licenses in a timely manner, or at all.

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In addition, as Tencent Music Shenzhen operates QQ Music and WeSing, an Audio and Video Service Permission, or AVSP, may be required. Tencent Music Shenzhen currently operates these two platforms as sub-domains of www.qq.com of Shenzhen Tencent Computer System Co., Ltd., which holds a valid AVSP for the www.qq.com domain and is controlled by our parent, Tencent. As of the date of this annual report, Tencent Music Shenzhen has not been subject to any legal or regulatory penalties for failure to obtain such licenses. In the event Tencent Music Shenzhen is required to obtain an AVSP under its own name for operating our QQ Music and WeSing platforms, Tencent Music Shenzhen may not be eligible for an AVSP, because the current PRC laws and regulations require an applicant for the AVSP to be a wholly state-owned or state-controlled entity.

In addition, Beijing Kuwo’s and Guangzhou Kugou’s application for the change of shareholders information of AVSP was approved by National Radio and Television Administration on March 9, 2022 and March 17, 2022, respectively. Beijing Kuwo’s application for the renewal of its AVSP has been approved by National Radio and Television Administration, and as of the date of this annual report, Guangzhou Kugou has submitted an application to renew its AVSP and such application is being processed by the relevant authorities. Guangzhou Kugou had expanded the permitted scope of business under its AVSP to cover its provision of certain types of audio and video programs through mobile network to users’ mobile devices. Each of Guangzhou Kugou and Beijing Kuwo plans to apply for an Online Publishing Service Permit for their release of original music works via the internet. As of the date of this annual report, neither Guangzhou Kugou nor Beijing Kuwo has been subject to any legal or regulatory penalties for the lack of the Online Publishing Service Permit. There is, however, no assurance that such applications will eventually be approved in a timely manner, or at all. Besides, while Shenzhen Lanren has been listed as the pilot institution of online audio and video industry in Guangdong by Radio and Television Administration of Guangdong Province on September 1, 2020, it has not obtained AVSP for releasing audio works. Additionally, Shenzhen Lanren has not obtained Online Publishing Service Permit for releasing audio works. As of the date of this annual report, Shenzhen Lanren has not been subject to any legal or regulatory penalties for the lack of the AVSP or Online Publishing Service Permit. If any of Tencent Music Shenzhen, Guangzhou Kugou, Beijing Kuwo, Shenzhen Lanren or any of our other subsidiaries or the VIEs or the VIE’s subsidiaries is found to be in violation of PRC laws and regulations regarding licenses and permits, we could be subject to legal and regulatory penalties and our business operations may not be able to continue operating in the same manner or at all, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

PRC laws and regulations are evolving, and there are uncertainties relating to the regulation of different aspects of the internet, music entertainment and long-form audio industries, including but not limited to exclusive licensing and sublicensing arrangements. Pursuant to an article posted on National Copyright Administration’s official website, in September 2017, the National Copyright Administration held meetings with a number of music industry players, including us, where it encouraged the relevant industry players to “avoid acquiring exclusive music copyright” and indicated that they should also not engage in activities involving “collective management of music copyright.” Furthermore, the National Copyright Administration held meetings with a number of music industry players on January 6, 2022 to emphasize that relevant industry players shall not execute exclusive music copyright agreement except under certain circumstances and shall develop internal copyright management system. On July 24, 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation, or SAMR, issued an Administrative Penalty Decision to Tencent regarding its acquisition of CMC in 2016. Pursuant to the decision, we shall implement a rectification plan to, among other things, terminate exclusive music copyright licensing arrangements within 30 days from the date of the decision. To comply with such decision, Tencent and we have terminated the exclusivity with upstream copyright holders subject to certain limited exceptions specified in the decision as of the date of this annual report. While we are pursuing nonexclusive collaborations with upstream copyright holders, there can be no assurance that all the licenses once exclusively available to us will remain available at royalty rates and on terms that are commercially reasonable or at all. In addition, the termination of exclusive copyright licensing arrangements may potentially lower the competition barriers in a way that benefits some of our competitors. See “—We depend upon third-party licenses for the content of our content offerings, and any

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adverse changes to or loss of, our relationships with these content providers may materially and adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.” Any such adverse regulatory development or enforcement in China may have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. To the extent our historical or current licensing arrangements are found objectionable by the regulatory authorities, we may be subject to legal and regulatory penalties and/or have to revisit and modify such arrangements in a way that may cause substantial costs, and our ability to offer music content and our competitive advantages may be harmed. Such events may have a material and adverse impact on business, financial condition and results of operations.

We operate in a relatively new and evolving market.

Many elements of our business are unique, evolving and relatively unproven. Our business and prospects primarily depend on the continuing development and growth of the online music and audio entertainment industry, the live streaming industry as well as the long-form audio industry in China, which are affected by numerous factors. For example, content quality, user experience, technological innovations, development of internet and internet-based services, regulatory environment and macroeconomic environment are important factors that affect our business and prospects. The markets for our products and services are relatively new and rapidly developing and are subject to significant challenges. In addition, our continued growth depends, in part, on our ability to respond to constant changes in the internet industry, including rapid technological evolution, continued shifts in customer demands, frequent introductions of new products and services and constant emergence of new industry standards and practices. Developing and integrating new content, products, services or infrastructure could be expensive and time-consuming, and these efforts may not yield the benefits we expect to achieve. We cannot assure you that we will succeed in any of these aspects or that the industries in which we operate will continue to grow as rapidly as in the past. If online music, live streaming or long-form audio as forms of entertainment lose their popularity due to changing social trends and user preferences, or if such industries in China fail to grow as quickly as expected, our business, financial condition and results of operation may be materially and adversely affected.

We operate in a competitive industry. If we are unable to compete successfully, we may lose market share to our competitors.

We operate in a competitive industry. We face competition for users and their time and spending primarily from the online music services provided by other online music services providers in China. We also face competition from online offerings of other forms of content, including long-form audio, karaoke services, live streaming, radio services, literature, games and video provided by other social entertainment services providers. In particular, we are increasingly facing noticeable competition from offerings of other emerging forms of content which have been growing in popularity rapidly in recent years, such as live streaming and user-generated short videos.

We compete with our competitors based on a number of factors, such as the diversity and quality of content, product features, social interaction features, quality of user experience, brand awareness and reputation, and our ability to continuously attract, incentivize and retain live streaming performers and their agencies. Some of our competitors may be able to respond more quickly to technological innovations or changes in user demands and preferences, acquire more attractive and diverse content, and act more effectively in the development, promotion and sale of products than we can. Also, they may enter into more favorable relationships with content providers and provide their users with content that competes with our offerings. If any of our competitors achieves greater market acceptance or is able to provide more attractive content offerings than we do, our user traffic and market share may decrease, which may result in a loss of users and a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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We may fail to attract and retain talented and popular live streaming performers, karaoke singers and other key opinion leaders to maintain the attractiveness and level of engagement of our social entertainment services.

The engagement levels of our user base as well as the quality of our social entertainment content offered on our platform are closely linked to the popularity and performance of our live streaming performers, karaoke singers and other key opinion leaders.

With respect to our live streaming services, we rely on live streaming performers to attract user traffic and drive user engagement and enter into cooperation agreements with them and/or their agencies. There can be no assurance that these live streaming performers will not breach these cooperation agreements by, for example, performing on online platforms competing with us, or that we will be able to renew such agreements upon expiration on terms acceptable to us, or at all. If any of these circumstances were to occur, our live streaming services may be negatively affected.

In addition to our most popular live streaming performers, we must continue to attract and retain talented and popular karaoke singers and other key opinion leaders in order to maintain and increase our social entertainment content offerings and ensure the sustainable growth of our online music user community. We must identify and acquire potential popular karaoke singers and other key opinion leaders and provide them with sufficient resources. However, we cannot assure you that we can continue to maintain the same level of attractiveness to such popular karaoke singers and other key opinion leaders.

If we can no longer maintain our relationships with our live streaming performers, karaoke singers and other key opinion leaders or their appeal decreases, the popularity of our platform may decline and the number of our users may decrease, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We cooperate with various talent agencies to manage and recruit our live streaming performers and any adverse change in our relationships could materially and adversely impact our business.

We cooperate with talent agencies to manage, organize and recruit live streaming performers on our platform. As we are an open platform that welcomes all live streaming performers to register on our websites, cooperation with talent agencies substantially increases our operation efficiency in terms of discovering, supporting and managing live streaming performers in a more organized and structured manner, and turning amateur live streaming performers to full-time ones.

We share a portion of the revenues generated from the sales of virtual gifts attributed to the performers’ live streams with live streaming performers and the talent agencies who manage these performers. If we cannot balance the interests between us, live streaming performers and the talent agencies and offer a revenue-sharing mechanism that is attractive to live streaming performers and talent agencies, we may not be able to retain their services. If other platforms offer better revenue sharing incentives to talent agencies, such talent agencies may choose to devote more of their resources to live streaming performers who stream on such other platforms, or encourage their live streaming performers to spend more time performing on such other platforms, all of which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our brand image and business may be adversely impacted by misconduct by our live streaming performers and users and their misuse of our platform.

We do not have full control over how users use or behave on our platform, whether through live streaming, commenting or other forms of sharing or communication. We face the risk that our platform may be misused or abused by live streaming performers or users. We have a robust internal control system in place to review and monitor live streams and other forms of social interactions among our users and will shut down streams that are illegal or inappropriate. However, we may not be able to identify all such streams and content, or prevent all such content from being posted.

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Moreover, we have limited control over the real-time behavior of our live streaming performers and users. To the extent such behavior is associated with our platform, our ability to protect our brand image and reputation may be limited. Our business and public perception of our brand may be materially and adversely affected by the misuse of our platform. In addition, in response to allegations of illegal or inappropriate activities conducted through our platform or any negative media coverage about us, PRC government authorities may intervene and hold us liable for non-compliance with PRC laws and regulations concerning the dissemination of information on the internet and subject us to administrative penalties, including confiscation of income and fines or other sanctions, such as requiring us to restrict or discontinue certain features and services. As a result, our business, financial condition and results of operation may be materially and adversely affected.

We face the risk that live streaming performers that perform on our platform may infringe upon third parties’ intellectual property rights.

Live streaming performers across our platforms are prohibited from disseminating content infringing on others’ intellectual property rights. We delete content we deem unauthorized and block the account of the performers. However, we cannot guarantee that all content generated by our live streaming performers or users is legal and non-infringing, and we cannot guarantee that the online performance and/or other use of music works by the live streaming performers are authorized by the corresponding intellectual property rights owners.

As the application of existing laws and regulations to specific aspects of online music business remains relatively unclear and is still evolving, it is difficult to predict whether we will be subject to joint infringement liability if our live streaming performers or users infringe on third parties’ intellectual property rights. Furthermore, if we are determined to be jointly liable either by new regulations or court judgments, we may have to change our policies and it may materially and adversely impact on our business, financial condition and results of operation.

Our business operations may be adversely affected by the PRC government’s heightened oversight and scrutiny on live streaming platforms and performers.

Regulatory authorities in China have been heightening its oversight on live streaming businesses. In November 2020, the National Radio and Television Administration promulgated the Circular on Strengthening the Administration of Live Streaming Web Shows and Live Streaming E-commerce, or the Circular 78, which sets forth requirements for certain live streaming businesses with respect to real-name registration, limits on users’ spending on virtual gifting, restrictions on minors from virtual gifting, live streaming review personnel requirements and content tagging requirements, among other things. In February 2021, the CAC, together with six other authorities, jointly issued the Guidance Opinions on the Strengthening the Regulation and Management Work of Internet Streaming, or the Circular 3, which requires internet streaming platforms to set up appropriate caps on the maximum purchase price for each piece of virtual gifts and maximum value of virtual gifts that the users give to the performers each time. A portion of our revenue is from virtual gift payments from our users to performers, so any limitation imposed by PRC authorities on the sale, exchange or circulation of virtual gifts in the future may reduce the virtual gift payments and therefore may adversely affect the engagement of our live-streaming performers, which may result in a loss of users and a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operation.

In addition, the Law of the PRC on the Protection of Minors (2020 Revision) took effect on June 1, 2021, which provides that, among others, live streaming service providers are prohibited from providing minors under age 16 with online live streaming publisher account registration services, and that they must obtain the consent from the minors’ parents or guardians and verify the identity of the minors before allowing minors aged between 16 and 18 to register a live streaming publisher account. Furthermore, in December 2021, certain live streaming e-commerce influencers in China on other platforms were fined by the State Taxation Administration for tax evasion, which demonstrated the PRC tax authorities’ enhanced efforts to strengthen tax administration in live streaming businesses. On March 25, 2022, CAC, the State Taxation Administration and SAMR issued Opinions

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on Further Regulating the For-Profit Activities in Online Live Streaming to Promote a Healthy Development of the Industry, which provides that, among others, live streaming platforms shall report to tax authorities information including but not limited to live streaming publishers’ identity, information of the live streaming account and bank account which receives profits, types of revenue and profits earning information. Intensified regulation with respect to live streaming businesses in China may constrain our business operations and profitability, which in turn may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Failure to protect our intellectual property could substantially harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

We rely upon a combination of trade secrets, confidentiality policies, nondisclosure and other contractual arrangements and patent, copyright, software copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws to protect our intellectual property rights. Despite our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights, the steps we take in this regard might not be adequate to prevent or deter infringement or other misappropriation of our intellectual property by competitors, former employees or other third parties.

We have filed, and may in the future file, patent applications on certain of our innovations. It is possible, however, that these innovations may not be patentable. In addition, given the cost, efforts and risks associated with patent application, we may choose not to seek patent protection for some innovations. Furthermore, our patent applications may not lead to granted patents, the scope of the protection gained may be insufficient or an issued patent may be deemed invalid or unenforceable. We also cannot guarantee that any of our present or future patents or other intellectual property rights will not lapse or be invalidated, circumvented, challenged, or abandoned.

Litigation or proceedings before governmental authorities, administrative and judicial bodies may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights and to determine the validity and scope of our rights. Our efforts to protect our intellectual property in such litigation and proceedings may be ineffective and could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management time, each of which could substantially harm our operating results.

While we typically require our employees, consultants and contractors who may be involved in the development of intellectual property to execute agreements assigning such intellectual property to us, we may be unsuccessful in executing or enforcing such agreements with each party that develops intellectual property that we regard as our own. In addition, such agreements may be breached. We may be forced to bring claims against the breaching third parties, or defend claims that they may bring against us related to the ownership of such intellectual property.

The content available on our platform may be found objectionable by the PRC government, which may subject us to penalties and other regulatory or administrative actions.

As an internet content provider, we are subject to PRC regulations governing internet access and the distribution of music, music videos, long-form audio and other forms of content over the internet. See “—Regulations.” These regulations prohibit internet content providers and internet publishers from posting on the internet any content that, among other things, violates PRC laws and regulations, impairs the national dignity of China or the public interest, or is obscene, superstitious, frightening, gruesome, offensive, fraudulent or defamatory. In particular, the Chinese government has been tightening regulatory oversight over content offered by online and mobile live streaming and video services that are deemed to be “vulgar.” Failure to comply with these requirements may result in monetary penalties, revocation of licenses to provide internet content or other licenses, suspension of the concerned platforms and reputational harm. In addition, these laws and regulations are subject to interpretation by the PRC government, and it may not be possible to determine in all cases the types of content that could cause us to be held liable for offering content that is found objectionable by the PRC government.

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Internet content providers may be held liable for content displayed on or linked to their online platforms that is subject to certain restrictions. We allow our users to upload user-generated content, such as music, videos, audio, comments, reviews and other forms of content. We also make it possible for selected professional producers to make their content available to users through our official music accounts and allow them a high level of control of the content offered through our music accounts. While we have in place internal rules and procedures to monitor user-generated content on our platform, due to the massive amount of such content, we may not be able to identify, in a timely manner or at all, the content that is illegal or inappropriate or that may otherwise be found objectionable by the PRC government. Additionally, we may not be able to keep our rules and procedures abreast of changes in the PRC government’s requirements for content display. Failure to identify and prevent illegal or inappropriate content from being displayed on our platform may result in legal and administrative liability, government sanctions, fines, loss of licenses and/or permits, or reputational harm. If the PRC regulatory authorities find any content displayed on our platform objectionable, they may require us to limit or eliminate the dissemination of such content on our platform. In the past, we have from time to time received phone calls and written notices from the relevant PRC regulatory authorities requesting us to delete or restrict certain content that the government deemed inappropriate or sensitive. Although we have not been materially penalized for our content so far, in the event that the PRC regulatory authorities find any content on our platform objectionable and impose penalties on us or take other actions against us in the future, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Pending or future litigation or governmental proceedings could have a material and adverse impact on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

From time to time, we have been, and may in the future be, subject to lawsuits brought by our competitors, individuals, or other entities against us, as well as governmental investigations or proceedings, in matters primarily relating to intellectual property rights, antitrust, and competition claims concerning our content acquisition and distribution. We cannot predict the outcomes of such lawsuits or governmental actions, which may not be successful or favorable to us. Lawsuits or governmental investigations or actions against us, our shareholders, directors, officers or employees may also generate negative publicity that significantly harms our reputation, which may adversely affect our user base and relationships with our content partners. In addition to the related cost, managing and defending litigation and governmental proceedings can significantly divert our management’s attention from operating our business. We may also need to pay damages or settle lawsuits or governmental proceedings with a substantial amount of cash, or be required by the relevant governmental authorities to make substantive changes to our existing business model. As of December 31, 2021, there were 456 lawsuits pending in connection with alleged copyright infringement on our platform against us or our affiliates with an aggregate amount of damages sought of approximately RMB57.34 million (US$9 million). While we do not believe that any such proceedings are likely to have a material adverse effect on us, if there were adverse determinations in legal proceedings against us, we could be required to pay substantial monetary damages or adjust our business practices, which could have an adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

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

We will have to defend against the putative class actions described in “Item 8. Financial Information—8.A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information—Litigation,” including any appeals of such lawsuits should our initial defense be unsuccessful. We are currently unable to estimate the potential loss, if any, associated with the resolution of such lawsuits, if they proceed. We anticipate that we will continue to be a target for lawsuits in the future, including putative class action lawsuits brought by shareholders. There can be no assurance that we will be able to prevail in our defense or reverse any unfavorable judgment on appeal, and we may decide to settle lawsuits on unfavorable terms. Any adverse outcome of these cases, including any plaintiffs’ appeal of the judgment in these cases, could result in payments of substantial monetary damages or fines, or

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changes to our business practices, and thus have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operation, cash flows and reputation. In addition, there can be no assurance that our insurance carriers will cover all or part of the defense costs, or any liabilities that may arise from these matters. The litigation process may utilize a significant portion of our cash resources and divert management’s attention from the day-to-day operations of our company, all of which could harm our business. We also may be subject to claims for indemnification related to these matters, and we cannot predict the impact that indemnification claims may have on our business or financial results.

