UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 20-F

☐     REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (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

OR

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

Date of event requiring this shell company report:

For the transition period from _________ to _____________.

Commission file number: 001-39259

Cayman Islands

(Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)

Room 1618 Zhongguangcun MOOC Times Building,

18 Zhongguangcun Street, Haidian District

Beijing, People’s Republic of China 100190

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

Ms. Ngai Ngai Lam, Chief Executive Officer

Tel: +86-10-6597-8118

Room 1618 Zhongguangcun MOOC Times Building,

18 Zhongguangcun Street, Haidian District

Beijing, People’s Republic of China 100190

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

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

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

None

(Title of Class)

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

None

(Title of Class)

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

An aggregate of 13,848,333 ordinary shares, par value $0.001 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 ☒

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. (Check one):

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

†  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 which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

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   

INTRODUCTION

“We,” “us,” “our,” or the “Company” are to China Liberal Education Holdings Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company with limited liability, and its affiliated entities, as the case may be. Unless the context otherwise requires, in this annual report on Form 20-F references to:

Discrepancies in any table between the amounts identified as total amounts and the sum of the amounts listed therein are due to rounding.

This annual report on Form 20-F includes our audited consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019.

This annual report contains translations of certain Renminbi amounts into U.S. dollars at specified rates. Unless otherwise stated, the following exchange rates are used in this annual report:

We make no representation that any Renminbi or U.S. dollar amounts could have been, or could be, converted into U.S. dollars or Renminbi, as the case may be, at any particular rate, the rates stated above, or at all. The PRC government imposes controls over its foreign currency reserves in part through direct regulation of the conversion of Renminbi into foreign exchange and through restrictions on foreign trade.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This annual report on Form 20-F contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those listed under “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors,” may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the 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 some of these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “is/are likely to,” “potential,” “continue” or other similar expressions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. These forward-looking statements include statements relating to:

These forward-looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties. Although we believe that our expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, our expectations may later be found to be incorrect. Our actual results could be materially different from our expectations. Other sections of this annual report include additional factors that 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. You should read thoroughly this annual report and the documents that we refer to with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from, or worse than, what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

This annual report contains certain data and information that we obtained from various government and private publications. Statistical data in these publications also include projections based on a number of assumptions. The education industry may not grow at the rate projected by market data, or at all. Failure of this market to grow at the projected rate may have a material and adverse effect on our business and the market price of the Ordinary Shares. In addition, the rapidly evolving nature of this industry results in significant uncertainties for any projections or estimates relating to the growth prospects or future condition of our market. Furthermore, if any one or more of the assumptions underlying the market data are later found to be incorrect, actual results may differ from the projections based on these assumptions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements made in this annual report relate only to events or information as of the date on which the statements are made in this annual report. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. You should read this annual report and the documents that we refer to in this annual report and exhibits to this annual report completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect.

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

A. [Reserved]

B. Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

C. Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

D. Risk Factors

Summary of Risk Factors

Investing in our Ordinary Shares involves significant risks. You should carefully consider all of the information in this annual report before making an investment in our Ordinary Shares. The following list summarizes some, but not all, of these risks.

Risks Related to Our Business

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

Risks Related to the Trading Market

Risks Related to Our Business,

We partner with a limited number of Chinese host universities for certain Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs and our revenues are highly concentrated from a limited number of major partners. If we are not able to continue to secure agreements with some or all of our existing partners, or secure new agreements with additional partners, our results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

Our revenues generated under Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs represented 47.3%, 55.2% and 68.5% of our net revenues for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively. Although we continue to introduce new projects and to diversify our core business, the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs we actively service still generated a majority of our net revenues. In addition, for 2019, 2020 and 2021, we generated a vast majority of our Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Program revenues from two major partners, Fuzhou Melbourne Polytechnic, or FMP and Minjiang University. We expect that this line of business will continue to generate consistent annual net revenue for the next few years. As other lines of business are making significant progress contributing to the annual net revenue, the contribution of annual net revenue from this line of business, as a percentage of annual net revenue, may proportionately reduce. Although in absolute term, we expect the annual net revenue contribution to remain consistent. During the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018, we operated five such programs with four universities. However, we have ceased to provide services in connection with two of the existing programs because we assessed that these two programs are not profitable. More specifically, we have ceased to offer our courses under the International Scholarly Exchange Curriculum program with Fujian University of Technology, or the FUT ISEC Program, after the then existing students graduated in July 2018. We also have ceased to offer our courses under the New Zealand Tertiary College Program with Fujian Preschool Education College, or the NZTC Program, after the then existing students graduated in July 2019. Despite our long term working relationships with FMP and Minjiang University, one or more of these universities may decide to terminate their agreements with us and discontinue our cooperation for reasons such as expiration of Sino-foreign program permits, a change or expiration of programs, students’ inability to achieve the targeted level of language proficiency, undersubscription of students due to a global economic down-turn or otherwise, or simply decline to renew the agreements upon their expiration. If any of these situations occur, we cannot assure you that we will be able to timely secure other cooperation agreements with other programs, if at all, and therefore, our results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

The services we provide under the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs may be subject to regulatory and policy changes, as well as the continuous approval of and supervision by relevant PRC authorities.

We provide services to Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs offered by our partner schools. According to PRC laws and regulations, schools offering Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs are required to obtain permits to operate schools from the relevant education authorities or the authorities that regulate labor and social welfare in the PRC, depending on the type of diploma or degrees granted. The Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs we service are subject to approvals by the Ministry of Education, or MOE. Additionally, these programs are subject to continuous supervision by relevant PRC authorities, including the MOE, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and their local counterparts. Such supervision may include a verification system for the foreign degrees/diplomas awarded by Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs, and an annual report system and periodic evaluation system for those Sino-foreign institutions and programs that offer undergraduate or higher degrees.

In 2018, the MOE approved the termination of certain Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs as a move to improve quality, tighten regulatory control, and promote reforms in China’s educational systems. Such actions were taken because problems had appeared in institutions and projects (none of which we service) that were previously approved by the relevant authorities. These problems included insufficient utilization of high-quality educational resources, low instructional quality, weak specialized capabilities in academic departments, lack of content-based development mechanisms, low student satisfaction and poor attractiveness of programs. These problems made it difficult for those institutions and projects to continue operating and they were therefore closed down. This action by the MOE was taken to close down institutions and projects that were originally approved but at the time of termination did not have enrolled students any more. Thus, this action was also taken to improve the overall quality of the industry. In light of this, Fujian Province, the province where all of the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs we service are located, set a minimum score for English (as a subject) for those students who are applying for any four-year Sino-foreign joint programs that offer undergraduate degrees. As a result of these new regulatory controls and policy adjustments, even though none of the programs we service were terminated by MOE, overall student recruiting and enrollment under our Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Education Programs was negatively impacted, because some potential candidates could not meet the minimum score for English. For example, student enrollments under our joint education programs with Strait College of Minjiang University actually decreased by 121 students from 1,497 students in 2019 to 1,457 students in 2020 due to lower student quota given by Strait College of Minjiang University and it is unlikely to lower student quota further as it has reached the desired teacher student ratio. Student enrollments under our joint education programs with Strait College of Minjiang University further decreased by 194 students from 1,457 students in 2020 to 1,263 students in 2021. We cannot assure you that the local government in Fujian Province or the MOE will not set an even higher eligibility standard for students to enroll in these joint education programs in the future, in which case our student enrollment numbers, result of operations and financial conditions may be negatively impacted.

Our partnering schools have the ability to withhold our portion of tuition payments in certain circumstances, and to the extent that our portion is withheld, our revenue, results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

Our results of operations are directly affected by the level of the tuition we charge to our students. Typically, students pay to the Sino-foreign Joint Managed Academic Programs tuition fees ranging from RMB15,000 ($2,357) to RMB28,000 ($4,400) per student per academic school year. Our contracts with host Chinese universities / colleges are fixed price contracts, pursuant to which, we are to receive a fixed portion of tuition for services rendered. As a result of us servicing our partnering schools, we are entitled to receive approximately 12.5% to 50% of such student tuitions depending on the relevant Sino-foreign Joint Managed Academic Programs. Chinese host universities/colleges collect tuition fees from enrolled students at the beginning of each academic school year in September, and pay us the portion we are entitled, as determined based on contractual terms, within one to three months thereafter.

Our contracts with Chinese host universities / colleges provide that (1) the host universities / colleges will withhold the tuition collected from students for one to three months after the academic school year starts in September, and then remit the portion of tuition fees to us after the student headcounts have been finalized, and (2) the portion of tuition fee that we are entitled to receive is calculated based on the final actual number of students retained with the universities / colleges after any student dropout has been adjusted. Accordingly, any tuition refund has already been deducted by host universities / colleges before we receive our portion of the tuition fees. For accounting purposes, at the beginning of each academic school year, we initially accrue the estimated refund based on an historical 1% student dropout rate, and make subsequent true-up adjustments after the final number of students retained with the host universities / colleges is determined. Such adjustments were immaterial for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

However, our ability to receive our portion of tuition fee from Chinese host universities / colleges largely depends on whether Chinese host universities / colleges are satisfied with our teaching services, or whether we can maintain positive communication with Chinese host universities / colleges to resolve any service deficiency on a timely manner. We normally receive our portion of tuition fees within one to three months after each academic school year starts in September, however, any extended tuition withholding or delayed tuition payment to us from Chinese host universities / colleges due to our service deficiency, may materially affect our revenue, results of operations and financial condition.

We rely heavily on the continuous reputation of our partnering schools in order to attract and maintain a significant number of students enrolled in our courses offered in these schools.

We partner with schools to provide courses within Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs, including offering language courses and/or major specific courses to their students who intend to study abroad. These schools then pay us directly based on the headcount of the students enrolled in the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs. If these schools experience a decrease in the number of their enrolled students due to student or parent dissatisfaction, negative publicity, poor track records, or other disruption of their reputation out of our control, they may experience withdrawals of currently enrolled students and a decrease in the enrollment of perspective students, which could in turn materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

If one or more of the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs were to lose their Sino-foreign program permits, our results of operations and financial condition may suffer substantially.

Universities or colleges who host Sino-foreign programs in the PRC are required to obtain and maintain Sino-foreign program permits from the appropriate education authorities at the PRC central government, provincial, municipal or local level, depending on the certifications required to offer these programs. We cannot assure you that the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs we service will maintain their permits in good standing within the permit periods, or that these permits will be renewed or extended after the permit periods. If one or more of the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs were to lose their Sino-foreign program permits and we are not able to timely secure new partnering programs, our results of operations and financial condition may suffer substantially.

Our track record of successfully assisting students to obtain student visas to study abroad may fall and satisfaction with our consulting services may otherwise decline.

The success of our business depends on our students’ ability to obtain student visas for their overseas study. Although almost all of our students were granted student visas in the past for countries including Italy, Germany, Japan, England, Russia, United States of America and Australia, we cannot ensure that our students will be granted student visas and be accepted to overseas schools at rates we have experienced in the past, and parents and students may not be satisfied with our ability to help students gain admission to universities. Further, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, application of student visa for some of these countries was suspended, though suspension in some of these countries has been lifted as of the date of this annual report. Consequently, our revenue from study abroad consulting services decreased by approximately $93,311, or 72.1% in fiscal year 2021 as compared to fiscal year 2020. Any such negative developments could result in a student’s withdrawal or decrease in future enrollment, and therefore, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Changes to immigration policies in the countries our students plan to attend schools in may negatively affect our results of operations and financial condition.

A significant portion of our business relies upon our students’ confidence in, among other things, their ability to obtain student visas from the countries they intend to study in, including Italy, Germany, Japan, England, Russia, United States of America and Australia. We cannot assure you that immigration policies of the popular destination countries among our students will remain the same or become friendlier to overseas students, and there is no assurance that our students will be granted visas to study in the countries of their choices. Further, we cannot ensure that visas already granted by destination countries will not be cancelled by such destination countries, particularly in light of changes in foreign and domestic policies and politics. Further, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, application of student visa for some of these countries was suspended, though suspension in some of these countries has been lifted as of the date of this annual report. Any such negative developments could result in a student’s withdrawal or decrease in future enrollment, and therefore, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

If we and our partnering schools fail to increase student enrollments, our net revenues may decline, and we may not be able to maintain growth.

Our one-on-one consulting services provided within our overseas study consulting service offered to students (mostly art students) generate revenue from the tuition we collect from these students. It is critical for us to enroll prospective students in a cost-effective manner. Some of the factors, many of which are largely beyond our control, could prevent us from successfully increasing enrollments of new students in a cost-effective manner, or at all. These factors include, among other things, (i) reduced interest in the degrees, professions or schools which our services are targeting (art and computer science); (ii) improved quality and number of art schools in the PRC; (iii) the inability of students to pay tuition; (iv) increasing market competition, particularly price reductions by competitors that we are unable or unwilling to match; and (v) adverse changes in relevant government policies or general economic conditions. If one or more of these factors reduce market demand for our services, our student enrollments could be negatively affected or our costs associated with student acquisition and retention could increase, or both, any of which could materially affect our ability to grow our gross billings and net revenues. These developments could also harm our brand and reputation, which would negatively impact our ability to expand our business.

Significant uncertainties exist in relation to the interpretation and implementation of, or proposed changes to, the PRC laws, regulations and policies regarding the private education industry, which could adversely affect our business.

The PRC private education industry, especially the after-school tutoring sector, has experienced intense scrutiny and has been subject to significant regulatory changes. In particular, the Opinions on Further Alleviating the Burden of Homework and After-School Tutoring for Students in Compulsory Education jointly promulgated by the General Office of State Council and the General Office of Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on July 24, 2021, sets out a series of operating requirements on after-school tutoring institutions.

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress amended the Private Education Law on December 29, 2018 (the “2018 Private Education Law”), which took effect immediately. Under the 2018 Private Education Law, on April 7, 2021, the State Council promulgated the Amended Implementation Rules for the Private Education Law, or the 2021 Implementation Rules, which became effective on September 1, 2021. The Amended Implementation Rules prohibit social organizations and individuals from controlling a private school that provides compulsory education or a non-profit private school that provides pre-school education through mergers and acquisitions and control agreements, and a private school providing compulsory education is prohibited from conducting transactions with its related party. Relevant government authorities will enhance the supervision on the agreements entered into between non-profit private schools and its related party and shall review such transaction on an annual basis. In addition, online education activities using internet technology are encouraged by the regulatory authorities and shall comply with laws and regulations related to internet management. A private school engaging in online education activities using internet technology shall obtain the relevant private school operating permit. It shall also establish and implement internet security management systems and take technical security measures. Upon discovery of any information whose release or transmission is prohibited by applicable laws or regulations, the private school engaged in online education activities shall immediately cease the transmission of that information and take further remedial actions, such as deleting that information, to prevent it from spreading. Records pertaining to the situation shall be kept and reported to the appropriate authorities.

Our business operations do not currently involve the tutoring for students in compulsory education. Additionally, our business operations involving art and language training courses have been terminated and discontinued. Therefore, as advised by H&J Law Firm, our PRC counsel, we do not believe that we are subject to the above-mentioned policies and regulations.

If fewer Chinese students, particularly art students, choose to study abroad, demand for our international program may decline.

One of the principal drivers of the growth of our business is the increasing number of Chinese students, particularly art students who choose to study abroad, reflecting the growing Chinese students demand for higher education in overseas countries. As such, any restrictive changes in immigration policy, terrorist attacks, geopolitical uncertainties, international conflicts involving countries of popular demand, and global pandemics such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could make it more difficult for Chinese students to obtain student visas to study overseas, or decrease the appeal of studying in such countries to Chinese students. Any significant changes in admission standards adopted by overseas educational institutions could also affect the demand for overseas education by Chinese students. Additionally, Chinese students may also become less attracted to studying abroad for other reasons, such as improving domestic educational or employment opportunities associated with increased economic development in China. These factors could cause declines in the demand for our international program, which may adversely affect our revenue and profitability.

We face risks related to natural disasters, extreme weather conditions, health epidemics including the COVID-19 pandemic, and other catastrophic incidents, which could significantly disrupt our operations.

In the past, China has experienced significant natural disasters, including earthquakes, extreme weather conditions, as well as health scares related to epidemics, and any similar event could materially impact our business in the future. If a disaster or other disruption were to occur in the future that affects the regions where we operate our business, our operations could be materially and adversely affected due to loss of personnel, damages to property and insufficient student enrollments. Even if we are not directly affected, such a disaster or disruption could affect the operations or financial condition of our ecosystem participants, which could harm our results of operations.

Our business could be affected by public health epidemics. If any of our employees or if one or more of our students who receive our services in person (for example, those students who enrolled in our one-on-one consulting services program) is suspected of having contracted a contagious disease, we may be required to apply quarantines or suspend our operations. Furthermore, any future outbreak may restrict economic activities in affected regions, resulting in reduced business volume, temporary closure of our offices or other disruptions of our business operations and adversely affect our results of operations.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected business and other activities within China, including government mandated travel restrictions or quarantines within China, and postponement of the spring semester of 2020. Additionally, countries that our students will study in, including Italy and Germany are currently affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to measures taken by the respective governments trying to contain the spread of the COVID-19, such as a lockdown, closure of schools and travel restrictions. Additional travel and other restrictions may be put in place to further control the outbreak. These measures may result in less demand for our services, suspension of our one-on-one consulting services, as well as postponement of payment from our partnering schools. Students seeking to enroll in international educational institutions may choose to remain in China, thereby not seeking our services. In addition, the execution of our smart campus contracts and collection of the payment may be delayed. Accordingly, our business, results of operations and financial condition may continue to be adversely affected.

The Company’s operations have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. During fiscal year 2021, our revenue from Sino-foreign jointly managed academic programs was not significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company’s revenue from study abroad consulting services for the fiscal year 2021 was significantly affected because application of student visa for some of these countries was suspended and, consequently, our revenue from study abroad consulting services decreased by approximately $93,311, or 72.1% in fiscal year 2021 as compared to fiscal year 2020. Additionally, our one-on-one consulting services was temporarily suspended in 2020 and permanently discontinued in 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic In the fiscal year 2021, Chinese universities / colleges further limited their budget for smart campus solutions, and as a result, we experienced significant decrease in revenue from Technological Consulting Services for Smart Campus Solutions in the fiscal year 2021 compared to the fiscal year 2020.

However, the continued uncertainties associated with COVID-19 pandemic may cause the Company’s revenues and cash flows to underperform in the next 12 months. Any resurgence or new variant could negatively affect the execution of additional smart campus contracts with Chinese universities/colleges, the collection of the payments from previous smart campus projects and the market development of the newly launched visualization solutions and technology consulting services to non-university business. The extent of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on our business operations, financial condition, and results of operations in the future may still depend on certain developments, including re-occurrences and associated duration and spread and the potential impact on the Company’s customers and schools, all of which are still uncertain and cannot be accurately assessed at this point.

Our smart campus solutions may not be accepted by the intended users of our products, which could harm our future financial performance.

There can be no assurance that our smart campus solutions systems will achieve wide acceptance by our intended users, including management, teachers, and students of our current and future partnering schools. The degree of acceptance for products and services based on our technology will also depend upon a number of factors, such as whether we are able to meet and exceed the expectation of our uses in speed and safety, availability of various functions, user-friendliness and the ability to integrate different user platforms and data. Long-term subscription of our products and services will also depend, in part, on the capabilities and operating features of our products and technologies as compared to those of other available products and services. As a result, there can be no assurance that currently available solutions will be able to achieve revenue growth or profitability, which could harm our future financial performance.

We depend upon the development of new solutions and enhancements to existing solutions for our current and future partnering schools. If we fail to predict and respond to emerging technological trends and clients’ and intended users’ changing needs, our operating results and market share may suffer.

The market for our smart campus solutions is characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards, new product introductions, and evolving methods of building and maintaining our products. Our operating results depend on our ability to develop and introduce innovative products and to maintain the integrated system we have implemented. The process of developing new technology, including Software as a Service, or SaaS model cloud computing technology, more programmable, flexible and virtual networks, and technology related to other market transitions, such as security, digital transformation and IoT and IoE (Internet of Everything), and cloud, is complex and uncertain, and if we fail to accurately predict clients’ and intended end users’ changing needs and emerging technological trends our business could be harmed.

We may need to commit significant resources, including monetary investments and developer personnel to developing new products before knowing for sure whether such investments will result in products the intended end users will accept. Similarly, our business could be harmed if we fail to develop, or fail to develop in a timely fashion, offerings to address other evolving needs, or if the offerings addressing these other transitions that ultimately succeed are based on technology, or an approach to technology, different from ours. In addition, our business could be adversely affected in periods surrounding the launch of new products if customers delay their purchasing decisions to evaluate the new product offerings.

Furthermore, we may not execute successfully on our vision or strategy because of challenges with regard to product planning and timing, technical hurdles that we fail to overcome in a timely fashion, or a lack of necessary resources. This could result in competitors, some of which are technology giants in the PRC, providing those solutions before we do, which in turn, causes us loss of market share, revenue, and earnings.

Historically, the gross margin from the smart campus solutions line of business was lower than our other lines of business, and we cannot assure you that such line of business will be profitable in the foreseeable future, if at all.

While the gross margin from the smart campus solutions line of business was 41.9% in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, historically, it has been lower than our other lines of business, with gross margin of 29.4% in 2019 and 29.7% in 2020. This is due to the nature of the smart campus solutions business, that is, higher cost associated with the customization of software, higher hardware facilities and device costs, and higher expenditures associated with the construction, setup, and preparation of the full set of equipment and devices allowing us to deliver what clients need. We cannot assure you that the profit margin will become higher in the future. Therefore, there can be no assurance that we can generate income from the smart campus solutions line of business, or that any income that we achieve can be sustained.