We, certain of our consolidated entities in the PRC and Mr. Guomin Xie, our former co-president and director, were named as respondents in an arbitration proceeding in the PRC.

On December 6, 2018, we became aware of an arbitration (the “Arbitration”) filed by an individual named Mr. Hanwei Guo (the “Claimant”) before the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, or CIETAC. The Arbitration named Mr. Guomin Xie, who previously served as our Co-President and a director, CMC, and certain affiliates of CMC as respondents (collectively, the “Respondents”). In 2012, Mr. Xie co-founded CMC and the Claimant became an investor in CMC’s business by acquiring substantial stakes in entities including CMC, Ocean Interactive (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. (“Ocean Technology”) and Ocean Interactive (Beijing) Culture Co., Ltd. (“Ocean Culture”). CMC was acquired by Tencent in 2016 and subsequently was renamed Tencent Music Entertainment Group. As a result of the merger of CMC’s operations and Tencent’s former music businesses in 2016, Ocean Culture and Ocean Technology also became our PRC consolidated entities.

The Claimant alleged that Mr. Xie defrauded and threatened him into signing a series of agreements in late 2013 to relinquish his substantial investment interests in multiple entities, including CMC, Ocean Culture and Ocean Technology (together, the “Ocean Music Entities”), and transferring his equity interests in the Ocean Music Entities to Mr. Xie, CMC and certain other Respondents at below-market value. The Claimant seeks an award from CIETAC ruling, among other things, that (i) such agreements, pursuant to which the Claimant allegedly transferred his interests in the Ocean Music Entities to Mr. Xie, CMC and other Respondents, be declared invalid; (ii) Mr. Xie, CMC and other applicable Respondents return to the Claimant all of his initial equity interests in the Ocean Music Entities; and (iii) Mr. Xie pays damages in the amount of RMB100 million (US$15.7 million). In March 2021, the Claimant amended his claims so that, among other things, to the extent that the Claimant’s equity interests in the Ocean Music Entities cannot be returned to the Claimant as a result of the merger of CMC’s operations and Tencent’s former music businesses, each of Mr. Xie and we shall pay the Claimant damages in an amount equal to the fair market value of 4% of our share capital as of the date of enforcement of the final arbitration decision, minus the amount the Claimant has already received, plus accrued interests. In April 2021, CIETAC entered an award for the Arbitration. The award dismissed substantially all of the Claimant’s claims, including those against CMC, except that Mr. Xie shall pay damages in an amount of RMB661 million (US$103.7 million) to the Claimant. Mr. Xie subsequently applied in court to set aside the CIETAC’s award, and the court case has been filed. As of the date of this annual report, no court hearing had been held in relation to this case. There can be no assurance that the final award for the Arbitration will be so recognized by the court. If CIETAC’s award were to be set aside, the court may enter into a judgement that orders us to pay damages or is otherwise not favorable to us, which may negatively impact our business, reputation and results of operations.

Our strategic focus on rapid innovation and long-term user engagement over short-term financial results may generate results of operation that do not align with investors’ expectations. If that happens, our stock price may be negatively affected.

Our business is growing and becoming more complex, and our success depends on our ability to quickly develop and launch new and innovative products and services. This business strategy could result in unintended outcomes or decisions that are poorly received by our users or partners. Our culture also prioritizes our long-term

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user engagement over short-term financial condition or results of operations. We frequently make decisions that may reduce our short-term revenue or profitability if we believe that the decisions will improve user experience and long-term financial performance, as well as our continuous investment in content production and innovation. For example, we are seeking to build long-term partnerships with our content partners, including partnerships in the pan-entertainment sector with other companies within the Tencent ecosystem, and will continue to invest substantially in producing in-house or in collaboration with content partners popular, trend-setting content catering to evolving user demands. Furthermore, as our brand awareness increases, we may continue to expand into new markets and geographic locations. These decisions may not produce the long-term benefits that we expect, in which case our user growth and engagement, our relationships with our partners, and our business, financial condition and results of operation could be materially and adversely affected.

Privacy concerns or security breaches relating to our platform could result in economic loss, damage our reputation, deter users from using our products, and expose us to legal penalties and liability.

We collect, process, and store significant amounts of data concerning our users, business partners and employees, including personal and transaction data involving our users, only to a minimum extent necessary to enable our business operations and services, and as permitted by applicable laws and regulations. While we have taken reasonable steps to protect such data, there is no guarantee that such steps will be successful. Techniques used to gain unauthorized access to data and systems, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems, are constantly evolving, and we may be unable to anticipate, deter, or prevent such techniques or otherwise implement adequate preventative measures to avoid unauthorized access to such data or our systems.

Like all internet services, our service may be vulnerable to software bugs, computer viruses, internet worms, break-ins, phishing attacks, attempts to overload servers with denial-of-service, and similar attacks and disruptions from the unauthorized use of our and third-party computer systems, any of which could lead to system interruptions, delays, or shutdowns and cause the loss of critical data or the unauthorized access to our data or our users’ data. Computer malware, viruses, and computer hacking and phishing attacks have become more prevalent in our industry, have occurred on our systems in the past, and we experience cyber-attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis, including hacking or attempted hacking into our user accounts and redirecting our user traffic to other internet platforms. Any functions that we use to facilitate interactivity with other internet platforms have the potential to increase the scope of access that hackers may have to our user accounts. Though it is difficult to determine what, if any, harm may directly result from any specific interruption or attack, our failure to maintain performance, reliability, security and availability of our products and technical infrastructure to the satisfaction of our users may harm our reputation and ability to retain existing users and attract new users. Although we have in place systems and processes that are designed to protect our data and our users’ data, prevent data loss, disable undesirable accounts and activities on our platform, and prevent or detect security breaches, we cannot assure you that such measures will provide absolute security. We may incur significant costs in protecting against cyber-attacks, and if an actual or perceived breach of security occurs to our systems or a third party’s systems, we could be required to expend significant resources to mitigate the breach of security and to address matters related to any such breach, including notifying users or regulators.

Complying with evolving laws and regulations regarding cybersecurity, information security, privacy and data protection and other related laws and requirements may be expensive and force us to make adverse changes to our business. Many of these laws and regulations are subject to changes and uncertain interpretations, and any failure or perceived failure to comply with these laws and regulations could result in negative publicity, legal proceedings, suspension or disruption of operations, increased cost of operations, or otherwise harm our business.

We are subject to a variety of laws and other obligations relating to the security and privacy of data, including restrictions on the collection, use and storage of personal information and requirements to take steps to prevent personal data from being divulged, stolen, or tampered with.

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The PRC Cyber Security Law, which took effective in June 2017, created China’s first national-level data protection regime for “network operators,” which may include all organizations in China that provide services over the Internet or other information network. Specifically, the Cyber Security Law provides that China adopts a multi-level protection scheme, under which network operators are required to perform obligations of security protection to ensure that the network is free from interference, disruption or unauthorized access, and prevent network data from being disclosed, stolen or tampered.

In addition, the PRC Data Security Law was promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on June 10, 2021 and took effect on September 1, 2021. The Data Security Law establishes a tiered system for data protection in terms of their importance. Data categorized as “important data”, which will be determined by governmental authorities in the form of catalogs, are required to be treated with higher level of protection. Specifically, the Data Security Law provides that operators processing “important data” are required to appoint a “data security officer” and a “management department” to take charge of data security. In addition, such operator is required to evaluate the risk of its data activities periodically and file assessment reports with relevant regulatory authorities.

Numerous regulations, guidelines and other measures have been or are expected to be adopted under the umbrella of, or in addition to, the Cyber Security Law and Data Security Law. For example, Regulations on the Security Protection of Critical Information Infrastructure, or the CII Protection Regulations, was promulgated by the State Council of the PRC on July 30, 2021 and became effective on September 1, 2021. According to the CII Protection Regulations, critical information infrastructure, or the CII, refers to any important network facilities or information systems of the important industry or field such as public communication and information service, energy, transportation, water conservancy, finance, public services, e-government affairs and national defense science, which may endanger national security, people’s livelihood and public interest in the case of damage, function loss or data leakage. Regulators supervising specific industries are required to formulate detailed guidance to recognize the CII in the respective sectors, and a critical information infrastructure operator, or a CIIO, must take the responsibility to protect the CII’s security by performing certain prescribed obligations. For example, CIIOs are required to conduct network security test and risk assessment, report the assessment results to relevant regulatory authorities, and timely rectify the issues identified at least once a year.

The Personal Information Protection Law, which was promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on August 20, 2021 and took effect on November 1, 2021, integrates the various rules with respect to personal information rights and privacy protection and applies to the processing of personal information within mainland China as well as certain personal information processing activities outside mainland China, including those for the provision of products and services to natural persons within China or for the analysis and assessment of acts of natural persons within China.

Additionally, in December 2021, the CAC and several other administrations jointly promulgated the amended Cybersecurity Review Measures, or the Cybersecurity Review Measures, which took effect on February 15, 2022, and superseded and replaced the cybersecurity review measures that became effective since June 2020. Pursuant to the Cybersecurity Review Measures, where the relevant activity affects or may affect national security, a CIIO that purchases network products and services, or an internet platform operator that conducts data processing activities, shall be subject to the cybersecurity review. The Cybersecurity Review Measures also expands the cybersecurity review to internet platform operators in possession of personal information of over one million users if such operators intend to list their securities in a foreign country. The Cybersecurity Review Measures elaborate the factors to be considered when assessing the national security, including but not limited to the risks of core data, important data or a large amount of personal information being stolen, leaked, destroyed, and illegally used or illegally exited the country, risks of critical information infrastructure, core data, important data or a large amount of personal information data being affected, controlled and maliciously used by foreign governments after a listing, and risks associated with Internet information security. See “—Risks Related to Doing Business in China— The approval, filing or other requirements of the China Securities Regulatory Commission or other PRC government authorities may be required under PRC law

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in connection with our issuance of securities overseas.” Additionally, relevant governmental authorities in the PRC may initiate cybersecurity review if they determine an operator’s network products or services or data processing activities affect or may affect national security.

Furthermore, on November 14, 2021, Measures on Network Data Security Management (Draft for Comment), or the Draft Measures on Network Data, was proposed by the CAC for public comments until December 13, 2021. The Draft Measures on Network Data requires data processors to apply for cybersecurity review in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations for carrying out activities including but not limited to: (i) a merger, reorganization, or division to be conducted by an Internet platform operator who has amassed a substantial amount of data resources that concern national security, economic development or the public interest, which will or may impact national security; (ii) an overseas initial public offering to be conducted by a data processor processing the personal information of more than one million individuals; (iii) an overseas initial public offering in Hong Kong to be conducted by a data processor, which will or may impact national security; and (iv) other data processing activities that will or may have an impact national security. Any failure to comply with such requirements may subject us to, among others, suspension of services, fines, revoking relevant business permits or business licenses and penalties. The Draft Measures on Network Data was released for public comment only, there remains substantial uncertainty, including but not limited to its final content, adoption timeline, effective date or relevant implementation rules.

Since these laws and regulations in China are relatively new, uncertainties still exist in relation to their interpretation and implementation. Any change in laws and regulations relating to privacy, data protection and information security and any enhanced and scrutinized governmental enforcement action of such laws and regulations could greatly increase our cost in providing our products and services, limit their use or adoption or require certain changes to be made to our operations. We cannot assure you that we will be compliant with these new laws and regulations described above in all respects, and we may be ordered to rectify and terminate any actions that are deemed illegal by the government authorities and become subject to fines and other government sanctions, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. For example, in November 2021, we received a notice from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology requiring us to rectify our collection and usage of personal information on QQ Music and WeSing Lite, a simplified version of WeSing available only on Android devices, in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations, without imposing any penalty on us. As of the date of this annual report, we have made rectification measures on these two applications to the satisfaction of the relevant regulatory authorities.

In addition, if and to the extent our operations are extended into Europe, we may be required to notify European Data Protection Authorities within strict time periods about any personal data breaches, unless the personal data breach is unlikely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of affected individuals. We may also be required to notify affected individuals of the personal data breach where there is a high risk to their rights and freedoms. If we suffer a personal data breach, or otherwise violate the General Data Protection Regulation, we could be fined up to EUR 20 million or 4% of worldwide annual turnover of the preceding financial year, whichever is greater. Furthermore, any data breach by service providers that are acting as data processors (i.e., processing personal data on our behalf) could also mean that we are subject to these fines and are required to comply with the notification obligations described above. Complying with the General Data Protection Regulation and other applicable regulatory requirements may cause us to incur substantial expenses or require us to alter or change our practices in a manner that could harm our business.

Regulatory requirements regarding the protection of data are constantly evolving and can be subject to differing interpretations or significant changes, making the extent of our responsibilities in that regard uncertain. While in the U.S., the state of California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act, which became effect on January 1, 2020 and imposes heightened obligations with respect to data privacy, including the ability for individuals in California to object to the sale of their personal data in certain instances. If other states in the United States adopt similar laws, or if a comprehensive federal data privacy law is enacted, we may be required

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to expend considerable resources to meet the applicable requirements to the extent our operations are expanded into the United States.

Any failure, or perceived failure, by us, or by our third-party partners, to maintain the security of our user data or to comply with applicable privacy or data security laws, regulations, policies, contractual provisions, industry standards, and other requirements, may result in civil or regulatory liability, including governmental or data protection authority enforcement actions and investigations, fines, penalties, enforcement orders requiring us to cease operating in a certain way, litigation, or adverse publicity, and may require us to expend significant resources in responding to and defending allegations and claims. Moreover, claims or allegations that we have failed to adequately protect our users’ data, or otherwise violated applicable privacy and data security laws, regulations, policies, contractual provisions, industry standards, or other requirements, may result in damage to our reputation and a loss of confidence in us by our users or our partners, potentially causing us to lose users, advertisers, content providers, other business partners and revenues, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and could cause our stock price to drop significantly.

Our business expansion subjects us to increased business, legal, financial, reputational, and competitive risks.

As part of our growth strategy, we have continued to expand our offerings and explore new, innovative ways to attract and engage with users. For example, we have in recent years expanded our non-music content offerings. We have also organized a variety of offline-merge-online events, such as the live performances under TME Live, to reach broader potential audiences. Our business expansion involves numerous risks and challenges, including increased capital requirements, new competitors, and the need to develop new strategic relationships. The implementation of our expansion strategy may require additional changes to our existing business model and cost structure, modifications to our infrastructure, and exposure to new regulatory, legal and reputational risks, including infringement liability, any of which may require additional expertise that we currently may not have. There is no guarantee that we will be able to generate sufficient revenue from these new strategic ambitions to offset the associated costs and expenses. If we fail to successfully monetize and generate revenues from new businesses, or if we fail to effectively manage the numerous risks and challenges associated with such expansion, our business, operating results, and financial condition could be adversely affected.

We depend on our senior management and highly skilled personnel. If we are unable to attract, retain and motivate a sufficient number of them, our ability to grow our business could be harmed.

We believe that our future success depends significantly on our continuing ability to attract, develop, motivate and retain our senior management and a sufficient number of experienced and skilled employees. Qualified individuals are in high demand, particularly in the internet content and entertainment industries, and we may have to incur significant costs to attract and retain them. Additionally, we use share-based awards to attract talented employees, and if the ADSs decline in value, we may have difficulties recruiting and retaining qualified employees.

In particular, we cannot ensure that we will be able to retain the services of our senior management and key executive officers. The loss of any key management or executive could be highly disruptive and adversely affect our business operations and future growth. Moreover, if any of these individuals joins a competitor or forms a competing business, we may lose crucial business secrets, technological know-how and other valuable resources. Although our senior management and executive officers have non-compete agreements with us, we cannot assure you that they will comply with such agreements or that we will be able to effectively enforce such agreements.

Compliance with the laws or regulations governing virtual currency may result in us having to obtain additional approvals or licenses or change our current business model.

The Circular on Strengthening the Administration of Online Game Virtual Currency, or the Virtual Currency Circular, jointly issued by the Ministry of Culture and the MOFCOM in 2009, broadly defined virtual

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currency as a type of virtual exchange instrument issued by internet game operation enterprises, purchased directly or indirectly by the game users by exchanging legal currency at a certain exchange rate, saved outside the game programs, stored in servers provided by the internet game operation enterprises in electronic record format and represented by specific numeric units. Virtual currency is used to exchange internet game services provided by the issuing enterprise for a designated extent and time, and is represented by several forms, such as online prepaid game cards, prepaid amounts or internet game points, and does not include game props obtained from playing online games. In addition, the Virtual Currency Circular defines “issuing enterprise” and “transaction enterprise” and stipulates that a single enterprise may not operate both types of business. Online game operators are further prohibited from distributing virtual gifts or virtual currencies to users paying cash or virtual currency through random selection methods such as lotteries, gambling or prize drawing. See “—Regulations—Regulations on Virtual Currency.”

Although we issue virtual currencies to users for cash, as advised by our PRC legal advisor, our service does not constitute virtual currency transaction services because users cannot transfer or trade these currencies among themselves. However, given the uncertainties of the interpretation and enforcement of the virtual currency related laws, regulations and policies, we cannot assure you that internet platforms, including us, will not be subject to liabilities due to the activities of third parties, including our users. On May 14, 2019, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the Notice on Adjustment of Approval Scope of the Internet Culture Operation License and Further Regulation on Approval, pursuant to which Ministry of Culture and Tourism no longer assumes the responsibility for the administration of online games industry. As of the date of this annual report, no PRC laws and regulations have been officially promulgated regarding whether the responsibility of Ministry of Culture and Tourism for supervising the online games and virtual currency will be undertaken by another government agency, so it is still unclear as to whether such supervision responsibility will be re-designated to another government agency or whether such government agency taking on the responsibility will require similar or new supervision requirements for the issuance of virtual currencies. If there is similar or new supervision requirements for the issuance of virtual currencies or the sale, exchange or circulation of virtual gifts in the future, there is no assurance that we can meet all such supervision requirements in a timely or cost-effective manner. We cannot assure you that the PRC regulatory authorities will not take stricter actions against all internet platforms conducting business operations involving virtual currencies, including us, or will not take a view contrary to ours or consider any other aspects of our business operations involving virtual currencies as virtual currency transactions or otherwise subject such transactions to the PRC regulatory regime on online games. If the PRC regulatory authorities deem any transfer or exchange on our platform to be a virtual currency transaction, or if our platform is deemed to be engaged in illegal or inappropriate activities relating to third parties’ misuse, we may be deemed to be engaging in the issuance of virtual currency and providing transaction platform services that enable the trading of such virtual currency. Simultaneously engaging in both of these activities is prohibited under PRC law. We may be required to cease either our virtual currency issuance activities or such deemed “transaction service” activities and may be subject to certain penalties, including mandatory corrective measures and fines. The occurrence of any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We require a significant amount of capital to fund our content acquisitions, user acquisitions and technology investments. If we cannot obtain sufficient capital, our business, financial condition and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

Operating our online platforms requires significant, continuous investment in acquiring content, users and technology. Acquiring licenses to music, long-form audio and other types of digital content can be costly. Historically, we have financed our operations primarily with operating cash flows, securities offerings and shareholder contributions. As part of our growth strategies, we expect to continue to require substantial capital in the future to cover, among other things, the costs to license content and innovate our technologies, which requires us to obtain additional equity or debt financing. Our ability to obtain additional financing in the future is subject to uncertainties, including those relating to:

• our future business development, financial condition and results of operations;

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• general market conditions for financing activities;

• macro-economic and other conditions in China and elsewhere; and

• our relationship with Tencent, our controlling shareholder.

Although we strive to diversify our sources of capital, we cannot assure you that such efforts will be successful. If we cannot obtain sufficient capital, we may not be able to implement our growth strategies, and our business, financial condition and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

If we fail to attract more advertisers to our platform or if advertisers are less willing to advertise with us, our business, financial condition and results of operation may be adversely affected.

Our advertising revenues depend on the overall growth of the online advertising industry in China and advertisers’ continued willingness to deploy online advertising as part of the advertised spend. In addition, advertisers may choose more established Chinese internet portals or search engines over our platform. If the online advertising market does not continue to grow, or if we are unable to capture and retain a sufficient share of that market, our ability to grow our advertising revenues may be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, our key and long-term priority of optimizing user experience and satisfaction may limit our ability to significantly grow our advertising revenues. To the extent our philosophy of prioritizing user experience negatively impacts our relationships with advertisers, or does not deliver the long-term benefits that we expect, the success of our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

We cannot assure you that we will be able to attract or retain direct advertisers or advertising agencies. If we fail to retain and enhance our business relationships with these advertisers or third-party advertising agencies, we may suffer from a loss of advertisers and our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. If we fail to retain existing advertisers and advertising agencies or attract new direct advertisers and advertising agencies or any of our current advertising methods or promotion activities becomes less effective, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Our operating metrics are subject to inherent challenges in measurement, and real or perceived inaccuracies in those metrics may harm our reputation and our business.

We regularly review MAUs, number of paying users, ARPPU and other key metrics to evaluate growth trends, measure our performance and make strategic decisions. These metrics are calculated using our internal data and have not been validated by an independent third party. While these numbers are based on what we believe to be reasonable estimates of our user base for the applicable period of measurement, there are inherent challenges in measuring how our services are used across large populations in China. For example, individuals who have multiple accounts and devices registered with our platform could result in an overstatement of the number of our users. We are also subject to the risk associated with artificial manipulation of data, such as stream counts on our platform. Any errors or inaccuracies in these metrics could result in less informed business decisions and operational inefficiencies. For example, if our user base is overstated by MAU and other user engagement metrics we track, we may fail to make the right strategic choices needed to expand our user base and achieve our growth strategies.

We are subject to payment processing risk.

Our users pay for our membership services, content offered on our platforms, virtual gifts and any other music and long-form audio-related services or merchandises offered by us through a variety of online payment solutions. We rely on third parties to process such payments. Acceptance and processing of these payment methods are subject to certain rules and regulations and require payment of interchange and other fees. To the extent there are increases in payment processing fees, material changes in the payment network, such as delays in

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receiving payments from processors and/or changes in the rules or regulations concerning payment processing, our ability to provide superior use experience, including convenient payment options, may be undermined, and our revenue, operating expenses and results of operation could be adversely impacted.

Our ability to expand our user base depends in part on users being able to access our services, which may be affected by third-party interference beyond our control.

Access to our services may be affected by restrictions on the ability of our users to access websites, mobile apps and client-based desktop applications via the internet. Corporations, professional organizations and governmental agencies could block access to the internet or our online platforms as a competitive strategy or for other reasons, such as security or confidentiality concerns, or political, regulatory or compliance reasons. In any of these occurrences, users may not be able to access our services, and user engagement and monetization of our services may be adversely affected.

Additionally, we offer our mobile apps via smartphone and tablet apps stores operated by third parties. Some of these third parties are now, and others may in the future become, competitors of ours, and could stop allowing or supporting access to our mobile apps through app stores, increase access costs or change the terms of access in a way that makes our apps less desirable or harder to access. Furthermore, since the mobile devices that provide users with access to our services are not manufactured and sold by us, we cannot guarantee that such devices will perform reliably, and any faulty connection between these devices and our services may result in user dissatisfaction toward us. As a result, our brand and reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Negative media coverage could adversely affect our business.

Negative publicity about us or our business, shareholders, affiliates, directors, officers or other employees, as well as the industry in which we operate, can harm our operations. Such negative publicity could be related to a variety of matters, including:

• alleged misconduct or other improper activities committed by our shareholders, affiliates, directors, officers and other employees;

• false or malicious allegations or rumors about us or our shareholders, affiliates, directors, officers and other employees;

• user complaints about the quality of our products and services;

• copyright infringements involving us and content offered on our platform;

• security breaches of confidential user information; and

• governmental and regulatory investigations or penalties resulting from failure of us or our related parties to comply with applicable laws and regulations.

In addition to traditional media, there has been increasing use of social media platforms and similar devices in China, including instant messaging applications, such as Weixin/WeChat, social media websites and other forms of internet-based communications that provide individuals with access to a broad audience of users and other interested persons. The availability of information on instant messaging applications and social media platforms is virtually immediate and as such, does not afford us an opportunity for redress or correction. The opportunity for dissemination of information, including inaccurate information, is seemingly limitless and readily available. Information concerning our company, shareholders, directors, officers and employees may be posted on such platforms at any time. The risks associated with any such negative publicity or incorrect information cannot be completely eliminated or mitigated and may materially harm our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

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Future strategic transactions or acquisitions may have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

To the extent permitted by applicable laws and regulations, we may enter into strategic transactions, including joint ventures or equity investments, with various third parties to further our business purpose from time to time. These transactions could subject us to a number of risks, including risks associated with sharing proprietary information, non-performance by third parties and increased expenses in establishing new strategic alliances, any of which may materially and adversely affect our business. We may have limited ability to monitor or control the actions of these third parties and, to the extent any of these strategic third parties suffer negative publicity or harm to their reputation from events relating to their business, we may also suffer negative publicity or harm to our reputation by virtue of our association with any such third parties.

In addition, when appropriate opportunities arise, we may acquire additional assets, products, technologies or businesses that are complementary to our existing business. In addition to possible shareholders’ approval, we may also have to obtain approvals and licenses from relevant government authorities for the acquisitions and to comply with any applicable laws and regulations in different jurisdictions, which could result in increased delay and costs, and may derail our business strategy if we fail to do so. Furthermore, past and future acquisitions and the subsequent integration of new assets and businesses require significant attention from our management and could result in a diversion of resources from our existing business, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our business operations. Acquired assets or businesses may not generate the financial results we expect. Acquisitions could result in the use of substantial amounts of cash, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the occurrence of significant goodwill impairment charges, amortization expenses for other intangible assets and exposure to potential unknown liabilities of the acquired business. Moreover, the costs of identifying and consummating acquisitions may be significant. Furthermore, our equity investees may generate significant losses, a portion of which will be shared by us in accordance with IFRS. Any such negative developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Advertisements shown on our platform may subject us to penalties and other administrative actions.

Under PRC advertising laws and regulations, we are obligated to monitor the advertising content shown on our platform to ensure that such content is true and accurate, the format of the advertisements and the way they are presented are in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. See “—Regulation—Regulations on Online Advertising Services.” Violation of these laws and regulations may subject us to penalties, including fines, confiscation of our advertising income, orders to cease dissemination of the advertisements and orders to publish an announcement correcting the misleading information. Compliance with the applicable laws and regulations regarding the format of the advertisements and the way they are presented may also adversely affect our advertising revenues. Moreover, a majority of the advertisements shown on our platform are provided to us by third parties. While we have implemented a combination of automated monitoring and manual review to ensure that the advertisements shown on our platform are in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, we cannot assure you that all the content contained in such advertisements is true and accurate as required by the advertising laws and regulations, especially given the uncertainty in the application of such laws and regulations. In addition, advertisers may, through illegal technology, evade our content monitoring procedures to show advertisements on our platform that do not comply with applicable laws and regulations. The inability of our systems and procedures to adequately and timely discover such evasions may subject us to regulatory penalties or administrative sanctions.

Programming errors could adversely affect our user experience and market acceptance of our content, which may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our platform or content on our platform may contain programming errors that adversely affect our user experience and market acceptance of our content. We have from time to time received user feedback pertaining to programming errors. While we generally have been able to resolve such errors in a timely manner, we cannot

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assure you that we will be able to detect and resolve all these programming errors effectively. Programming errors or defects may adversely affect user experience, cause users to refrain from subscribing for our services, or cause our advertising customers to reduce their use of our services, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We have granted, and may continue to grant, share incentives, which may result in increased share-based compensation expenses.

We have adopted various equity incentive plans, including a share incentive plan adopted in 2014 and a share option plan and a restricted share award plan adopted in 2017. We account for compensation costs for all share-based awards using a fair-value based method and recognize expenses in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income in accordance with IFRS. Under such plans, we are authorized to grant options, stock appreciation rights, restricted shares, restricted stock units and other types of awards as the administrator of such plans may decide. The maximum aggregate number of shares that we are authorized to issue pursuant to the equity awards granted under such plans is 416,066,274 shares as of the date of this annual report. As of April 19, 2022, 47,394,718 restricted shares and the options to purchase a total of 42,022,128 Class A ordinary shares have been granted and are outstanding, under such plans. In 2019, 2020 and 2021, we recorded RMB519 million, RMB569 million and RMB752 million (US$118 million), respectively, in share-based compensation expenses. We believe the granting of share-based awards is of significant importance to our ability to attract and retain key personnel and employees, and we will continue to grant share-based awards in the future. As a result, our expenses associated with share-based compensation may increase, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may be unable to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud, and investor confidence in our company and the market price of our ADSs may be adversely affected.

The SEC, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, adopted rules requiring most public companies to include a management report on such company’s internal control over financial reporting in its annual report, which contains the management’s assessment of the effectiveness of the company’s internal control over financial reporting. In addition, when a company meets the SEC’s criteria, an independent registered public accounting firm must report on the effectiveness of the company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Our management and independent registered public accounting firm have concluded that our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021 was effective. However, we cannot assure you that in the future our management or our independent registered public accounting firm will not identify material weaknesses during the Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act audit process. In addition, because of the inherent limitations of internal control over financial reporting, including the possibility of collusion or improper management override of controls, material misstatements due to error or fraud may not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. If we fail to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment, we could suffer material misstatements in our financial statements and fail to meet our reporting obligations, which would likely cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information. This could in turn limit our access to capital markets, harm our results of operations, and lead to a decline in the trading price of the ADSs. Additionally, ineffective internal control over financial reporting could expose us to increased risk of fraud or misuse of corporate assets and subject us to potential delisting from the stock exchange on which we list, regulatory investigations and civil or criminal sanctions. Furthermore, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur considerable costs and to use significant management time and the other resources in an effort to comply with Section 404 and other requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act which can significantly divert our management’s attention from operating our business.

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Increasing focus with respect to environmental, social and governance matters may impose additional costs on us or expose us to additional risks. Failure to comply with the laws and regulations on environmental, social and governance matters may subject us to penalties and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The PRC government and public advocacy groups have been increasingly focused on environment, social and governance, or ESG, issues in recent years, making our business more sensitive to ESG issues and changes in governmental policies and laws and regulations associated with environment protection and other ESG-related matters. Investor advocacy groups, certain institutional investors, investment funds, and other influential investors are also increasingly focused on ESG practices and in recent years have placed increasing importance on the implications and social cost of their investments. Regardless of the industry, increased focus from investors and the PRC government on ESG and similar matters may hinder access to capital, as investors may decide to reallocate capital or to not commit capital as a result of their assessment of a company’s ESG practices. Any ESG concern or issue could increase our regulatory compliance costs. If we do not adapt to or comply with the evolving expectations and standards on ESG matters from investors and the PRC government or are perceived to have not responded appropriately to the growing concern for ESG issues, regardless of whether there is a legal requirement to do so, we may suffer from reputational damage and the business, financial condition, and the price of our ADSs could be materially and adversely effected.

Risks Related to Our Relationship with Tencent

If we are no longer able to benefit from our business cooperation with Tencent, our business may be adversely affected.

Our ultimate controlling shareholder and a strategic partner, Tencent, is one of the largest internet companies in the world. Our business has benefited significantly from Tencent’s brand name and strong market position in China. In addition, we have benefited from distributing our content through Tencent’s extensive social network, which provides Tencent’s large number of users with access to our content. We also cooperate with Tencent in a number of other areas, such as user traffic acquisition, advertising, technology and IT infrastructure. We cannot assure you that we will continue to benefit from our cooperation with Tencent and its subsidiaries in the future. To the extent we cannot maintain our cooperative relationships with Tencent on terms favorable to us or at all, we will need to source other business partners to provide services such as distribution channels, promotion services, as well as IT and payment services, and we may lose access to key strategic assets, which could result in material and adverse effects on our business and results of operations.

Any negative development in Tencent’s market position, brand recognition or financial condition may materially and adversely affect our user base, marketing efforts and the strength of our brand.

We have benefited significantly and expect to continue to benefit significantly from Tencent’s strong brand recognition, broad user base, and its content ecosystem, which enhances our reputation and credibility. If Tencent loses its market position, the effectiveness of our marketing efforts through our association with Tencent may be materially and adversely affected. In addition, any negative publicity associated with Tencent or any negative development with respect to Tencent’s market position, financial condition, or compliance with legal or regulatory requirements in China, will likely have an adverse impact on our user traffic and engagement as well as our reputation and brand.

Tencent, our controlling shareholder, has had and will continue to have effective control over the outcome of shareholder actions in our company. The interests of Tencent may not be aligned with the interests of our other shareholders and holders of the ADSs.

As of April 19, 2022, Tencent beneficially owns 9.6% of our outstanding Class A ordinary shares and 95.7% of our outstanding Class B ordinary shares, representing in the aggregate 90.4% of our total voting power (calculating using the beneficial ownership information in the Amendment No. 2 to Schedule 13G filed by

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Tencent with the SEC on February 10, 2022). Tencent’s voting power gives it the power to control certain actions that require shareholder approval under Cayman Islands law, our memorandum and articles of association and New York Stock Exchange requirements, including approval of mergers and other business combinations, changes to our memorandum and articles of association, the number of shares available for issuance under any share incentive plans, and the issuance of significant amounts of our ordinary shares in private placements.

Tencent’s voting control may cause transactions to occur that might not be beneficial to you as a holder of the ADSs and may prevent transactions that would be beneficial to you. For example, Tencent’s voting control may prevent a transaction involving a change of control in us, including transactions in which you as a holder of the ADSs might otherwise receive a premium for the ADSs over the then-current market price. In addition, Tencent is not prohibited from selling the controlling interest in us to a third party and may do so without your approval and without providing for a purchase of your ADSs. If Tencent is acquired, otherwise undergoes a change of control or is subject to a corporate restructuring, an acquirer, successor or other third party may be entitled to exercise the voting control and contractual rights of Tencent, and may do so in a manner that could vary significantly from that of Tencent.

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

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

• Agreements with Tencent. We entered into a master business cooperation agreement in July 2018. Tencent may use its control over us to prevent us from bringing a legal claim against it in the event of a contractual breach by Tencent, notwithstanding our contractual rights under the master business cooperation agreement and any other agreement we may enter into with Tencent from time to time.

• Allocation of business opportunities. There may arise business opportunities in the future that both we and Tencent are interested in and which may complement each of our respective businesses. Tencent holds a large number of business interests, some of which may directly or indirectly compete with us. For example, Tencent currently owns equity stakes in certain music streaming businesses operating outside of the PRC. Tencent may decide to take up such opportunities itself, which would prevent us from taking advantage of those opportunities.

• Employee recruiting and retention. We may compete with Tencent in the hiring of employees, especially computer programmers, engineers, sales and other employees with experience or an interest in the internet industry.

• Sale of shares in our company. Tencent may decide to sell all or a portion of the shares that it holds in our company to a third party, including to one of our competitors, thereby giving that third party substantial influence over our business and our affairs. Such a sale could be contrary to the interests of our employees or our other shareholders or holders of the ADSs.

• Developing business relationships with Tencent’s competitors. We may be limited in our ability to do business with Tencent’s competitors, which may limit our ability to serve the best interests of our company and our other shareholders or holders of the ADSs.

• Our directors may have conflicts of interest. Certain of our directors are also employees of Tencent. These relationships could create, or appear to create, conflicts of interest when these persons are faced with decisions with potentially different implications for Tencent and us.