We provide our smart campus solutions to a limited number of universities, and if we are not able to continue to secure agreements with some or all of these universities, or secure new agreements with other universities, our results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, we provided our smart campus solutions to 18, 14 and 35 universities, respectively, for hardware and software build-out, equipment procurement and installment services. However, one or more of these universities may decide to terminate their agreements with us for reasons such as dissatisfaction of our services, a change of programs or curriculum, hiring of in-house tech support personnel, or simply not to choose us as their service provider after a project is completely. If any of these situations occur, we cannot assure you that we will be able to timely secure other service agreements with other universities, if at all, and therefore, our results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

Our reputation in the job readiness training market relies heavily upon the student-employees trained by us remaining in their respective positions and performing in a satisfactory manner, which is not within our control. If these student-employees are not able to stay in their respective positions for a reasonable amount of time or are consistently not able to meet the employers’ criteria, our reputation in the job readiness training market may suffer.

While our job readiness training services are highly tailored in order to train the student-employees to meet the specific requirements of our contracted employers, there may be situations not within our control which may lead to a student-employee’s leaving his/her position before the end of required length of services. Such situations may include a student-employee’s voluntary resignation without good reason or his/her violation of the employer’s internal guidelines and rules. Although such situations are not within our control, our reputation may be damaged if similar situations occur repeatedly.

We experienced net loss in the fiscal year 2021 and prior to that, we had experienced growth in our business. We expect to continue to invest in our operations for the foreseeable future. If we fail to turn profitable in the future, the success of our business model will be compromised.

We experienced net loss in the fiscal year 2021 and prior to that, we had experienced growth in our business, primarily driven by the diversifying of our core business while leveraging our network of trusted schools. Our net loss was $1.2 million for fiscal year 2021, compared to net income of $1.2 million for fiscal year 2020 and net income of $437,904 for fiscal year 2019. Our net revenues grew by 9.3% to RMB36.3 million ($5.3 million) in 2019, but decreased by 4.4% to RMB34.6 million ($5.0 million) in 2020 and decreased by 22.2% to RMB25.2 million ($3.9 million) in 2021.

Any business growth may place a significant strain on our sales and marketing capacities, administrative and operating infrastructure, facilities and other resources. To effectively manage additional challenges brought in by the global spread of COVID-19 and turn profitable, we need to continue to acquire more partnering Sino-foreign programs or institutes, enroll more students, increase our academic and administrative faculty, expand our customer base for technical support services, as well as further developing and strengthening our software and systems. We will also be required to refine our operational, financial and management controls and reporting systems and procedures. If we fail to efficiently expand our business, our costs and expenses may increase more than anticipated and we may not successfully attract a sufficient number of students and qualified academic and administrative faculty in a cost-effective manner, respond to competitive challenges, or otherwise execute our business plans. In addition, we may, as part of carrying out our growth strategies, adopt new initiatives to offer additional course packages and educational content and to implement new pricing models and strategies. We cannot assure you that these initiatives may achieve the anticipated results. These proposed changes may not be well received by our existing and prospective students, in which case their experience with our education services may suffer, which could damage our reputation and business prospect.

Our ability to effectively implement our strategies will depend on a number of factors, including our ability to: (i) effectively market our products and services to potential partners and students with sufficient growth potential; (ii) develop and improve educational content to appeal to existing and prospective partners and students; (iii) maintain and increase our student enrollments; (iv) effectively recruit, train and motivate a large number of new employees, including our faculty members, foreign teachers and sales and marketing personnel; (v) successfully implement enhancements and improvements to our software and systems; (vi) continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls and efficiencies; (vii) protect and further develop our intellectual property rights; and (viii) make sound business decisions in light of the scrutiny associated with operating as a public company. These activities require significant capital expenditures and investment of valuable management and financial resources, and our growth will continue to place significant demands on our management. There are no guarantees that we will be able to effectively grow our business in an efficient, cost-effective and timely manner, or at all. Our growth in a relatively short period of time is not necessarily indicative of results that we may achieve in the future. If we do not effectively grow our business and operations, our reputation, results of operations and overall business and prospects could be negatively impacted.

If we are unable to conduct sales and marketing activities cost-effectively, our results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

We rely heavily on our sales and marketing efforts to increase student enrollment. Our sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of employee salaries and student enrollment. We incurred approximately $593,215, $229,656 and $152,759, respectively, in selling expenses in 2019, 2020 and 2021. We expect our selling expenses to increase in the future if we further expand our operations.

Our sales and marketing activities may not be well received by the market and may not result in the levels of sales that we anticipate. We also may not be able to retain or recruit a sufficient number of experienced sales and marketing personnel, or to train newly hired sales and marketing personnel, which we believe is critical to implementing our sales and marketing strategies cost-effectively. Further, sales and marketing approaches and tools in China’s private education market are evolving rapidly. This requires us to continually enhance our sales and marketing approaches and experiment with new methods to keep pace with industry developments and student preferences.

Failure to engage in sales and marketing activities in a cost-effective manner may reduce our market share, cause our revenues and gross billings to decline, negatively impact our profitability, and materially harm our business, financial condition and results of operation.

Our failure to obtain and maintain approval and permit related to publishing and selling our textbooks could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial conditions and results of operations.

Pursuant to PRC laws and regulations related to publication, the publication and sale of our textbooks require government approval and permit, even though we limit the use of our textbooks to students enrolled under some of our Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs. We have not applied for such government approval or permit. Although we are a course provider printing and distributing our own teaching materials at a small scale without obtaining any permit for publication and distribution, and although as of the date of this annual report, we have not been subject to any fines or other form of regulatory or administrative penalties or sanctions due to the lack of any the above-mentioned approvals or permits, we cannot guarantee that the government authorities will not impose any penalties or sanctions on us in the future for any incompliance in the past, which may include fines, mandates to remedy any violations, confiscation of the gains derived from the services for which approval or permit is required, an order to cease to provide such services and/or criminal liabilities, in which case, we could be subject to operational disruption and our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

We have a limited history of operating some of our business lines.

We have been operating the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs since 2011. However, we have only been offering one-on-one consulting services and technological consulting services for smart campus solutions since 2017, and tailored job readiness training services since late 2019. Our limited history of operating part or all of our business may not serve as an adequate basis for evaluating our future prospects and operating results, including gross billings, net revenue, cash flows and profitability.

We may not be able to continue to recruit, train and retain a sufficient number of qualified faculty members.

Our faculty members are key to the quality of our educational services, as well as our brand and reputation. Our ability to continue to attract faculty members with the necessary experience and qualifications is a key driver in the success of our business. We seek to recruit qualified faculty members who are dedicated to teaching and are able to stay up-to-date with ever-changing teaching methods and approaches.

Additionally, given that our services are provided to students with goals to study abroad, we tend to hire teachers with strong education background and qualifications. The market for the recruitment of faculty members in the PRC is competitive. In order to attract and recruit talents, we must provide candidates with competitive compensation packages and offer attractive career development opportunities. Although we have not experienced major difficulties in recruiting or training qualified teachers in the past, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to continue to recruit, train and retain a sufficient number of qualified faculty members in the future as we continue to expand our business, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our failure to obtain and maintain permit related to human resources services could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial conditions and results of operations.

Pursuant to the Interim Regulations on Human Resources Market, effective as of October 1, 2018, any for-profit human resources service provider shall obtain approval from the administrative department of human resources and social security to conduct human resources services. We recommend foreign teachers based on certain standards found in our agreements with partner universities or programs. We recommended three foreign teachers in 2016, three foreign teachers in 2017 and one foreign teacher in 2018, which may subject us to the qualification requirements of a human resources services provider. However, we have ceased to recommend new foreign teachers since 2019. Besides, as of the date of this annual report, we have not been subject to any fines or other form of regulatory or administrative penalties or sanctions due to the lack of such approval or permit. Nevertheless, due to the broad provisions and discretionary implementation of the PRC laws, we cannot guarantee that the government authorities will not impose any penalties or sanctions on us in the future for any incompliance in the past, which may include fines, mandates to remedy any violations, confiscation of the gains derived from the services for which approval or permit is required, and/or an order to cease to provide such services, in which case, we could be subject to operational disruption and our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Failure to adequately and promptly respond to changes in the exams our students must take or in the requirements our students must meet to pursue their desired degrees or schools could cause our education services to be less attractive to our students.

There have been continuous changes in the curriculum requirements associated with, and the format of, the exams our existing and prospective students must take to pursue their desired degrees or schools, the manner in which the exams are administered, topics frequently tested in the exams, as well as the materials and documents students must submit for admission. These changes require us to continually update and enhance our course offerings, our educational and consultancy content and our teaching methods. Any inability to track and respond to these changes in a timely and cost-effective manner would make our education services less attractive to students, which may materially and adversely affect our reputation and ability to continue to attract students without a significant decrease in our tuition.

Delays or failures in responding to issues raised by end users of our SaaS platform could harm our operations.

Our proprietary SaaS platform offers comprehensive smart campus solutions, including teaching, student affairs, human resources, office and financial management. The performance and reliability of our SaaS platform used by management, teachers and students is critical to our operations and reputation. We rely on our end users to promptly give us feedback regarding their user experience as well as any issues in connection with such platforms. However, there may be delay in feedback from these end users, or delay or failure on our end to address such issues. These could damage our reputation, decrease end user satisfaction, negatively impact our current coopering relationships, adversely impact our ability to attract new partners, and materially disrupt our operations. If any of these occur, our business operations, reputation and prospects could be harmed.

Our business depends on the continued success of our brand “China Liberal,” and if we fail to maintain and enhance recognition of our brand, we may face difficulty enrolling new students, and our reputation and operating results may be harmed.

We believe that market awareness of our brand “China Liberal” has contributed significantly to the success of our business. Maintaining and enhancing our brand are critical to our efforts to grow our business. Failure to maintain and enhance our brand recognition could have a material and adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. We have devoted significant resources to our brand promotion efforts in recent years, but we cannot assure you that these efforts will be successful. If we are unable to further enhance our brand recognition, or if we incur excessive marketing and promotion expenses, or if our brand image is negatively impacted by any negative publicity, our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

If we fail to effectively identify, pursue and consummate strategic alliances or acquisitions, our ability to grow and to achieve profitability could be impacted.

We may from time to time engage in evaluations of, and discussions with, possible domestic and international acquisition or alliance candidates. We may not be able to identify suitable strategic alliances or acquisition opportunities, complete such transactions on commercially favorable terms, or successfully integrate business operations, infrastructure and management philosophies of acquired businesses and companies. There may be particular complexities, regulatory or otherwise, associated with our expansion into new markets, and our strategies may not succeed beyond our current markets. If we are unable to effectively address these challenges, our ability to execute acquisitions as a component of our long-term strategy will be impaired, which could have an adverse effect on our growth.

We face intense competition in our industry, which could divert students to our competitors, lead to pricing pressure and loss of market share, and significantly reduce our gross billings and net revenues.

China’s education market targeting students going overseas is intensely competitive. We compete with other Chinese education service providers engaged in Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs and overseas study consultancy, for student enrollments and acquisition, high-quality academic and administrative faculty, and sales and marketing personnel, among other things. Some of our current and future competitors may have substantially greater name recognition and financial and other resources than we do, which may enable them to compete more effectively for potential students and decrease our market share. We also expect to face competition as a result of new entrants particularly those who provide consultancy services targeting art students.

We may not be able to compete successfully against current or future competitors and may face competitive pressures that could adversely affect our business or results of operations. The increasingly competitive landscape may also result in longer and more complex sales cycles with a prospective student or a decrease in our market share, any of which could negatively affect our gross billings and net revenues and our ability to grow our business.

We rely heavily on Aliyun, a cloud-based server provider to provide server service to us. Any interruption to such service could significantly disrupt our operations.

A vast majority of our data, codes and solutions is stored on the cloud-based service platform, Aliyun, we subscribe to. Although the use of such service is perceived to have lower risks than a conventional physical server, we may still face risks such as closure or discontinuity of services without adequate notice, financial difficulties (such as bankruptcy) faced by the server provider or their contractor(s), or any system vulnerability or security risk that are not timely fixed by Aliyun, which may have negative effects on our business, the nature and extent of which are difficult to predict.

Privacy concerns could limit our ability to collect and leverage our user data and disclosure of user data could adversely impact our business and reputation.

In the ordinary course of our business and in particular in connection with the technological consulting services provided under smart campus solutions, we collect and utilize data supplied by our users. We may face legal obligations regarding the manner in which we treat such information. Increased regulation of data utilization practices, including self-regulation or findings under existing laws that limit our ability to collect, transfer, integrate and use data, could have an adverse effect on our business. Failure to comply with these obligations could subject us to liability, and to the extent that we need to alter our business model or practices to adapt to these obligations, we could incur additional expenses.

Our success depends on the continuing efforts of our senior management team and other key employees.

We depend on the continued contributions of our senior management and other key employees. The loss of the services of any of our senior management or other key employees could harm our business. Competition for qualified talents in the PRC is intense. If one or more of our senior management or other key employees are unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, we may not be able to find replacements in a timely manner, or at all, and our business may be disrupted. Moreover, if any member of our senior management team or any of our other key personnel joins a competitor or forms or invests in a competing business, we may lose student enrollment, qualified teaching faculty members and other key sales and marketing personnel to our competitors. Our future success is also dependent on our ability to attract a significant number of qualified employees and retain existing key employees. If we are unable to do so, our business and growth may be materially and adversely affected. Our need to significantly increase the number of our qualified employees and retain key employees may cause us to materially increase compensation-related costs, including share-based compensation.

We may from time to time be subject to infringement claims relating to intellectual properties of third parties.

We cannot assure you that our course offerings, educational contents, textbooks, software and platforms do not or will not infringe upon copyrights or other intellectual property rights held by third parties. We may encounter disputes from time to time over rights and obligations concerning intellectual properties, and we may not prevail in those disputes.

We have adopted policies and procedures to prohibit our users, students and employees from infringing upon third-party copyright or intellectual property rights. However, we cannot ensure that they will not, against our policies, use third-party copyrighted materials or intellectual property without proper authorization. We may incur liability for unauthorized duplication or distribution of materials posted used in our classes or posted on our platforms. Any intellectual property infringement claim could result in costly litigation and divert our management attention and resources, which in turn could negatively affect our business, financial condition and prospect.

If we fail to protect our intellectual property rights, our brand and business may suffer.

We rely on a combination of copyright, trademark and trade secret laws and restrictions on disclosure to protect our intellectual property rights. Although we seek to obtain copyright or trademark protection for our intellectual property when applicable, it is possible that we may not be able to do so successfully or that the copyright or trademark we have obtained may not be sufficient to protect all of our intellectual property rights. In particular, we rely, to a significant extent, upon our educational content developed in-house, including textbooks and teaching materials, course syllabi and outlines, quiz banks, and teaching notes, to provide high-quality education services. Additionally, we have developed and will continue to develop and maintain our copyrighted software offered within our smart campus solution. Despite our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or duplicate our intellectual property or otherwise use our intellectual properties without obtaining our consent. For example, unauthorized third parties may use our “China Liberal” brand to operate similar businesses, or to make illegal copies of our textbooks and teacher materials for market resale. Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly, and we cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will effectively prevent misappropriation of our intellectual properties. If we are not successful in protecting our intellectual property rights, our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

Our end users may engage in intentional or negligent misconduct or other improper activities or misuse our software and systems, which could harm our brand and reputation.

We are exposed to the risk of fraud or other misconduct committed by the end users of our software and systems. The PRC laws governing the fair use of these third-party materials are imprecise and adjudicated on a case-by-case basis, which makes it challenging for us to adopt and implement policies governing these practices. We could, as a result, incur liability to third parties for the unauthorized duplication, distribution or other use of these materials. Any such claims could subject us to costly litigation and impose a significant strain on our financial resources and attention of management personnel regardless of whether the claims have merit. Additionally, we may be required to alter or cease our uses of such materials, which may include changing or removing content from courses or altering the functionality of our platform, or to pay monetary damages. Fraud or other misconduct by our students, employees or third parties may also involve engaging in unauthorized misrepresentation to our potential students and misappropriating third-party intellectual property and other propitiatory rights during marketing activities, misusing sensitive personal information of our students, and engaging in bribery or other unlawful payments, any of which could result in customer complaints, regulatory and legal liabilities, as well as serious harm to our brand and reputation.

If we fail to implement and maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may be unable to accurately or timely report our results of operations or prevent fraud, and investor confidence and the market price of our Ordinary Shares may be materially and adversely affected.

We are subject to reporting obligations under the U.S. securities laws. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, adopted rules requiring every public company to include a management report on such company’s internal control over financial reporting in its annual report, which contains management’s assessment of the effectiveness of the company’s internal control over financial reporting. In addition, an independent registered public accounting firm may audit and report on the effectiveness of a public company’s internal control over financial reporting except where the public company is a non-accelerated filer. We are currently a non-accelerated filer.

Our independent registered public accounting firm is currently not required to conduct an audit of our internal control over financial reporting. In the course of auditing our consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2021, we and our independent registered public accounting firm identified five material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and other control deficiencies as of December 31, 2021. A “material weakness” is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

The material weaknesses identified to date relate to (i) a lack of accounting staff and resources with appropriate knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) and SEC reporting and compliance requirements; (ii) a lack of sufficient documented financial closing policies and procedures; (iii) lack of risk assessment in accordance with the requirement of COSO 2013 framework; (iv) a lack of an effective review process by the accounting manager which led to material audit adjustments to the financial statements and (v) lack of communications between management and the Board of Directors with respect to approval for significant related party transactions. A management assessment in accordance with the COSO framework may yield additional material weaknesses and control deficiencies.

In connection with our completion of initial public offering (“IPO”) in 2020, we already appointed independent directors and established an audit committee to increase the monitoring of our internal control over financial reporting. For the remaining material weaknesses identified, we further took the following remedial measures during the year ended December 31,2021, and we plan to continue adopting these remedial measures during the year ending December 31, 2022, including (i) hiring more qualified accounting personnel with relevant U.S. GAAP and SEC reporting experience and qualifications to strengthen the financial reporting function and to set up a financial and system control framework; and (ii) implementing regular and continuous U.S. GAAP accounting and financial reporting training programs for our accounting and financial reporting personnel.

The implementation of these measures may not fully address the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. Any failure to correct theses material weaknesses or any failure to discover and address any other material weaknesses could result in inaccuracies in our financial statements and could also impair our ability to comply with applicable financial reporting requirements and related regulatory filings on a timely basis. As a result, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, as well as the trading price of our Ordinary Shares, may be materially and adversely affected. Moreover, ineffective internal control over financial reporting significantly hinders our ability to prevent fraud.

We are a public company in the United States subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or Section 404, requires that we include a report from management on our internal control over financial reporting in this annual report on Form 20-F. In addition, once we cease to be an “emerging growth company” as such term is defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, or the JOBS Act, our independent registered public accounting firm may be required attest to and report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, depending on whether we will be an accelerated filer. In addition, as a public company, our reporting obligations may place a significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources and systems for the foreseeable future. We may be unable to timely complete our evaluation testing and any required remediation.

During the course of documenting and testing our internal control procedures, in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404, we may identify additional or other weaknesses and deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, if we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, as these standards are modified, supplemented or amended from time to time, we may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404. Generally speaking, if we fail to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment, we could suffer material misstatements in our financial statements and fail to meet our reporting obligations, which would likely cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information. This could in turn limit our access to capital markets, harm our results of operations and lead to a decline in the trading price of our Ordinary Shares. 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.

For more information regarding our internal controls, please see “Item 15. Controls and Procedures.”

Failure to qualify for or obtain any preferential tax treatments that are available in China could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

The modified Enterprise Income Tax Law, effective on February 24, 2017, or the EIT Law, and its implementation rules generally impose a uniform income tax rate of 25% on all enterprises, but grant preferential treatment to “high and new technology enterprises strongly supported by the state,” or HNTEs, to enjoy a preferential enterprise tax rate of 15%. China Liberal Beijing is currently accredited as an HNTE. According to the relevant administrative measures, to qualify as an “HNTE,” China Liberal Beijing must meet certain financial and non-financial criteria and complete verification procedures with the administrative authorities. Continued qualification as an HNTE is subject to a three-year review by the relevant government authorities in China, and in practice certain local tax authorities also require annual evaluation of the qualification. In the event that China Liberal Beijing fails to obtain accreditation as HNTE or does not complete the verification procedures with the local tax authorities, it will be subject to the standard PRC enterprise income tax rate of 25%.

We incur increased costs as a result of being a public company, particularly after we cease to qualify as an “emerging growth company.”

We are a public company and expect to incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as rules subsequently implemented by the SEC and the Nasdaq, impose various requirements on the corporate governance practices of public companies. As a company with less than US$1.07 billion in revenues for our last fiscal year, we qualify as an “emerging growth company” pursuant to the JOBS Act. An emerging growth company may take advantage of specified reduced reporting and other requirements that are otherwise applicable generally to public companies. These provisions include exemption from the auditor attestation requirement under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or Section 404, in the assessment of the emerging growth company’s internal control over financial reporting. The JOBS Act also permits an emerging growth company to delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies.

After we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” we will likely incur additional expenses and devote substantial management effort toward ensuring compliance with the requirements of Section 404 and the other rules and regulations of the SEC. As a result of becoming a public company, we will need to increase the number of independent directors and adopt policies regarding internal controls and disclosure controls and procedures. We also expect that operating as a public company will make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. In addition, we will incur additional costs associated with our public company reporting requirements. It may also be more difficult for us to find qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or as executive officers. We are currently evaluating and monitoring developments with respect to these rules and regulations, and we cannot predict or estimate with any degree of certainty the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs.