Our financial contribution to Tencent was not material during the periods presented in this annual report, and Tencent may from time to time make strategic decisions that it believes are in the best interests of its business as a whole, which may be different from the decisions that we would have made on our own. Tencent’s decisions with respect to us or our business may favor Tencent and therefore the Tencent shareholders, which may not necessarily be aligned with our interests and the interests of our other shareholders. Moreover, Tencent

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may make decisions, or suffer adverse trends, that may disrupt or discontinue our collaborations with Tencent or our access to Tencent’s user base. Although we are now a stand-alone public company and we have an audit committee, consisting of independent non-executive directors, to review and approve all proposed related party transactions, we may not be able to resolve all potential conflicts of interest, and even if we do so, the resolution may be less favorable to us than if we were dealing with a non-controlling shareholder.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

There are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current and future PRC laws, regulations, and rules relating to the agreements that establish the VIE structure for our operations in China, including potential future actions by the PRC government, which could affect the enforceability of our contractual arrangements with the VIEs and, consequently, significantly affect the financial condition and results of operations performance of TME. If the PRC government finds such agreements non-compliant with relevant PRC laws, regulations, and rules, or if these laws, regulations, and rules or the interpretation thereof change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in the VIEs.

Foreign investment in the value-added telecommunication services industry and online cultural service industry in China is extensively regulated and subject to numerous restrictions. Pursuant to the list of special management measures for the market entry of foreign investment, or the Negative List, published by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce on December 27, 2021 and effective on January 1, 2022 with a few exceptions, foreign investors are not allowed to own more than 50% of the equity interests in a value-added telecommunication service provider and any such foreign investor must have experience in providing value-added telecommunications services overseas and maintain a good track record. On March 29, 2022, the Decision of the State Council on Revising and Repealing Certain Administrative Regulations, which will take effect on May 1, 2022, was promulgated to amend certain provisions of regulations including the Provisions on the Administration of Foreign-Invested Telecommunications Enterprises (2016 Revision), the requirement for major foreign investor to demonstrate a good track record and experience in operating value-added telecommunications businesses is deleted. In addition, foreign investors are prohibited from investing in companies engaged in online publishing businesses, internet audio-visual programs businesses, internet culture businesses (except for music), and radio and television program production businesses. See “—Regulations—Regulations on Foreign Investment—Special Administrative Measures for Entrance of Foreign Investment (Negative List) (2021 Version).”

We are a Cayman Islands company and our wholly-owned PRC subsidiaries are currently considered foreign-invested enterprise. Accordingly, our PRC subsidiaries are not eligible to provide value-added telecommunication services and online cultural services in China. To ensure strict compliance with the PRC laws and regulations, we conduct such business activities through our consolidated VIEs and their respective subsidiaries in the PRC. Our wholly owned subsidiaries in China have entered into a series of contractual arrangements with the VIEs and their shareholders, which enable us to (i) exercise effective control over the VIEs, (ii) receive substantially all of the economic benefits of the VIEs, and (iii) have an exclusive option to purchase all or part of the equity interests and assets in the VIEs when and to the extent permitted by PRC law. As a result of these contractual arrangements, we have control over and are the primary beneficiary of the VIEs and hence consolidate their financial results under IFRS. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—4.C. Organizational Structure—Contractual Arrangements with the VIEs and Their Respective Shareholders” for further details.

If the PRC government finds that our contractual arrangements do not comply with its restrictions on foreign investment in the value-added telecommunication services and online cultural services, or if the PRC government otherwise finds that we, the VIEs or any of their respective subsidiaries are in violation of PRC laws or regulations or lack the necessary permits or licenses to operate our business, the relevant PRC regulatory

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authorities, including the MIIT and SAMR, would have broad discretion in dealing with such violations or failures, including, without limitation:

• revoking the business licenses and/or operating licenses of such entities;

• discontinuing or placing restrictions or onerous conditions on our operation through any transactions between our PRC subsidiaries and the VIEs;

• imposing fines, confiscating the income from our PRC subsidiaries or the VIEs, or imposing other requirements with which we or the VIEs may not be able to comply; or

• requiring us to restructure our ownership structure or operations, including terminating the contractual arrangements with the VIEs and deregistering the equity pledges of the VIEs, which in turn would affect our ability to consolidate, derive economic interests from, or exert effective control over the VIEs.

• restricting or prohibiting our use of the proceeds of financing activities to finance our business and operations in China.

Any of these actions could cause significant disruptions to our business operations and severely damage our reputation, which would in turn materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, new PRC laws, regulations, and rules may be introduced to impose additional requirements, posing additional challenges to our corporate structure and contractual arrangements. If any of these occurrences results in our inability to direct the activities of the VIEs or our failure to receive the economic benefits from the VIEs and/or our inability to claim our contractual control rights over the assets of the VIEs that conduct substantially all of our operations in China, we may not be able to consolidate the entity in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRS which could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations and cause our ADSs to significantly decline in value or become worthless.

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

Since PRC laws prohibit or restrict foreign equity ownership in certain kinds of business in China, we have relied and expect to continue to rely on the contractual arrangements with the VIEs and their shareholders to operate our business in China.

However, these contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over our affiliated entities. Any of our affiliated entities, including the VIEs and its shareholders, could breach their contractual arrangements with us by, among other things, failing to conduct their operations in an acceptable manner or taking other actions that are detrimental to our interests. In the event that the shareholders of the VIEs breach the terms of these contractual arrangements and voluntarily liquidate the VIEs, or the VIEs declares bankruptcy and all or part of its assets become subject to liens or rights of third-party creditors, or are otherwise disposed of without our consent, we may be unable to conduct some or all of our business operations or otherwise benefit from the assets held by our affiliated entities, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Most of the nominee shareholders of the VIEs are also beneficial owners of the Company. The enforceability of the contractual agreements between us, the VIEs and their shareholders depends to a large extent upon whether the VIEs and their shareholders will fulfill these contractual agreements. Their interests in enforcing these contractual agreements may not align with our interests or the interests of our shareholders. If their interest diverges from that of our company and other shareholders, it may potentially increase the risk that they could seek to act contrary to these contractual arrangements. If the VIEs or their shareholders fail to perform their respective obligations under the contractual arrangements, we may have to incur substantial costs and expend additional resources to enforce such arrangements. We may also have to rely on legal remedies under

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PRC law, including seeking specific performance or injunctive relief, and contractual remedies, which we cannot assure you will be sufficient or effective under PRC law. Our contractual arrangements are governed by PRC law and provide for the resolution of disputes through arbitration in China. Accordingly, these agreements would be interpreted in accordance with PRC law and any disputes would be resolved in accordance with PRC legal procedures. The legal system in the PRC is not as developed as in some other jurisdictions, such as the United States. As a result, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. Meanwhile, there are very few precedents and little formal guidance as to how contractual arrangements in the context of a consolidated variable interest entity should be interpreted or enforced under PRC law.

There remain significant uncertainties regarding the ultimate outcome of such adjudication should legal action become necessary. In the event that we are unable to enforce these contractual arrangements, or if we suffer significant delay or other obstacles in the process of enforcing these contractual arrangements, we may not be able to exert effective control over our affiliated entities, and our ability to conduct our business may be negatively affected.

The approval, filing or other requirements of the China Securities Regulatory Commission or other PRC government authorities may be required under PRC law in connection with our issuance of securities overseas.

The Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors, or the M&A Rules, purport to require offshore special purpose vehicles that are controlled by PRC companies or individuals and that have been formed for the purpose of seeking a public listing on an overseas stock exchange through acquisitions of PRC domestic companies or assets to obtain China Securities Regulatory Commission, or the CSRC approval prior to publicly listing their securities on an overseas stock exchange. The interpretation and application of the regulations remain unclear. If CSRC approval under the M&A Rules is required, it is uncertain whether it would be possible for us to obtain the approval, and any failure to obtain or delay in obtaining CSRC approval for our future issuance of securities overseas would subject us to sanctions imposed by the CSRC and other PRC regulatory agencies.

Furthermore, the recently issued Opinions on Strictly Cracking Down on Illegal Securities Activities emphasized the need to strengthen the administration over “illegal securities activities” and the supervision on overseas listings by China-based companies, and proposed to take effective measures, such as promoting the construction of relevant regulatory systems to deal with the risks and incidents faced by China- based overseas-listed companies, although such opinions did not specify the definition of “illegal securities activities.” On December 24, 2021, the CSRC published the draft Administrative Provisions of the State Council on the Overseas Issuance and Listing of Securities by Domestic Companies (Draft for Comments), or the Draft Overseas Listing Regulations, and the draft Measures for the Overseas Issuance and Listing of Securities Record-filings by Domestic Companies (Draft for Comments), the Draft Overseas Listing Measures, for public comments. These draft regulations stipulate that PRC domestic companies that seek to offer and list securities in overseas markets directly or indirectly shall complete the filing procedures with and report relevant information to the CSRC. Pursuant to these drafts, if the issuer meets the following conditions, its offering and listing will be deemed as an “indirect overseas offering and listing by a PRC domestic company” and is therefore subject to the filing requirement: (i) the revenues, profits, total assets or net assets of the Chinese operating entities in the most recent financial year accounts for more than 50% of the corresponding data in the issuer’s audited consolidated financial statements for the same period; (ii) the majority of senior management in charge of business operation are Chinese citizens or have domicile in PRC, and its principal place of business is located in PRC or main business activities are conducted in PRC. In addition, these drafts prescribe that the domestic enterprises should submit filing documents to CSRC within three business days after the submission of the application for overseas initial public offering, and after completing the filing procedures for an overseas initial public offering and listing, for the purposes of implementing and strengthening the CSRC’s supervision, the issuer will need to comply with continuous filing and reporting requirements after such offering and listing, among others, including

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the following: (i) reporting material events which arose prior to such offering and listing, (ii) filing for follow-on offerings after the initial offering and listing, (iii) filing for transactions in which the issuer issues securities for acquiring assets, and (iv) reporting material events after the initial offering and listing. In a Q&A released on its official website, the respondent CSRC official indicated that the CSRC will start applying the filing requirements to new offerings and listings. New initial public offerings and refinancing by existing overseas listed Chinese companies will be required to go through the filing process. As for the other filings for the existing companies, the regulator will grant adequate transition period to complete their filing procedures. On April 2, 2022, the CSRC published the Provisions on Strengthening the Management of Confidentiality and Archives Related to the draft Overseas Issuance of Securities and Overseas Listing by Domestic Companies (Draft for Public Comments), or the Draft Confidentiality and Archives Management Provisions relating to Overseas Listing, for public comments. In the overseas listing activities of domestic companies, domestic companies, as well as securities companies and securities service institutions providing relevant securities services hereof, should establish a sound system of confidentiality and archival work, shall not disclose state secrets, or harm the state and public interests. Where a domestic company provides or publicly discloses to the relevant securities companies, securities service institutions, overseas regulatory authorities and other entities and individuals, or provides or publicly discloses through its overseas listing entity, any document or material involving any state secret or any work secret of organs and organizations, it shall report to the competent authority for approval in accordance with the law, and submit to the secrecy administration department for filing. Domestic companies shall not provide accounting records to an overseas accounting firm that has not performed the corresponding procedures. Securities companies and securities service organizations shall comply with the confidentiality and archive management requirements, and keep the documents and materials properly. Securities companies and securities service institutions that provide domestic enterprises with relevant securities services for overseas issuance and listing of securities shall keep such archives they compile within the territory of the PRC and shall not transfer such archives to overseas institutions or individuals, by any means such as carriage, shipment or information technology, without the approval of the relevant competent authorities. If the archives or duplicates of such archives are of important value to the state and society and needed to be taken abroad, approval shall be obtained in accordance with relevant provisions.

However, the Draft Overseas Listing Regulations, the Draft Overseas Listing Measures and the Draft Confidentiality and Archives Management Provisions relating to Overseas Listing were released for public comment only, there remains substantial uncertainty, including but not limited to its final content, adoption timeline, effective date or relevant implementation rules. As of the date of this annual report, we cannot predict the impact of these regulations on our ability to maintain the listing status of our ADSs or carry out future offerings of securities overseas.

In addition, on December 28, 2021, the CAC and several other regulatory authorities in China jointly promulgated the Cybersecurity Review Measures, which came into effect on February 15, 2022. Pursuant to the Cybersecurity Review Measures, (i) where the relevant activity affects or may affect national security, a CIIO that purchases network products and services, or an internet platform operator that conducts data process activities, shall be subject to the cybersecurity review, (ii) an application for cybersecurity review shall be made by an issuer who is an internet platform operator holding personal information of more than one million users before such issuer applies to list its securities on a foreign stock exchange, and (iii) relevant governmental authorities in the PRC may initiate cybersecurity review if they determine an operator’s network products or services or data processing activities affect or may affect national security. As the Cybersecurity Review Measures was newly issued, there remain uncertainties as to how it would be interpreted and enforced, and to what extent it may affect us.

If the CSRC or other relevant PRC regulatory agencies subsequently determine that prior approval is required for any of our future offerings of securities overseas or to maintain the listing status of our ADSs, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to obtain such approval in a timely manner, or at all. The CSRC or other PRC regulatory agencies also may take actions requiring us, or making it advisable for us, not to proceed with such offering or maintain the listing status of our ADSs. If we proceed with any of such offering or maintain the

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listing status of our ADSs without obtaining these regulatory agencies’ approval to the extent it is required, or if we are unable to comply with any new approval requirements which might be adopted for offerings that we have completed prior to the publication of the above- referenced opinions, we may face regulatory actions or other sanctions from these regulatory agencies. These regulatory agencies may impose fines and penalties on our operations in China, limit our ability to pay dividends outside of China, limit our operating privileges in China, delay or restrict the repatriation of the proceeds from offering of securities overseas into China or take other actions that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, as well as the trading price of the ADSs.

Furthermore, if there are any other approvals, filings and/or other administration procedures to be obtained from or completed with the CSRC or other PRC regulatory agencies as required by any new laws and regulations for any of our future proposed offering of securities overseas or the listing of the ADSs, we cannot assure you that we can obtain the required approval or complete the required filings or other regulatory procedures in a timely manner, or at all. Any failure to obtain the relevant approvals or complete the filings and other relevant regulatory procedures may subject us to regulatory actions or other sanctions from the CSRC or other PRC regulatory agencies, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

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

On March 15, 2019, the National People’s Congress adopted the Foreign Investment Law of the PRC, which became effective on January 1, 2020 and replaced three existing laws regulating foreign investment in China, namely, the Wholly Foreign-Invested Enterprise Law of the PRC, the Sino-Foreign Cooperative Joint Venture Enterprise Law of the PRC and the Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Venture Enterprise Law of the PRC, together with their implementation rules and ancillary regulations. The Foreign Investment Law of the PRC embodies an expected PRC regulatory trend to rationalize its foreign investment regulatory regime in line with prevailing international practice and the legislative efforts to unify the corporate legal requirements for both foreign and domestic investments. However, since it is relatively new, uncertainties still exist in relation to its interpretation and implementation. For example, the Foreign Investment Law of the PRC adds a catch-all clause to the definition of “foreign investment” so that foreign investment, by its definition, includes “investments made by foreign investors in China through other means defined by other laws or administrative regulations or provisions promulgated by the State Council” without further elaboration on the meaning of “other means.” The Implementing Regulation of the Foreign Investment Law Regulations, or the FIL Interpretations, adopted by the State Council on December 12, 2019 also did not provide further clarification for such “other means.” In accordance with the FIL Interpretations, where a party concerned claims an investment agreement to be invalid on the basis that it is for investment in prohibited industries under the negative list or it is for investment in restricted industries under the negative list and violates the restrictions set out therein, the courts should support such claim. It leaves leeway for future legislations to be promulgated by competent PRC legislative institutions to provide for contractual arrangements as a form of foreign investment. The most recently updated negative list, issued on December 27, 2021 and became effective on January 1, 2022, stipulates that any PRC domestic enterprise engaging in prohibited industries under the negative list shall obtain the consent of the relevant competent PRC authorities for overseas listing, and the foreign investors shall not participate in the operation and management of such enterprise, and the shareholding percentage of the foreign investors in such enterprise shall be subject to the relevant administrative provisions of the PRC domestic securities investment by foreign investors. Such negative list does not further elaborate whether existing overseas listed enterprise will be subject to such requirements. The staff of the National Development and Reform Commission, or the NDRC, addressed in an interview on December 27, 2021 that certain existing overseas listed enterprises whose foreign investors’ shareholding percentage exceed the aforementioned threshold are not required to make adjustment or deduction. It is unclear, however, whether the aforesaid provisions in the most recently updated negative list will apply to the companies that conduct their business operations in the PRC through contractual arrangements. It also

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remains uncertain whether our corporate structure will be seen as violating current foreign investment rules as we leverage contractual arrangements to operate certain businesses in which foreign investors are prohibited from or restricted in investing. Furthermore, if future legislations prescribed by the State Council mandate further actions to be taken by companies with respect to existing contractual arrangements, we may face substantial uncertainties as to whether we can complete such actions in a timely manner, or at all. If we fail to take appropriate and timely measures to comply with any of these or similar regulatory compliance requirements, our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business operations could be materially and adversely affected.

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

We have relied and expect to continue to rely on contractual arrangements with the VIEs and their respective shareholders, as well as certain of the VIEs’ subsidiaries to operate our business in China. These contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over the VIEs. For example, the VIEs and their respective shareholders could breach their contractual arrangements with us by, among other things, failing to conduct their operations in an acceptable manner or taking other actions that are detrimental to our interests. The revenues contributed by the VIEs and their subsidiaries constituted substantially all of our revenues in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

If we had direct ownership of the VIEs, we would be able to exercise our rights as a shareholder to effect changes in the board of directors of the VIEs, which in turn could implement changes, subject to any applicable fiduciary obligations, at the management and operational level. However, under the current contractual arrangements, we rely on the performance by the VIEs and their respective shareholders of their respective obligations under the contracts to exercise control over the VIEs. The shareholders of the VIEs may not act in the best interests of our company or may not perform their obligations under these contracts. Such risks exist throughout the period in which we intend to operate certain portion of our business through the contractual arrangements with the VIEs and their respective shareholders. If any dispute relating to these contracts remains unresolved, we will have to enforce our rights under these contracts through the operations of PRC law and arbitration, litigation or other legal proceedings and therefore will be subject to uncertainties in the PRC legal system. See “—Any failure by the VIEs or their shareholders to perform their obligations under our contractual arrangements with them would have a material adverse effect on our business.” Therefore, our contractual arrangements with the VIEs and their respective shareholders may not be as effective in controlling our business operations as direct ownership.

All the agreements under our contractual arrangements are governed by PRC law and provide for the resolution of disputes through arbitration in China. Accordingly, these contracts would be interpreted in accordance with PRC law, and any disputes would be resolved in accordance with PRC legal procedures.

All the agreements under our contractual arrangements are governed by PRC law and provide for the resolution of disputes through arbitration in China. Accordingly, these contracts would be interpreted in accordance with PRC law and any disputes would be resolved in accordance with PRC legal procedures. The legal system in the PRC is not as developed as in some other jurisdictions, such as the United States. As a result, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. Meanwhile, there are very few precedents and little formal guidance as to how contractual arrangements in the context of a VIE should be interpreted or enforced under PRC law. There remain significant uncertainties regarding the ultimate outcome of such arbitration should legal action become necessary. In addition, under PRC law, rulings by arbitrators are final, parties cannot appeal the arbitration results in courts, and if the losing parties fail to carry out the arbitration awards within a prescribed time limit, the prevailing parties may only enforce the arbitration awards in PRC courts through arbitration award recognition proceedings, which would require additional expenses and delay. In the event we are unable to enforce these contractual arrangements, or if we suffer significant delay or other obstacles in the process of enforcing these contractual arrangements, we may not be able to exert effective control over the VIEs, and our ability to conduct our business may be negatively

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affected. See “—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system, including those regarding the enforcement of laws, and sudden or unexpected changes in policies, laws and regulations in China, could materially and adversely affect us.”

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

Under applicable PRC laws and regulations, arrangements and transactions among related parties may be subject to audit or challenge by the PRC tax authorities within ten years after the taxable year when the transactions are conducted. We could face material and adverse tax consequences if the PRC tax authorities determine that the contractual arrangements between us and the VIEs were not entered into on an arm’s-length basis in such a way as to result in an impermissible reduction in taxes under applicable PRC laws, rules and regulations, and adjust the income of the VIEs in the form of a transfer pricing adjustment. A transfer pricing adjustment could, among other things, result in a reduction of expense deductions recorded by the VIEs for PRC tax purposes, which could in turn increase its tax liabilities without reducing our PRC subsidiary’s tax expenses. In addition, the PRC tax authorities may impose late payment fees and other penalties on the VIEs for the adjusted but unpaid taxes according to the applicable regulations. Our financial position could be materially and adversely affected if the VIEs’ tax liabilities increase or if it is required to pay late payment fees and other penalties.

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

The shareholders of the VIEs may have actual or potential conflicts of interest with us. These shareholders may breach, or cause the VIEs to breach, or refuse to renew, the existing contractual arrangements we have with them and the VIEs, which would have a material and adverse effect on our ability to effectively control the VIEs and receive economic benefits from them. For example, the shareholders may be able to cause our agreements with the VIEs to be performed in a manner adverse to us by, among other things, failing to remit payments due under the contractual arrangements to us on a timely basis. We cannot assure you that when conflicts of interest arise any or all of these shareholders will act in the best interests of our company or such conflicts will be resolved in our favor. Currently, we do not have any arrangements to address potential conflicts of interest between these shareholders and our company. If we cannot resolve any conflict of interest or dispute between us and these shareholders, we would have to rely on legal proceedings, which could result in disruption of our business and subject us to substantial uncertainty as to the outcome of any such legal proceedings.

We may lose the ability to use, or otherwise benefit from, the licenses, permits and assets held by the VIEs.

As part of our contractual arrangements with the VIEs, the VIEs hold certain assets, licenses and permits that are material to our business operations, including the ICP License, the Audio and Video Service Permission and the Online Culture Operating Permit. The contractual arrangements contain terms that specifically obligate the VIEs’ shareholders to ensure the valid existence of the VIEs and restrict the disposal of material assets of the VIEs. However, in the event the VIEs’ shareholders breach the terms of these contractual arrangements and voluntarily liquidate any of the VIEs, or any of the VIEs declares bankruptcy and all or part of its assets become subject to liens or rights of third-party creditors, or are otherwise disposed of or encumbered without our consent, we may be unable to conduct some or all of our business operations or otherwise benefit from the assets held by the VIEs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, under the contractual arrangements, the VIEs may not, in any manner, sell, transfer, mortgage or dispose of their material assets or legal or beneficial interests in the business without our prior consent. If any of the VIEs undergoes a voluntary or involuntary liquidation proceeding, its shareholders or unrelated third-party creditors may claim rights to some or all of the assets of the VIEs, thereby hindering our ability to operate our business as well as constrain our growth.

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Risks Related to Doing Business in China

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

The global macro-economic environment is facing challenges. There is considerable uncertainty over the 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, and their near- or long-term impacts of the Chinese and global economies. There have been concerns over unrest and terrorist threats in the Middle East, Europe and Africa and over the conflicts involving Ukraine, Syria and North Korea. Recently, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has caused, and continues to intensify, significant geopolitical tensions in Europe and across the world. The subsequent economic and trade sanctions imposed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union countries, the United States and certain other countries against Russia and Belarus are expected to have significant impact on the economic conditions of the targeted countries and markets. 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, and the trade disputes between the United States and China. Additionally, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be negatively influenced to the extent that COVID-19 continues to affect the Chinese economy, and continues to remain as a worldwide health crisis that results in a global economic downturn. See “—We face risks related to accidents, disasters and public health challenges in China and globally.” It is unclear whether these challenges and uncertainties will be contained or resolved, and what effects they may have on the global political and economic conditions in the long term.

Economic conditions in China are sensitive to global economic conditions, changes in domestic economic and political policies and the expected or perceived overall economic growth rate in China. While the economy in China has grown significantly over the past decades, growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy, and the rate of growth has been slowing in recent years. Although the growth of China’s economy remained relatively stable, there is a possibility that China’s economic growth may materially decline in the near future. Any severe or prolonged slowdown in the global or PRC economy may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system, including those regarding the enforcement of laws, and sudden or unexpected changes in policies, laws and regulations in China, could materially and adversely affect us.

The PRC legal system is a civil law system based on written statutes. Unlike the common law system, prior court decisions under the civil law system may be cited for reference but have limited precedential value.

In 1979, the PRC government began to promulgate a comprehensive system of laws and regulations governing economic matters in general. The overall effect of legislation over the past three decades has significantly enhanced the protections afforded to various forms of foreign investments in China. However, China has not developed a fully integrated legal system, and recently enacted laws and regulations may not sufficiently cover all aspects of economic activities in China. In particular, the PRC legal system is based on written statutes and prior court decisions have limited value as precedents. Our PRC subsidiaries, the VIEs and their subsidiaries are subject to laws and regulations applicable to foreign-invested enterprises as well as various Chinese laws and regulations generally applicable to companies incorporated in China. Since these laws and regulations are relatively new and the PRC legal system continues to rapidly evolve, the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules may not be uniform and enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules involves uncertainties. These uncertainties may affect our judgment on the relevance of legal requirements and our ability to enforce our contractual rights or tort claims. In addition, the regulatory uncertainties may be exploited through unmerited or frivolous legal actions or threats in attempts to extract payments or benefits from us. Furthermore, the PRC legal system is based in part on government policies and internal rules, some of which are not published on a timely basis or at all and may have a retroactive effect. As a result, we may not be aware of our violation of

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any of these policies and rules until sometime after the violation. In addition, any administrative and court proceedings in China may be protracted, resulting in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention.

The PRC government has significant oversight and discretion over the conduct of our business and may intervene with or influence our operations as the government deems appropriate to further regulatory, political and societal goals. The PRC government has recently published new policies that affected our industry and our business, and we cannot rule out the possibility that it will in the future further release regulations or policies regarding our industry that could further adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, the PRC government has also recently published new regulations and guidance to exert more oversight and control over securities offerings and other capital markets activities that are conducted overseas and foreign investment in China-based companies like us. Any such action, once taken by the PRC government, could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or in extreme cases, become worthless. We cannot assure you that we will be able to comply with these new laws and regulations in all respects, and we may be ordered to rectify, suspend or terminate any actions or services that are deemed illegal by the regulatory authorities and become subject to material penalties, which may materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

In addition, PRC laws and regulations relating to the provision of online music and audio content are developing and evolving. Although we have taken measures to comply with the laws and regulations that are applicable to our business operations and avoid conducting any non-compliant activities under the applicable laws and regulations, the PRC governmental authorities may promulgate new laws and regulations regulating the provision of online music and audio content in the future. We cannot assure you that our practice would not be deemed to violate any new PRC laws or regulations relating to provision of online music and audio content. Moreover, developments in the market for online music and audio content may lead to changes in PRC laws, regulations and policies or in the interpretation and application of existing laws, regulations and policies that may limit or restrict online music and audio entertainment platforms like us, which could materially and adversely affect our business and operations.

The custodians or authorized users of our controlling non-tangible assets, including chops and seals, may fail to fulfill their responsibilities, or misappropriate or misuse these assets.

Under PRC law, legal documents for corporate transactions, including agreements and contracts are executed using the chop or seal of the signing entity or with the signature of a legal representative whose designation is registered and filed with relevant PRC market regulation administrative authorities.

In order to secure the use of our chops and seals, we have established internal control procedures and rules for using these chops and seals. In any event that the chops and seals are intended to be used, the responsible personnel will submit the application through our office automation system and the application will be verified and approved by authorized employees in accordance with our internal control procedures and rules. In addition, in order to maintain the physical security of our chops, we generally have them stored in secured locations accessible only to authorized employees. Although we monitor such authorized employees, the procedures may not be sufficient to prevent all instances of abuse or negligence. There is a risk that our employees could abuse their authority, for example, by entering into a contract not approved by us or seeking to gain control of one of our subsidiaries or consolidated VIEs. If any employee obtains, misuses or misappropriates our chops and seals or other controlling non-tangible assets for whatever reason, we could experience disruption to our normal business operations. We may have to take corporate or legal action, which could involve significant time and resources to resolve and divert management from our operations.

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Our operations depend on the performance of the internet infrastructure and telecommunications networks in China, which are in large part operated and maintained by state-owned operators.

The successful operation of our business depends on the performance of the internet infrastructure and telecommunications networks in China. Almost all access to the internet is maintained through state-owned telecommunications operators under the administrative control and regulatory supervision of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. We have limited access to alternative networks or services in the event of disruptions, failures or other problems with China’s internet infrastructure or the telecommunications networks provided by telecommunications service providers. Internet traffic in China has experienced significant growth during the past few years. Effective bandwidth and server storage at internet data centers in large cities such as Beijing are scarce. Our platform regularly serves a large number of users. With the expansion of our business, we may be required to upgrade our technology and infrastructure to keep up with the increasing traffic on our platform. We cannot assure you that the internet infrastructure and telecommunications networks in China will be able to support the demands associated with the continued growth in internet usage. If we were unable to increase our online content and service delivering capacity accordingly, we may not be able to continuously grow our internet traffic and the adoption of our products and services may be hindered, which could adversely impact our business and our share price.

In addition, we generally have no control over the costs of the services provided by telecommunications service providers. If the prices we pay for telecommunications and internet services rise significantly, our results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. If internet access fees or other charges to internet users increase, our user traffic may decline and our business may be harmed.

Changes in China’s economic, political and social conditions as well as government policies could have a material adverse effect on our business and prospect.

Substantially all of our operations are located in China. Accordingly, our business, prospect, financial condition and results of operations may be influenced to a significant degree by political, economic and social conditions in China generally, and by continued economic growth in China as a whole. The Chinese economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including the amount of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources. Although the Chinese government has implemented measures emphasizing the utilization of market forces for economic reform, the reduction of state ownership of productive assets and the establishment of improved corporate governance in business enterprises, a substantial portion of productive assets in China is still owned by the government. In addition, the Chinese government continues to play a significant role in regulating industry development by imposing industrial policies. The Chinese government also exercises significant control over China’s economic growth through allocating resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies.

While the Chinese economy has experienced significant growth over the past decades, growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. Any adverse changes in economic conditions in China, in the policies of the Chinese government or in the laws and regulations in China could have a material adverse effect on the overall economic growth of China. Such developments could adversely affect our business and operating results, lead to a reduction in demand for our services and adversely affect our competitive position. The Chinese government has implemented various measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures may benefit the overall Chinese economy, but may have a negative effect on us. For example, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations. In addition, in the past the Chinese government has implemented certain measures, including interest rate adjustment, to control the pace of economic growth. These measures may cause decreased economic activity in China. Any prolonged slowdown in the Chinese economy may reduce the demand for our services and materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.

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We face risks related to accidents, disasters and public health challenges in China and globally.

Accidents, disasters and public health challenges in China and globally could impact our business and results of operations. These types of events could negatively impact user activity and our local operations, if any, in the affected regions, or, depending upon the severity, across China or globally, which could adversely impact our business and results of operations. For example, the outbreak of coronavirus, or COVID-19, had caused us to take specific precautionary measures intended to minimize the risks of COVID-19 to our employees, users, artists and business partners, including temporarily requiring our employees to work remotely and canceling or postponing sponsored offline events and activities, thus compromising our efficiency and productivity during such periods, and requiring us to incur additional costs, slow down our branding and marketing efforts, and resulting in short-term fluctuations in our results of operations. While the foregoing restrictions and measures have been eased and our business operations have been recovered, our results of operations may be adversely affected to the extent that COVID-19 continues to affect the Chinese economy in general. Additionally, as COVID-19 has evolved into a worldwide health crisis that has adversely affected the economies and financial markets of countries other than China, it may potentially result in an economic downturn that could affect demand for our users, business partners and services and therefore materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Regulation and censorship of information disseminated over the internet in China may adversely affect our business and reputation and subject us to liability for information displayed on our website.

The PRC government has adopted 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 reactionary, obscene, superstitious, fraudulent or defamatory. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in the revocation of licenses to provide internet content and other licenses, and the closure of the concerned websites. The website operator may also be held liable for such censored information displayed on or linked to the websites. If our website is found to be in violation of any such requirements, we may be penalized by relevant authorities, and our operations or reputation could be adversely affected.

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

We are a Cayman Islands holding company and, other than external financing, we rely principally on dividends and other distributions on equity from our PRC subsidiaries for our cash requirements, including the funds necessary to pay dividends and other cash distributions to our shareholders and for services of any debt we may incur. Our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to distribute dividends is based upon their distributable earnings. Current PRC regulations permit our PRC subsidiaries to pay dividends to their respective shareholders only out of their accumulated profits, if any, determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. In addition, each of our PRC subsidiaries, the VIEs and their subsidiaries are required to set aside at least 10% of their after-tax profits each year, if any, to fund a statutory reserve until such reserve reaches 50% of their registered capital. These reserves are not distributable as cash dividends. If our PRC subsidiaries incur debt on their own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other payments to us. Any limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to distribute dividends or other payments to their respective shareholders could materially and adversely limit our ability to grow, make investments or acquisitions that could be beneficial to our businesses, pay dividends or otherwise fund and conduct our business.

In addition, the Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementation rules provide that a withholding tax rate of up to 10% will be applicable to dividends payable by Chinese companies to non-PRC resident enterprises

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unless otherwise exempted or reduced according to treaties or arrangements between the PRC central government and governments of other countries or regions where the non-PRC resident enterprises are incorporated.

In response to the persistent capital outflow and the RMB’s depreciation against the U.S. dollar in the fourth quarter of 2016, the People’s Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, have implemented a series of capital control measures in the subsequent months, including stricter vetting procedures for China-based companies to remit foreign currency for overseas acquisitions, dividend payments and shareholder loan repayments. For instance, the People’s Bank of China issued the Circular on Further Clarification of Relevant Matters Relating to Offshore RMB Loans Provided by Domestic Enterprises, or PBOC Circular 306, on November 26, 2016, which provides that offshore RMB loans provided by a domestic enterprise to offshore enterprises with which it has an equity relationship shall not exceed 30% of the domestic enterprise’s most recent audited owner’s equity. PBOC Circular 306 may constrain our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to provide offshore loans to us. The PRC government may continue to strengthen its capital controls and our PRC subsidiaries’ dividends and other distributions may be subjected to tighter scrutiny in the future. Any limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to pay dividends or make other distributions to us could materially and adversely limit our ability to grow, make investments or acquisitions that could be beneficial to our business, pay dividends, or otherwise fund and conduct our business.

Under the Enterprise Income Tax Law of the PRC and related regulations, dividends, interests, rent or royalties payable by a foreign-invested enterprise, such as our PRC subsidiaries, to any of its foreign non-resident enterprise investors, and proceeds from any such foreign enterprise investor’s disposition of assets (after deducting the net value of such assets) are subject to a 10% withholding tax, unless the foreign enterprise investor’s jurisdiction of incorporation has a tax treaty with China that provides for a reduced rate of withholding tax.

PRC regulation of loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies and governmental control of currency conversion may delay or prevent us from using the proceeds of our financing activities to make loans to or make additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.

Any transfer of funds by us to our PRC subsidiaries, either as a shareholder loan or as an increase in registered capital, are subject to PRC regulations. Capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries are subject to the approval of or filing with the MOFCOM in its local branches and registration with a local bank authorized by SAFE. Any foreign loan procured by our PRC subsidiaries is required to be registered or filed with SAFE or its local branches or satisfy relevant requirements as provided in SAFE Circular 28. Any medium or long-term loan to be provided by us to the VIEs must be registered with the National Development and Reform Commission and SAFE or its local branches. We may not be able to obtain these government approvals or complete such registrations on a timely basis, if at all, with respect to future capital contributions or foreign loans by us to our PRC subsidiaries. If we fail to receive such approvals or complete such registration or filing, our ability to use the proceeds of our financing activities and to capitalize our PRC operations may be negatively affected, which could adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business. There is, in effect, no statutory limit on the amount of capital contribution that we can make to our PRC subsidiaries, provided that the PRC subsidiaries complete the relevant filing and registration procedures. With respect to loans to the PRC subsidiaries by us, (i) if the relevant PRC subsidiaries adopt the traditional foreign exchange administration mechanism, or the Current Foreign Debt Mechanism, the outstanding amount of the loans shall not exceed the difference between the total investment and the registered capital of the PRC subsidiaries; and (ii) if the relevant PRC subsidiaries adopt the Notice No. 9 Foreign Debt Mechanism, the outstanding amount of the loans shall not exceed 200% of the net asset of the relevant PRC subsidiary.