We have in the past granted, and may continue to grant share incentives, which may result in increased 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. In December 2021, we granted a total of 1,500,000 Ordinary Shares as awards to certain employees and directors of our Company under our 2021 Share Incentive Plan. We may continue to grant share-based awards in the future. As a result, we incurred expenses associated with share-based compensation, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

Increases in labor costs in the PRC may adversely affect our business and results of operations.

The currently effective PRC Labor Contract Law was first adopted on June 29, 2007 and later amended on December 28, 2012. The PRC Labor Contract Law has reinforced the protection of employees who, under the PRC Labor Contract Law, have the right, among others, to have written employment contracts, to enter into employment contracts with no fixed term under certain circumstances, to receive overtime wages and to terminate or alter terms in labor contracts. Furthermore, the PRC Labor Contract Law sets forth additional restrictions and increases the costs involved with dismissing employees. To the extent that we need to significantly reduce our workforce, the PRC Labor Contract Law could adversely affect our ability to do so in a timely and cost-effective manner, and our results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, for employees whose employment contracts include noncompetition terms, the PRC Labor Contract Law requires us to pay monthly compensation after such employment is terminated, which will increase our operating expenses.

In addition, we are required by PRC laws and regulations to maintain social insurance registration and open housing fund accounts with the relevant governmental authorities and pay for 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 those employers who fail to make adequate payments may be subject to late payment fees, fines and/or other penalties. If we fail to make adequate social insurance and housing fund contributions, we may be subject to fines and legal sanctions, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. We expect that our labor costs, including wages and employee benefits, will continue to increase. Unless we are able to pass on these increased labor costs to our customers by increasing the prices of our products and services, our financial conditions and results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.

We currently do not have any business insurance coverage.

Insurance companies in China currently do not offer as extensive an array of insurance products as insurance companies in more developed economies. Currently, we do not have any business liability or disruption insurance to cover our operations. We have determined that the costs of insuring for these risks and the difficulties associated with acquiring such insurance on commercially reasonable terms make it impractical for us to have such insurance. As a result, we do not have any liability, business interruption, litigation or property insurance coverage for our operations in China. Any uninsured business disruptions may result in our incurring substantial costs and the diversion of resources, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

In the event we are presented with business combination opportunities, we may be unable to complete such transactions efficiently or on favorable terms due to complicated merger and acquisition regulations and certain other PRC regulations.

On August 8, 2006, six PRC regulatory authorities, including the Ministry of Commerce, or MOFCOM, the State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, State Administration of Taxation, or SAT, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, China Securities Regulatory Commission, or CSRC, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, jointly issued the Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors (the “M&A Rules”), which became effective on September 8, 2006 and were amended in June 2009. The M&A Rules, governing the approval process by which foreign investors merge with PRC business entities or acquire PRC assets and/or equity interests in PRC business entities, require the PRC parties to make a series of applications and supplemental applications to PRC government authorities, depending on the structure of the transaction. In some instances, the application process may require presentation of economic data concerning a transaction, including appraisal of the target business and evaluation of the acquirer, which are designed to allow the government to assess the transaction. Accordingly, due to the M&A Rules, our ability to engage in cross-border business combination transactions has become significantly more complicated, time-consuming and expensive, and we may not be able to negotiate a transaction that is acceptable to our shareholders or sufficiently protect their interests in such transaction.

The M&A Rules allow PRC government agencies to assess the economic terms of a business combination transaction. Parties to a business combination transaction may have to submit to MOFCOM and other relevant government agencies an appraisal report, an evaluation report and the acquisition agreement, all of which form part of the application for approval, depending on the structure of the transaction. The M&A Rules also prohibit a transaction at an acquisition price obviously lower than the appraised value of the PRC business or assets in order to prevent disguised transfer of capital from China to foreign countries, and in certain structures, among others, in the structures where foreign investors merge with Chinese enterprises and establish foreign-invested enterprises, require that considerations must be paid within defined periods, generally not in excess of a year after the business license of the foreign-invested enterprise has been issued. In addition, the M&A Rules also limit our ability to negotiate various terms of the acquisition, including aspects of the initial consideration, contingent consideration, holdback provisions, indemnification provisions and provisions relating to the assumption and allocation of assets and liabilities. Transaction structures involving trusts, nominees and similar entities are prohibited. Moreover, the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People’s Republic of China, effective as of August 1, 2008, and relevant implementation rules require that the MOC be notified in advance of any of concentrations of undertaking if certain turnover thresholds are triggered. Besides, Notice of the General Office of the State Council on the Establishment of the Security Review System for Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors, issued on February 3, 2011 and became effective on March 3, 2011 establishes a security review system for merger and acquisition of domestic companies by foreign investors. These security review rules 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 MOC, and the rules prohibit any activities attempting to bypass a security review, including by structuring the transaction through a proxy or contractual control arrangement. Therefore, such regulation may impede our ability to negotiate and complete a business combination transaction on legal and/or financial terms that satisfy our investors and protect our shareholders’ economic interests.

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 currently in effect, the Companies Act (Revised) of the Cayman Islands, and the common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of shareholders to take action against our directors, actions by our minority shareholders and the fiduciary duties of our directors 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. Decisions of the Privy Council (which is the final Court of Appeal for British overseas territories such as the Cayman Islands) are binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. Decisions of the English courts, and particularly the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal are generally of persuasive authority but are not binding in the courts of the Cayman Islands. Decisions of courts in other Commonwealth jurisdictions are similarly of persuasive but not binding authority. 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 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.

You may be unable to present proposals before annual general meetings or extraordinary general meetings not called by shareholders.

Cayman Islands law provides shareholders with only limited rights to convene a general meeting, and does not provide shareholders with any right to put any proposal before a general meeting. However, these rights may be provided for in a company’s articles of association. Our articles of association allow our shareholders holding shares representing in aggregate not less than two-thirds in par value of the issued shares which as at that date carry the right to vote at a general meeting, to convene a general meeting of our shareholders, in which case our directors are obliged to call such meeting. Advance notice of at least ten clear days is required for the convening of our general meetings. A quorum required for a meeting of shareholders consists of shareholders present or by proxy or, in the case of a shareholder being a corporation, by its duly authorized representative, holding not less than an aggregate of one-third in nominal value of the total issued voting shares in the Company entitled to vote upon the business to be transacted.

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

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

The SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice and other U.S. authorities may also have difficulties in bringing and enforcing actions against us or our directors or executive officers in the PRC. The SEC has stated that there are significant legal and other obstacles to obtaining information needed for investigations or litigation in China. China has recently adopted a revised securities law that became effective on March 1, 2020, Article 177 of which provides, among other things, that no overseas securities regulator is allowed to directly conduct investigation or evidence collection activities within the territory of the PRC. Accordingly, without governmental approval in China, no entity or individual in China may provide documents and information relating to securities business activities to overseas regulators when it is under direct investigation or evidence discovery conducted by overseas regulators, which could present significant legal and other obstacles to obtaining information needed for investigations and litigation conducted outside of China.

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

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

Substantially all of our assets and operations are located in the PRC. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be influenced to a significant degree by political, economic and social conditions in the PRC generally. The Chinese economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including the level of government involvement, 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 the PRC 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 the PRC’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 past decades, growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. Any adverse changes in economic conditions in the PRC, in the policies of the Chinese government or in the laws and regulations in the PRC could have a material adverse effect on the overall economic growth of the PRC. 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 the PRC, which may adversely affect our business and operating results.

Recent statements by the Chinese government have indicated an intent to exert more oversight and control over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investments in China based issuers. Any future action by the Chinese government expanding the categories of industries and companies whose foreign securities offerings are subject to government review could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and could cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or be worthless.

Recently, the PRC government initiated a series of regulatory actions and made a number of public statements on the regulation of business operations in China with little advance notice, including cracking down on illegal activities in the securities market, enhancing supervision over China-based companies listed overseas using a variable interest entity structure, adopting new measures to extend the scope of cybersecurity reviews, and expanding efforts in anti-monopoly enforcement. Because these statements and regulatory actions are new, however, it is highly uncertain how soon legislative or administrative regulation making bodies in China will respond to them, or what existing or new laws or regulations will be modified or promulgated, if any, or the potential impact such modified or new laws and regulations will have on our daily business operations or our ability to accept foreign investments and list on an U.S. exchange.

The Chinese government exerts substantial influence over the manner in which we must conduct our business activities and may intervene or influence our operations at any time, which could result in a material change in our operations and the value of our Ordinary Shares.

The Chinese government has exercised and continues to exercise substantial control over virtually every sector of the Chinese economy through regulation and state ownership. Our ability to operate in China may be harmed by changes in its laws and regulations, including those relating to securities regulation, data protection, cybersecurity and mergers and acquisitions and other matters. The PRC central or local governments may impose new, stricter regulations or interpretations of existing regulations that would require additional expenditures and efforts on our part to ensure our compliance with such regulations or interpretations. The Chinese government may intervene or influence our operations at any time, which could result in a material change in our operations.

Government actions in the future could significantly affect economic conditions in China or particular regions thereof, and could require us to materially change our operating activities or divest ourselves of any interests we hold in Chinese assets. Our business may be subject to various government and regulatory interference. We may incur increased costs necessary to comply with existing and newly adopted laws and regulations or penalties for any failure to comply. Our operations could be adversely affected, directly or indirectly, by existing or future laws and regulations relating to our business or industry.

Given recent statements by the Chinese government indicating an intent to exert more oversight and control over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China-based issuers, any such action could result in a material change in the value of our Ordinary Shares, 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 be worthless.

Recently, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council jointly issued the Opinions on Severely Cracking Down on Illegal Securities Activities According to Law, or the Opinions, which were made available to the public on July 6, 2021. The Opinions emphasized the need to strengthen the administration over illegal securities activities, and the need to strengthen the supervision over overseas listings by Chinese companies. Effective measures, such as promoting the construction of relevant regulatory systems, will be taken to deal with the risks and incidents of China-concept overseas listed companies. As of the date of this annual report, we have not received any inquiry, notice, warning, or sanctions from PRC government authorities in connection with the Opinions. However, as the Opinions were recently issued, official guidance and interpretation of the Opinions remain unclear in several respects at this time. Therefore, we cannot assure you that we will remain fully compliant with all new regulatory requirements of the Opinions or any future implementation rules on a timely basis, or at all.

On June 10, 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, or the SCNPC, promulgated the PRC Data Security Law, which took effect in September 2021. The PRC Data Security Law imposes data security and privacy obligations on entities and individuals carrying out data activities, and introduces a data classification and hierarchical protection system based on the importance of data in economic and social development, and the degree of harm it will cause to national security, public interests, or legitimate rights and interests of individuals or organizations when such data is tampered with, destroyed, leaked, illegally acquired or used. The PRC Data Security Law also provides for a national security review procedure for data activities that may affect national security and imposes export restrictions on certain data an information. In early July 2021, regulatory authorities in China launched cybersecurity investigations with regard to several China-based companies that are listed in the United States. The Chinese cybersecurity regulator announced on July 2 that it had begun an investigation of Didi Global Inc. (NYSE: DIDI) and two days later ordered that the company’s app be removed from smartphone app stores. On July 5, 2021, the Chinese cybersecurity regulator launched the same investigation on two other Internet platforms, China’s Full Truck Alliance of Full Truck Alliance Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YMM) and Boss of KANZHUN LIMITED (Nasdaq: BZ).

On August 17, 2021, the State Council promulgated the Regulations on the Protection of the Security of Critical Information Infrastructure, or the Regulations, which took effect on September 1, 2021. The Regulations supplement and specify the provisions on the security of critical information infrastructure as stated in the Cybersecurity Review Measures. The Regulations provide, among others, that protection department of certain industry or sector shall notify the operator of the critical information infrastructure in time after the identification of certain critical information infrastructure.

On August 20, 2021, the SCNPC promulgated the Personal Information Protection Law of the PRC, or the Personal Information Protection Law, which will take effect in November 2021. As the first systematic and comprehensive law specifically for the protection of personal information in the PRC, the Personal Information Protection Law provides, among others, that (i) an individual’s consent shall be obtained to use sensitive personal information, such as biometric characteristics and individual location tracking, (ii) personal information operators using sensitive personal information shall notify individuals of the necessity of such use and impact on the individual’s rights, and (iii) where personal information operators reject an individual’s request to exercise his or her rights, the individual may file a lawsuit with a People’s Court.

On December 24, 2021, the CSRC released Provisions of the State Council on the Administration of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies (Draft for Comments, hereinafter referred to as the “Administration Provisions”), as well as Administrative Measures for the Filing of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies (Draft for Comments, hereinafter referred to as the “Measures”). According to the Administration Provisions and the Measures, overseas offering and listing refers to overseas offerings by domestic companies of equity shares, depository receipts, convertible corporate bonds, or other equity-like securities, and overseas listing of the securities for trading. Overseas offering and listing, which is specifically divided into direct overseas offerings and listing and indirect overseas offerings and listing, shall be filed in accordance with the Measures. We completed our initial public offering in May 2020 and our Ordinary Shares have been listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market ever since. According to the Administration Provisions and the Measures, as a domestic company that has completed its overseas listing, we believe that we are not required to file with the CSRC.

Furthermore, according to the Administration Provisions, an overseas offering and listing is prohibited under any of the following circumstances:(1) if the intended securities offering and listing falls under specific clauses in national laws and regulations and relevant provisions prohibiting such financing activities; (2) if the intended securities offering and listing in an overseas market may constitute a threat to or endanger national security, as reviewed and determined by competent authorities under the State Council in accordance with law; (3) if there are material ownership disputes over equity, major assets, and core technology, etc.; (4) if, in the past three years, the domestic company or its controlling shareholders and actual controllers have committed corruption, bribery, embezzlement, misappropriation of property, or other criminal offenses disruptive to the order of the socialist market economy; or are currently under judicial investigation for suspicion of criminal offenses or under investigation for suspicion of major violations; (5) if, in the past three years, the board directors, or any supervisors or senior executives have been subject to administrative punishment for severe violations, or are currently under judicial investigation for suspicion of criminal offenses or under investigation for suspicion of major violations of law; or (6) other circumstances prescribed by the State Council. As of the date of this prospectus, we do not fall under any of the abovementioned circumstances that might prohibit us from overseas offering and listing. However, there remains uncertainties as to how the Administration Provisions and the Measures will be interpreted or implemented, and whether they will affect us. If we inadvertently conclude that the Administration Provisions and the Measures do not apply to us, or applicable laws, regulations, or interpretations change and it is determined in the future that the Administration Provisions and the Measures become applicable to us, we may be subject to review when conducting data processing activities, and may face challenges in addressing its requirements and make necessary changes to our internal policies and practices. We may incur substantial costs in complying with the Administration Provisions and the Measures, which could result in material adverse changes in our business operations and financial position. If we are not able to fully comply with the Administration Provisions and the Measures, our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors may be significantly limited or completely hindered, and our Ordinary Shares may significantly decline in value or become worthless.

On December 28, 2021, the Cyberspace Administration of China (the “CAC”) and other relevant PRC governmental authorities jointly promulgated the Cybersecurity Review Measures, or the Cybersecurity Review Measures, which took effect on February 15, 2022 and replaced the original Cybersecurity Review Measures promulgated on April 13, 2020. Pursuant to the Cybersecurity Review Measures, if critical information infrastructure operators purchase network products and services, or network platform operators conduct data processing activities that affect or may affect national security, they will be subject to cybersecurity review. A network platform operator holding more than one million users/users’ individual information shall be subject to cybersecurity review before listing abroad. The cybersecurity review will evaluate, among others, the risk of critical information infrastructure, core data, important data, or a large amount of personal information being influenced, controlled or maliciously used by foreign governments after going public overseas. For details on the Cybersecurity Review Measures and the recent regulations and policies issued by the CAC, see “—Recent greater oversight by the CAC over data security, particularly for companies seeking to list on a foreign exchange, could adversely impact our business and our offering.” In the opinion of our PRC legal counsel, H&J Law Firm, our business operations do not currently involve the procurement of network products and services or data processing as network platform operators. H&J Law Firm, our PRC counsel, has advised us that the Cybersecurity Review Measures do not currently apply to our Company, and we are not required to conduct cybersecurity review. However, there remains uncertainties as to how the Cybersecurity Review Measures will be interpreted or implemented, and whether they will affect us. If we inadvertently conclude that the Cybersecurity Review Measures do not apply to us, or applicable laws, regulations, or interpretations change and it is determined in the future that Cybersecurity Review Measures become applicable to us, we may be subject to review when conducting data processing activities, and may face challenges in addressing its requirements and make necessary changes to our internal policies and practices. We may incur substantial costs in complying with the Cybersecurity Review Measures, which could result in material adverse changes in our business operations and financial position. If we are not able to fully comply with the Cybersecurity Review Measures, our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors may be significantly limited or completely hindered, and our Ordinary Shares may significantly decline in value or become worthless.

Given that the above-mentioned newly promulgated laws, regulations and policies were recently promulgated or issued, with a few not having taken effect yet, their interpretation, application and enforcement are subject to substantial uncertainties.

Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could 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 generally. The overall effect of legislation over the past three decades has significantly enhanced the protections afforded to various forms of foreign investments in the PRC. However, the PRC has not developed a fully integrated legal system, and recently enacted laws and regulations may not sufficiently cover all aspects of economic activities in the PRC. In particular, the interpretation and enforcement of these laws and regulations involve uncertainties. Since PRC administrative and court authorities have significant discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory provisions and contractual terms, it may be difficult to evaluate the outcome of administrative and court proceedings and the level of legal protection we enjoy. 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, these 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 any of these policies and rules until sometime after the violation. In addition, any administrative and court proceedings in the PRC may be protracted, resulting in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention.

New laws and regulations may be enacted from time to time and substantial uncertainties exist regarding the interpretation and implementation of current and any future PRC laws and regulations applicable to businesses of our subsidiaries. In particular, the PRC government authorities may continue to promulgate new laws, regulations, rules and guidelines governing companies in the education industry with respect to a wide range of issues, such as intellectual property, privacy and data protection, and other matters. Compliance with these laws, regulations, rules, guidelines, and implementations may be costly, and any incompliance or associated inquiries, investigations, and other governmental actions may divert significant management time and attention and our financial resources, bring negative publicity, subject us to liabilities or administrative penalties, or materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and the value of our Ordinary Shares. The enforcement of laws and rules and regulations in China may change quickly with little advance notice, which could hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer the securities, result in a material adverse change to the business operations of our subsidiaries, and damage our reputation. In such event, our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected, and our Ordinary Shares may significantly decline in value or become worthless.

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

We conduct substantially all of our operations in China, and substantially all of our assets are located in China. In addition, our chief financial officer, Mr. Wenhuai Zhuang resides within China for a significant portion of the time and is PRC national. As a result, it may be difficult for our shareholders to effect service of process upon us or those persons inside the PRC. In addition, the PRC does not have treaties providing for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments of courts with the Cayman Islands and many other countries and regions. Therefore, recognition and enforcement in the PRC of judgments of a court in any of these non-PRC jurisdictions in relation to any matter not subject to a binding arbitration provision may be difficult or impossible.

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

We rely principally on dividends and other distributions on equity from our PRC subsidiaries for our cash requirements, including for services of any debt we may incur.

Our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to distribute dividends is based upon their respective distributable earnings. Current PRC regulations permit our PRC subsidiaries to pay dividends to their respective shareholders only out of their accumulated profits, if any, as determined in accordance with the Accounting Standards for Business Enterprise as promulgated by the Ministry of Finance of the PRC, or PRC GAAP. Pursuant to the law applicable to China’s foreign investment enterprise, foreign investment enterprise in the PRC have to make appropriation from their after-tax profit, as determined under PRC GAAP, to reserve funds including (i) general reserve fund, (ii) enterprise expansion fund and (iii) staff bonus and welfare fund. The appropriation to the general reserve fund must be at least 10% of the after-tax profits calculated in accordance with PRC GAAP. Appropriation is not required if the reserve fund has reached 50% of the registered capital of our subsidiaries. Appropriation to the other two reserve funds is at our subsidiaries’ discretion. China Liberal Beijing, a Foreign Invested Enterprise, or FIE, is also required to further set aside a portion of its after-tax profits to fund the employee welfare fund, although the amount to be set aside, if any, is determined at its discretion. 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 EIT Law and its implementation rules provide that a withholding tax rate of up to 10% will be applicable to dividends payable by Chinese companies to non-PRC-resident enterprises unless otherwise exempted or reduced according to treaties or arrangements between the PRC central government and governments of other countries or regions where the non-PRC resident enterprises are incorporated.

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 the 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 industry and commerce 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 our PRC operating subsidiary. 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 significant corporate or legal actions, which could involve significant time and resources to resolve and divert management from our operations.

PRC regulation of loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies and governmental control of currency conversion may delay us from using the proceeds of our offerings to make loans or 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 funds we transfer to our PRC subsidiaries, either as shareholder loans or as increases in registered capital, are subject to approval by or registration with relevant governmental authorities in China. According to the relevant PRC regulations on foreign-invested enterprises, or FIEs, in China, capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries are subject to the approval of or filing with MOFCOM or its local branches and registration with a local bank authorized by SAFE. In addition, (i) any foreign loans procured by our PRC subsidiaries are required to be registered with SAFE or its local branches and (ii) a PRC subsidiary of ours may not procure foreign loans which exceed the difference between its total investment amount and registered capital, or 2.5 times of the amount of such PRC subsidiary’s net assets, whichever is larger. Such maximum amount of foreign loans that our PRC subsidiaries is allowed to procure, based on the audited net asset value of our PRC subsidiaries as of December 31, 2021, the most recent audited net asset value of our PRC subsidiaries available as of the date of this annual report, is RMB64.4 million (approximately $10.1 million). For more information on restrictions and limitations on the amount of loans, please see “Item 4. Information on the Company —B. Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations on Foreign Exchange—Regulations on loans to and direct investment in the PRC entities by offshore holding companies”. Any medium or long-term loan to be provided by us to our PRC subsidiaries must be registered with the NDRC and the SAFE or their local branches. We may not be able to complete such registrations on a timely basis, with respect to future capital contributions or foreign loans by us to our PRC subsidiaries. If we fail to complete such registrations, our ability to use the proceeds of our future offerings 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.