In addition, on October 23, 2019, SAFE promulgated the Circular on Further Promoting the Facilitation of Cross-Border Trade and Investment, or SAFE Circular 28, pursuant to which, our PRC subsidiaries established in

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the pilot regions, which refers to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Hainan province, are not required to register each of their foreign debts with SAFE or its local branches but to complete foreign debts registration with SAFE or its local branches in the amount of 200% of the net asset of the relevant PRC subsidiary. Upon such registrations, our relevant PRC subsidiaries will be allowed to procure foreign loans within the registered amount and complete the formalities for inward and outward remittance of funds, purchase and settlement of foreign currency directly with a bank, and are required to make declaration of international balance of payments pursuant to applicable regulations. However, since it is relatively new, uncertainties still exist in relation to its interpretation and implementation.

According to the PBOC Notice No. 9, after a transition period of one year since the promulgation of PBOC Notice No. 9, the People’s Bank of China and SAFE will determine the cross-border financing administration mechanism for the foreign-invested enterprises after evaluating the overall implementation of PBOC Notice No. 9. As of the date of this annual report, neither the People’s Bank of China nor SAFE has promulgated and made public any further rules, regulations, notices or circulars in this regard. It is uncertain which mechanism will be adopted by the People’s Bank of China and SAFE in the future and what statutory limits will be imposed on us when providing loans to our PRC subsidiaries. Currently, our PRC subsidiaries have the flexibility to choose between the Current Foreign Debt Mechanism and the Notice No. 9 Foreign Debt Mechanism. However, if a more stringent foreign debt mechanism becomes mandatory, our ability to provide loans to our PRC subsidiaries or the VIEs may be significantly limited, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Despite neither the Foreign Investment Law nor its Implementing Regulation prescribes whether the certain concept “total investment amount” with respect to foreign-invested enterprises will still be applicable, no PRC laws and regulations have been officially promulgated to abolish the Current Foreign Debt Mechanism.

The Circular on Reforming the Administration of Foreign Exchange Settlement of Capital of Foreign- Invested Enterprises, or SAFE Circular 19, effective as of June 1, 2015, as amended by Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Reforming and Regulating Policies on the Control over Foreign Exchange Settlement under the Capital Account, or SAFE Circular 16, effective on June 9, 2016, allows FIEs to settle their foreign exchange capital at their discretion, but continues to prohibit FIEs from using the Renminbi fund converted from their foreign exchange capitals for expenditure beyond their business scopes, and also prohibit FIEs from using such Renminbi fund to provide loans to persons other than affiliates unless otherwise permitted under its business scope. As a result, we are required to apply Renminbi funds converted from the net proceeds we received from our financing activities within the business scopes of our PRC subsidiaries. SAFE Circular 19 and SAFE Circular 16 may significantly limit our ability to use Renminbi converted from the net proceeds of our financing activities to fund the establishment of new entities in China by the VIEs or their respective subsidiaries, to invest in or acquire any other PRC companies through our PRC subsidiaries, or to establish new consolidated VIEs in China, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Even though SAFE Circular 28 allows all FIEs (including those without an investment business scope) to utilize and convert their foreign exchange capital for making equity investment in China if certain requirements prescribed therein are satisfied, since it is relatively new, uncertainties still exist in relation to its interpretation and implementation.

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

The value of the Renminbi against the U.S. dollar and other currencies may fluctuate and is affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions in China and by China’s foreign exchange policies. On July 21, 2005, the PRC government changed its decade-old policy of pegging the value of the Renminbi to the U.S. dollar, and the Renminbi appreciated more than 20% against the U.S. dollar over the following three years. Between July 2008 and June 2010, this appreciation halted and the exchange rate between the Renminbi and the U.S. dollar remained within a narrow band. Since June 2010, the Renminbi has fluctuated against the U.S. dollar, at times significantly and unpredictably. On November 30, 2015, the Executive Board of

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the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the regular five-year review of the basket of currencies that make up the Special Drawing Right, or the SDR, and decided that with effect from October 1, 2016, Renminbi is determined to be a freely usable currency and will be included in the SDR basket as a fifth currency, along with the U.S. dollar, the Euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound. In the fourth quarter of 2016, the Renminbi has depreciated significantly in the backdrop of a surging U.S. dollar and persistent capital outflows of China. With the development of the foreign exchange market and progress towards interest rate liberalization and Renminbi internationalization, the PRC government may in the future announce further changes to the exchange rate system and we cannot assure you that the Renminbi will not appreciate or depreciate significantly in value against the U.S. dollar in the future. It is difficult to predict how market forces or PRC or U.S. government policy may impact the exchange rate between the Renminbi and the U.S. dollar in the future.

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

Very limited hedging options are available in China to reduce our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations. To date, we have not entered into any hedging transactions in an effort to reduce our exposure to foreign currency exchange risk. While we may decide to enter into hedging transactions in the future, the availability and effectiveness of these hedges may be limited and we may not be able to adequately hedge our exposure or at all. In addition, our currency exchange losses may be magnified by PRC exchange control regulations that restrict our ability to convert Renminbi into foreign currency.

Foreign exchange controls may limit our ability to utilize our revenues effectively and affect the value of your investment.

The PRC government imposes foreign exchange controls on the convertibility of the Renminbi, in certain cases, the remittance of currency out of China. We receive substantially all of our revenues in Renminbi. Under our current corporate structure, our Cayman Islands holding company primarily relies on dividend payments from our PRC subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have. Under existing PRC foreign exchange regulations, payments of current account items, including profit distributions, interest payments and trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions, can be made in foreign currencies without prior approval of SAFE by complying with certain procedural requirements. Specifically, under the existing exchange restrictions, without prior approval of SAFE, cash generated from the operations of our PRC subsidiaries in China may be used to pay dividends to our company. However, approval from or registration with appropriate government authorities is required where Renminbi is to be converted into foreign currency and remitted out of China to pay capital expenses such as the repayment of loans denominated in foreign currencies. As a result, we need to obtain SAFE approval or registration to use cash generated from the operations of our PRC subsidiaries and VIE to pay off their respective debt in a currency other than Renminbi owed to entities outside China, or to make other capital expenditure payments outside China in a currency other than Renminbi. The PRC government may at its discretion restrict access to foreign currencies for current account transactions in the future. If the foreign exchange control system prevents us from obtaining sufficient foreign currencies to satisfy our foreign currency demands, we may not be able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to our shareholders and holders of the ADSs.

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The M&A Rules and certain other PRC regulations establish complex procedures for some acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors, which could make it more difficult for us to pursue growth through acquisitions in China.

The Rules on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors, or the M&A Rules, adopted by six PRC regulatory agencies in 2006 and amended in 2009, and some other regulations and rules concerning mergers and acquisitions established additional procedures and requirements that could make merger and acquisition activities by foreign investors more time-consuming and complex, including requirements in some instances that the anti-monopoly law enforcement agency be notified in advance of any change-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of a PRC domestic enterprise.

The Anti-Monopoly Law of the PRC requires that the anti-monopoly law enforcement agency be notified in advance of any transaction where the parties’ turnover in the China market and/or global market exceed certain thresholds and the buyer would obtain control of, or decisive influence over, the target as a result of the business combination. As further clarified by the Provisions of the State Council on the Threshold of Filings for Undertaking Concentrations issued by the State Council in 2008 and amended in September 2018, such thresholds include: (i) the total global turnover of all operators participating in the transaction exceeds RMB10 billion in the preceding fiscal year and at least two of these operators each had a turnover of more than RMB400 million within China in the preceding fiscal year, or (ii) the total turnover within China of all the operators participating in the transaction exceeded RMB2 billion in the preceding fiscal year, and at least two of these operators each had a turnover of more than RMB400 million within China in the preceding fiscal year. There are numerous factors the anti-monopoly law enforcement agency considers in determining “control” or “decisive influence,” and, depending on certain criteria, the anti-monopoly law enforcement agency may conduct anti-monopoly review of transactions in respect of which it was notified. On October 23, 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress issued a new Draft Amendment to the Anti-Monopoly Law (Revised Draft for Comment), or the Revised Draft Amendment, to seek public comments, which stipulates that where a concentration of undertakings does not meet the threshold for declaration set by the State Council, but there is evidence that the concentration of undertakings has or may have the effect of excluding or limiting competition, the law enforcement agencies shall conduct an investigation pursuant to the law.

In particular, the PRC anti-monopoly enforcement agencies have in recent years strengthened enforcement under the PRC Anti-monopoly Law. In March 2018, the SAMR was formed as a new governmental agency to take over, among other things, the anti-monopoly enforcement functions from the relevant departments under the MOFCOM, the National Development and Reform Commission, or the NDRC and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, or the SAIC, respectively. Since its inception, the SAMR has continued to strengthen anti-monopoly enforcement. On December 28, 2018, the SAMR issued the Notice on Anti-monopoly Enforcement Authorization which grants authorities to its province-level branches to conduct anti-monopoly enforcement within their respective jurisdictions. On September 11, 2020, the SAMR issued the Anti-monopoly Compliance Guideline for Operators, which requires, under the PRC Anti-monopoly Law, operators to establish anti-monopoly compliance management systems to prevent anti-monopoly compliance risks. In February 2021, the SAMR promulgated the Guidelines to Anti-Monopoly in the Field of Internet Platforms, or the Anti-Monopoly Guidelines for Internet Platforms, aiming to improve anti-monopoly administration on online platforms. The Anti-Monopoly Guidelines for Internet Platforms will operate as a compliance guidance under the existing PRC anti-monopoly laws and regulations for platform economy operators. However, considering the substantial uncertainty over the interpretation and implementation of the Anti-Monopoly Guidelines for Internet Platforms, we may face challenges in addressing its requirements and making necessary changes to our policies and practices, and may incur significant costs and expenses in an effort to do so. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with the Anti-Monopoly Guidelines for Internet Platforms and other anti-monopoly laws and regulations may result in governmental investigations or enforcement actions, litigation or claims against us and could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. On December 18, 2021, the National Anti-monopoly Bureau was officially established to formulate anti-monopoly institutional measures and guidelines, implement anti-monopoly law enforcement, undertake the guidance for enterprises’ anti-monopoly action responding abroad and so on.

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In July 2021, the SAMR issued an Administrative Penalty Decision to Tencent regarding its acquisition of CMC in 2016. Pursuant to the decision, we shall implement a rectification plan to, among other things, terminate exclusive music copyright licensing arrangements within 30 days from the date of the decision. We shall also discontinue any arrangement where we offer high advance licensing payment to and seek preferential licensing terms from copyright owners without reasonable grounds. Tencent and we have terminated all existing exclusive music copyright licensing arrangements with the relevant upstream copyright holders subject to certain limited exceptions specified in the decision as of the date of this annual report, and we will pursue nonexclusive collaborations with upstream copyright holders. In light of the uncertainties relating to the interpretation, implementation and enforcement of the Anti-Monopoly Law of the PRC, we cannot assure you that the anti-monopoly law enforcement agency will not deem any other past and future acquisitions or investments involving us to have triggered filing requirement for anti-trust review. If we are found to have violated the Anti-Monopoly Law of the PRC for failing to file the notification of concentration and request for review or otherwise, we or our parent could be subject to a fine of up to RMB500,000, and the parts of the transaction causing the prohibited concentration could be ordered to be unwound, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. And if the Revised Draft Amendment was enacted as published, the State Council anti-monopoly enforcement agency may order the operators to stop the implementation of the concentration, to dispose of shares, assets, and the business within a period of time, or take other necessary measures to restore the state before the concentration, and impose on it a fine of not more than ten percent of its last year’s sales revenue, if the concentration of undertakings has or may have an effect of excluding or limiting competition; if the concentration does not have the effect of excluding or limiting competition, a fine up to RMB 5,000,000 may be imposed on operators..

In addition, the Circular of the General Office of the State Council on the Establishment of Security Review System for the Merger and Acquisition of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors that became effective in March 2011, and the Rules on Implementation of Security Review System for the Merger and Acquisition of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors issued by the MOFCOM that became effective in September 2011 specify that mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors that raise “national defense and security” concerns and mergers and acquisitions through which foreign investors may acquire de facto control over domestic enterprises that raise “national security” concerns are subject to strict review by the MOFCOM, and the rules prohibit any activities attempting to bypass a security review, including by structuring the transaction through a proxy or contractual control arrangement. In the future, we may grow our business by acquiring complementary businesses. Complying with the requirements of the above-mentioned regulations and other relevant rules to complete such transactions could be time-consuming, and any required approval processes, including obtaining approval from the SAMR, the MOFCOM or its local counterparts may delay or inhibit our ability to complete such transactions, which could affect our ability to expand our business or maintain our market share.

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

SAFE promulgated the Circular on Issues Concerning the Foreign Exchange Administration over the Overseas Investment and Financing and Round-trip Investment by Domestic Residents via Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 37, in July 2014. SAFE Circular 37 requires PRC residents or entities to register with SAFE or its local branches in connection with their establishment or control of an offshore entity established for the purpose of overseas investment or financing with such PRC residents or entities’ legally owned assets or equity interests in domestic enterprises or offshore assets or interests. In addition, such PRC residents or entities must update their SAFE registrations when the offshore special purpose vehicle undergoes material events relating to any change of basic information (including change of such PRC citizens or residents, name and operation term), increases or decreases in investment amount, transfers or exchanges of shares, or mergers or divisions. According to the Circular of Further Simplifying and Improving the Policies of Foreign Exchange Administration Applicable to Direct Investment released in February 2015 by SAFE, local banks will examine

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and handle foreign exchange registration for overseas direct investment, including the initial foreign exchange registration and amendment registration, under SAFE Circular 37 from June 2015. See “—Regulations—Regulations on Foreign Exchange Registration of Offshore Investment by PRC Residents.”

If our shareholders who are PRC residents or entities do not complete their registration with the local SAFE branches, our PRC subsidiaries may be prohibited from distributing their profits and proceeds from any reduction in capital, share transfer or liquidation to us, and we may be restricted in our ability to contribute additional capital to our PRC subsidiaries. Moreover, failure to comply with SAFE registration requirements described above could result in liability under PRC laws for evasion of applicable foreign exchange restrictions.

We have notified all PRC residents or entities who directly or indirectly hold shares in our Cayman Islands holding company and who are known to us as being PRC residents to complete the foreign exchange registrations. However, we may not be informed of the identities of all the PRC residents or entities holding direct or indirect interest in our company, nor can we compel our beneficial owners to comply with SAFE registration requirements. As a result, we cannot assure you that all of our shareholders or beneficial owners who are PRC residents or entities have complied with, and will in the future make, obtain or update any applicable registrations or approvals required by SAFE regulations. Failure by such shareholders or beneficial owners to comply with SAFE regulations, or failure by us to amend the foreign exchange registrations of our PRC subsidiaries, could subject us to fines or legal sanctions, restrict our overseas or cross-border investment activities, limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to make distributions or pay dividends to us or affect our ownership structure, which could adversely affect our business and prospects.

Furthermore, as these foreign exchange regulations are still relatively new and their interpretation and implementation have been constantly evolving, it is unclear how these regulations, and any future regulation concerning offshore or cross-border transactions, will be interpreted, amended and implemented by the relevant government authorities. For example, we may be subject to a more stringent review and approval process with respect to our foreign exchange activities, such as remittance of dividends and foreign currency denominated borrowings, which may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if we decide to acquire a PRC domestic company, we cannot assure you that we or the owners of such company, as the case may be, will be able to obtain the necessary approvals or complete the necessary filings and registrations required by the foreign exchange regulations. This may restrict our ability to implement our acquisition strategy and could adversely affect our business and prospects.

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

Pursuant to SAFE Circular 37, PRC residents who participate in share incentive plans in overseas non-publicly-listed companies may submit applications to SAFE or its local branches for the foreign exchange registration with respect to offshore special purpose companies. In the meantime, our directors, executive officers and other employees who are PRC citizens or who are non-PRC residents residing in the PRC for a continuous period of not less than one year, subject to limited exceptions, and who have been granted share-based awards by us, may follow the Circular of SAFE on Issues Concerning the Administration of Foreign Exchange Used for Domestic Individuals’ Participation in Equity Incentive Plan of Overseas Listed Companies, promulgated by SAFE in 2012. Pursuant to the circular, PRC citizens and non-PRC citizens who reside in China for a continuous period of not less than one year who participate in any stock incentive plan of an overseas publicly listed company, subject to a few exceptions, are required to register with SAFE through a domestic qualified agent, which could be the PRC subsidiaries of such overseas listed company, and complete certain other procedures. In addition, an overseas entrusted institution must be retained to handle matters in connection with the exercise or sale of stock options and the purchase or sale of shares and interests. We, our directors, our executive officers and other employees who are PRC citizens or who reside in the PRC for a continuous period of not less than one year and who have been granted share-based awards are subject to these regulations. Failure to complete SAFE

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registration requirements may subject them to fines, and legal sanctions and may also limit our ability to contribute additional capital into our PRC subsidiaries and limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to distribute dividends to us. We also face regulatory uncertainties that could restrict our ability to adopt additional incentive plans for our directors, executive officers and employees under PRC law. See “—Regulations on Foreign Exchange Registration of Offshore Investment by PRC Residents—Employee Stock Incentive Plan.”

The State Administration of Taxation has issued certain circulars concerning employee share options and restricted shares. Under these circulars, our employees working in China who exercise share options or are granted restricted shares will be subject to PRC individual income tax. Our PRC subsidiaries have obligations to file documents related to employee share options or restricted shares with relevant tax authorities and to withhold individual income taxes of those employees who exercise their share options. If our employees fail to pay or we fail to withhold their income taxes according to relevant laws and regulations, we may face sanctions imposed by the tax authorities or other PRC governmental authorities. See “—Regulations on Foreign Exchange Registration of Offshore Investment by PRC Residents—Employee Stock Incentive Plan.”

Our business may be negatively affected by the potential obligations to make additional social insurance and housing fund contributions.