On March 30, 2015, the SAFE promulgated the Circular on Reforming the Management Approach Regarding the Foreign Exchange Capital Settlement of Foreign-Invested Enterprises, or SAFE Circular 19, which took effect as of June 1, 2015. SAFE Circular 19 launched a nationwide reform of the administration of the settlement of the foreign exchange capitals of FIEs and 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 capital for expenditure beyond their business scopes, providing entrusted loans or repaying loans between nonfinancial enterprises. The SAFE issued the Circular on Reforming and Regulating Policies on the Control over Foreign Exchange Settlement of Capital Accounts, or SAFE Circular 16, effective in June 2016. Pursuant to SAFE Circular 16, enterprises registered in China may also convert their foreign debts from foreign currency to Renminbi on a self-discretionary basis. SAFE Circular 16 provides an integrated standard for conversion of foreign exchange under capital account items (including but not limited to foreign currency capital and foreign debts) on a self-discretionary basis which applies to all enterprises registered in China. SAFE Circular 16 reiterates the principle that Renminbi converted from foreign currency-denominated capital of a company may not be directly or indirectly used for purposes beyond its business scope or prohibited by PRC laws or regulations, while such converted Renminbi shall not be provided as loans to its non-affiliated entities. As this circular is relatively new, there remains uncertainty as to its interpretation and application and any other future foreign exchange related rules. Violations of these Circulars could result in severe monetary or other penalties. SAFE Circular 19 and SAFE Circular 16 may significantly limit our ability to use Renminbi converted from the net proceeds of our offerings to fund our PRC subsidiaries, to invest in or acquire any other PRC companies through our PRC subsidiaries, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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 is affected by, among other things, changes in China’s political and economic conditions and China’s foreign exchange policies. The conversion of Renminbi into foreign currencies, including U.S. dollars, has been based on exchange rates set by the People’s Bank of China. On July 21, 2005, the PRC government changed its decade-old policy of pegging the value of the Renminbi solely 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, however, this appreciation halted and the Renminbi was traded within a narrow range against the U.S. dollar. Between July 2010 and November 2015, the Renminbi fluctuated against the U.S. dollar, at times significantly and unpredictably. On November 30, 2015, the Executive Board of 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 effective 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 depreciated significantly in the backdrop of a surging U.S. dollar and persistent capital outflows from China. This depreciation halted in 2017, and the RMB appreciated approximately 7% against the U.S. dollar during this one-year period. Since February 2018, the RMB has depreciated significantly, over 8% against the U.S. dollar. Since June 2010, the RMB has fluctuated against the U.S. dollar, at times significantly and unpredictably. With the development of the foreign exchange market and progress towards interest rate liberalization and Renminbi internationalization, the PRC government may announce further changes to the exchange rate system in the future, 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, PRC or U.S. government policies 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 future offerings 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 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. Fluctuations in exchange rates, primarily those involving the U.S. dollar, may affect the relative purchasing power of any proceeds we receive from our future offerings. In addition, appreciation or depreciation in the value of the Renminbi relative to the U.S. dollar would affect our financial results reported in U.S. dollar terms without giving effect to any underlying change in our business or results of operations. Fluctuations in the exchange rate will also affect the relative value of earnings from and the value of any U.S. dollar-denominated investments we make in the future.

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, if 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 currencies. As a result, fluctuations in exchange rates may have a material adverse effect on your investment.

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

Under the PRC EIT Law and its implementation rules, an enterprise established outside of the PRC with its “de facto management body” within the PRC is considered a “resident enterprise” and will be subject to the enterprise income tax on its global income at the rate of 25%. The implementation rules define the term “de facto management body” as the body that exercises full and substantial control and overall management over the business, productions, personnel, accounts and properties of an enterprise. In 2009, SAT issued the Notice of the State Administration of Taxation on Issues Concerning the Determination of Chinese-Controlled Enterprises Registered Overseas as Resident Enterprises on the Basis of Their Bodies of Actual Management, known as SAT Notice 82, which provides certain specific criteria for determining whether the “de facto management body” of a PRC-controlled enterprise that is incorporated offshore is located in China. Although this circular only applies to offshore enterprises controlled by PRC enterprises or PRC enterprise groups, not those controlled by PRC individuals or foreigners, the criteria set forth in the circular may reflect the SAT’s general position on how the “de facto management body” text should be applied in determining the tax resident status of all offshore enterprises. According to SAT Notice 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, 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 our company is not a PRC resident enterprise for PRC tax purposes. However, the tax resident status of an enterprise is subject to determination by the PRC tax authorities and uncertainties remain with respect to the interpretation of the term “de facto management body.” If the PRC tax authorities determine that our company is a PRC resident enterprise for enterprise income tax purposes, we will be subject to PRC enterprise income on our worldwide income at the rate of 25%. Furthermore, we may be required to withhold a 10% withholding tax from dividends we pay to our shareholders that are non-resident enterprises. In addition, non-resident enterprise shareholders may be subject to PRC tax on gains realized on the sale or other disposition of 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 and any gain realized on the transfer of 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). 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 Ordinary Shares.

There are significant uncertainties under the EIT Law relating to the withholding tax liabilities of China Liberal Beijing, and dividends payable by China Liberal Beijing to our offshore subsidiaries may not qualify to enjoy certain treaty benefits.

Under the PRC EIT Law and its implementation rules, the profits of a foreign invested enterprise generated through operations, which are distributed to its immediate holding company outside the PRC, will be subject to a withholding tax rate of 10%. Pursuant to a special arrangement between Hong Kong and the PRC, this rate may be reduced to 5% if a Hong Kong resident enterprise owns more than 25% of the equity interest in the PRC company. China Liberal Beijing is wholly-owned by our Hong Kong subsidiary. Moreover, under the Notice of the State Administration of Taxation on Issues regarding the Administration of the Dividend Provision in Tax Treaties promulgated on February 20, 2009, the tax payer needs to satisfy certain conditions to enjoy the benefits under a tax treaty. The beneficial owner of the relevant dividends and the corporate shareholder to receive dividends from China Liberal Beijing must have continuously met the direct ownership thresholds during the 12 consecutive months preceding the receipt of the dividends. Further, the State Administration of Taxation promulgated the Announcement on Issues Concerning “Beneficial Owners” in Tax Treaties in February 2018, which stipulates that a “beneficial owner” means a person who owns and has the right to dispose of the income and the rights or property generated from the said income, and sets forth certain detailed factors in determining the “beneficial owner” status. In current practice, a Hong Kong enterprise must obtain a tax resident certificate from the relevant Hong Kong tax authority to apply for the 5% lower PRC withholding tax rate. As the Hong Kong tax authority will issue such a tax resident certificate on a case-by-case basis, we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain the tax resident certificate from the relevant Hong Kong tax authority. As of the date of this annual report, we have not commenced the application process for a Hong Kong tax resident certificate from the relevant Hong Kong tax authority, and there is no assurance that we will be granted such a Hong Kong tax resident certificate.

Even after we obtain the Hong Kong tax resident certificate, we are required by applicable tax laws and regulations to file the required forms and materials with the relevant PRC tax authorities to prove that we can enjoy 5% lower PRC withholding tax rate. Boya Hong Kong intends to obtain the required materials and file with the relevant tax authorities when it plans to declare and pay dividends, but there is no assurance that the PRC tax authorities will approve the 5% withholding tax rate on dividends received from Boya Hong Kong.

Regulations relating to offshore investment activities by PRC residents may limit our ability to acquire PRC companies and could adversely affect our business.

In July 2014, SAFE promulgated the Circular on Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Administration Over the Overseas Investment and Financing and Roundtrip Investment by Domestic Residents Via Special Purpose Vehicles, or “Circular 37,” which replaced Relevant Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Control on Domestic Residents’ Corporate Financing and Roundtrip Investment through Offshore Special Purpose Vehicles, or “Circular 75.” Circular 37 requires PRC residents to register with local branches of the SAFE in connection with their direct establishment or indirect control of an offshore entity, referred to in Circular 37 as a “special purpose vehicle” for the purpose of holding domestic or offshore assets or interests. Circular 37 further requires amendment to a PRC resident’s registration in the event of any significant changes with respect to the special purpose vehicle, such as an increase or decrease in the capital contributed by PRC individuals, share transfer or exchange, merger, division, or other material event. Under these regulations, PRC residents’ failure to comply with specified registration procedures may result in restrictions being imposed on the foreign exchange activities of the relevant PRC entity, including the payment of dividends and other distributions to its offshore parent, as well as restrictions on capital inflows from the offshore entity to the PRC entity, including restrictions on its ability to contribute additional capital to its PRC subsidiaries. Further, failure to comply with the SAFE registration requirements could result in penalties under PRC law for evasion of foreign exchange regulations.

We have requested PRC residents holding direct or indirect interest in our Company to our knowledge to make the necessary applications, filings and amendments as required by applicable foreign exchange regulations. However, due to the inherent uncertainty in the implementation of the regulatory requirements by PRC authorities, such registration might not be always practically available in all circumstances as prescribed in those regulations. Additionally, we may not always be able to compel our ultimate shareholders who are PRC residents to comply with SAFE Circular 37 or other related regulations. As such, we cannot assure you that our ultimate shareholders who are PRC residents will in the future provide sufficient supporting documents required by the SAFE or complete the required registration with the SAFE in a timely manner, or at all. Any failure by any of our shareholders who is a PRC resident, or is controlled by a PRC resident, to comply with relevant requirements under these regulations could subject us to fines or sanctions imposed by the PRC government, including restrictions on WFOE’s ability to pay dividends or make distributions to us and on our ability to increase our investment in WFOE.

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

On February 3, 2015, the SAT issued the Public Notice Regarding Certain Corporate Income Tax Matters on Indirect Transfer of Properties by Non-Tax Resident Enterprises, or SAT Bulletin 7. SAT Bulletin 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 Bulletin 7 has introduced safe harbors for internal group restructurings and the purchase and sale of equity through a public securities market. SAT Bulletin 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 SAT issued the Announcement of the State Administration of Taxation on Issues Concerning the Withholding of Non-resident Enterprise Income Tax at Source, or SAT Bulletin 37, which came into effect on December 1, 2017 and was amended in 2018. The SAT Bulletin 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 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 investments. Our Company may be subject to filing obligations or taxed if our company is a transferor in such transactions, and may be subject to withholding obligations if our Company is a transferee in such transactions, under SAT Bulletin 7 and/or SAT Bulletin 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 Bulletin 7 and/or SAT Bulletin 37. As a result, we may be required to expend valuable resources to comply with SAT Bulletin 7 and/or SAT Bulletin 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.

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.

Recent joint statement by the SEC and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, rule changes by Nasdaq, and the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act all call for additional and more stringent criteria to be applied to emerging market companies upon assessing the qualification of their auditors, especially the non-U.S. auditors who are not inspected by the PCAOB. These developments could add uncertainties to our continued listing or future offerings of our securities in the U.S.

On April 21, 2020, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton and PCAOB Chairman William D. Duhnke III, along with other senior SEC staff, released a joint statement highlighting the risks associated with investing in companies based in or have substantial operations in emerging markets including China. The joint statement emphasized the risks associated with lack of access for the PCAOB to inspect auditors and audit work papers in China and higher risks of fraud in emerging markets.

On May 18, 2020, Nasdaq filed three proposals with the SEC to (i) apply minimum offering size requirement for companies primarily operating in “Restrictive Market,” (ii) adopt a new requirement relating to the qualification of management or board of director for Restrictive Market companies, and (iii) apply additional and more stringent criteria to an applicant or listed company based on the qualifications of the company’s auditors.

On May 20, 2020, the U.S. Senate passed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act requiring a foreign company to certify it is not owned or controlled by a foreign government if the PCAOB is unable to audit specified reports because the company uses a foreign auditor not subject to PCAOB inspection. If the PCAOB is unable to inspect the company’s auditors for three consecutive years, the issuer’s securities are prohibited to trade on a national exchange. On December 2, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. On December 18, 2020, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act was signed into law.

On March 24, 2021, the SEC adopted interim final rules relating to the implementation of certain disclosure and documentation requirements of the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act.

On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act which, if passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and signed into law, would reduce the number of consecutive non-inspection years required for triggering the prohibitions under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act from three years to two, and thus reducing the time before our Ordinary Shares may be prohibited from trading or delisted.

On September 22, 2021, the PCAOB adopted a final rule implementing the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which provides a framework for the PCAOB to use when determining, as contemplated under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, whether the board of directors of a company is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms located in a foreign jurisdiction because of a position taken by one or more authorities in that jurisdiction.

On October 4, 2021, the SEC approved Nasdaq’s revised proposal for the rule changes.

On December 2, 2021, the SEC adopted amendments to finalize rules implementing the submission and disclosure requirements in the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. The rules apply to registrants that the SEC identifies as having filed an annual report with an audit report issued by a registered public accounting firm that is located in a foreign jurisdiction and that PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a position taken by an authority in foreign jurisdictions.

On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a report on its determinations that it is unable to inspect or investigate completely PCAOB-registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and in Hong Kong because of positions taken by PRC and Hong Kong authorities in those jurisdictions.

The lack of access to the PCAOB inspection in China prevents the PCAOB from fully evaluating audits and quality control procedures of the auditors based in China. As a result, the investors may be 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 these accounting firms’ 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 to lose confidence in the audit procedures and reported financial information and the quality of the financial statements of those companies who have China-based auditors.

Our auditor, Audit Alliance LLP, is an independent registered public accounting firm with the PCAOB, and as an auditor of publicly traded companies in the U.S., is subject to laws in the U.S. pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess its compliance with the applicable professional standards. On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued its determination that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely PCAOB-registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and in Hong Kong, because of positions taken by PRC authorities in those jurisdictions, and the PCAOB included in the report of its determination a list of the accounting firms that are headquartered in the PRC or Hong Kong. This list does not include our auditor, Audit Alliance LLP. However, the recent developments would add uncertainties to our offering and we cannot assure you whether Nasdaq or regulatory authorities would apply additional and more stringent criteria to us since we are an emerging growth company and the majority of our operations are conducted in China. Furthermore, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which requires that the PCAOB be permitted to inspect an issuer’s public accounting firm within three years, may result in the delisting of our Company in the future if the PCAOB is unable to inspect our accounting firm at such future time. The Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, if passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and signed into law, would reduce the period of time for foreign companies to comply with PCAOB audits to two consecutive years instead of three, thus reducing the time period for triggering the prohibition on trading.

Recent greater oversight by the CAC over data security, particularly for companies seeking to list on a foreign exchange, could adversely impact our business and our offering.

On December 28, 2021, the CAC and other relevant PRC governmental authorities jointly promulgated the Cybersecurity Review Measures, which became effective on February 15, 2022. The Cybersecurity Review Measures provide that, in addition to critical information infrastructure operators (“CIIOs”) that intend to purchase Internet products and services, net platform operators engaging in data processing activities that affect or may affect national security must be subject to cybersecurity review by the Review Office of the PRC. According to the Cybersecurity Review Measures, a cybersecurity review assesses potential national security risks that may be brought about by any procurement, data processing, or overseas listing. The Cybersecurity Review Measures require that an online platform operator which possesses the personal information of at least one million users must apply for a cybersecurity review by the CAC if it intends to be listed in foreign countries.

On November 14, 2021, the CAC published the Draft Regulations on the Network Data Security Administration (Draft for Comments) (the “Security Administration Draft”), which provides that data processing operators engaging in data processing activities that affect or may affect national security must be subject to network data security review by the relevant Cyberspace Administration of the PRC. According to the Security Administration Draft, data processing operators who possess personal data of at least one million users or collect data that affects or may affect national security must be subject to network data security review by the relevant Cyberspace Administration of the PRC. The deadline for public comments on the Security Administration Draft was December 13, 2021.

As of the date of this annual report, we have not received any notice from any authorities identifying the PRC subsidiaries as CIIOs or requiring us to go through cybersecurity review or network data security review by the CAC. According to the Cybersecurity Review Measures, and if the Security Administration Draft is enacted as proposed, we believe that the operations of the PRC subsidiaries and our continued listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market will not be affected and that we will not be subject to cybersecurity review by the CAC, given that the PRC subsidiaries possess personal data of fewer than one million individual clients and do not collect data that affects or may affect national security in their business operations as of the date of this annual report and do not anticipate that they will be collecting over one million users’ personal information or data that affects or may affect national security in the near future. Additionally, we believe that we are compliant with the regulations and policies that have been issued by the CAC to date. There remains uncertainty, however, as to how the Cybersecurity Review Measures and the Security Administration Draft will be interpreted or implemented and whether the PRC regulatory agencies, including the CAC, may adopt new laws, regulations, rules, or detailed implementation and interpretation related to the Cybersecurity Review Measures and the Security Administration Draft. If any such new laws, regulations, rules, or implementation and interpretation come into effect, we will take all reasonable measures and actions to comply and to minimize the adverse effect of such laws on us. We cannot guarantee, however, that we will not be subject to cybersecurity review and network data security review in the future. During such reviews, we may be required to suspend our operation or experience other disruptions to our operations. Cybersecurity review and network data security review could also result in negative publicity with respect to our Company and diversion of our managerial and financial resources, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial conditions, and results of operations.

Risks Related to the Trading Market

The trading price of our Ordinary Shares is likely to be volatile, which could result in substantial losses to investors.

The trading price of our Ordinary Shares is likely to be volatile and could fluctuate widely due to factors beyond our control. This may happen because of broad market and industry factors, 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 our Ordinary Shares may be highly volatile for factors specific to our own operations and our industry, including the following:

Any of these factors may result in large and sudden changes in the volume and price at which our Ordinary Shares 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. If we were to be involved in a class action suit, it 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 research or reports about our business, or if they adversely change their recommendations regarding the Ordinary Shares, the market price for the Ordinary Shares and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our Ordinary Shares will be influenced by research or reports that industry or securities analysts publish about our business. If industry or securities analysts decide to cover us and in the future downgrade our Ordinary Shares, the market price for our Ordinary Shares 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 our Ordinary Shares to decline.

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

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

Techniques employed by short sellers may drive down the market price of our Ordinary Shares.

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 arrange for the publication of, negative opinions 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.

Public companies that have substantially all of their operations in the PRC have been the subject of short selling. Much of the scrutiny and negative publicity has centered on allegations of a lack of effective internal control over financial reporting resulting in financial and accounting irregularities and mistakes, inadequate corporate governance policies or a lack of adherence thereto and, in many cases, allegations of fraud. As a result, many of these companies are now conducting internal and external investigations into the allegations and, in the interim, are subject to shareholder lawsuits and/or SEC enforcement actions.

It is not clear what effect such negative publicity could have on us. 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 law or issues of commercial confidentiality. Such a situation could be costly and time-consuming, and could distract our management from growing our business. Even if such allegations are ultimately proven to be groundless, allegations against us could severely impact our business operations, and any investment in our Ordinary Shares could be greatly reduced or even rendered worthless.

Because we do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future, you must rely on a price appreciation of our Ordinary Shares 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 our Ordinary Shares as a source for any future dividend income.

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

We are an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act and may take advantage of certain reduced reporting requirements.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from requirements applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including, most significantly, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 for so long as we remain an emerging growth company. As a result, if we elect not to comply with such auditor attestation requirements, our investors may not have access to certain information they may deem important.

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

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

We are required to file an annual report on Form 20-F within four months of the end of each fiscal year. In addition, we intend to publish our results on a quarterly basis as press releases, distributed pursuant to the rules and regulations of Nasdaq. 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.

Because we are a foreign private issuer and are exempt from certain Nasdaq corporate governance standards applicable to U.S. issuers, you will have less protection than you would have if we were a domestic issuer.

Nasdaq Listing Rules require listed companies to have, among other things, a majority of its board members be independent. As a foreign private issuer, however, we are permitted to, and we may, follow home country practice in lieu of the above requirements, or we may choose to comply with the Nasdaq requirement within one year of listing. The corporate governance practice in our home country, the Cayman Islands, does not require a majority of our board to consist of independent directors. Since a majority of our board of directors may not consist of independent directors, fewer board members may be exercising independent judgment and the level of board oversight on the management of our company may decrease as a result. In addition, the Nasdaq listing rules also require U.S. domestic issuers to have a compensation committee, a nominating/corporate governance committee composed entirely of independent directors, and an audit committee with a minimum of three members. We, as a foreign private issuer, are not subject to these requirements. The Nasdaq listing rules may require shareholder approval for certain corporate matters, such as requiring that shareholders be given the opportunity to vote on all equity compensation plans and material revisions to those plans, certain ordinary share issuances. We intend to comply with the requirements of Nasdaq Listing Rules in determining whether shareholder approval is required on such matters and to appoint a nominating and corporate governance committee. However, we may consider following home country practice in lieu of the requirements under Nasdaq listing rules with respect to certain corporate governance standards which may afford less protection to investors.

As a foreign private issuer, we are permitted to adopt certain home country practices in relation to corporate governance matters that differ significantly from the Nasdaq Capital Market corporate governance listing standards. These practices may afford less protection to shareholders than they would enjoy if we complied fully with corporate governance listing standards.

As a foreign private issuer, we are permitted to take advantage of certain provisions in the Nasdaq Capital Market listing rules that allow us to follow Cayman Islands law for certain governance matters. Certain corporate governance practices in the Cayman Islands may differ significantly from corporate governance listing standards as, except for general fiduciary duties and duties of care, Cayman Islands law has no corporate governance regime which prescribes specific corporate governance standards. We may follow Cayman Islands corporate governance practices in lieu of the corporate governance requirements of the Nasdaq Capital Market in respect of the following. For instance, Cayman law does not require that we obtain shareholder approval to issue 20% or more of our outstanding Ordinary Shares in a private offering nor we make our interim results available to shareholders, although as a Nasdaq listed company, we are required to publicly file interim results for the first six months of our fiscal year. Therefore, our shareholders may be afforded less protection than they otherwise would have under corporate governance listing standards applicable to U.S. domestic issuers. For more information regarding our corporate governance, please see “Item 16.G. Corporate Governance.”

If we are classified as a passive foreign investment company, United States taxpayers who own our Ordinary Shares may have adverse United States federal income tax consequences.

A non-U.S. corporation such as ourselves will be classified as a passive foreign investment company, which is known as a PFIC, for any taxable year if, for such year, either

Passive income generally includes dividends, interest, rents and royalties (other than rents or royalties derived from the active conduct of a trade or business) and gains from the disposition of passive assets.

If we are determined to be a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. taxpayer who holds our Ordinary Shares, the U.S. taxpayer may be subject to increased U.S. federal income tax liability and may be subject to additional reporting requirements.

Because our PFIC status for 2022 or any future taxable year could depend on market conditions, which have been and may continue to be unstable, we cannot express an expectation as to our PFIC status for any such year. If more than 50% of our assets are assets which produce passive income, in which case we would be deemed a PFIC, which could have adverse US federal income tax consequences for US taxpayers who are shareholders. We will make this determination following the end of any particular tax year.

ITEM 4. INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY

A. History and Development of the Company

Corporate History and Structure

We are not a Chinese operating company but an offshore holding company incorporated in the Cayman Islands. As a holding company with no material operations of our own, our operations are conducted in China through our wholly owned PRC subsidiaries, China Liberal Beijing and China Liberal Fujian. This structure involves unique risks to investors. Chinese regulatory authorities could disallow this structure, which would likely result in a material change in our operations and/or a material change in the value of our Ordinary Shares, including that it could cause the value of our Ordinary Shares to significantly decline or become worthless. See “— D. Risk Factors — Risks Related to Doing Business in China — Changes in China’s economic, political, or social conditions or government policies could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations.”

We directly hold 100% of the equity interests in our subsidiaries, and we do not currently use a variable interest entity (“VIE”) structure. Our Ordinary Shares are the shares of the offshore holding company in the Cayman Islands, instead of shares of our operating companies in China. Therefore, holders of our Ordinary Shares do not directly hold any equity interests in our operating companies and investors are purchasing an interest in the Cayman Islands holding company.

Through China Liberal Beijing, we commenced our operations in August 2011.

China Liberal Education Holdings Limited, or China Liberal, was incorporated in the Cayman Islands on February 25, 2019.

On July 8, 2019, our shareholders approved a stock split of our outstanding Ordinary Shares at a ratio of 1,000-for-1. All references to Ordinary Shares, options to purchase Ordinary Shares, share data, per share data, and related information have been retroactively adjusted, where applicable, in this annual report to reflect the split of our Ordinary Shares as if it had occurred at the beginning of the earlier period presented.

On July 15, 2019, our sole director approved a share issuance increasing our Ordinary Shares by 3,999,000 to 5,000,000.

We directly hold 100% of the equity interests of Yi Xin International Investment Limited, a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (“Yi Xin BVI”), which in turn holds 100% of China Boya Education Group Co., Limited, a Hong Kong limited liability company (“Boya Hong Kong”). Boya Hong Kong originally held 91.1772% of the equity interests of China Liberal Beijing, our PRC operating entity. On February 1, 2019, Boya Hong Kong entered into share transfer agreements with each of the non-controlling shareholders of China Liberal Beijing and completed the acquisition of the 8.8228% non-controlling interest in China Liberal Beijing. After these transactions, Boya Hong Kong owns 100% of China Liberal Beijing.

On May 8, 2020, our Ordinary Shares commenced trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “CLEU.” We raised approximately US$4.8 million in net proceeds from our initial public offering after deducting underwriting commissions and the offering expenses.

On April 19, 2021, we closed our self-underwritten public offering of 6,000,000 Ordinary Shares at the purchase price of $5.00 per share. We raised a total of $30 million gross proceeds through this self-underwritten public offering, before deducting offering-related expenses. Net proceeds from this offering amounted to approximately $29.2 million.

On April 19, 2021, China Liberal Beijing established a wholly owned subsidiary, Fujian China Liberal Education Technology Group Co., Ltd.

The following diagram illustrates our corporate structure as of the date of this annual report:

We face legal and operational risks associated with having a substantial majority of our operations in China. The PRC government has significant authority to exert influence on the ability of a China-based company, such as us, to conduct its business. Therefore, investors of our Company and our business face potential uncertainty from the PRC government. Changes in China’s economic, political or social conditions or government policies could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations. These risks could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our Ordinary Shares or could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or be worthless. In particular, recent statements and regulatory actions by China’s government, such as those related to the use of variable interest entities and data security or anti-monopoly concerns, as well as the PCAOB’s ability to inspect our auditors, may impact our Company’s ability to conduct our business, accept foreign investments, or continue being listed on a U.S. or other foreign stock exchange. For details, see “— D. Risk Factors — Risks Related to Doing Business in China.”

Permissions Required from PRC Authorities

China Liberal Beijing is required to obtain, and has obtained, its business license for its operations in China. The business operations of China Liberal Beijing is within the scope of its business license. Currently, we and our subsidiaries are not required to obtain any other license or approval for our operations in China.

We believe that we and our subsidiaries have obtained all material licenses and approvals necessary to operate in China and are not required to obtain approval from any PRC government authorities, including the CSRC, the CAC, or any other government entity, to issue of Ordinary Shares to foreign investors. Under the Cybersecurity Review Measures, if critical information infrastructure operators purchase network products and services, or network platform operators conduct data processing activities that affect or may affect national security, they will be subject to cybersecurity review. A network platform operator holding more than one million users/users’ individual information shall be subject to cybersecurity review before listing abroad. In the opinion of our PRC legal counsel, H&J Law Firm, our business operations do not currently involve the procurement of network products and services or data processing as network platform operators. H&J Law Firm has further advised us that the Cybersecurity Review Measures do not currently apply to our Company, and we are not required to conduct cybersecurity review. Additionally, we believe that, as a domestic company that has completed its overseas listing in May 2020, we are not required to file with the CSRC in accordance with the Administration Provisions and the Measures. See “— D. Risk Factors — Risks Related to Doing Business in China — The Chinese government exerts substantial influence over the manner in which we must conduct our business activities and may intervene or influence our operations at any time, which could result in a material change in our operations and the value of our Ordinary Shares.”

Since the recent regulatory actions are new, however, it is highly uncertain how soon legislative or administrative regulation making bodies will respond and what existing or new laws or regulations or detailed implementations and interpretations will be modified or promulgated, if any, and the potential impact such modified or new laws and regulations will have on our daily business operation, ability to accept foreign investments, and listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market. If we do not receive or maintain the approvals, or we inadvertently conclude that such approvals are not required, or applicable laws, regulations, or interpretations change such that we are required to obtain approval in the future, we may be subject to an investigation by competent regulators, fines or penalties, ordered to suspend our relevant business and rectify, prohibited from engaging in relevant business, or subject to an order prohibiting us from conducting an offering, and these risks could result in a material adverse change in our operations, significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to continue to offer securities to investors, or cause such securities to significantly decline in value or become worthless. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China— The Chinese government exerts substantial influence over the manner in which we must conduct our business activities and may intervene or influence our operations at any time, which could result in a material change in our operations and the value of our Ordinary Shares.”

Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act

Trading in our securities may be prohibited under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act if the PCAOB determines that it cannot inspect the workpapers prepared by our auditor, and that as a result an exchange may determine to delist our securities. On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which, if passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and signed into law, would reduce the period of time for foreign companies to comply with PCAOB audits to two consecutive years instead of three, thus reducing the time period for triggering the prohibition on trading. On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a report on its determination that it is unable to inspect or investigate completely PCAOB-registered public accounting firms headquartered in China and in Hong Kong because of positions taken by PRC and Hong Kong authorities in those jurisdictions. Our auditor, the independent registered public accounting firm that issues the audit report included elsewhere in this annual report, as an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the U.S. and a firm registered with the PCAOB, is headquartered in Singapore and subject to laws in the U.S., pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess its compliance with the applicable professional standards. Our auditor is not subject to the determination issued by the PCAOB on December 16, 2021. See “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors — Risks Related to Doing Business in China — Recent joint statement by the SEC and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, rule changes by Nasdaq, and the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act all call for additional and more stringent criteria to be applied to emerging market companies upon assessing the qualification of their auditors, especially the non-U.S. auditors who are not inspected by the PCAOB. These developments could add uncertainties to our continued listing or future offerings of our securities in the U.S.”

Restrictions on Foreign Exchange and the Ability to Transfer Cash Between Entities, Across Borders and to U.S. Investors

The PRC government imposes controls on the convertibility of Renminbi into foreign currencies and, in certain cases, the remittance of currency out of China. The majority of our income is received in Renminbi and shortages in foreign currencies may restrict our ability to pay dividends or other payments, or otherwise satisfy our foreign currency denominated obligations, if any. Under existing PRC foreign exchange regulations, payments of current account items, including profit distributions, interest payments and expenditures from trade-related transactions, can be made in foreign currencies without prior approval from SAFE, as long as certain procedural requirements are met. Approval from appropriate government authorities is required if Renminbi is converted into foreign currency and remitted out of China to pay capital expenses such as the repayment of loans denominated in foreign currencies. The PRC government may, at its discretion, impose restrictions on access to foreign currencies for current account transactions and if this occurs in the future, we may not be able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to our shareholders.

Relevant PRC laws and regulations permit the PRC companies to pay dividends only out of their retained earnings, if any, as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. Additionally, our PRC subsidiaries can only distribute dividends upon approval of the shareholders after they have met the PRC requirements for appropriation to the statutory reserves. As a result of these and other restrictions under the PRC laws and regulations, our PRC subsidiaries are restricted to transfer a portion of their net assets to us either in the form of dividends, loans or advances. Even though we currently does not require any such dividends, loans or advances from the PRC subsidiaries for working capital and other funding purposes, we may in the future require additional cash resources from our PRC subsidiaries due to changes in business conditions or to fund future acquisitions and developments.

Cash Transfers Through Our Organization and Dividend Policy

As of the date of this annual report, there has been no actual cash flow or transfer of other assets between China Liberal Education Holdings Limited, our holding company, and its subsidiaries.

The following diagram illustrates the manner of cash flows in a hypothetical scenario within our Company:

As of the date of this annual report, we have not declared any dividends or made any distributions to our shareholders or U.S. investors. For details, see our consolidated financial statements and their related notes included elsewhere in this annual report. Our board of directors has complete discretion on whether to distribute dividends, subject to applicable laws. We do not have any current plan to declare or pay any cash dividends on our Ordinary Shares in the foreseeable future. See “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors — Risks Related to the Trading Market—Because we do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future, you must rely on a price appreciation of our Ordinary Shares for a return on your investment.” Subject to certain contractual, legal and regulatory restrictions, cash and capital contributions may be transferred among our Cayman Islands holding company and our subsidiaries. U.S. investors will not be subject to Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, or Hong Kong taxation on dividend distributions, and no withholding will be required on the payment of dividends or distributions to them, while they may be subject to U.S. federal income tax for receiving dividends, to the extent that the distribution is paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. See “Item 10, Additional Information — E. Taxation.” Additionally, a withholding tax rate of 10% on dividends may be payable by our PRC subsidiaries to their non-PRC enterprise shareholders. See “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors — Risk Related to Doing Business in China — We may rely on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our PRC subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have, and any limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to make payments to us could have a material and adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business.”

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. A PRC subsidiary of our is required to set aside 10% of its after-tax profits to fund a statutory reserve until such reserve reaches 50% of its registered capital if it distributes its after-tax profits for the current financial year. For details, see “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors — Risk Relating to Doing Business in China — 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.” In addition, cash transfers from our Cayman Islands holding company are subject to applicable PRC laws and regulations on loans and direct investment. For details, see “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors — Risk Related to Doing Business in China — We may rely on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our PRC subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have, and any limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to make payments to us could have a material and adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business.”

In addition, the PRC government imposes controls on the convertibility of the Renminbi into foreign currencies and, in certain cases, the remittance of currency out of China. We receive substantially all of our revenues in Renminbi. Under our current corporate structure, we may rely on dividend payments from our PRC subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have. Under existing PRC foreign exchange regulations, payments of current account items, including profit distributions, interest payments and trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions, can be made in foreign currencies without prior approval of SAFE by complying with certain procedural requirements. However, approval from or registration with appropriate government authorities is required where Renminbi is to be converted into foreign currency and remitted out of China to pay capital expenses such as the repayment of loans denominated in foreign currencies. As a result, we need to obtain SAFE approval to use cash generated from the operations of our PRC subsidiaries 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. If the foreign exchange control system prevents us from obtaining sufficient foreign currencies to satisfy our foreign currency demands, we may not be able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to our shareholders, including holders of our Ordinary Shares. See “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors — Risk Related to Doing Business in China — PRC regulation of loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies and governmental control of currency conversion may delay us from using the proceeds of our offerings to make loans or additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.” Therefore, to the extent that cash is located in the PRC or within a PRC domiciled entity and may need to be used to fund operations outside of the PRC, the funds may not be available due to limitations placed to us by the PRC government.

Corporate Information

Our principal executive office is located at Room 1618, Zhongguangcun MOOC Times Building, 18 Zhongguangcun Street, Haidian District, Beijing, PRC. Our telephone at this address is +86-10-6597-8118. Our registered office in the Cayman Islands is located at c/o Campbells Corporate Services Limited, Floor 4, Willow House, Cricket Square, Grand Cayman, KY1-1104, Cayman Islands. We maintain a corporate website at http://www.chinaliberal.com. The information contained in our website is not a part of this annual report. We have appointed Cogency Global Inc., with its address at 122 East 42nd Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10168, to serve as our agent to receive service of process.

The SEC maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC using its EDGAR system.

See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—B. Liquidity and Capital Resources—Capital Expenditures” for a discussion of our capital expenditures.

B. Business Overview

Our business was impacted by COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and is expected to further impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. See “Item 3 Key Information —D. Risk Factors— Risks Related to Our Business — We face risks related to natural disasters, extreme weather conditions, health epidemics and other catastrophic incidents, which could significantly disrupt our operations” and “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—A. Operating Results—Impact of the COVID-19 on Our Performance and Financial Indicators.”

Overview

We are an exempted company with limited liability incorporated in the Cayman Islands on February 25, 2019. Through our operating companies China Liberal Beijing, incorporated in the PRC on August 10, 2011 and China Liberal Fujian, incorporated in the PRC on April 19, 2021, we are an educational service provider operating under the “China Liberal” brand in the PRC. Our mission is to provide China’s students with the tools to excel in a global environment. We strive to meet the needs of the ever-growing number of young talents in China.

We provide a wide variety of educational services and products intended to address the needs of our partnering schools and our students:

We started generating revenue in the year ended December 31, 2012 through our services provided under certain Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs. We continued to maintain and expand this core business throughout the years, giving us revenues of $2.5 million, $2.8 million and $2.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively, representing 47.3%, 55.2% and 68.5% of our net revenues for those respective years. A vast majority of these revenues derives from our two major partners, Fuzhou Melbourne Polytechnic, or FMP and Minjiang University.

Additionally, since starting our Overseas Study Consulting Services in 2017, this line of business has been a source of revenue. We generated $0.5 million, $0.1 million and $36,174 in revenues from our Overseas Study Consulting Services for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively, representing 10.0%, 2.6% and 0.9% of our total revenue of those respective years.

We also started generating revenues from our Technological Consulting Services for Smart Campus Solutions business in 2017, with revenues of $2.2 million, $2.0 million and $1.1 million, representing 42.4%, 39.7% and 27.1% of our net revenues for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Our Integration of Enterprises and Vocational Education business (tailored job readiness training services) only started generating revenue in the second half of 2019. In 2019, we generated de minimis revenue from this business line due to a limited number of students enrolled for our services. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 and 2021, we generated revenue of $76,400 and $137,772 from this business line, representing 1.5% and 3.5% of our net revenues in 2020 and 2021.

We started generating revenue from sales of our proprietary AI-Space products in 2021, with revenue of $36,824 from this business line in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. The AI-Space products are bundled with our Technological Consulting Services for Smart Campus Solutions business and revenue was recorded within revenues from our Technological Consulting Services for Smart Campus Solutions business.

We started our operations in Beijing where our headquarters are located. We established our first subsidiary in Fujian Province in 2021 and currently we have network in Fuzhou and Beijing, China.

Our Services and Products

We currently primarily generate revenue from providing the following services or products:

Services Provided under Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs

Background

Formal education in China is typically comprised of kindergarten, primary school, middle school, high school and some combination of vocational school, university, junior college, and graduate school. There are several key differences between studying at universities and junior colleges, including: (i) universities grant bachelor’s degrees to students graduating after 4 years of study, while junior colleges grant diplomas to students graduating after 3 years of study; and (ii) students enrolled in junior colleges typically obtain lower scores on the National College Entrance Examination open to most students graduating high school, and hence, are not able to meet the score threshold of a university. Nevertheless, students enrolled in junior colleges may have opportunities to transfer to a degree-based university or program, depending on the school they enroll in.

The chart below illustrates the main segments of China’s education system:

Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs refer to education programs offered by joint ventures of the PRC and foreign institutions. There are a large number of Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs in the PRC across all levels of education, primarily focused on undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as diploma and non-degree higher education, and a small amount of senior secondary education programs. The Sino-foreign joint educational institutions in China usually provide various kinds of programs, including languages, liberal arts and business.

Typically, the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs offer degree programs to their students in the form of “2+1”, “2+2”, “3+1” or “2.5+1+1”, which enable enrolled students to study at the Chinese host universities / colleges for the first two to three years (as applicable), and finish their remaining one or two years of academic studies at the overseas partner universities.

The Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs are unique in that the first two or three years at Chinese host universities / colleges allow students to increase their exposure to foreign textbooks and curriculums, improve their foreign language skills, and experience cross-cultural international education without leaving the country. This education model is attractive to Chinese students since they can enjoy the opportunity to study abroad within the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs without undergoing another lengthy admission process from a foreign university. Moreover, for students continuing their studies in a foreign country, they can benefit from their early exposure to the internationally recognized curriculum and learning environment.

Additionally, Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs are designed to be sufficiently flexible to meet the needs of students in different majors and with different personal goals. Students may choose to finish their remaining one or two years of academic studies at the overseas partner universities, or continue their studies with the same Chinese host universities / colleges until graduation. Students enrolled in the programs can earn academic credits from both the Chinese host universities and the overseas partner universities, and can receive both Chinese and foreign diplomas/certificates when they complete their studies.

Further, this arrangement affords lower costs to students as compared with conventional full-length studies for associate or undergraduate degrees overseas because the tuitions and living expenses are generally lower in China.

Our Services Provided under the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs

Under the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs, the Chinese host universities / colleges can utilize their existing administration ability, campus classrooms and facilities to recruit Chinese students into such programs, while leveraging the recognized name and reputation of the international partner universities.

These Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs are required to obtain Sino-foreign cooperation education permits from the appropriate level of education authorities of the PRC, depending on the level of degrees. Applications for these permits are submitted by the programs under their own names, and we, as a service provider, are not required to obtain permits separately.

Under the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs, we are responsible for one or more of the followings, depending on the terms of the agreements we have in connection with a specific program:

Typically, students pay to the Sino-foreign Joint Managed Academic Programs tuition fees ranging from RMB15,000 ($2,357) to RMB28,000 ($4,400) per student per academic school year. As a result of performing the above-mentioned services, we are entitled to receive approximately 12.5% to 50% of such student tuitions. The Chinese host universities / colleges collect tuition paid by enrolled students at the beginning of each academic school year in September, and our portion is usually remitted to us by the host universities/colleagues in November of the same year.

We have coordinated and actively engaged in providing services under several Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs. The following is a list of the programs we engaged in for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021. The NZTC Program had been terminated for the reasons discussed below and the only programs we currently operate are (i) FMP Australia English for Academic Purposes Program (“FMP EAP Program”), (ii) Fujian-Taiwan Universities English for Academic Purposes Program (“Fu-Tai EAP Program”), and (iii) Strait College International General Education Courses Program (“Strait IGEC Program”).

(i) FMP EAP Program

We started providing our EAP language training services to FMP since September 2011 (the “FMP EAP Program”). FMP offers various Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs (the “FMP-MP Joint Programs”) as a Sino-foreign joint education institute established between Chinese host FMP and Melbourne Polytechnic of Australia (“MP”) in Australia. FMP was formerly known as IEN College of Minjiang University, which later rebranded to Fuzhou Melbourne Polytechnic, or FMP, and became a standalone legal entity.