We are required by PRC laws and regulations to pay various statutory employee benefits, including pensions, housing fund, medical insurance, work-related injury insurance, unemployment insurance and maternity insurance to designated government agencies for the benefit of our employees. The relevant government agencies may examine whether an employer has made adequate payments of the requisite statutory employee benefits, and employers who fail to make adequate payments may be subject to late payment fees, fines and/or other penalties. Certain of our PRC subsidiaries have historically failed to promptly make social insurance and housing fund contributions in full for their employees. In addition, certain of our PRC subsidiaries engage third-party human resources agencies to make social insurance and housing fund contributions for some of their employees, and there is no assurance that such third-party agencies will make such contributions in full in a timely manner, or at all. If the relevant PRC authorities determine that we shall make supplemental social insurance and housing fund contributions or that we are subject to fines and legal sanctions in relation to our failure to make social insurance and housing fund contributions in full for our employees, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.

We may be classified as a “PRC resident enterprise” for PRC enterprise income tax purposes, which could result in unfavorable tax consequences to us and our non-PRC shareholders and ADS holders and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and the value of your investment.

Under the Enterprise Income Tax Law of the PRC and its implementation rules, an enterprise established outside of the PRC with a “de facto management body” within the PRC is considered a “resident enterprise” and will be subject to PRC enterprise income tax on its global income at the rate of 25%. The implementation rules define the term “de facto management body” as the body that exercises full and substantial control over and overall management of the business, personnel, accounts and properties of an enterprise. In April 2009, the State Administration of Taxation issued a circular, known as SAT Circular 82, which provides certain specific criteria for determining whether the “de facto management body” of a PRC-controlled enterprise that is incorporated offshore is located in China. Although this circular only applies to offshore enterprises controlled by PRC enterprises or PRC enterprise groups, not those controlled by PRC individuals or foreigners like us, the criteria set forth in the circular may reflect the State Administration of Taxation’s general position on how the “de facto management body” test should be applied in determining the tax resident status of all offshore enterprises. According to SAT Circular 82, an offshore incorporated enterprise controlled by a PRC enterprise or a PRC enterprise group will be regarded as a PRC tax resident by virtue of having its “de facto management body” in China and will be subject to PRC enterprise income tax on its global income only if all of the following conditions are met: (i) the primary location of the day-to-day operational management is in the PRC; (ii) decisions relating to the enterprise’s financial and human resource matters are made or are subject to approval by organizations or personnel in the PRC; (iii) the enterprise’s primary assets, accounting books and records,

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company seals, and board and shareholder resolutions, are located or maintained in the PRC; and (iv) at least 50% of voting board members or senior executives habitually reside in the PRC.

We believe none of our entities outside of China is a PRC resident enterprise for PRC tax purposes. However, the tax resident status of an enterprise is subject to determination by the PRC tax authorities and uncertainties remain with respect to the interpretation of the term “de facto management body.” As a majority of our management members are based in China, it remains unclear how the tax residency rule will apply to our case. If the PRC tax authorities determine that our company or any of our subsidiaries outside of China is a PRC resident enterprise for enterprise income tax purposes, we may be subject to PRC enterprise income on our worldwide income at the rate of 25%, which could materially reduce our net income. In addition, we will also be subject to PRC enterprise income tax reporting obligations. Furthermore, we may be required to withhold a 10% withholding tax from dividends we pay to our shareholders that are non-resident enterprises, including the holders of the ADSs. In addition, non-resident enterprise shareholders (including the ADS holders) may be subject to PRC tax at a rate of 10% on gains realized on the sale or other disposition of ADSs or ordinary shares, if such income is treated as sourced from within the PRC. Furthermore, if we are deemed a PRC resident enterprise, dividends paid to our non-PRC individual shareholders (including the ADS holders) and any gain realized on the transfer of ADSs or ordinary shares by such shareholders may be subject to PRC tax at a rate of 20% (which, in the case of dividends, may be withheld at source by us), if such gains are deemed to be from PRC sources. These rates may be reduced by an applicable tax treaty, but it is unclear whether non-PRC shareholders of our company would be able to claim the benefits of any tax treaties between their country of tax residence and the PRC in the event that we are treated as a PRC resident enterprise. Any such tax may reduce the returns on your investment in the ADSs or ordinary shares.

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

On February 3, 2015, the State Administration of Taxation issued the Circular on Issues of Enterprise Income Tax on Indirect Transfers of Assets by Non-PRC Resident Enterprises, or SAT Circular 7. SAT Circular 7 extends its tax jurisdiction to transactions involving the transfer of taxable assets through offshore transfer of a foreign intermediate holding company. In addition, SAT Circular 7 has introduced safe harbors for internal group restructurings and the purchase and sale of equity through a public securities market. SAT Circular 7 also brings challenges to both foreign transferor and transferee (or other person who is obligated to pay for the transfer) of taxable assets.

On October 17, 2017, the State Administration of Taxation issued the Circular on Issues of Withholding of Income Tax of Non-resident Enterprises at Source, or SAT Circular 37, which came into effect on December 1, 2017. SAT Circular 37 further clarifies the practice and procedure of the withholding of non-resident enterprise income tax.

Where a non-resident enterprise transfers taxable assets indirectly by disposing of the equity interests of an overseas holding company, which is known as an indirect transfer, the non-resident enterprise as either transferor or transferee, or the PRC entity that directly owns the taxable assets, may report such indirect transfer to the relevant tax authority. Using a “substance over form” principle, the PRC tax authority may disregard the existence of the overseas holding company if it lacks a reasonable commercial purpose and was established for the purpose of reducing, avoiding or deferring PRC tax. As a result, gains derived from such indirect transfer may be subject to PRC enterprise income tax, and the transferee or other person who is obligated to pay for the transfer is obligated to withhold the applicable taxes, currently at a rate of 10% for the transfer of equity interests in a PRC resident enterprise. Both the transferor and the transferee may be subject to penalties under PRC tax laws if the transferee fails to withhold the taxes and the transferor fails to pay the taxes.

We face uncertainties as to the reporting and other implications of certain past and future transactions where PRC taxable assets are involved, such as offshore restructuring, sale of the shares in our offshore subsidiaries and

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investments. Our company may be subject to filing obligations or taxed if our company is transferor in such transactions, and may be subject to withholding obligations if our company is transferee in such transactions, under SAT Circular 7 or SAT Circular 37. For transfer of shares in our company by investors who are non-PRC resident enterprises, our PRC subsidiaries may be requested to assist in the filing under SAT Circular 7 or SAT Circular 37. As a result, we may be required to expend valuable resources to comply with SAT Circular 7 or SAT Circular 37 or to request the relevant transferors from whom we purchase taxable assets to comply with these circulars, or to establish that our company should not be taxed under these circulars, which may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

The PCAOB is currently unable to inspect our auditor in relation to their audit work performed for our financial statements and the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections over our auditor deprives our investors with the benefits of such inspections.

Our auditor, the independent registered public accounting firm that issues the financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report, as an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or the PCAOB, is subject to laws in the United States pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess its compliance with the applicable professional standards. Since our auditor is located in China, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB has been unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the Chinese authorities, our auditor is not currently inspected by the PCAOB.

This lack of the PCAOB inspections in China prevents the PCAOB from fully evaluating audits and quality control procedures of our independent registered public accounting firm. As a result, we and investors in our ADSs or ordinary shares are deprived of the benefits of such PCAOB inspections. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of auditors in China makes it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our independent registered public accounting firm’s audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of China that are subject to the PCAOB inspections, which could cause investors and potential investors in our stock to lose confidence in our audit procedures and reported financial information and the quality of our financial statements.

Our ADSs may be delisted and our ADSs and shares prohibited from trading in the over-the-counter market under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCAA, if the PCAOB is unable to inspect or fully investigate auditors located in China. On December 16, 2021, PCAOB issued the HFCAA Determination Report, according to which our auditor is subject to the determinations that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely. Under the current law, delisting and prohibition from over-the-counter trading in the U.S. could take place in 2024. If this happens there is no certainty that we will be able to list our ADSs or shares on a non-U.S. exchange or that a market for our shares will develop outside of the U.S. The delisting of our ADSs, or the threat of their being delisted, may materially and adversely affect the value of your investment.

As part of a continued regulatory focus in the United States on access to audit and other information currently protected by national law, in particular China’s, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCAA has been signed into law on December 18, 2020. The HFCAA states if the SEC determines that we have filed audit reports issued by a registered public accounting firm that has not been subject to inspection for the PCAOB for three consecutive years beginning in 2021, the SEC shall prohibit our shares or ADSs from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over-the-counter trading market in the U.S. Accordingly, under the current law this could happen in 2024.

On December 2, 2021, the SEC adopted final amendments to its rules implementing the HFCAA (the “Final Amendments”). The Final Amendments include requirements to disclose information, including the auditor name and location, the percentage of shares of the issuer owned by governmental entities, whether governmental entities in the applicable foreign jurisdiction with respect to the auditor has a controlling financial interest with

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respect to the issuer, the name of each official of the Chinese Communist Party who is a member of the board of the issuer, and whether the articles of incorporation of the issuer contains any charter of the Chinese Communist Party. The Final Amendments also establish procedures the SEC will follow in identifying issuers and prohibiting trading by certain issuers under the HFCAA.

On December 16, 2021, PCAOB issued the HFCAA Determination Report, according to which our auditor is subject to the determinations that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely. In March 2022, the SEC issued its first “Conclusive list of issuers identified under the HFCAA” indicating that those companies are now formally subject to the delisting provisions if they remain on the list for three consecutive years. We anticipate that we will be added to the list shortly after the filing of this annual report on Form 20-F.

The HFCAA or other efforts to increase U.S. regulatory access to audit information could cause investor uncertainty for affected issuers, including us, and the market price of the ADSs could be adversely affected. Additionally, whether the PCAOB will be able to conduct inspections of our auditor before the issuance of our financial statements on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023, which is due by April 30, 2024, or at all, is subject to substantial uncertainty and depends on a number of factors out of our and our auditor’s control. If our auditor is unable to be inspected we are unable to meet the PCAOB inspection requirement in time, we could be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and our ADSs will not be permitted for trading “over-the-counter” either. Such a delisting would substantially impair your ability to sell or purchase our ADSs when you wish to do so, and the risk and uncertainty associated with delisting would have a negative impact on the price of our ADSs. Also, such a delisting would significantly affect our ability to raise capital on terms acceptable to us, or at all, which would have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and prospects.

If our ADSs are delisted from the U.S. Exchange and are prohibited from trading in the over-the-counter market in the U.S. there is no certainty that we will be able to list on a non-U.S. exchange or that a market for our shares will develop outside of the U.S.

The potential enactment of the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act would decrease the number of non-inspection years from three years to two, thus reducing the time period before our ADSs may be prohibited from over-the-counter trading or delisted. If this bill were enacted, our ADSs could be delisted from the exchange and prohibited from over-the-counter trading in the U.S. in 2023.

On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed a bill known as the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, to amend Section 104(i) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7214(i)) to prohibit securities of any registrant from being listed on any of the U.S. securities exchanges or traded over-the-counter if the auditor of the registrant’s financial statements is not subject to PCAOB inspection for two consecutive years, instead of three consecutive years as currently enacted in the HFCAA.

On February 4, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the America Competes Act of 2022, which includes the exact same amendments as the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act passed by the Senate. The America Competes Act, however, includes a broader range of legislation not related to the HFCAA in response to the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act passed by the Senate in 2021. The U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate will need to agree on amendments to these respective bills to align the legislation and pass their amended bills before the U.S. President can sign into law. It is unclear when the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives will resolve the differences in the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act and the America Competes Act of 2022 bills currently passed, or when the U.S. President will sign on the bill to make the amendment into law, or at all.

If the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act becomes the law, it will reduce the time period before our ADSs could be delisted from the exchange and prohibited from over-the-counter trading in the U.S. from 2024 to 2023.

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

In December 2012, the SEC instituted administrative proceedings against the Big Four PRC-based accounting firms, including our independent registered public accounting firm, alleging that these firms had violated U.S. securities laws and the SEC’s rules and regulations thereunder by failing to provide to the SEC the firms’ audit work papers with respect to certain PRC-based companies that are publicly traded in the United States.

On January 22, 2014, the administrative law judge presiding over the matter rendered an initial decision that each of the firms had violated the SEC’s rules of practice by failing to produce audit papers and other documents to the SEC. The initial decision censured each of the firms and barred them from practicing before the SEC for a period of six months.

On February 6, 2015, the four China-based accounting firms each 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 and audit U.S.-listed companies. The settlement required the firms to follow detailed procedures and to seek to provide the SEC with access to Chinese firms’ audit documents via the CSRC. Under the terms of the settlement, the underlying proceeding against the four China-based accounting firms was deemed dismissed with prejudice four years after entry of the settlement. The four-year mark occurred on February 6, 2019. While we cannot predict if the SEC will further challenge the four China-based accounting firms’ compliance with U.S. law in connection with U.S. regulatory requests for audit work papers or if the results of such a challenge would result in the SEC imposing penalties such as suspensions, if the accounting firms are subject to additional remedial measures, our ability to file our financial statements in compliance with SEC requirements could be impacted. A determination that we have not timely filed financial statements in compliance with the SEC requirements could ultimately lead to the delisting of our ADSs from the NYSE or the termination of the registration of our ordinary shares under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or both, which would substantially reduce or effectively terminate the trading of our ADSs in the United States.

Risks Related to the ADSs or our Ordinary Shares

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

The trading price of the ADSs is likely to be volatile and could fluctuate widely due to multiple factors, some of which are beyond our control. This may happen because of broad market and industry factors, including the performance and fluctuation of the market prices of other companies with business operations located mainly in China that have listed their securities in the United States. In addition to market and industry factors, the price and trading volume for the ADSs may be highly volatile for factors, including the following:

• variations in our revenues, operating costs and expenses, earnings and cash flow;

• our controlling shareholder’s business performance and the trading price of its stock;

• announcements of new investments, acquisitions, strategic partnerships or joint ventures by us or our competitors;

• announcements of new products and services by us or our competitors;

• changes in financial estimates by securities analysts;

• detrimental adverse publicity about us, our shareholders, affiliates, directors, officers or employees, our content offerings, our business model, our services or our industry;

• announcements of new regulations, rules or policies relevant for our business;

• additions or departures of key personnel;

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• release of lock-up or other transfer restrictions on our outstanding equity securities or sales of additional equity securities; and

• potential litigation or regulatory investigations.

Any of these factors may result in large and sudden changes in the volume and price at which the ADSs will trade.

In the past, shareholders of public companies have often brought securities class action suits against those companies following periods of instability in the market price of their securities. Any class action suit involving us could divert a significant amount of our management’s attention and other resources from our business and operations and require us to incur significant expenses to defend the suit, which could harm our results of operations. Any such class action suit, whether or not successful, could harm our reputation and restrict our ability to raise capital in the future. In addition, if a claim is successfully made against us, we may be required to pay significant damages, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

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

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

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

Sales of substantial amounts of the ADSs in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur, could adversely affect the market price of the ADSs and could materially impair our ability to raise capital through equity offerings in the future. As of April 19, 2022, we had 1,675,015,086 Class A ordinary shares and 1,715,139,178 Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding. The ADSs representing our Class A ordinary shares are freely transferable by persons other than our “affiliates” without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act. The remaining ordinary shares outstanding will be available for sale, subject to volume and other restrictions as applicable under Rules 144 and 701 under the Securities Act.

Certain holders of our ordinary shares have the right to cause us to register under the Securities Act the sale of their shares. Registration of these shares under the Securities Act would result in ADSs representing these shares becoming freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act immediately upon the effectiveness of the registration. Sales of these registered shares in the form of ADSs in the public market could cause the price of the ADSs to decline. Additionally, to the extent any lock-up restrictions are imposed on our ADSs or ordinary shares and such securities are released before the expiration of the lock-up period and sold into the market, the market price of the ADSs could decline.

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

Short selling is the practice of selling securities that the seller does not own but rather has borrowed from a third party with the intention of buying identical securities back at a later date to return to the lender. The short seller hopes to profit from a decline in the value of the securities between the sale of the borrowed securities and the purchase of the replacement shares, as the short seller expects to pay less in that purchase than it received in the sale. As it is in the short seller’s interest for the price of the security to decline, many short sellers publish, or

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arrange for the publication of, negative opinions and allegations regarding the relevant issuer and its business prospects in order to create negative market momentum and generate profits for themselves after selling a security short. These short attacks have, in the past, led to selling of shares in the market. If we were to become the subject of any unfavorable allegations, whether such allegations are proven to be true or untrue, we could have to expend a significant amount of resources to investigate such allegations and/or defend ourselves. While we would strongly defend against any such short seller attacks, we may be constrained in the manner in which we can proceed against the relevant short seller by principles of freedom of speech, applicable state law or issues of commercial confidentiality.

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

We currently intend to retain most, if not all, of our available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and growth of our business. As a result, we do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Therefore, you should not rely on an investment in the ADSs as a source for any future dividend income.

Our board of directors has complete discretion as to whether to distribute dividends, subject to certain requirements of Cayman Islands law. Under Cayman Islands law, a Cayman Islands company may pay a dividend out of either profit or share premium account, provided that in no circumstances may a dividend be paid if this would result in the company being unable to pay its debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. Even if our board of directors decides to declare and pay dividends, the timing, amount and form of future dividends, if any, will depend on our future results of operations and cash flow, our capital requirements and surplus, the amount of distributions, if any, received by us from our subsidiaries, our financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. Accordingly, the return on your investment in the ADSs will likely depend entirely upon any future price appreciation of the ADSs. There is no guarantee that the ADSs will appreciate in value or even maintain the price at which you purchased the ADSs. You may not realize a return on your investment in the ADSs and you may even lose your entire investment in the ADSs.

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

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

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

We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. Our corporate affairs are governed by our memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (As Revised) of the Cayman

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Islands and the common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of shareholders to take action against our directors, actions by our minority shareholders and the fiduciary duties of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from the common law of England, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding, on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary duties of our directors under Cayman Islands law are not as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands have a less developed body of securities laws than the United States. Some U.S. states, such as Delaware, have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law than the Cayman Islands. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholder derivative action in a federal court of the United States.

Shareholders of Cayman Islands exempted companies like us have no general rights under Cayman Islands law to inspect corporate records (other than the memorandum and articles of association and any special resolutions passed by such companies, and the registers of mortgages and charges of such companies) or to obtain copies of lists of shareholders of these companies. Our directors have discretion under our articles of association to determine whether or not, and under what conditions, our corporate records may be inspected by our shareholders, but are not obliged to make them available to our shareholders. This may make it more difficult for you to obtain the information needed to establish any facts necessary for a shareholder motion or to solicit proxies from other shareholders in connection with a proxy contest.

As a result of all of the above, our public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by our management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a company incorporated in the United States.

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

We are a Cayman Islands company and substantially all of our current operations are conducted in China. In addition, most of our current directors and officers are nationals and residents of countries other than the United States. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for you to bring an action against us or against these individuals in the United States in the event that you believe that your rights have been infringed under the U.S. federal securities laws or otherwise. Even if you are successful in bringing an action of this kind, the laws of the Cayman Islands and of China may render you unable to enforce a judgment against our assets or the assets of our directors and officers. Moreover, our PRC counsel has advised us that the PRC does not have treaties with the United States or many other countries providing for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgement of courts.

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

The deposit agreement governing the ADSs representing our Class A ordinary shares provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, ADS holders waive the right to a jury trial for any claim they may have against us or the depositary arising out of or relating to our shares, the ADSs or the deposit agreement, including any claim under the U.S. federal securities laws.

If we or the depositary were to oppose a jury trial based on this waiver, the court would have to determine whether the waiver was enforceable based on the facts and circumstances of the case in accordance with applicable state and federal law. To our knowledge, the enforceability of a contractual pre-dispute jury trial waiver in connection with claims arising under the federal securities laws has not been finally adjudicated by the United States Supreme Court. However, we believe that a contractual pre-dispute jury trial waiver provision is generally enforceable, including under the laws of the State of New York, which govern the deposit agreement, or by a federal or state court in the City of New York, which has non-exclusive jurisdiction over matters arising

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under the deposit agreement. In determining whether to enforce a contractual pre-dispute jury trial waiver, courts will generally consider whether a party knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily waived the right to a jury trial. We believe that this would be the case with respect to the deposit agreement and the ADSs. It is advisable that you consult legal counsel regarding the jury waiver provision before investing in the ADSs.

If you or any other holders or beneficial owners of ADSs bring a claim against us or the depositary in connection with matters arising under the deposit agreement or the ADSs, including claims under federal securities laws, you or such other holder or beneficial owner may not be entitled to a jury trial with respect to such claims, which may have the effect of limiting and discouraging lawsuits against us or the depositary. If a lawsuit is brought against us or the depositary under the deposit agreement, it may be heard only by a judge or justice of the applicable trial court, which would be conducted according to different civil procedures and may result in different outcomes than a trial by jury would have, including outcomes that could be less favorable to the plaintiff(s) in any such action.

Nevertheless, if this jury trial waiver is not permitted by applicable law, an action could proceed under the terms of the deposit agreement with a jury trial. No condition, stipulation or provision of the deposit agreement or the ADSs serves as a waiver by any holder or beneficial owner of ADSs or by us or the depositary of compliance with any substantive provision of the U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

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

Holders of ADSs do not have the same rights as our registered shareholders. As a holder of the ADSs, you will not have any direct right to attend general meetings of our shareholders or to cast any votes at such meetings. You will only be able to exercise the voting rights which attach to the Class A ordinary shares underlying the ADSs indirectly by giving voting instructions to the depositary in accordance with the provisions of the deposit agreement. If we ask for your instructions, then upon receipt of your voting instructions, the depositary will try to vote the underlying Class A ordinary shares in accordance with these instructions. If we do not instruct the depositary to ask for your instructions, the depositary may still vote in accordance with instructions you give, but it is not required to do so. You will not be able to directly exercise any right to vote with respect to the underlying Class A ordinary shares unless you withdraw the shares and become the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date for the general meeting. When a general meeting is convened, you may not receive sufficient advance notice of the meeting to enable you to withdraw the Class A ordinary shares underlying the ADSs and become the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date for the general meeting to allow you to attend the general meeting and to vote directly with respect to any specific matter or resolution to be considered and voted upon at the general meeting. In addition, under our memorandum and articles of association, for the purposes of determining those shareholders who are entitled to attend and vote at any general meeting, our directors may close our register of members and/or fix in advance a record date for such meeting, and such closure of our register of members or the setting of such a record date may prevent you from withdrawing the Class A ordinary shares underlying the ADSs and becoming the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date, so that you would not be able to attend the general meeting or to vote directly. Where any matter is to be put to a vote at a general meeting, upon our instruction, the depositary will notify you of the upcoming vote and to deliver our voting materials to you. We cannot assure you that you will receive the voting material in time to ensure you can direct the depositary to vote your shares. In addition, the depositary and its agents are not responsible for failing to carry out voting instructions or for their manner of carrying out your voting instructions. This means that you may not be able to exercise your right to direct how the shares underlying the ADSs are voted and you may have no legal remedy if the shares underlying the ADSs are not voted as you requested.

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Under our dual-class share structure with different voting rights, holders of Class B ordinary shares have complete control of the outcome of matters put to a vote of shareholders, which will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could discourage others from pursuing any change of control transactions that holders of our Class A ordinary shares and the ADSs may view as beneficial.

We have adopted a dual-class share structure. Our ordinary shares consist of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. In respect of matters requiring the votes of shareholders, each Class A ordinary share is entitled to one vote, and each Class B ordinary share is entitled to 15 votes. Each Class B ordinary share is convertible into one Class A ordinary share at any time by the holder thereof, while Class A ordinary shares are not convertible into Class B ordinary shares under any circumstances. Upon (i) any sale, transfer, assignment or disposition of any Class B ordinary shares by a holder thereof to any person or entity which is not an affiliate of such holder, or (ii) a change of beneficial ownership of any Class B ordinary shares as a result of which any person who is not an affiliate of registered holders of such Class B ordinary shares becomes a beneficial owner of such Class B ordinary shares, each of such Class B ordinary shares will be automatically and immediately converted into one Class A ordinary share. There is no limit on the circumstances where holders of Class B ordinary shares may transfer or otherwise dispose of their Class B ordinary shares. As of April 19, 2022, the holders of our Class B ordinary shares beneficially own 93.9% of the aggregate voting power of our ordinary shares. As a result of this dual-class share structure, the holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have complete control over the outcome of matters put to a vote of shareholders and have significant influence over our business, including decisions regarding mergers, consolidations, liquidations and the sale of all or substantially all of our assets, election of directors and other significant corporate actions. The holders of Class B ordinary shares may take actions that are not in the best interest of us or our other shareholders or holders of the ADSs. It may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company, which could have the effect of depriving our other shareholders of the opportunity to receive a premium for their shares as part of a sale of our company and may reduce the price of the ADSs. This concentrated control will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could discourage others from pursuing any potential merger, takeover or other change of control transactions that holders of Class A ordinary shares and ADSs may view as beneficial.

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

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

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

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

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As a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, we are permitted to adopt certain home country practices in relation to corporate governance matters that differ significantly from the New York Stock Exchange corporate governance listing standards. These practices may afford less protection to shareholders than they would enjoy if we complied fully with the New York Stock Exchange corporate governance listing standards.

As a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, we are subject to New York Stock Exchange corporate governance listing standards. However, New York Stock Exchange rules permit a foreign private issuer like us to follow the corporate governance practices of its home country. Certain corporate governance practices in the Cayman Islands, which is our home country, may differ significantly from the New York Stock Exchange corporate governance listing standards. We have followed and intend to follow Cayman Islands corporate governance practices in lieu of the corporate governance requirements of the New York Stock Exchange that listed companies must have: (i) a majority of independent directors; (ii) the establishment of a nominating/corporate governance committee composed entirely of independent directors; (iii) a compensation committee composed entirely of independent directors, and (iv) an audit committee composed of at least three members. As a result of our reliance on the “foreign private issuer” exemptions, our shareholders may be afforded less protection than they otherwise would enjoy under New York Stock Exchange corporate governance listing standards applicable to U.S. domestic issuers.

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

Because we qualify as a foreign private issuer under the Exchange Act, we are exempt from certain provisions of the securities rules and regulations in the United States that are applicable to U.S. domestic issuers, including:

• the rules under the Exchange Act requiring the filing with the SEC of quarterly reports on Form 10-Q or current reports on Form 8-K;

• the sections of the Exchange Act regulating the solicitation of proxies, consents or authorizations in respect of a security registered under the Exchange Act;

• the sections of the Exchange Act requiring insiders to file public reports of their stock ownership and trading activities and liability for insiders who profit from trades made in a short period of time; and

• the rules under Regulation FD governing selective disclosure rules of material nonpublic information.

We will be required to file an annual report on Form 20-F within four months of the end of each fiscal year. In addition, we intend to publish our results on a quarterly basis as press releases, distributed pursuant to the rules of the New York Stock Exchange. Press releases relating to financial results and material events will also be furnished to the SEC on Form 6-K. However, the information we are required to file with or furnish to the SEC will be less extensive and less timely compared to that required to be filed with the SEC by U.S. domestic issuers. As a result, you may not be afforded the same protections or information that would be made available to you were you investing in a U.S. domestic issuer.

We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the rules of the New York Stock Exchange and, as a result, can rely on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements that provide protection to shareholders of other companies.

We are a “controlled company” as defined under the rules of the New York Stock Exchange since Tencent beneficially owns more than 50% of our total voting power. For so long as we remain a controlled company under this definition, we are permitted to elect to rely on certain exemptions from corporate governance rules, including:

• an exemption from the rule that a majority of our board of directors must be independent directors;

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• an exemption from the rule that the compensation of our chief executive officer must be determined or recommended solely by independent directors; and

• an exemption from the rule that our director nominees must be selected or recommended solely by independent directors.

As a result, you will not have the same protection afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to these corporate governance requirements.

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

In general, a non-U.S. corporation is a PFIC for any taxable year in which (i) 75% or more of its gross income consists of passive income; or (ii) 50% or more of the average quarterly value of its assets consists of assets that produce, or are held for the production of, passive income. For purposes of the above calculations, a non-U.S. corporation that owns, directly or indirectly, at least 25% by value of the shares of another corporation is treated as if it held its proportionate share of the assets of the other corporation and received directly its proportionate share of the income of the other corporation. Cash is a passive asset for these purposes. Based on the composition of our income and assets and the value of our assets, including goodwill, which is based on the price of the ADSs, we believe that we were not a PFIC for our 2021 taxable year. However, it is not entirely clear how the contractual arrangements between our wholly-owned subsidiaries, the VIEs and the shareholders of the VIEs will be treated for purposes of the PFIC rules. Because the treatment of the contractual arrangements is not entirely clear, because we hold a substantial amount of cash, and because our PFIC status for any taxable year will depend on the composition of our income and assets and the value of our assets from time to time (which may be determined, in part, by reference to the market price of the ADSs, which could be volatile), there can be no assurance that we will not be a PFIC for any taxable year. If we were a PFIC for any taxable year during which a U.S. taxpayer holds ADSs or Class A ordinary shares, certain adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences could apply to such U.S. taxpayer. See “Item 10. Additional Information—10.E. Taxation—U.S. Federal Income Taxation—Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules.”

ITEM 4. INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY

4.A. History and Development of the Company

Launch of QQ Music, Kugou, Kuwo, WeSing and Lazy Audio

• QQ Music: In 2003, QQ, the social network operated by Tencent, launched its online music services. In 2005, QQ Music commenced operations.

• Kugou: In 2004, Kugou Music was launched. In February 2006, Guangzhou Kugou Computer Technology Co., Ltd., or Guangzhou Kugou, was incorporated in China and commenced the operations of Kugou Music. In September 2012, Guangzhou Kugou commenced offering its live streaming services through Fanxing Live, which was rebranded to Kugou Live in December 2016.

• Kuwo: In December 2005, Beijing Kuwo Technology Co., Ltd., or Beijing Kuwo, was incorporated in China and commenced its operations of Kuwo Music. Beijing Kuwo and its then shareholders subsequently entered into a series of contractual arrangements with Yeelion Online Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., or Yeelion Online, through which Yeelion Online acquired effective control over Beijing Kuwo. In March 2013, Beijing Kuwo launched Kuwo Live to offer live streaming services.

• WeSing: In September 2014, WeSing commenced offering its online karaoke services.

• Lazy Audio: We launched Kuwo Changting, our long-form audio app, in April 2020. In April 2021, we integrated Kuwo Changting with Lazy Audio, a well-established audio platform in China operated

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by Shenzhen Lanren which we acquired in March 2021, and re-imaged the brand Lazy Audio (formerly branded as Lanren Changting during the relevant periods).

CMC’s Acquisition of Guangzhou Kugou and Beijing Kuwo

In June 2012, China Music Corporation, or CMC, was incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Between December 2013 and April 2014, through a series of transactions, CMC obtained effective control over, and became the primary beneficiary of, each of Guangzhou Kugou and Beijing Kuwo through which it operated substantially all of its online music entertainment services in the PRC.

Combination of Tencent’s Online Music Business with CMC

Prior to July 2016, Tencent held an approximately 15.8% equity interests in CMC. In July 2016, Tencent acquired control of CMC through a series of transactions, pursuant to which Tencent injected substantially all of its online music business in the PRC (which primarily included QQ Music and WeSing) into CMC in consideration of certain number of shares issued by CMC. Upon the completion of such transactions, Tencent owned an approximately 61.6% equity interests in CMC, and CMC became a consolidated subsidiary of Tencent. In December 2016, CMC was renamed “Tencent Music Entertainment Group,” or TME. Ocean Music Hong Kong Limited was renamed “Tencent Music Entertainment Hong Kong Limited,” or TME Hong Kong; and Ocean Interactive (Beijing) Information Technology Co., Ltd. was renamed “Tencent Music (Beijing) Co., Ltd.,” or Beijing Tencent Music.

Initial Public Offering

In December 2018, we completed an initial public offering in which we and certain selling shareholders offered and sold an aggregate of 164,000,000 Class A ordinary shares in the form of ADSs. On December 12, 2018, the ADSs began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “TME.” We have used all net proceeds from our IPO in the manners set forth in our IPO prospectus, including content acquisition, strategic investments, and other operating and investment purposes.

Issuance of Senior Unsecured Notes

In September 2020, we completed the public offering of US$800 million aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes consisting of US$300 million of 1.375% notes due 2025 and US$500 million of 2.000% notes due 2030. The notes have been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. We received net proceeds from the offering of approximately US$792.4 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses. We have used and intend to continue to use the net proceeds from such offering for general corporate purposes.

Transaction with UMG

In March 2020, through one of our wholly-owned subsidiaries we joined a consortium led by Tencent to acquire a 10% equity stake in Universal Music Group, or UMG, from its parent company, Vivendi S.A., at an enterprise value of EUR30 billion. We invested a 10% equity interest in the consortium. The foregoing transaction is referred to in this annual report as the Initial UMG Transaction and was closed in March 2020. The consortium also has the option to purchase an additional 10% equity stake in UMG at the same enterprise value as in the Initial UMG Transaction pursuant to the terms of the transaction documents. In December 2020, the consortium in the Initial UMG Transaction exercised its call option to acquire an additional 10% equity interest in UMG from Vivendi S.A. at the same enterprise value of EUR30 billion as in the Initial UMG Transaction. This transaction is referred to in this annual report as the Second UMG Transaction. In January 2021, we completed the Second UMG Transaction.

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Acquisition of Shenzhen Lanren

In January 2021, we entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% equity interest of Shenzhen Lanren, which operates Lazy Audio, a well-established audio platform in China, for a total consideration of RMB2.7 billion, primarily payable in cash, plus certain post-acquisition awards to Shenzhen Lanren’s management team. Founded in 2012, Shenzhen Lanren provides entertainment in the forms of audiobooks, Chinese comedy, podcasts and other radio shows to customers via its comprehensive audio platform Lazy Audio. It monetizes via different channels, including pay per title, subscription payment for content, and advertising. Lazy Audio has developed into a thriving community with strong user interactions and engagement, providing superior content and services to audio users across China. Our acquisition of Shenzhen Lanren was completed in March 2021. In April 2021, we integrated Kuwo Changting with Lazy Audio and re-imaged the brand Lazy Audio (formerly branded as Lanren Changting during the relevant periods).

Corporate Information

Our corporate headquarters is located at Unit 3, Building D, Kexing Science Park, Kejizhongsan Avenue, Hi-Tech Park, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, 518057, the People’s Republic of China. Our telephone number at this address is +86-755-8601-3388. Our registered office in the Cayman Islands is located at the office of Maples Corporate Services Limited, PO Box 309, Ugland House, Grand Cayman, KY1-1104, Cayman Islands.

We are subject to the periodic reporting and other informational requirements of the Exchange Act as applicable to foreign private issuers. Under the Exchange Act, we are required to file reports and other information with the SEC. Specifically, we are required to file annually a Form 20-F within four months after the end of each fiscal year. Copies of reports and other information, when so filed with the SEC, can be inspected and copied at the public reference facilities maintained by the SEC at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. You can request copies of these documents, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by writing to the SEC. The public may obtain information regarding the Washington, D.C. Public Reference Room by calling the Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC also maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding registrants that make electronic filings with the SEC using its EDGAR system. Such information can also be found on the Company’s investor relations website at https://ir.tencentmusic.com.

Recent Regulatory Development

Cybersecurity Review Measures

On December 28, 2021, the CAC and several other regulatory authorities in China jointly promulgated the Cybersecurity Review Measures, which came into effect on February 15, 2022. Pursuant to the Cybersecurity Review Measures, (i) where the relevant activity affects or may affect national security, a CIIO that purchases network products and services, or an internet platform operator that conducts data process activities, shall be subject to the cybersecurity review, (ii) an application for cybersecurity review shall be made by an issuer who is an internet platform operator holding personal information of more than one million users before such issuer applies to list its securities on a foreign stock exchange, and (iii) relevant governmental authorities in the PRC may initiate cybersecurity review if they determine an operator’s network products or services or data processing activities affect or may affect national security.

As of the date of this annual report, uncertainties still exist in relation to the interpretation and implementation of the Cybersecur