Students enrolled in the FMP-MP Joint Programs typically follow the “2.5+1+1” model, studying two years in FMP in the PRC, half a year language training in Australia language training school, one undergraduate year in MP to receive a bachelor’s degree and one more postgraduate year in MP to receive a master’s degree. Students who successfully follow this model will earn their diplomas from both FMP and MP upon graduation. For those students who choose not to further pursue the overseas education, they will stay with FMP for additional one year to complete the general courses education to satisfy a three-year junior college education requirement in order to obtain a diploma from FMP.

Students taking our language courses under the FMP EAP Program are typically those who have lower English proficiency and who would have difficulty in being admitted to a university overseas. However, these students benefit from the intensive English curriculum, receiving one year of Australia English for Academic Purposes, or EAP training from our teachers, with 448 class hours for their freshman year.

Pursuant to our currently effective EAP Agreement with FMP, which covers students in graduating classes from 2024 to 2028, we are responsible for designing curriculum meeting EAP English standards, recommending and managing EAP faculty, providing a mobile learning platform to students, providing a course preparation platform to teachers, and execution and performance of the curriculum we develop. Our educational services and responsibility only cover the first year of EAP training. Afterwards, we are not responsible for providing additional services to students, no matter whether they choose to continue to stay with FMP for one additional year for a diploma, or choose to pursue the overseas study in Australia for higher education.

Our EAP faculty under the FMP EAP Program consists of English teachers we recommend to FMP for recruitment from overseas and in the PRC. These teachers split their teaching responsibilities depending on the requirements and nature of a specific course. For example, a spoken English course is typically staffed with native English speakers, while a reading comprehension course is typically staffed with English teachers who speak Mandarin Chinese.

The average tuition fee that FMP charges to enrolled students is RMB9,000 ($1,414) per student for the school year. Since our services only cover the first year of EAP courses training, we receive RMB9,000 ($1,414) per student for the school year.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, there were 1,225 students enrolled in the FMP EAP Program. Since 2014, we have served a total of 4,686 students (including those enrolled in IEN College of Minjiang University before the institute’s rebranding).

(ii) Fu-Tai EAP Program

We provide Fu-Tai EAP Program in connection with the Fujian-Taiwan Universities Joint Talent Training Program (the “Joint Talent Program”), established in September 2011 between Chinese host Strait College of Minjiang University and Taiwan Chinese Culture University.

The Joint Talent Program follows the “3+1” dual campuses model. Students spend the first two years and the last year of their university studies at Strait College and their third year at Taiwan Chinese Culture University. At graduation, students receive a bachelor’s degree from Minjiang University and certificate of completion or academic credit certificate from Taiwan Chinese Culture University.

Students enrolled in the Joint Talent Program receive two years of EAP training from our teachers (even if they spend three years at Strait College). These students include those who major in business and art. Students in business majors receive 360 class hours of EAP training during their first two years, and art students receive 300 class hours. Each class typically accommodates 25 to 29 students. Upon completion, the targeted level of English proficiency for average students is CET4, i.e., PRC’s College English Test Band 4, the level required to be met upon graduating a four-year university; for some students, their targeted level of proficiency can be CET6 (the level required to be met upon graduating a master’s program) or 5.5 to 6.0 (from between modest user and competent user to competent user level) in IELTS.

Pursuant to our current EAP Agreement with Strait College, which covers students graduating from 2020 to 2024, we are responsible for designing the curriculum meeting EAP English standard, recommending and managing EAP faculty, providing a mobile learning platform to students, providing a course preparation platform to teachers, and execution and performance of the curriculum we develop.

Similar to our FMP EAP Program, our EAP faculty under the Fu-Tai EAP Program consists of English teachers we recommend to Strait College for recruitment from overseas and in the PRC. These teachers split their teaching responsibilities depending on the requirements and nature of a specific course.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, there had been 553 students enrolled in the Joint Talent Program. Since 2014, we have assisted 5,512 students.

We expect Fu-Tai EAP Program to discontinue after the expiration of our current EAP Agreement with Strait College.

(iii) Strait IGEC Program

The International General Education Courses (“IGEC”) program is a Sino-foreign joint education program developed and introduced by the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (“CSCSE”), a public organization under the MOE of the PRC, in order to improve the overall reform and internationalization of PRC’s higher education. As a nationwide program, it is designed to encourage the exchange of teachers and students and the recognition of academic credits and degrees between Chinese and foreign universities. Currently there are four universities that are qualified to offer IGEC programs and we work with one of them. These participating universities have to undergo the review and approval of experts designated by CSCSE every year.

The Strait IGEC Program was launched in July 2013. Students enrolled in this program typically follow the “2+2” model which requires them to study at Chinese host Strait College for at least the first two years. Following the initial two years term, students may choose to finish their remaining two years’ academic study overseas. Students in the “2+2” model under the Strait IGEC Program can transfer their academic credits to a partner school overseas, and upon graduation, will receive bachelor’s degrees from both Strait College of Minjiang University and the foreign university. Other students may choose the “4+0” model and spend the entire four years studying at Strait College, upon which they would receive an undergraduate degree from the Chinese host Strait College of Minjiang University. For those students who choose the “4+0” model, our educational services and responsibility cover the whole four-year period.

We are responsible for offering 14 courses, including six English courses, four general knowledge courses and four major-related courses. All of these courses are provided by us and taught in English by the faculty we recommend to the program.

For the six English courses, we are responsible for designing the English intensive courses, providing the entire curriculum and teaching materials (including those for IELTS), and assisting in organizing and training the English teaching faculty, consisting of English teachers recruited from overseas and in the PRC. These six English courses are provided to students during their freshman and sophomore years, and include College Academic English Writing 1 (the general education course as required by an IGEC program), English Phonetics, Spoken English 1, Spoken English 2, Spoken English 3 and Spoken English 4. These English courses are based on English for General Purposes or everyday English, with focuses and directed by EAP, under the framework of English for Specific Purposes (a student’s major).

Students under the Strait IGEC Program are also required to complete four general knowledge courses provided by us. Depending on a student’s major, these courses can fall into categories including academic language and thinking, science, art and human science, and social studies.

The major-related courses we offer under the Strait IGEC Program are developed by adopting the major-specific curriculum systems offered at universities in the U.S. and are taught with English textbooks used by U.S. universities, with goals of strengthening academic foundations but focusing on application of knowledge. Currently, the involved majors include Economics and Accounting.

Under the Strait IGEC Program, we are responsible for promotion of the program, recruitment of students, staffing and management of foreign language teachers, and ensuring students to be connected with appropriate foreign universities in North America or Europe for the second half of their four-year studies for the “2+2” students.

The Strait IGEC Program is governed by an agreement originally signed between the Company and IEN College of Minjiang University in July 2013. After its rebranding efforts in 2017, IEN College began its operations under the name of Fuzhou Melbourne Polytechnic, or FMP and ceased to host the IGEC program, and Strait College of Minjiang University took over this agreement without modifications by an amendment to host our Strait IGEC Program. This agreement between the Company and Strait College is effective for ten years from July 8, 2013, and will be automatically renewed for another ten years if at the time of expiration Strait College is still cooperating with CSCSE to host the IGEC program going forward.

The average tuition fee that the Strait College charges to enrolled students is RMB28,000 ($4,400) per school year, and we receive 35%/40% of the tuition fee. The portion of tuition fees we receive from Strait College is RMB9,800 ($1,540) per student per school year for enrolled students for the first two years, and RMB11,200 ($1,760) per student per school year for enrolled students for the remaining two years.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, there had been 710 students enrolled in the Strait IGEC Program. Over the years, we have assisted an aggregate of 5,597 students.

Sales of textbooks and course materials

In connection with our educational services provided to students enrolled under the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs, we are responsible for recommending foreign faculty to teach in Chinese host universities / colleges, and are responsible for development and delivery of major course content and teaching materials to ensure that the teaching quality meets international standards. As of the date of this annual report, we have developed, edited, and published 12 English textbooks and course materials with emphasis on language training (including reading, writing, speaking and listening skills) and have distributed those to the Chinese host universities to be used in the joint education programs. We own the copyright to our textbooks.

Overseas Study Consulting Services

One-on-one Private Tutoring Model

Prior to 2020, we offered one-on-one private tutoring to students as part of our overseas study consulting services. Due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, we ceased to offer such services in 2020.

We started offering Overseas Study Consulting Services in 2017. Our Overseas Study Consulting Services catered to students who wished to study overseas to enrich their life learning experiences and to expand their horizons and employment options. Our Overseas Study Consulting Services were typically provided under a one-on-one private tutoring model with a duration of four to six months. Most of the students who accepted our services were interested in pursuing art major in foreign academic institutions. We established and maintained a working relationship with nearly 100 foreign academic institutions globally. We provided school and university information to our students to help them make informed decisions on the institutions to submit application to and majors to pursue. We sought to recommend the appropriate schools to our students based on their individual needs and situations.

In addition, we helped our students prepare their school application packages and advise on their entire admission process. We provided services to students with respect to study plans, language training and test preparation courses to assist them in improving their foreign language skills and help them achieve higher scores in international admission and assessment tests.

Moreover, we helped students on their visa applications and related paperwork, and offered optional overseas services, such as finding accommodation and travel assistance.

A physical location was not always needed under this one-one-one model, and when a physical location was required, services were offered at our headquarters location in Beijing.

For our Overseas Study Consulting Services, we charge students a one-time up-front fee based on the scope of consulting services requested by the students and recognize revenue over the service period. 90% of the service fee collected is non-refundable and is recognized ratably as revenue over the service period; while the remaining 10% of the service fee is refundable and is deferred and recognized as revenue when a student is successfully admitted by a foreign institution and a student visa is granted.

Our average fee charged to students under the one-on-one private tutoring model ranged from RMB38,000 (approximately $5,454) to RMB63,000 (approximately $9,041) per student. Additionally, for our students who intended to study in Italy, after arrival, they were still required to attend language schools for at least six months (up to 12 months, depending on the type of visa they hold) in Italy. In 2019, we entered into a cooperation agreement with Linguaviva Education Group, a language school and overseas service provider in Milan, to better serve these students. In return, we were entitled to receive an additional $2,470 to $2,779 per student from the local partner after the student paid such local partner’s language and art related course tuition in full. We had 42 students enrolled at Linguaviva Education Group in 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we did not have any students enrolled at Linguaviva Education Group in 2020.

On-campus Overseas Study Consulting Services

In January 2019, we entered into a cooperation agreement with the School of Continuing Education of Beijing Foreign Studies University for a German language program (the “2019 German Language Program Agreement”), and on November 2018, we entered into a cooperation agreement with the China Academy of Art for an Italian language program (the “2018 Italian Language Program Agreement”), in order to provide our Overseas Study Consulting Services utilizing these partnering schools’ facilities and other hardware. The Italian language program was subsequently suspended as a result of the travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In April 2021, we renewed our cooperation agreement for the German language program with the School of Continuing Education of Beijing Foreign Studies University. In March 2021, we also entered into another cooperation agreement with the School of Continuing Education of Beijing Foreign Studies University for a Russian language program. Our on-campus overseas study consulting services are similar to those we provided under our one-on-one model, including school application review, visa application and interview preparation.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, there were 27 students enrolled in the School of Continuing Education of Beijing Foreign Studies University German program, 27 students enrolled in the School of Continuing Education of Beijing Foreign Studies Russian program, and no students enrolled in the China Academy of Art Italian language program. The service fees we expect to receive are approximated $4,211 per student per school year for Beijing Foreign Studies University for the German language program and approximately $3,646 for the Russian language program. We received all services fees generated from the 2021 German Language Program Agreement and the 2021 Russian Language Program Agreement as of December 31, 2021.

Technological Consulting Services for Smart Campus Solutions and Technical Support Services for Other Entities

We started to provide smart campus related technological consulting services to targeted Chinese universities since 2017. Our Technological Consulting Services for Smart Campus Solutions utilize advanced information technology such as cloud computing, mobile internet, artificial intelligence and big data analytics to provide overall solutions to Chinese universities in order to improve their teaching, research, student data management, storage and processing, and campus life services, and to optimize their teaching and operating environment and improve operational efficiency. By leveraging hardware such as sensors, digital portals, electronic blackboards, smartboards, projectors, LED display panels, high-definition classroom audio and sound system and other lab-based equipment, together with data management applications, our solutions are built on both software and hardware to deliver capabilities for real-time and predictive analytics, increased collaboration and performance management. By way of illustration, some of the services we provide include campus intranet solution buildout, school management software customization, smart devices (mainly Internet of things, or IoT devices, extending the Internet connectivity to physical devices) installation and testing, and school management data collection and analysis, all of which can be specifically tailored to meet a client’s particular needs.

Our Technological Consulting Services for Smart Campus Solutions agreements are primarily on a fixed-price basis. Typically, we are required to perform services including project planning, project solution and design, data management application customization, installations of hardware equipment and components for digital classrooms and academic experiment centers or labs, integration of hardware and software application, and post-contract continuous maintenance support, based on the specific needs from each customer. Upon delivery of services, project completion inspection and customer acceptance are generally required. We may also be required to provide post-completion maintenance support for a period ranging from several months to three years after customized smart campus solutions and services are delivered. Since 2017, we have successfully provided such technological consulting services to several Chines universities, including but not limit to, Fuzhou Melbourne Polytechnic, Strait College of Minjiang University, Capital Normal University, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and University of International Business and Economics. In addition, teachers and students involved in the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs can access our teaching and learning platforms to enhance their respective teaching and learning experience.

In December 2020, we successfully provided services under four agreements (the “WWH Agreements”) with Wuhan Wangjie Hengtong Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“WWH”), one of the service providers of State Grid Corporation of China (“SGC”), a Chinese state-owned electric utility corporation, to provide technical support services for SGC. Pursuant to the WWH Agreements with terms ranging from one month to one year in 2020, we agreed to provide technical support for the construction of the comprehensive operational capacity of SGC’s power supply command center, in order to achieve the function of multi-location video conference, which is used for scheduling meetings, consultations, discussions and training sessions. We also agreed to develop remote video interactive information system for SGC and optimize the operation of SGC’s service power supply supervision and management platform. In 2021, our agreements with WWH were not renewed.

Case Study: Smart Campus Solutions for FMP

Pursuant to our 2017 Smart Campus Project Agreement with FMP (the “2017 FMP Smart Campus Agreement”), we were commissioned to design and develop a comprehensive software and hardware solution (including the SaaS-based platform we develop) to FMP to address traditional campus challenges it faced, such as low management efficiency, poor service experience, severe energy waste, weak comprehensive security, and high operational costs. Under this agreement, we retain the copyrights of the 20 software we developed for this project.

Big Data Center. Our big data center is a business systems cluster based on SaaS, or software as a service, a software licensing and delivery model in which the licensing is on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. We developed and maintain all of the business systems, which include mobile online learning system, registrar administration system, office automation system, teaching resources database system, and human resources system. These systems are used by students, management and teachers of FMP, as the case may be. We were required to complete the development of this big data center by December 20, 2018 and will provide continuous maintenance and upgrade services until the end of 2021. As of the date of this annual report, we have already completed and delivered such big data center.

Smart Classroom. We set up the multimedia system, recording system, internet of things system, classroom cloud desktop, wireless network coverage, speech laboratory, trapezoid classrooms, and premises distribution system for FMP.

Business Experimental Center. We also built out the business experimental center for FMP by providing internal design installment, hardware device and teaching resources software.

Pursuant to the 2017 FMP Smart Campus Agreement, we also act as a general contractor to procure software and hardware required by the overall smart campus solution. We have entered into several procurement agreements with software providers such as e-commerce virtual simulation systems, cloud teaching systems, simulated trading analysis system, digital sandbox software, virtual business society environment comprehensive practice teaching platform.

In 2019, we entered into a new “smart campus” agreement with FMP to help FMP create an information engineering laboratory training center and an experiment-based simulation center for its hotel management major (the “2019 FMP Smart Campus Agreement”).

Information Engineering Laboratory Training Center. During Phase I of this project, we installed required hardware and software in and further decorated the computer training rooms, IoT training room and digital classrooms on FMP campus. During Phase II of this project, we installed hardware and software for FMP’s cloud computing and big data room.

Experiment-based Simulation Center for Hotel Management Major. We also built out the experiment-based center for FMP’s hotel management major by providing internal design installment, hardware device and teaching resources software.

As of December 31, 2021, the total outstanding contract assets from the 2017 and 2019 FMP Smart Campus Agreements were $2.0 million.

Technological consulting services for companies and businesses

In addition to serving universities and colleges, we are actively seeking opportunities to utilize our rich experiences in providing technological consulting services to serve private companies. In 2020, we entered into four agreements with WWH, one of the service providers of SGC, a Chinese state-owned electric utility corporation, to provide technical consulting and support services for SGC. Under these agreements, we provided technical support for the construction of the comprehensive operational capacity of SGC’s power supply command center, in order to achieve the function of multi-location video conference and could be used for meetings, consultations, discussions and training sessions. We also developed remote video interactive information system for SGC and optimized the operation of SGC’s service power supply supervision and management platform. In 2021, our agreements with WWH were not renewed.

Integration of Enterprises and Vocational Education (Tailored job readiness training services)

In order to further diversify our business and to utilize our resources and network, we rolled out a new line of business, i.e., Integration of Enterprises and Vocational Education in late 2019. Currently, we contract with employers to provide job readiness training to graduating students from the appropriate partner schools so that such students would be better equipped to serve the employer at their respective job positions. Typically, we forge partnerships with selected Chinese vocational schools or colleges to provide tailored job readiness training services to students. The partner schools utilize their existing administrative ability, campus classrooms and facilities to recruit students into such training programs. We select, recruit and appoint qualified faculty, trainers or professionals to provide trainings and bears related costs, develop and deliver major training content and materials to students to optimize their learning outcome, improve their social and technical skills, coordinate with employers to provide internship job opportunities to students and eventually help students to find appropriate jobs after completion of the trainings and graduation. We actively support and interacts with enrolled students to ensure completion of the trainings, which normally takes several months to three years. Our contracts with partner schools are fixed price contracts, pursuant to which, we are to receive a fixed portion of training fees for services rendered. The training fees are collected first by partner schools from enrolled students before the training services start, and then remitted to us. We initially record such training service fees as deferred revenue and ratably recognized it as revenue over the training service period as our performance obligations related to teaching, training, management and other supporting services are carried throughout the training period. For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, we earned $137,772, $76,400 and $4,000, respectively, from providing tailored job readiness training services to students.

Our Recruitment Partners

We have built a network of art studios operated by entities or individuals in cities throughout China as well as overseas, including Italy, Germany, Russia and Malaysia in order to reach more potential students for our services. We have not signed any agreements with these partners, but we evaluate our cooperative relationships with them annually. Typically, these partners are allowed to charge markups to students they recruit for us, and any markups to our standard tuitions are paid to these partners as commission. Additionally, we may reward these partners with 5%-10% of our standard tuitions as additional commissions, if they recruit more than five students within one year.

Our Teachers

We maintain a database of more than 6,000 teachers across academic areas including Philosophy, Economics, Law, Education, Literature, History, Science, Engineering, Medicine, Management, Art and Language. Based on the specific needs and requirements of each school or educational institution, we are able to contact teachers listed in our database in the relevant field of education so as to recommend them to a teaching position at one of our clients. For example, pursuant to agreements related to the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs, we are required to staff the courses we provide to those institutions with foreign teachers that meet standards such as bachelor’s degree or higher, two or more years of experience of teaching overseas, and a TESOL (or teachers of English to speakers of other languages) certificate.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, there were five foreign language teachers recommend by us teaching at FMP and Strait College (including the Fu-Tai EAP Program and the Strait IGEC program).

Employees

We had 27, 41 and 98 full-time employees as of December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Most of our full-time employees have signed employment agreements for three years. The Company and its employees may elect to re-negotiate and renew the employment agreements before expiration. The following table sets forth the number of our full-time employees, categorized by function as of December 31, 2021:

As required by PRC laws and regulations, we participate in various employee social security plans for our employees that are administered by local governments, including housing, pension, medical insurance and unemployment insurance. We compensate our employees with basic salaries as well as performance-based bonuses. None of our employees are represented by any collective bargaining arrangements, and we consider our relations with our employees to be good.

Seasonality

We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, seasonal fluctuations in our operations, primarily due to seasonal changes in student enrollments. Historically, our one-on-one consulting services tend to have the largest student enrollments in our third and fourth fiscal quarters, which run from July 1 to December 31 of each year, primarily because many students enroll in our courses to prepare for admissions and assessment tests in subsequent school terms, and the Sino-foreign joint programs typically make payments to us for our language training courses in October or November based on their student enrollments in the fall.

Branding and Marketing

As part of our sales and marketing efforts, we have built a specialized art and creativity talent online-community operations team with more than 100,000 followers over several social media platforms, including Zhihu, Weibo and WeChat. These followers fall into various interest categories, such as comics, art portfolio studies, clothing design and overseas studies for art students. For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we invested approximately $3,381 and $230,000, respectively, in marketing and promotion.

We will continue to boost our sales and marketing efforts to recruit art students in two ways: (1) ground promotion, i.e., to target local schools and art studios to promote our services in the cities or provinces of Hangzhou, Shandong, Guangzhou, Beijing, Hebei, Fuzhou and Chongqing; and (2) online promotion.

Competition

The education sector and overseas studies consulting sector in the PRC are rapidly evolving, highly fragmented and competitive. We expect competition in these sectors to persist and intensify. We face competition in each line of business, each major program we offer and each geographic market in which we operate.

We believe that the principal competitive factors in our markets include brand recognition, student performance track records, overall student experience, parent satisfaction, quality of teachers, ability to effectively market programs, services and products to a broad base of prospective students, effectively identifying and successfully cooperating with prominent schools, diversity of programs and products offered, and tuition fees.

We believe that our primary competitive advantages are our strong sales team, our innovative and cost-effective smart campus solutions, and experienced and visionary management team with a proven track record. However, some of our existing and potential competitors may have more resources than we do. These competitors may be able to devote greater resources than we can to the development, promotion and sale of their programs, services and products and respond more quickly than we can to changes in student demands, testing materials, admissions standards, market needs or new technologies. In addition, we face competition from many different smaller sized organizations that focus on some of our targeted markets, which may be able to respond more promptly to changes in student preferences in these markets.

Intellectual Property

Our trademarks, copyrights, domain names, trade secrets and other intellectual property rights distinguish our products and services from those of our competitors and enhance our ability to compete in our target markets. Our principal intellectual property assets consist of copyrights in our software and our textbooks. Ownership of such copyrights secures the exclusive right to publish or use the work in the PRC.

In addition, our intellectual property rights include 8 trademark registrations in the PRC and two domain names registrations. We currently own two patents through our PRC subsidiary China Liberal Beijing, including one utility model patent and one design patent.

We believe we have taken, and take in the ordinary course of business, all appropriate available legal steps to reasonably protect our intellectual property in all material jurisdictions. To protect our brand and other intellectual property, we rely on a combination of trademark, copyright, domain names, know-how and trade secret laws as well as confidentiality agreements with our employees, contractors and others. We cannot be certain that our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights will be adequate or that third parties will not infringe or misappropriate these rights. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business—If we fail to protect our intellectual property rights, our brand and business may suffer.”

Copyrights

As of the date of this annual report, we have registered 12 copyrights in our textbooks in the PRC, and 12 textbooks have been published. Details of published books are set out below:

As of the date of this annual report, we have registered 24 software copyright registration in the PRC, details of which are set out below:

The right to publish and to monetary gains related to copyrights and software copyrights lasts for 50 years in the PRC, which will expire on December 31 of the 50^th year after the date of publication. Such protection will not be extended if the textbook or software is not published within 50 years after the date of its completion or development.

Trademarks

As of the date of this annual report, we have eight registered trademarks in the PRC, details of which are set out below:

Domain Names

As of the date of this annual report, we have registered the following two domain names in the PRC, details of which are set out below:

Legal proceedings

We are not currently a party to any material litigation the outcome of which, if determined adversely to us, would individually or in the aggregate be reasonably expected to have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, cash flows or financial condition.

Regulation

This section sets forth a summary of the most significant rules and regulations that affect our business activities in China.

We operate our business in the PRC under a legal regime consisting of the State Council, which is the highest authority of the executive branch of the PRC central government, and several ministries and agencies under its authority, including the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, MOFCOM, the National Development and Reform Commission, or NDRC, the Ministry of Education, or MOE, the General Administration of Press and Publication, or GAPP, the State Administration for Market Regulation, or SAMR, formerly known as the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, or MCA, the Ministry of Culture, or MOC, and their respective authorized local counterparts.

Regulations on Education

The principal regulations governing private education in China consist of the Education Law of the PRC, The Law for Promoting Private Education (2018) and The Implementation Rules for the Law for Promoting Private Education (2004), and the Regulations on Sino-Foreign Cooperation in Operating Schools. Below is a summary of relevant provisions of these regulations.

Education Law of the PRC

On March 18, 1995, the National People’s Congress enacted the Education Law of the PRC, which was amended on August 27, 2009 and December 27, 2015, and further amended on April 29, 2021. The Education Law sets forth provisions relating to the fundamental education systems of the PRC, including a school system of pre-school education, primary education, secondary education and higher education, a system of nine-year compulsory education, a system of vocational education and a system of continuing education. The Education Law stipulates that the government formulates plans for the development of education and establishes and operates schools and other institutions of education and in principle, enterprises, social organizations and individuals are encouraged to operate schools and other types of educational organizations in accordance with PRC laws and regulations. Meanwhile, schools and other educational institutions established or run with fiscal expenses or donated assets shall not operate for profit-making purposes. The Education Law of the PRC establishes a general regulatory framework of education industry in the PRC, while specific requirements and obligations applicable to education providers are set forth in various regulations. Neither China Liberal Beijing nor China Liberal Fujian is aware of any of its current business activities being in violation of the Education Law of the PRC.

Regulations on Sino-foreign Cooperation in Operating Schools

Sino-foreign cooperation in operating schools or training programs is specifically governed by the Regulations on Operating Sino-foreign Schools, promulgated by the State Council in 2003 and amended in 2013 and 2019, respectively, in accordance with the Education Law, the Occupational Education Law and the Law for Promoting Private Education, and the Implementing Rules for the Regulations on Operating Sino-foreign Schools, or the Implementing Rules, which were issued by the MOE in 2004.

The Regulations on Operating Sino-foreign Schools and its Implementing Rules encourage substantive cooperation between overseas educational organizations with the requisite qualifications and experience in providing high-quality education and Chinese educational organizations to jointly operate schools in the PRC, with such cooperation in the areas of higher education and occupational education being encouraged. Sino-foreign cooperative schools are not permitted, however, to engage in compulsory education and military, police, political and other kinds of education that are deemed to be of a sensitive in the PRC.

Permits for Sino-foreign Cooperation in Operating Schools shall be obtained from the relevant education authorities or the authorities that regulate labor and social welfare in the PRC.

Neither China Liberal Beijing nor China Liberal Fujian is required to obtain such permits. Rather, the Chinese host universities / colleges are responsible for obtaining and maintaining currently valid permits.

Regulations on Private Schools

The Law for Promoting Private Education (2018) and The Implementation Rules for the Law for Promoting Private Education (2021)

The Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Amending the Law for Promoting Private Education of the PRC, has been promulgated by Order No. 55 of the President of the PRC on November 7, 2016, became effective on September 1, 2017, and later further amended on December 29, 2018 (the “2018 Private Education Law”).

The Implementation Rules for the Law for Promoting Private Education (2004) became effective on April 1, 2004, and amended on May 14, 2021 (the “2021 Implementation Rules”), which became effective on September 1, 2021.

Under these regulations, “private schools” are defined as schools established by social organizations or individuals using non-government funds.

In addition, private schools providing certifications, pre-school education, education for self-study aid and other academic education are subject to approval by the education authorities at or above the county level, while private schools engaging in occupational qualification training and occupational skill training are subject to approvals from the authorities in charge of labor and social welfare at or above the county level. A duly approved private school will be granted a Permit for operating a Private School, and shall be registered with the MCA or its local counterparts as a privately run non-enterprise institution in accordance with the Article 12 of the 2018 Private Education Law.

Under the above regulations, private schools have the same status as public schools, though private schools are prohibited from providing military, police, political and other kinds of education of a sensitive nature. However, the operation of a private school is highly regulated.

The sponsors of privately-run schools may establish non-profit or for-profit privately-run schools at their own discretion. However, they are prohibited from establishing for-profit privately-run schools providing compulsory education. The sponsor of a for-profit privately-run school may gain proceeds from school running, and the cash surplus of the school shall be disposed of in accordance with the Civil Code and other relevant laws and administrative regulations. Private schools are divided into two categories: non-profit privately-run school and for-profit privately-run schools.

At the end of each fiscal year, every private school is required to allocate a certain amount to its development fund for the school development. In the case of a private school that requires reasonable returns, this amount shall be no less than 10% of the annual net income of the school, while in the case of a private school that does not require reasonable returns, this amount shall be equal to no less than 10% of the annual increase in the net assets of the school, if any. Private schools that do not require reasonable returns shall be entitled to the same preferential tax treatment as public schools, while the preferential tax treatment policies applicable to private schools requiring reasonable returns shall be formulated by the finance authority, taxation authority and other authorities under the State Council. To date, however, no regulations have been promulgated by the relevant authorities in this regard.

Under the 2018 Private Education Law and the 2021 Implementation Rules, there is no explicit provisions that China Liberal Beijing is not required to obtain any permit or approval for providing art or language related training courses, including a future China Liberal-branded school. However, China Liberal Beijing’s business for art and language training courses was terminated, and Liberal-branded school is not established. Therefore, we do believe that we are not subject to 2018 Private Education Law and 2021 Implementation Rules.

Regulations on Publishing and Distribution of Publications

The Administrative Regulations on Publications (2020)

In December 2001, the PRC State Council promulgated the Administrative Regulations on Publications, which became effective on February 1, 2002 and were later amended several times in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016 and November 29, 2020 (the “Publication Regulation”). The Publication Regulations apply to publication activities, i.e., the publishing, printing, copying, importation or distribution of publications, including books, newspapers, periodicals, audio and video products and electronic publications, each of which requires approval from the relevant publication administrative authorities.

Pursuant to the Special Administrative Measures for the Access of Foreign Investment (Negative List) (2021 Version) (the “2021 Negative List”), foreign investment in editing, publishing and production of books, newspapers, periodicals, audio and video products and electronic publications shall be prohibited. Since January 2021, all of our textbooks have been published and distributed through a qualified publisher we engage, and therefore, our business operations related to selling our textbooks are not prohibited under the 2021 Negative List.

The Administrative Regulations on Publications Market (2016)

Subsequent to the implementation of the Publication Regulations, the GAPP issued the Administrative Regulations on Publications Market which became effective on September 1, 2003 and which were amended on June 16, 2004 and May 31, 2016. According to the Administrative Regulations on Publications Market, any organization or individual engaged in general distribution, wholesale or retail of publications shall obtain a Permit for Operating Publications. Distribution of publications in the PRC is regulated on different administrative levels. An entity engaged in general distribution of publications shall obtain such permit from the GAPP and may conduct general distribution of the publications in the PRC; an entity engaged in wholesaling of publications shall obtain such permit from the provincial counterpart of GAPP and may not engage in general distribution in the PRC; and an entity engaged in retail distribution of publications shall obtain such permit from the local counterpart of GAPP at the county level and may not conduct general distribution or wholesaling of publications in the PRC.

We were subject to these regulations on publishing and distribution of publications even though we limit the use of our textbooks to a small number of students (rather than selling to the general public) prior to January 2021. However, since January 2021, all of our textbooks have been published and distributed through a qualified publisher we engage, and therefore, we are not currently required to obtain any above-mentioned approvals or permits for selling our textbooks. Although as of the date of this annual report, we have not been subject to any fines or other forms of regulatory or administrative penalties or sanctions due to the lack of any the above-mentioned approvals or permits we failed to obtain prior to January 2021, we cannot assure you the government authorities will not impose any penalties or sanctions on us in the future for any incompliance in the past. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to our Business—Our failure to obtain and maintain approval and permit related to publishing and selling our textbooks could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial conditions and results of operations.”

Regulations on Protection of the Right of Dissemination through Information Networks

Regulations on Protection of Information Network Transmission Right (2013)

On May 18, 2006, the State Council promulgated the Regulations on Protection of the Right of Dissemination through Information Networks, which became effective on July 1, 2006 and were later amended on January 30, 2013. The new regulations require that every organization or individual who disseminates a third party’s work, performance, audio or visual recording products to the public through information networks shall obtain permission from, and pay compensation to, the legitimate copyright owner of such products, unless otherwise provided under relevant laws and regulations. The legitimate copyright owner may take technical measures to protect his or her right of dissemination through information networks and any organization or individual shall not intentionally avoid, destroy or otherwise assist others in avoiding such protective measures unless permissible under law. The new regulations also provide that permission from and compensation for the copyright owner are not required in the event of limited dissemination to teaching or research staff for the purpose of school teaching or scientific research only. Since we are only disseminating publications to a limited number of students within the programs we service, we are not aware of any events of our business activities in violation of such regulations.

Regulation Related to Internet Information Security and Privacy Protection

Pursuant to the PRC Cyber Security Law issued by the SCNPC on November 7, 2016, effective as of June 1, 2017, “personal information” refers to all kinds of information recorded by electronic or otherwise that can be used to independently identify or be combined with other information to identify individuals’ personal information including but not limited to: individuals’ names, dates of birth, ID numbers, biologically identified personal information, addresses and telephone numbers, etc. The PRC Cyber Security Law also provides that: (i) to collect and use personal information, network operators shall follow the principles of legitimacy, rightfulness and necessity, disclose rules of data collection and use, clearly express the purposes, means and scope of collecting and using the information, and obtain the consent of the persons whose data is gathered; (ii) network operators shall neither gather personal information unrelated to the services they provide, nor gather or use personal information in violation of the provisions of laws and administrative regulations or the scopes of consent given by the persons whose data is gathered; and shall dispose of personal information they have saved in accordance with the provisions of laws and administrative regulations and agreements reached with users; (iii) network operators shall not divulge, tamper with or damage the personal information they have collected, and shall not provide the personal information to others without the consent of the persons whose data is collected. However, if the information has been processed and cannot be recovered and thus it is impossible to match such information with specific persons, such circumstance is an exception.

The Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (the “MIIT”), the Ministry of Public Security (the “MPS”), and the SAMR jointly issued an Announcement of Launching Special Crackdown Against Illegal Collection and Use of Personal Information by Apps on January 23, 2019 to implement special rectification works against mobile Apps that collect and use personal information in violation of applicable laws and regulations, where business operators are prohibited from collecting personal information irrelevant to their services, or forcing users to give authorization in a disguised manner. On November 28, 2019, the National Internet Information Office, the MIIT, the MPS and the SAMR further jointly issued a notice to classify and identify illegal collection and use of personal information.

Pursuant to the Notice on Promulgation of the Rules on the Scope of Necessary Personal Information for Common Types of Mobile Internet Applications, which was promulgated by the CAC, the MIIT and certain other government authorities on March 12, 2021 and became effective on May 1, 2021, “necessary personal information” refers to the personal information necessary for ensuring the normal operation of an app’s basic functional services, without which the app cannot achieve its basic functional services. For learning and education App, the basic functional services are “online tutoring, online classes, etc.” and the necessary personal information is mobile phone numbers of registered users.

Further, the SAMR promulgated the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Online Transactions, which became effective from May 1, 2021. The measures require that online transaction operators shall not force customers, whether or not in a disguised manner, to consent to the collection and use of information not directly related to their business activities by means of one-off general authorization, default authorization, bundling with other authorizations, or the suspension of installation and use. Otherwise, such online transaction operator may be subject to fines and consequences under related laws and regulations, including without limitation suspension of business for rectification and revocation of permits and licenses.

On June 10, 2021, the SCNPC promulgated the PRC Data Security Law, which took effect in September 2021. The PRC Data Security Law imposes data security and privacy obligations on entities and individuals carrying out data activities, and introduces a data classification and hierarchical protection system based on the importance of data in economic and social development, and the degree of harm it will cause to national security, public interests, or legitimate rights and interests of individuals or organizations when such data is tampered with, destroyed, leaked, illegally acquired or used. The PRC Data Security Law also provides for a national security review procedure for data activities that may affect national security and imposes export restrictions on certain data an information.

On August 17, 2021, the State Council promulgated the Regulations on the Protection of the Security of Critical Information Infrastructure, or the Regulations, which took effect on September 1, 2021. The Regulations supplement and specify the provisions on the security of critical information infrastructure as stated in the Cybersecurity Review Measures. The Regulations provide, among others, that protection department of certain industry or sector shall notify the operator of the critical information infrastructure in time after the identification of certain critical information infrastructure.

On August 20, 2021, the SCNPC promulgated the Personal Information Protection Law of the PRC, or the Personal Information Protection Law, which will take effect in November 2021. As the first systematic and comprehensive law specifically for the protection of personal information in the PRC, the Personal Information Protection Law provides, among others, that (i) an individual’s consent shall be obtained to use sensitive personal information, such as biometric characteristics and individual location tracking, (ii) personal information operators using sensitive personal information shall notify individuals of the necessity of such use and impact on the individual’s rights, and (iii) where personal information operators reject an individual’s request to exercise his or her rights, the individual may file a lawsuit with a People’s Court.

On November 14, 2021, the CAC published the Security Administration Draft, which provides that data processing operators engaging in data processing activities that affect or may affect national security must be subject to network data security review by the relevant Cyberspace Administration of the PRC. According to the Security Administration Draft, data processing operators who possess personal data of at least one million users or collect data that affects or may affect national security must be subject to network data security review by the relevant Cyberspace Administration of the PRC. The deadline for public comments on the Security Administration Draft was December 13, 2021.

On December 28, 2021, the CAC and other relevant PRC governmental authorities jointly promulgated the Cybersecurity Review Measures, or the Cybersecurity Review Measures, which took effect on February 15, 2022 and replaced the original Cybersecurity Review Measures promulgated on April 13, 2020. Pursuant to the Cybersecurity Review Measures, if critical information infrastructure operators purchase network products and services, or network platform operators conduct data processing activities that affect or may affect national security, they will be subject to cybersecurity review. A network platform operator holding more than one million users/users’ individual information shall be subject to cybersecurity review before listing abroad. The cybersecurity review will evaluate, among others, the risk of critical information infrastructure, core data, important data, or a large amount of personal information being influenced, controlled or maliciously used by foreign governments after going public overseas.

Our business operations do not currently involve the procurement of network products and services or data processing as network platform operators. We do believe that the Cybersecurity Review Measures do not apply to our Company, and we are not required to conduct cybersecurity review.

Provisions on Foreign Investment

Law of Foreign Investment (2020)

All limited liability companies and joint stock limited companies incorporated and operating in the PRC are governed by the Company Law of the People’s Republic of China, or the Company Law, which was amended and promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on October 26, 2018. In the latest amendment, paid-in capital registration, minimum requirements of registered capital and timing requirements of capital contributions were abolished. Foreign invested projects must also comply with the Company Law, with exceptions as specified in foreign investment laws.

The Law of Foreign Investment was adopted by the second meeting of the 13th National People’s Congress on March 15, 2019, which became effective on January 1, 2020. On December 26, 2019, the State Council issued the Regulations on Implementing the Law of Foreign Investment of the PRC, which also came into effect on January 1, 2020. The Law of Foreign Investment and its implementation regulations replaced the trio of laws regulating foreign investment in China. The Law of Foreign Investment stipulates that, for foreign investment, the PRC implements a system of national treatment with the exception of negative list. Foreign investors are not allowed to invest in fields or sectors prohibited in the market access negative list for foreign investment. Foreign investors that intend to invest in the fields subject to access restrictions stipulated in market access negative list for foreign investment shall satisfy the conditions stipulated in such negative list. These policies also apply to enterprises with foreign investment. The PRC does not impose expropriation on foreign investment. Under special circumstances, if required due to the need of public interest, expropriation shall be imposed on foreign investment according to legal procedures, and the foreign-invested enterprises concerned shall receive fair and reasonable compensation. Foreign-invested enterprises can raise funds through public issuance of stocks, corporate bonds and other securities in accordance with the law.

With respect to the establishment and operation of wholly foreign-owned projects, or WFOE, the MOFCOM and NDRC, promulgated 2021 Negative List on December 27, 2021, which became effective on January 1, 2022. The 2021 Negative List has replaced the Special Administrative Measures for the Access of Foreign Investment (2020 Version) (the “2020 Negative List”) and serves as the main basis for management and guidance for the MOFCOM to manage and supervise foreign investments. Those industries not set out in the 2021 Negative List shall be classified as industries permitted for foreign investment. None of our lines of business, i.e. Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs, Overseas Study Consulting Services, Technological Consulting Services for Smart Campus Solutions, Integration of Enterprises and Vocational Education, and sale of textbooks and course materials, are on the 2021 Negative List. Therefore, the Company is able to conduct its business through its wholly owned PRC subsidiaries without being subject to restrictions imposed by the foreign investment laws and regulations of the PRC.

China Liberal Beijing completed its registration as a whole foreign owned enterprise on February 1, 2019 and the Administrative Bureau for Industry and Commerce of the City of Beijing issued China Liberal Beijing the relevant business license on the same date. Overall, the Law of Foreign Investment and its implementation regulations establish the clear principle of applying national treatment to foreign-invested enterprises except those engaged in industries on the 2021 Negative List. Since our current and planned business is not on the 2021 Negative List, to the best of our knowledge, we do not anticipate the Law of Foreign Investment and its implementation regulations to create any material adverse effect to our Company’s business.

PRC Regulation of Intellectual Property Rights

The State Council and the NCAC have promulgated various rules and regulations and rules relating to protection of software in China. Under these rules and regulations, software owners, licensees and transferees may register their rights in software with Copy Protection Center of China or its local branches and obtain software copyright registration certificates. Although such registration is not mandatory under PRC law, software owners, licensees and transferees are encouraged to go through the registration process and registered software rights may be entitled to better protections.

The PRC Trademark Law which became effective on March 1, 1983, was revised in 2001, 2013, 2019, respectively, with its implementation rules adopted in 2002 and revised in 2014, protects registered trademarks. The Trademark Office of the SAMR handles trademark registrations and grants a protection term of ten years to registered trademarks.

Regulations on Foreign Exchange

Regulations on Loans to and Direct Investment in the PRC Entities by Offshore Holding Companies

According to the Implementation Rules for the Provisional Regulations on Statistics and Supervision of Foreign Debt promulgated by SAFE on September 24, 1997 and the Interim Provisions on the Management of Foreign Debts promulgated by SAFE, the NDRC and the MOF that became effective from March 1, 2003, loans by foreign companies to their subsidiaries in China, which accordingly are foreign-invested enterprises, are considered foreign debts. Pursuant to the Measures for the Administration of Foreign Debt Registration issued by SAFE on April 28, 2013, the Notice on Matters concerning the Macro-Prudential Administration of Full-Covered Cross-Border Financing issued by the People’s Bank of China on January 11, 2017 and Notice on Adjustments to Macro-prudential Regulation Parameters for Full-covered Cross-border Financing issued by the People’s Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on March 11, 2020, the total amount of accumulated foreign debt borrowed by a foreign-invested enterprise is subject to an upper limit calculated based on a statutory formula, and the foreign-invested enterprise is required to file with SAFE after entering into relevant foreign debt contract and within at least three business days before drawing any money from the foreign debts.

According to applicable PRC regulations on foreign-invested enterprises, if a foreign holding company makes capital contributions to its PRC subsidiaries, which are considered foreign-invested enterprises, the PRC subsidiaries must file with the MOFCOM or its local counterpart in connection with the increase of their respective registered capital. The PRC subsidiaries may not procure loans which exceed the difference between their respective total investment amount and registered capital, or 2.5 times of the amount of such PRC subsidiary’s net assets, whichever is larger.

Currently, China Liberal Beijing does not owe any outstanding debts to any of its offshore parent companies. For any capital contributions contributed to China Liberal Beijing by its offshore parent companies, China Liberal Beijing has obtained appropriate approval or filed with the appropriate authorities, as the case may be.

Regulations Relating to Employment and Social Insurance

Pursuant to the PRC Labor Law effective as of January 1, 1995 (as amended on December 29, 2018), and the PRC Labor Contract Law effective as of January 1, 2008 (as amended on December 28, 2012), a written labor contract shall be executed by employer and an employee when the employment relationship is established, and an employer is under an obligation to sign an unlimited-term labor contract with any employee who has worked for the employer for ten consecutive years. Further, if an employee requests or agrees to renew a fixed-term labor contract that has already been entered into twice consecutively, the resulting contract must have an unlimited term, with certain exceptions. All employers are required to establish a system for labor safety and sanitation, strictly abide by state rules and standards and provide employees with appropriate workplace safety training. Moreover, all PRC enterprises are generally required to implement a standard working time system of eight hours a day and forty hours a week, and if the implementation of such standard working time system is not appropriate due to the nature of the job or the characteristics of business operation, the enterprise may implement a flexible working time system or comprehensive working time system after obtaining approvals from the relevant authorities.

Pursuant to the Social Insurance Law of China effective from December 29, 2018, and the Regulations on the Administration of Housing Accumulation Funds effective as of April 3, 1999 (as amended on March 24, 2002 and further amended on March 24, 2019), employers in China shall pay contributions to the social insurance plan and the housing fund plan for their employees, and such contribution amount payable shall be calculated based on the employee actual salary in accordance with the relevant regulations.

As of December 31, 2021, China Liberal Beijing has complied with all these regulations.

C. Organizational Structure

The following diagram illustrates our current corporate structure, which includes our subsidiaries as of the date of this annual report:

D. Property, Plants and Equipment

Our principal executive offices are located at Room 1618 Zhongguangcun MOOC Times Building, 18 Zhongguangcun Street, Haidian District, Beijing, People’s Republic of China with office space of approximately 3,390 square feet. We also lease another office and storage space in Beijing with an aggregate area of 501 square feet, and the lease for this space will expire in June 2022. We believe that our existing facilities are generally adequate to meet our current needs, but we expect to seek additional space as needed to accommodate future growth.

ITEM 4.A. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

Not applicable.

ITEM 5. OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS

The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations is based upon and should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and their related notes included elsewhere in this annual report. This annual report contains forward-looking statements. See “Forward-Looking Information” in this annual report. In evaluating our business, you should carefully consider the information provided under the caption “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors” in this annual report. We caution you that our businesses and financial performance are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties.

A. Operating Results

Overview

We are an educational service provider operating under the “China Liberal” brand in the PRC.

We offer a wide range of educational services and programs to our customers, consisting primarily of Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs, Overseas Study Consulting Services, and since 2019, we have started to provide job readiness training services acting as the key bridge between our partner schools and employers, and to provide tailored job readiness training to graduating students, or Integration of Enterprises and Vocational Education. In addition, as we are still accumulating experiences in this new line of business and continuously improving our business strategies to serve customers with specific job training demand.

Key Factors that Affect Our Results of Operations

We believe the following key factors may affect our financial condition and results of operations:

Demand for international education from Chinese students

Education services are an investment for the future. We are optimistic that the Chinese economy’s steady growth will likely drive income and consumption level for Chinese residents, who will have more disposable income for their children’s education. We believe that tuition fees are less impacted by volatility in the overall economy as people in China generally cut back on other spending before they reduce spending on their children’s education.

Prior to 2020, we had benefited from Chinese students’ increasing demand for international education. Such demand was primarily driven by an increasing number of Chinese students seeking quality educations and who aspire to study abroad, which is in turn driven by factors including, but not limited to: (i) an increasing number of affluent families in China, (ii) the rising recognition of the quality of higher education overseas, and (iii) the emphasis placed by Chinese parents on the importance of enrollment in globally-recognized universities to improve their children’s career prospects. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and ensuing international travel bans, students were restricted from pursuing their overseas education, and the demand for international education decreased significantly in 2020 but had a slight recovery in 2021. Any potential resurgence and continued uncertainties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may continue to restrict students from pursuing their overseas education in the near term, which may negatively impact on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Number of student enrollments

Our revenues primarily consist of tuition and fees from students enrolled in the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs for our coordination, teaching and supporting services, as well as our consulting service fees from students contemplating studying abroad. The number of student enrollments is largely driven by the demand for the educational services and programs offered by us, the amount of fees we charge, the effectiveness of our marketing and brand promotion efforts, our ability to maintain the consistency and quality of our teaching, as well as our ability to respond to competitive pressures. The level of students enrolled in our Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs, and the number of students who come to us for study abroad consulting services directly affect our revenue and profitability.

Our tuition and service fees

Our results of operations are directly affected by the level of the tuition and service fees we charge to our students. Under our cooperation with Chinese host universities / colleges for Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Education Programs, the Chinese host universities / colleges determine on the amount of tuitions and fees charged to enrolled students, ranging from RMB15,000 ($2,357) per student per school year to RMB28,000 ($4,400) per student per school year, depending on the applicable education programs. The total fees we receive from tuition collected by these universities and colleges varies based on the terms of our contracts with the Chinese host universities we partner with, and are based on our services rendered and can range from RMB2,250 ($354) to RMB11,200 ($1,760) per student per school year. With respect to Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs, our contracts with Chinese host universities / colleges provide that (1) the host universities / colleges will withhold the tuition collected from students for one to three months after the academic school year starts in September, and then remit the portion of tuition fees to us after the student headcounts have been finalized, and (2) the portion of tuition fee that we are entitled to receive is calculated based on the final actual number of students retained with the universities / colleges after any student dropout has been adjusted. Accordingly, any tuition refund has already been deducted by host universities / colleges before we receive our portion of the tuition fees. For accounting purposes, at the beginning of each academic school year, we initially accrue the estimated refund based on an historical 1% student dropout rate, and make subsequent true-up adjustments after the final number of students retained with the host universities/colleges is determined. Such adjustments were immaterial for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019. Our ability to receive our portion of tuition fee from Chinese host universities / colleges largely depends on whether Chinese host universities / colleges are satisfied with our teaching services, or whether we can maintain positive communication with Chinese host universities / colleges to resolve any service deficiency in a timely manner. Any extended tuition withholding or delayed tuition payment to us from Chinese host universities / colleges due to our service deficiency, may negatively impact our revenue, results of operations and financial condition.

We determine overseas study consulting service fees based on services provided to each individual student to satisfy his or her needs. Under the smart campus solutions, our fees are based on the scope of services specified in our agreements with the Chinese universities we service. Any change in our service fees would have a material impact on our revenue and profitability.

Our ability to control costs and expenses and improve our operating efficiency

Staffing costs and administrative expenses directly impact on our profitability. Staffing costs are positively correlated with the size of our staff appointed to each Chinese host universities/colleges and their individual student base, while administrative expenses, are relatively fixed. Under our Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs, Chinese host universities / colleges may require us to substitute our foreign teachers in the event that their performance is not satisfactory, and we may be required to adjust teaching textbooks, course materials and curriculums in a timely manner in order to achieve satisfactory teaching result. The Chinese host universities / colleges have the right to withhold our portion of the tuition if we do not take corrective action when our service deficiency is identified. Any costs related to teacher substitution, textbooks, course materials and curriculums adjustment should be borne by us. Historically, we have maintained active communications with the host universities / colleges in order to obtain feedback on the quality of the services performed, and any identified service deficiency has been corrected in a timely manner, which led to immaterial costs associated with teacher substitution, textbooks, course materials and curriculums adjustment for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019. Our ability to drive the productivity of our staff and enhance our operating efficiency affects our profitability. If we fail to implement initiatives to control costs (including teacher substitution, textbooks, course materials and curriculums adjustment related costs) and improve our operating efficiency over time, our profitability will be negatively impacted.

If we are unable to compete successfully, our financial condition and results of operations may be harmed.

The education sector in China is rapidly evolving, highly fragmented and competitive, and we expect competition in this sector to persist and intensify. We face competition in each service segment we offer. Significant competition could reduce our operating margins and profitability and result in a loss of market share. Some of our existing and potential competitors may have competitive advantages, such as significantly greater brand recognition, financial, marketing, or other resources and may be able to mimic and adopt our business model. Significant competition could lead to lower prices and decreased revenues, gross margins and profits, any of which could have a material and adverse effect on our results of operations.

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

The rapid growth of the Chinese economy has slowed down since 2012 and this slowdown may continue in the future. There is considerable uncertainty over trade conflicts between the United States and China and the long-term effects of the expansionary monetary and fiscal policies adopted by the central banks and financial authorities of some of the world’s leading economies, including the United States and China. The withdrawal of these expansionary monetary and fiscal policies could lead to a contraction. There continue to be concerns over unrest and terrorist threats in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, which have resulted in volatility in oil and other markets. There are also concerns about the relationships between China and other Asian countries, which may result in or intensify potential conflicts in relation to territorial disputes. The eruption of armed conflict could adversely affect global or Chinese discretionary spending, either of which could have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operation in financial condition. Economic conditions in China are sensitive to global economic conditions, as well as changes in domestic economic and political policies and the expected or perceived overall economic growth rate in China. Any severe or prolonged slowdown in the global or Chinese economy would likely materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, continued turbulence in the international markets may adversely affect our ability to access capital markets to meet liquidity needs.

Impact of the COVID-19 on Our Performance and Financial Indicators

Our results of operations and financial conditions in 2021 were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and may continue to be affected by COVID-19 pandemic in 2022 and potentially beyond. COVID-19 has impact on China’s study abroad consulting and training services industry and the business operations of our Company. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our results of operations in the future will depend on the future developments of the pandemic, including new information concerning the global severity of and actions taken to contain the pandemic, which are highly uncertain and unpredictable. In addition, our results of operations could be adversely affected to the extent that the pandemic harms the Chinese and global economy in general. See also “Item 3. Key Information —D. Risk Factors— Risks Related to Our Business—We face risks related to natural disasters, extreme weather conditions, health epidemics including the COVID-19, and other catastrophic incidents, which could significantly disrupt our operations.”

The pandemic and related travel restrictions have affected and may continue to adversely affect our business and results of operations, including the demand for our services and the ability of partner schools to pay back accounts receivable on a timely basis. We will pay close attention to the future development of COVID-19 pandemic, and perform further assessment of its impact and take relevant measures to minimize the impact. Uncertainties associated with COVID-19 pandemic may cause the Company’s revenue and cash flows to underperform in the next 12 months. See “—Recent Development” for more details on our development and performance under the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

Economic and Political Risks

Our operations are mainly conducted through the PRC subsidiaries in the PRC. Accordingly, our business, financial conditions, and results are influenced by political, economic, and legal environment of the PRC.

Our results may be affected by changes in the political and social conditions in the PRC, and by changes in governmental policies with respect to laws and regulations, industry production regulations and guidance, anti-inflationary measures, currency conversions, remittances abroad, and rates and methods of taxation, among other things.

Recent Developments

The Company’s operations may be further affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding international travel bans since December 2019 have restricted students from pursuing their overseas education in Europe, Australia, the United States and other foreign countries, which in turn reduced the number of students for the Company’s one-on-one consulting services, as well as postponed payment from the Company’s partnering schools. In 2020, we ceased to offer one-on-one consulting services due to COVDI-19 pandemic, and in 2021, we permanently ceased to provide our one-on-one consulting services. In 2021, we completed 18 “smart campus” projects with Chinese universities / colleges with an average revenue of $58,859 per project. Our total revenue from technological consulting services for smart campus solutions decreased by about 46.9% in 2021 as compared to 2020. These services represented approximately 27.1% of total revenue in 2021.

The Company’s revenue from Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs was impacted to a certain extent. Total number of enrolled students decreased by 9.8% in 2021 as compared to 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the internal payment processes of the partnering schools were temporarily delayed by three to six months. As a result, we and our partnering schools mutually agreed to extend the 2021 academic school year tuition payment term from November 2021 to the first half of 2022. However, we don’t believe such delay will result in any collectability risk as the entire balance is expected to be fully received but only slightly later than a typical operating year. Furthermore, this delay in tuition payment does not represent a change in our cooperation model with these partnering schools and we do not expect to incur further tuition payment delays in the future. As of the date of this annual report, all outstanding tuition receivable from partner schools for the fiscal year 2021 is expected to be fully collected.

Also, in response to the outbreak and spread of COVID-19, the Company developed and launched a new product, AI-Space, an all-in-one machine designed to provide highly integrated visualization solutions to customers in order to broaden technological consulting services for smart campus projects. This new product can be used in various application scenarios with strict reliability requirements, including command center, lecture hall, conference room, multi-functional exhibition hall, smart classroom and smart home. Since we launched this new business line in December 2020, revenue generated from this line of business was de minimis in 2021.

The Company also entered into consulting service agreements with business entities other than universities / colleges to provide technological consulting services. In addition, in 2019, the Company started to provide tailored job readiness training services to graduating students from the appropriate partner schools so that such students can be better equipped to serve the employer at their respective job positions. No material income was generated from providing tailored job readiness training services for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019. Revenue generated from tailored job readiness training services accounted for only 3.5% and 1.5% of the total revenue in 2021 and 2020, respectively.

In March 2021, the Company filed a Registration Statement on Form F-1 to register 6,000,000 ordinary shares of the Company in an effort to offer these shares to potential investors and raise funds as working capital and potential future acquisitions. On April 19, 2021, the Company entered into certain subscription agreements with investors through a self-written public offering, pursuant to which the Company sold an aggregate of 6,000,000 ordinary shares, par value $0.001 per share, at a purchase price of $5.0 per share. The net proceeds to the Company from this offering were $29.0 million.

On February 1, 2022, the Company entered into a stock purchase agreement with Wanwang Investment Limited (“Wanwang”), a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, Xiaoshi Huang and Thrive Shine Limited, a company incorporated in the British Virgin Island (together with Xiaoshi Huang, the “Sellers”) to acquire all of the equity interests in Wanwang from the Sellers for a consideration of $60 million. The stock purchase agreement has been amended on February 16, 2022 to update the payment method and the transaction is expected to be closed before May 2022. Wanwang and its subsidiaries hold rights and interests in FMP and Strait College of Minjiang University.

On February 24, 2022, the chief executive officer and chairperson of the board of directors of the Company, Ngai Ngai Lam, purchased 2,000,000 ordinary shares of the Company, par value $0.001 per share, at a purchase price of $1.50 per share, or an aggregate purchase price of $3,000,000.

On April 7, 2022, the Company entered into definitive subscription agreements with certain accredited investors in a private placement transaction, pursuant to which the investors agreed to subscribe for and purchase, and the Company agreed to issue and sell an aggregate of 6,000,000 ordinary shares of the Company, par value $0.001 per share, to these investors for an aggregate purchase price of $9.0 million. The Agreements and the transactions contemplated thereby have been approved by the Company’s board of directors on April 1, 2022. The Company expects to complete the offering in late April or May 2022.

Key Financial Performance Indicators

Key financial performance indicators consist of the number of student enrollment, average tuition fees we received from students enrolled under the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs, average service fees we charged to students for our Overseas Study Consulting Services, as well as the number of contracts we signed for smart campus solution projects, which significantly impacted our net revenues, cost of revenues and operating expenses, as discussed in greater detail under “Results of Operations” below.

We derived net revenues from our five operating segments in terms of percentages of our total net revenues from continuing operations as follows in fiscal years 2021, 2020 and 2019:

Revenues from the Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs and Overseas Study Consulting Services segments are primarily generated in the form of tuition fees or service fees we charged to students. The amount of revenues is positively linked to the number of student enrollments. Our student enrollment is affected by a mix of factors including, but are not limited to, the number and variety of our programs or service offerings, overall demand for our programs or service offerings, the geographic markets where the programs or services are offered, the pricing of our education programs or services, the fees charged by our competitors for the same or similar programs or services, changes in the regulatory regime applicable to the education industry in China, and our brand reputation.

We had 2,488 students enrolled under our Sino-foreign Jointly Managed Academic Programs in fiscal year 2021, 2,731 in fiscal year 2020 and 2,676 in fiscal year 2019. We had 54 students signed up for our Overseas Study Consulting Services in fiscal year 2021, 33 students signed up in fiscal year 2020 and 56 students signed up in fiscal year 2019. In terms of tuition fee, our Chinese host universities / colleges determine the amount of tuitions and fees charged to enrolled students, ranging from RMB15,000 ($2,357) per student per school year to RMB28,000 ($4,400) per student per school year, depending on the applicable education programs. The total fees we receive from tuition collected by these universities and colleges vary based on the terms of our contracts with the Chinese host universities we partner with, and are based on our services rendered and can range from RMB2,250 ($354) to RMB11,200 ($1,760) per student per school year. Consulting fees we charge students to provide Overseas Study Consulting Services range from RMB38,000 ($5,971) per person to RMB80,000 ($12,571) per person, depending on different majors that our students are planning to pursue in foreign countries, which majors then determine the level of customized tutoring services we provide.

Our revenues from the sales of textbooks and course material are largely affected by the number of students enrolled under the Sino-foreign joint education programs. Revenues from this segment only accounted for nil, 1.0% and 0.3% of our total revenue for the fiscal years 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Revenues from overseas study consulting services are largely affected by the demand for international education from Chinese students. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and ensuing international travel bans, students were restricted from pursuing their overseas education, and the demand for international education decreased significantly in 2020. In 2021, we started to expand classroom-based pre-session training services through entering into a service contract with Beijing Foreign Studies University to assist 54 students for German and Russian language training and preparing their visa application materials for preparatory school in Germany and Russia once they have passed required language examinations. Any potential resurgence and continued uncertainties associated with the COVID-19 may continue to restrict students from pursuing their overseas education in the near terms, which may negatively impact on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Our revenues from Technological Consulting Services for Smart Campus Solutions largely depend on the number of contracts we enter into with customers, and on our ability to customize our solutions in a cost-effective way. Our “smart campus” related technological consulting service contracts are primarily on a fixed-price basis, which require us to perform services including project planning, project solution and design, data management application customization, installations of hardware equipment and components, integration of hardware and software application, and post-contract continuous maintenance support, based on the specific needs of each customer. For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, we have successfully provided smart campus solutions related technological consulting services to 18, 14 and 35 Chinese universities/ colleges, including FMP Strait College of Minjiang University, Capital Normal University, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, University of International Business and Economics, Shougang Technician College, Beijing Institute of Technology, North China Electric Power University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing Advanced Technical School of Arts and Craft and China University of Mining & Technology (Beijing), etc.

Cost of revenues

Our cost of revenues consists of salary, welfare and insurance costs for our faculty, rent expense for foreign faculty, textbook and course materials costs, travel, meals and entertainment expenses associated with teaching activities, consulting fees paid to third-parties for course design and teacher training, hardware parts and components purchase costs as well as labor costs incurred to undertake the software application customization for the smart campus projects, and business taxes. Our cost of revenues accounted for 29.4%, 42.9% and 63.9% of our total revenue for the fiscal years 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. In anticipation of the increase in our smart campus solution contracts with additional Chinese universities/ colleges, we expect our costs associated with hardware equipment and facilities purchase as well as data management application system customization to further increase in the foreseeable future.

Operating expenses

Our operating expenses consist of selling and marketing expenses and general and administrative expenses.

Our selling expenses primarily include expenses incurred for various sales activities, advertising, payroll expense paid to our sales and marketing personnel as well as shipping and delivery expenses. As a percentage of revenues, our selling expenses accounted for 3.9%, 4.6% and 11.3% of our total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Although our selling expense decreased in fiscal years 2021 and 2020 due to decreased sales and marketing activities, if our business further grows, we expect that our overall sales and marketing expenses, including but not limited to, advertising expenses, brand promotion expenses and salaries, will continue to increase in the foreseeable future.

Our general and administrative expenses primarily consist of employee salaries, welfare and insurance expenses, depreciation and professional service expenses. As a percentage of revenues, general and administrative expenses were 96.9%, 23.9% and 14.9% of our revenue for the fiscal years 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. We expect our general and administrative expenses, including, but not limited to, salaries and business consulting expenses, to continue to increase in the foreseeable future, as we hire additional personnel and incur additional expenses in connection with the expansion of our business operations.

Results of Operations

The following table sets forth a summary of our consolidated results of operations for the periods presented, both in absolute amount and as a percentage of our total operating revenue for the years presented. This information should be read together with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this annual report. The results of operations in any period are not necessarily indicative of our future trends.

Year ended December 31, 2021 compared to year ended December 31, 2020

Revenues. Revenues decreased by $1.1 million, or 22.2%, to $3,909,546 in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 from $5,023,099 in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. The decrease in our revenue was mainly attributable to decreased revenue from our Technological Consulting Services for Smart Campus Solutions in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, which was mainly caused by a decrease in the average contract price of smart campus related projects by 70.5% as high value contracts with FMP were mainly completed in 2020.

Our revenue by service type is as follows: