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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 20-F

(Mark One)

Date of event requiring this shell company report

For the transition period from                       to                        

Commission file number: 001-36397

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

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

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

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

As of December 31, 2018, there were 224,837,551 ordinary shares outstanding, par value $0.00025 per share, being the sum of 123,058,593 Class A ordinary shares and 101,778,958 Class B ordinary shares.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

x Yes   o 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.

o Yes   x 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.

x Yes   o 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).

x Yes   o No

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

† 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.

o Item 17   o 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).

o Yes   x 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.

o Yes   o No

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INTRODUCTION

In this annual report, except where the context otherwise requires and for purposes of this annual report only:

·                  “we,” “us,” “our company,” “the Company” and “our” refer to Weibo Corporation, a Cayman Islands company, its subsidiaries, and, in the context of describing its operations and consolidated financial information, include its consolidated PRC affiliated entities;

·                  “Weibo” refers to our social media platform and the products and services that we provide to users, customers and platform partners through that platform;

·                  “SINA” refers to Sina Corporation, our parent company and controlling shareholder;

·                  “Weimeng” refers to Beijing Weimeng Technology Co., Ltd.;

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

·                  “MAUs” refers to monthly active users, which are Weibo users who logged on with a unique Weibo ID and accessed Weibo through our website, mobile website, desktop or mobile applications, SMS or connections via our platform partners’ websites or applications that are integrated with Weibo, during a given calendar month. The numbers of our MAUs are calculated using internal company data that has not been independently verified, and we treat each account as a separate user for purposes of calculating MAUs, although it is possible that certain individuals or organizations may have set up on more than one account and certain accounts are used by multiple individuals within an organization;

·                  “DAUs” refers to daily active users, which are Weibo users who logged on with a unique Weibo ID and accessed Weibo through our website, mobile website, desktop or mobile applications, SMS or connections via our platform partners’ websites or applications that are integrated with Weibo, on a given day, and “average DAUs” for a month refers to the average of the DAUs for each day during the month. The numbers of our DAUs are calculated using internal company data that has not been independently verified. We treat each account as a separate user for purposes of calculating DAUs, although it is possible that certain individuals or organizations may have set up on more than one account and certain accounts are used by multiple individuals within an organization;

·                  “feeds” include both posts and reposts;

·                  “shares” or “ordinary shares” refers to our Class A and Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.00025 per share;

·                  “ADSs” refers to our American depositary shares. Each ADS represents one Class A ordinary share;

·                  “GAAP” refers to generally accepted accounting principles in the United States;

·                  all references to “RMB” or “renminbi” are to the legal currency of China, and all references to “$,” “dollars,” “US$” and “U.S. dollars” are to the legal currency of the United States. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars and from U.S. dollars to RMB in this annual report were made at a rate of RMB6.8755 to US$1.00, the exchange rate on December 31, 2018 as set forth in the H.10 statistical release published by the Federal Reserve Board; and

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

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INFORMATION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

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

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

·                  our goals and strategies;

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

·                  expected changes in our revenues, costs or expenditures;

·                  the growth of social media, internet and mobile users and internet and mobile advertising in China; and

·                  PRC governmental policies relating to media, the internet, internet content providers and online advertising.

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

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

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.                                    Selected Financial Data

The following table presents the selected consolidated financial information of our company. Our selected consolidated statements of operations data presented below for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2017 and 2018 and our selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2017 and 2018 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report. Our selected consolidated statements of operations data presented below for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2015 and our selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016 have been derived from our consolidated financial statements which are not included in this annual report. Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

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You should read the selected consolidated financial information in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes and “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” included elsewhere in this annual report. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of our results expected for future periods.

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(1)   On January 1, 2018, we adopted new revenue guidance ASC Topic 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” using the modified retrospective method applied to those contracts which were not completed as of January 1, 2018. Results for reporting periods beginning after January 1, 2018 are presented under Topic 606, while prior period amounts are not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with our historic accounting method under Topic 605. Topic 606 requires the presentation of value added tax (“VAT”) recognized in revenues from “gross” to “net,” which results in equal decrease in revenues and cost of revenues, and recognition of revenues and expenses at fair value for advertising barter transactions.

(2)   Stock-based compensation was allocated in costs and expenses as follows:

(3)   We adopted ASU 2016-01 “Classification and Measurement of Financial Instruments” beginning the first quarter of fiscal year 2018. After the adoption of the new accounting update, we measure investments in equity securities, other than equity method investments, at fair value through earnings. For those investments without readily determinable fair values, we elected to record these investments at cost, less impairment, and plus or minus subsequent adjustments for observable price changes. Changes in the basis of these investments are reported in current earnings.

(4)   Each ADS represents one Class A ordinary share.

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B.                                    Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

C.                                    Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

D.                                    Risk Factors

Risks Relating to Our Business

If we fail to grow our active user base, or if user engagement on our platform declines, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.

The growth of our active user base and the level of user engagement are critical to our success. We had 462 million MAUs and 200 million average DAUs in December 2018. Our business has been and will continue to be significantly affected by our success in growing the number of active users and increasing their overall level of engagement on our platform, including their engagement with promoted feeds, other advertising and marketing products and value-added services on our platform. We anticipate that our user growth rate will slow over time as the size of our user base increases and as we achieve higher market penetration in China’s internet population. To the extent our user growth rate slows, our success will become increasingly dependent on our ability to increase user engagement. If people do not perceive content and other products and services on our platform to be interesting and useful, we may not be able to attract users or increase their engagement. A number of user-oriented websites that achieved early popularity have since seen their user bases or levels of engagement decline, in some cases precipitously. There is no guarantee that we will not experience a similar erosion of our active user base or engagement level. A number of factors could potentially negatively affect user growth and engagement, including if:

·                  we are unable to retain existing users and attract new users to our platform, or achieve greater penetration into lower tier cities in China;

·                  there is a decrease in the perceived quality or reliability of the content generated by our users;

·                  a large number of influencers, such as celebrities, key opinion leaders, or KOLs and other public figures, and platform partners, such as media outlets and organizations with media rights, switch to alternative platforms or use other products and services more frequently;

·                  we are unable to manage and prioritize information to ensure users are presented with content that is appropriate, interesting, useful and relevant;

·                  we fail to introduce new and improved products or services or we introduce new or improved products or services that are not well received by users;

·                  technical or other problems prevent us from delivering our products or services in a rapid and reliable manner or otherwise adversely affect the user experience;

·                  users believe that their experience is diminished as a result of the decisions we make with respect to the frequency, relevance, prominence, format and quality of the advertisements displayed on our platform;

·                  we are unable to combat spam or other hostile or inappropriate usage on our platform;

·                  there are user concerns related to privacy and communication, safety, security or other factors;

·                  we fail to provide adequate customer service to our users;

·                  users engage with other platforms or activities instead of ours;

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·                  there are adverse changes in our products or services that are mandated by, or that we elect to make to address, legislation, regulations or government policies; or

·                  we do not maintain our brand image or our reputation is damaged.

We have undertaken various initiatives to stimulate the growth of our users and user engagement. For instance, in addition to the microblogging service with which Weibo originally started, we have added new functionalities, such as trends, search, short videos, live streaming and interest-based information feeds, which we believe have helped broaden our appeal and generate more user traffic and engagement. However, there can be no assurance that these and other strategies will continue to be effective. If we are unable to increase our user base and user engagement, our platform could be less attractive to potential new and existing users and customers, which would have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and operating results.

If our users and platform partners do not continue to contribute content or their contributions are not valuable to other users, we may experience a decline in user traffic and user engagement.

Our success depends on our ability to provide users with interesting and useful content, which in turn depends on the content contributed by our users and platform partners. We believe that one of our competitive advantages is the quality, quantity and open nature of the content on Weibo, and that access to rich content is one of the main reasons users visit Weibo. We seek to foster a broader and more engaged user community, and we encourage influencers, such as celebrities, KOLs and other public figures, and platform partners, such as multi-channel networks, (“MCNs”), media outlets and organizations with media rights, to use our platform to express their views and share interesting, and high quality content.

Among all our users, influencers have been contributing increasingly interesting and attractive contents on our platform. We provide these content creators with the opportunity to monetize their social assets on Weibo through advertising, e-commerce, paid-subscription, tipping and other means. If content creators do not see significant value from their social marketing activities on Weibo and find monetization on Weibo inadequate, we may have to subsidize them through direct content cost payout, which may have an adverse and material impact on our business and operating results. Alternatively, content creators may choose to switch to other platform and contribute less or no content to Weibo, which may cause our user base and user engagement to decline and our customers view our products and services less attractive for advertising and marketing purposes and consequently reduce their advertising spending on our platform.

If users and platform partners do not continue to contribute content to Weibo due to policy changes, their use of alternative communication channels or any other reasons, and we are unable to provide users with interesting, useful and timely content, our user base and user engagement may decline. If we experience a decline in the number of users or the level of user engagement, customers may not view our products and services as attractive for their advertising and marketing expenditures and may reduce their spending with us, which would materially harm our business and operating results.

We rely on our partnership program with channel partners, including application marketplaces, internet search engines, navigation sites, app preinstall partners and web browsers, to drive traffic to our platform, and if our partnership program becomes less effective or if the smartphone market slows down compared to the prior years, traffic to our platform could decline and our business and operating results could be adversely affected.

We work with application marketplaces, such as Apple’s App Store, Baidu Mobile Assistant and 360 Mobile Assistant, to drive downloads of our mobile applications. In the future, Google (Android), Apple or other operators of application marketplaces may make changes to their marketplaces and make access to our products and services more difficult. We also partner with internet search engines, navigation sites and web browsers, such as Baidu, Sogou, Hao123, Hao360, UC Browser and 360 Browser, to drive traffic to our applications and websites. For example, when a user types an inquiry into a search engine, we rely on high organic ranking of our webpages in these search results referring the user to our website. Internet search engines may modify their search algorithms, our competitors’ search engine optimization efforts may become more successful than ours, and other factors uncontrollable to us may cause our search result ranking to decline and adversely impact traffic to our platform. Similarly, navigation websites or web browsers may make decisions that result in directing less traffic to our platform. Due to intense competition in the marketplace, app preinstall partners may raise prices to a point where it becomes cost prohibitive for us to rely on them for Weibo user activation, or they may decide to discontinue their services to us altogether. Any reduction in the traffic directed to our mobile applications or websites from our channel partners, including application marketplaces, internet search engines, navigation sites, app preinstall partners and web browsers, could have a material adverse impact to our business and operating results and ultimately to our stock price.

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If we are unable to compete effectively for user traffic or user engagement, our business and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.

Competition for user traffic and user engagement is intense and we face strong competition in our business. Major Chinese internet companies, including Tencent, Baidu and NetEase, as well as major players in China who provide online media services, including content aggregation and distribution, compete directly with us for user traffic and user engagement, content, talent and marketing resources. As a media platform in nature, we also compete with offline media companies for audiences and content. In addition, as a social media featuring social networking services and messenger features, we are subject to intense competition from providers of similar services as well as potentially new types of online services. These services include (i) messengers and other social apps and sites, such as Weixin/WeChat, QQ Mobile, Qzone Mobile and Momo; (ii) news apps and sites, such as those operated by other major internet companies, including Tencent, Baidu, NetEase, Sohu, Phoenix News Media and Bytedance; (iii) multi-media apps (photo, short video, live streaming, etc.), such as Momo, Kuaishou, YY, iQiyi, Tencent Video, Youku Tudou and Bytedance.

We also compete with both offline and online games for the time and money of gamers. We have begun to offer social commerce solutions to our customers that enable them to conduct e-commerce on our platform. Consequently, our offerings compete with e-commerce companies and online verticals that enable merchants to conduct e-commerce, including location-based services and online-to-offline services. In addition to direct competition, we face indirect competition from companies that sponsor or maintain high traffic volume websites or provide an initial point of entry for internet users, including but not limited to providers of search services, web browser and navigation pages, such as Baidu, UC Web and Qihoo 360. We may also face increasing competition from global social media, social networking services and messengers, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, Line, Kakao Talk and Snow. Some of our competitors may have substantially more cash, traffic, technical and other resources than we do. We may be unable to compete successfully against these competitors or new market entrants, which may adversely affect our business and financial performance.

We believe that our ability to compete effectively for user traffic and user engagement depends upon many factors both within and beyond our control, including:

·                  the popularity, usefulness, ease of use, performance and reliability of our products and services compared to those of our competitors;

·                  the amount, quality and timeliness of content aggregated on our platform;

·                  our ability to enable celebrities, KOLs, media outlets and other content creators to quickly and efficiently build a fan base and monetize from their social assets;

·                  our ability, and the ability of our competitors, to develop new products and services and enhancements to existing products and services to keep up with user preferences and demands;

·                  the frequency, relevance and relative prominence of the advertisements displayed by us or our competitors;

·                  our ability to establish and maintain relationships with platform partners;

·                  our ability to provide effective customer service and support;

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·                  changes mandated by, or that we elect to make to address, legislation, regulations or government policies, some of which may have a disproportionate effect on us;

·                  acquisitions or consolidation within our industry, which may result in more formidable competitors; and

·                  our reputation and brand strength relative to our competitors.

We generate a substantial majority of our revenues from online advertising and marketing, which is novel and sometimes considered unproven. If we fail to generate sustainable revenue and profit through our advertising and marketing services, our result of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

We started to generate revenues in 2012 through advertising and marketing services, and to a less extent also through value-added services. Ever since then, advertising and marketing services have been contributing a substantial majority of our total revenues, accounting for 87% of our revenues in 2018. Therefore, any failure to continue generating sustainable revenue and profit through our advertising and marketing services could be materially harm our business.

Compared with traditional advertising and marketing solutions, online advertising and marketing services are still new and sometimes considered experimental. In addition, we, as well as the whole industry, are endeavoring to develop novel forms of advertising and marketing services. As a result, we cannot guarantee that the advertising and marketing strategies we have adopted can generate sustainable revenues and profit. Particularly, as is common in the industry, our advertising and marketing customers do not have long-term commitments with us. In addition, some potential new customers may view our advertising and marketing services as unproven, and we may need to devote additional time and resources to convince them. Customers will not continue to do business with us or may only be willing to advertise with us at reduced prices if we do not deliver advertising and marketing services in an effective manner, or if they do not believe that their investment in advertising and marketing with us will generate a competitive return relative to alternative advertising platforms.

Our ability to add new customers and increase spending of existing customers can be particularly affected by our ability to provide timely and reliable measurement analysis of customers’ advertising campaigns on Weibo, as some customers, especially key accounts, rely on advertisement measurement to evaluate advertising effectiveness. We are working with third-party measurement firms to provide these data services to our customers but the online advertisement measurement market in China is nascent. We cannot assure you that our measurement partners will be able to provide measurement to the satisfaction of our customers. If our customers are unable to obtain measurement results on their marketing campaigns on Weibo to their satisfaction, our customers may be less willing to maintain or expand their advertising spending on our platform, and our financial conditions, results of operations and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

We also need to adapt our advertising and marketing service offerings to the way users consume contents on our platforms. We introduced mobile-adapted promoted marketing solutions, such as promoted feeds, in 2013 to small and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs, and to key accounts in 2014, as users become to access our mobile products as a substitute for access through PC. Approximately 93% of our MAUs in December 2018 accessed Weibo through mobile devices at least once during the month, therefore we believe our ability to further grow our revenues would be dependent on the successful adoption of our mobile monetization. In addition to devices, users’ preferences on content format are also evolving. Online content in video format has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. If we are unable to adapt our products and services for the video environment and develop products and services to generate video advertising revenues, especially for the mobile environment, our results of operations and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

If we are unable to compete effectively for advertising and marketing spending, our business and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.

In addition to intense competition for users and user engagement, we also face significant competition for advertising and marketing spending. A substantial majority of our revenues are currently generated through advertising and marketing services. We compete against online and mobile businesses that offer such services, including Tencent, Baidu, Youku Tudou, Bytedance, Sohu, NetEase and Phoenix News Media. We also compete with internet companies that offer online-to-offline (O2O), purchase solutions and other performance-based advertising and marketing services and digital media tailored to specific vertical industries including fast moving consumer goods, IT, automobile, e-commerce, entertainment and travel, such as Autohome, Bitauto, Meituan/Dianping, Ctrip and Focus Media. We also compete against traditional media outlets, such as television, radio and print, for advertising and marketing budgets.

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In order to grow our revenues and improve our operating results, we must increase our market share of advertising and marketing spending relative to our competitors, many of which are larger companies that offer more traditional and widely accepted advertising products. In addition, some of our larger competitors have substantially broader product or service offerings and leverage their relationships based on other products or services to gain additional share of advertising and marketing budgets.

We believe that our ability to compete effectively for advertising and marketing spending depends upon many factors both within and beyond our control, including:

·                  the size, composition and activeness of our user base relative to those of our competitors;

·                  the breadth, innovation and effectiveness of our online and mobile-offerings;

·                  the timing and market acceptance of our advertising and marketing products and services, including breadth, quality and variety of our advertisement formats and features and those of our competitors;

·                  the effectiveness of our advertisement targeting capabilities, and those of our competitors;

·                  the volume, pricing and return on investment of our products and services relative to those of our competitors;

·                  the reach, engagement and effectiveness of our advertising and marketing products and services relative to those of our competitors;

·                  the availability, accuracy and utility of analytics and measurement solutions offered by us or our partners relative to those of our competitors;

·                  our ability to attract, retain and motivate talented employees;

·                  the effectiveness of our performance-based advertisements and real-time bidding system relative to those of our competitors;

·                  our sales and marketing efforts, and those of our competitors; and

·                  our reputation and the strength of our brand relative to our competitors.

Significant acquisitions and consolidation by and among our actual and potential competitors may present heightened competitive challenges for our business. Acquisitions of our platform partners by our competitors could result in reduced content and functionality of our products and services. Consolidation may also enable our larger competitors to offer bundled or integrated products that feature alternatives to our platform. Reduced content and functionality of our products and services, or our competitors’ ability to offer bundled or integrated products that compete directly with us, may cause our user base and user engagement to decline and customers to reduce their spending with us. If we are not able to compete effectively for advertising and marketing spending, our business and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.

We have a limited operating history in a new and unproven market, which makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects.

The market for social media is relatively new and may not develop as expected. People who are not our users, customers or platform partners may not understand the value of our products and services and new users, customers or platform partners may initially find our products and services confusing. There may be a perception that our products and services are only useful to users who post, or to influential users with large audiences. Convincing potential new users, customers and platform partners of the value of our products and services is critical to increasing the number of our users, customers and platform partners and to the success of our business. Although we have experienced continued user growth as shown by the increase of our MAU and DAU for the past few years, some of our peers may have experienced a decline in user base. If microblogging, social media, online media or social product, in general, declines in popularity among Chinese internet users, we may be unable to grow our user base or maintain or increase user engagement.

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We have a limited operating history. We launched Weibo in August 2009 and began to generate revenues in 2012, which makes it difficult to effectively assess our future prospects or forecast our future results. You should consider our business and prospects in light of the risks and challenges we encounter or may encounter in this developing and rapidly evolving market. These risks and challenges include our ability to, among other things:

·                  increase our number of users and the level of user engagement;

·                  develop a reliable, scalable, secure, high-performance technology infrastructure that can efficiently handle increased usage;

·                  convince customers of the benefits of our advertising and marketing services compared to alternative forms of advertising and marketing;

·                  refine our social interest graph, or SIG, recommendation engine to enable more relevant content recommendation and effective audience targeting;

·                  increase demand for value-added services, such as VIP membership, live streaming, and game-related services;

·                  develop and deploy new features, products and services for our users, customers and platform partners, including video functionalities and interest-based information feeds;

·                  successfully compete with other companies, some of which have substantially greater resources and market power than us, that are currently in, or may in the future enter, our industry, or duplicate the features of our products and services;

·                  attract, retain and motivate talented employees;

·                  process, store, protect and use personal data in compliance with governmental regulations, contractual obligations and other obligations related to privacy and security; and

·                  defend ourselves against litigation, regulatory, intellectual property, privacy or other claims.

If we fail to educate potential users, customers and platform partners about the value of our products and services, if the market for our platform does not develop as we expect or if we fail to address the needs of this market, our business will be harmed. Failure to adequately address these or other risks and challenges could harm our business and cause our operating results to suffer.

Alibaba is our largest customer and an important strategic partner. If we fail to maintain our collaboration with Alibaba, our results of operations and growth prospect may be adversely and materially affected.

From April 2013 to January 2016, we had a strategic collaboration with Alibaba and its affiliated entities to jointly explore social commerce and develop innovative marketing solutions to enable merchants on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms to better connect and build relationships with our users. The strategic collaboration generated approximately $294 million in advertising and marketing revenues from 2013 to 2015 and accounted for approximately 30% of our revenues for this period. Although revenue contribution by Alibaba has declined as a percentage to our total revenue. —as a result of the rapid growth of our business scale as well as our strategy to diversify revenue sources after the strategic collaboration agreement expired in early 2016—Alibaba still remains as our largest customer, and more importantly we rely on them to enable us to offer e-commerce advertising solutions to merchants on Alibaba’s platforms. If we are unable to either maintain strong cooperation with Alibaba or find other customers that can bring in similar amount of revenues to offset the possible further decline of revenue from Alibaba or the revenue associated with Alibaba’s ecosystem, our results of operations and growth prospects may be adversely and materially affected.

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Our future performance depends in part on support from our platform partners, particularly copyright content providers and multi-channel networks.

Although most of the content on our platform come from individual users, platform partners have become an increasingly important source of high-quality content. We believe user engagement with our products and services depends in part on the quality of applications and content generated by our platform partners, particularly copyright content providers and multi-channel networks, or MCNs. Copyright content providers have traditionally been an important source of premium content on our platform. Meanwhile, as content on our platform expands into various new formats, such as short videos, the role of MCNs as talent agencies for professional content creators is becoming increasingly important. We have built a large network of MCNs in different domains, such as video and e-commerce, and we rely on these platform partners to incubate and grow content creators so that they share more quality content on Weibo. If we are unable to enjoy continued collaboration with copyright content providers and expand our network of MCNs and incentivize them to share more content, our content offerings may not be as robust and competitive and our user base and user engagement may be adversely and materially affected.

We also work closely with third-party developers to build Weibo-integrated applications to enhance Weibo’s functionalities. Such existing and prospective developers may not be successful in building, growing, or monetizing mobile and/or web applications that create, maintain and enhance user engagement. Additionally, developers may choose to build on other platforms rather to integrate with Weibo. We are continuously seeking to balance the distribution objectives of our developers with our desire to provide an optimal user experience, and we may not be successful in achieving a balance that continues to attract and retain such developers. If we are not successful in our efforts to continue to grow the number of developers that choose to build products that integrate with Weibo or if we are unable to continue to build and maintain good relationships with such developers, our user growth and user engagement and our financial results may be adversely and materially affected.

Our new products, services and initiatives and changes to existing products, services and initiatives could fail to attract users and customers or generate revenues.

Our ability to increase the size and engagement of our user base, attract customers and generate revenues will depend in part on our ability to create and offer successful new products and services. We may introduce significant changes to our existing products and services or develop and introduce new products and services, including technologies with which we have little or no prior development or operating experience. If new or enhanced products or services fail to engage users, customers and platform partners, we may fail to attract or retain users or to generate sufficient revenues to justify our investments, and our business and operating results could be adversely affected. In addition, we may launch strategic initiatives that do not directly generate revenues but which we believe will enhance our attractiveness to users, customers and platform partners. We may not be successful in future efforts to generate revenues from our new products or services. If our strategic initiatives do not enhance our ability to monetize our existing products and services or enable us to develop new approaches to monetization, we may not be able to maintain or grow our revenues or recover any associated development costs and our operating results may be adversely affected.

If we fail to effectively manage our growth, our business and operating results could be harmed.

We continue to experience rapid growth in our business and operations, which will continue to place significant demands on our management, operational and financial resources. However, we may encounter difficulties as we establish and expand our operations, product development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative capabilities. We face significant competition for talented employees from other high-growth companies, which include both publicly traded and privately held companies, and we may not be able to hire new employees quickly enough to meet our needs. To attract highly skilled personnel, we have had to offer, and believe we will need to continue to offer, competitive compensation packages. As we continue to grow, we are subject to the risks of over-hiring, over-compensating our employees and over-expanding our operating infrastructure, and to the challenges of integrating, developing and motivating a growing employee base. In addition, we may not be able to innovate or execute as quickly as a smaller and more efficient organization. If we fail to effectively manage our hiring needs and successfully integrate our new hires, our efficiency and ability to meet our forecasts and our employee morale, productivity and retention could suffer, and our business and operating results could be adversely affected.

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As we strive to broaden our user base, increase user engagement, and develop new features and products, we often have to proactively devote significant resources to accommodate future growth and to meet market demand. If market condition changes or we misjudged future demand, however, we may incur high costs and expenses relative to our return, which could negatively affect our operating results. In addition, copyright content is costly and the competition for it is fierce. Mismanagement of copyright content purchase and usage, such as focus on content that turn out to be less popular or loss of valuable copyright content to competitors, may lead to a disproportional increase in expenses and adversely affect our business.

Continued growth could also strain our ability to maintain reliable service levels for our users and customers, develop and improve our operational, financial, legal and management controls, and enhance our reporting systems and procedures. Our expenses may grow faster than our revenues, and our expenses may be greater than we anticipate. Managing our growth will require significant expenditures and allocation of valuable management resources. If we fail to achieve the necessary level of efficiency in our organization as it grows, our business, operating results and financial condition could be harmed.

Our operating results may fluctuate from quarter to quarter, which makes it difficult to predict.

Our quarterly operating results have fluctuated in the past and will fluctuate in the future. As a result, our past quarterly operating results are not necessarily indicators of future performance. Our operating results in any given quarter can be influenced by numerous factors, many of which we are unable to predict or are outside of our control, including:

·                  our ability to grow our user base and user engagement;

·                  fluctuations in spending by our advertising and marketing customers, including as a result of seasonality, major events and extraordinary news events, or other factors;

·                  our ability to attract and retain advertising and marketing customers;

·                  the occurrence of planned or unplanned significant events, including events that may cause substantial stock-based compensation or other charges;

·                  the development and introduction of new products or services or changes in features of existing products or services;

·                  the impact of competitors or competitive products and services;

·                  the pricing of our products and services;

·                  our ability to maintain or increase revenue;

·                  our ability to maintain or improve gross margins, operating margins and net margins;

·                  increases in our costs and expenses that we may incur to grow and expand our operations and to remain competitive;

·                  system failure or outages, which could prevent us from displaying advertisements for any period of time;

·                  changes in U.S. GAAP and the related policies, guidance or interpretations;

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·                  changes in the legal or regulatory environment or proceedings, including with respect to security, privacy or enforcement by government regulators, including fines, orders or consent decrees; and

·                  changes in Chinese or global business or macroeconomic conditions.

Given our limited operating history and the rapidly evolving market in which we compete, our historical operating results may not be useful to you in predicting our future operating results. Our short operating history and our rapid growth make it difficult for us to identify recurring seasonal trends in our business. The advertising industry in China experiences seasonality. Historically, advertising spending tends to be the lowest in the first quarter of each calendar year due to long holidays around the Lunar New Year, and we believe that this seasonality affects our quarterly results. In addition, economic concerns continue to create uncertainty and unpredictability and add risk to our future outlook. An economic downturn in China or globally could cause our advertising and marketing customers to reduce their advertising budgets, and result in other adverse effects that could harm our operating results. Other factors that may cause our operating results to fluctuate include popular sports events, such as the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games. For example, the Rio 2016 Olympics took place in the third quarter of 2016, impacted our revenues and operating results during the quarter of the event and perhaps in the adjacent quarters, though we are unable to isolate and quantify its impact. Due to our rapid growth and limited operating history, the seasonal trends that we have experienced in the past may not apply to, or be indicative of, our future operating results.

Spam could diminish the user experience on our platform, which could damage our reputation and deter our current and potential users from using our products and services.

“Spam” on Weibo refers to a range of abusive activities that are prohibited by our terms of service and is generally defined as unsolicited actions that negatively impact other users with the general goal of drawing user attention to a given account, site, product or idea. This includes posting large numbers of unsolicited mentions of a user, duplicate feeds, misleading links (e.g., to malware or click-jacking pages) or other false or misleading content, and aggressively following and un-following accounts, adding users to lists, sending unsolicited invitations, reposting feeds and favoring feeds to inappropriately attract attention. Our terms of service also prohibit the creation of serial or bulk accounts, both manually or using automation, for disruptive or abusive purposes, such as to post spam or to artificially inflate the popularity of users seeking to promote themselves on Weibo. Although we continue to invest resources in reducing spam on Weibo, we expect spammers will continue to seek ways to act inappropriately on our platform. In addition, we expect that increases in the number of users on our platform will result in increased efforts by spammers to misuse our platform. We continuously combat spam, including by suspending or terminating accounts we believe to be spammers and launching algorithmic changes focused on curbing abusive activities. Our actions to combat spam require the diversion of significant time and focus of our engineering team from improving our products and services. If we are unable to effectively manage and reduce spam on Weibo, our reputation for delivering relevant content could be damaged, user engagement could decline and our operational costs could increase.

Privacy concerns relating to our products and services and the use of user information could damage our reputation, deter current and potential users and customers from using Weibo and negatively impact our business.

We collect personal data from our users in order to better understand our users and their needs and to help our customers target specific demographic groups. Concerns about the collection, use, disclosure or security of personal information or other privacy-related matters, even if unfounded, could damage our reputation, cause us to lose users and customers and adversely affect our operating results. While we strive to comply with applicable data protection laws and regulations, as well as our own posted privacy policies and other obligations we may have with respect to privacy and data protection, the failure or perceived failure to comply may result, and in some cases has resulted, in inquiries and other proceedings or actions against us by government agencies or others, as well as negative publicity and damage to our reputation and brand, each of which could cause us to lose users and customers, which could have an adverse effect on our business.

Any systems failure or compromise of our security that results in the unauthorized access to or release of our users’ or customers’ data could significantly limit the adoption of our products and services, as well as harm our reputation and brand and, therefore, our business. We strictly limit third-party developers’ access to user privacy and user data, and we expend significant resources on technology and product development to protect against leakage of user information and other security breaches. Nonetheless, given its great commercial value, our user data may still be misused by third-parties, which could expose us to legal and regulatory risks and seriously harm our business.

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The PRC regulatory and enforcement regime with regard to data security and data protection is evolving. On November 7, 2016, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress issued the Cyber Security Law, which came into effect on June 1, 2017. The Cyber Security Law sets high requirements for the operational security of facilities deemed to be part of the PRC’s “critical information infrastructure.” See “ Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Doing Business in China—Substantial uncertainties exist with respect to the interpretation and implementation of Cyber Security Law as well as any impact it may have on our business operations.” Furthermore, if privacy concerns or regulatory restrictions prevent us from selling demographically targeted advertising, we may become less attractive to our customers. For example, as part of our future advertisement delivery system, we may integrate user information such as advertisement response rate, name, address, age or email address with third-party databases to generate comprehensive demographic profiles for individual users. In Hong Kong, however, the Hong Kong Personal Data Ordinance provides that an internet company may not collect information about its users, analyze the information for a profile of the user’s interests and sell or transmit the profiles to third parties for direct marketing purposes without the user’s consent. In the European Union, or EU, the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which came into effect on May 25, 2018, present increased challenges and risks in relation to policies and procedures relating to data collection, storage, transfer, disclosure, protection and privacy, and will impose significant penalties for non-compliance, including for example, penalties calculated as a percentage of global revenue under the GDPR. Since the GDPR only came into effect recently, the potential risks associated with non-compliance therewith are uniquely difficult to predict. Other jurisdictions may have similar prohibitions. Although less than 2% of our revenues are generated in Hong Kong, EU and other jurisdictions with similar prohibitions, we hope to attract more users in these jurisdictions and if we are unable to construct demographic profiles of internet users because they refuse to give consent, we will be less attractive to customers and our business could suffer.

New laws or regulations concerning data protection, or the interpretation and application of existing consumer and data protection laws or regulations, which is often uncertain and in flux, may be inconsistent with our practices. If so, in addition to the possibility of fines, this could result in an order requiring that we change our practices, which could have an adverse effect on our business and operating results. Complying with new laws and regulations could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices in a manner materially adverse to our business.

If our security measures are breached, or if our products and services are subject to attacks that degrade or deny the ability of users to access our products and services, our products and services may be perceived as not being secure, users and customers may curtail or stop using our products and services and our business and operating results may be harmed.

Our products and services involve the storage and transmission of users’ and customers’ information, and security breaches expose us to a risk of loss of this information, litigation and potential liability. We experience cyber-attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis, including hacking into our user accounts and redirecting our user traffic to other websites, and we have been able to rectify attacks without significant impact to our operations in the past. Functions that facilitate interactivity with other websites, such as Weibo Connect, which among other things allows users to log in to partner websites using their Weibo identities, could increase the scope of access of hackers to user accounts. Our security measures may also be breached due to employee error, malfeasance or otherwise. Additionally, outside parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees, users or customers to disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to our data or our users’ or customers’ data or accounts, or may otherwise obtain access to such data or accounts. Since our users and customers may use their Weibo accounts to establish and maintain online identities, unauthorized communications from Weibo accounts that have been compromised may damage their reputations and brands as well as ours. Any such breach or unauthorized access could result in significant legal and financial exposure, damage to our reputation and a loss of confidence in the security of our products and services that could have an adverse effect on our business and operating results. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service or sabotage systems change frequently and often are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. If an actual or perceived breach of our security occurs, the market perception of the effectiveness of our security measures could be harmed, we could lose users and customers and we may be exposed to significant legal and financial risks, including legal claims and regulatory fines and penalties. Any of these actions could have a material and adverse effect on our business, reputation and operating results.

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We rely on assumptions and estimates to calculate certain key operating metrics, and real or perceived inaccuracies in such metrics may harm our reputation and negatively affect our business.

The numbers of daily and monthly active users of Weibo are calculated using internal company data that has not been independently verified. While these numbers are based on what we believe to be reasonable calculations for the applicable periods of measurement, there are inherent challenges in measuring usage and user engagement across our large user base. For example, there are a number of false or spam accounts in existence on Weibo. Although we continuously combat spam by suspending or terminating these accounts, our active user number may include a number of false or spam accounts and therefore may not accurately represent the actual number of active accounts. We treat each account as a separate user for purposes of calculating our active users, because it may not always be possible to identify people and organizations that have set up more than one account. Additionally, some accounts used by organizations are used by many people within the organization. Accordingly, the calculations of our active users may not accurately reflect the actual number of people or organizations using Weibo.

We regularly review and may adjust our processes for calculating our internal metrics to improve their accuracy. Our measures of user growth and user engagement may differ from estimates published by third parties or from similarly titled metrics used by our competitors due to differences in methodology. If customers, platform partners or investors do not perceive our user metrics to be accurate representations of our user base or user engagement, or if we discover material inaccuracies in our user metrics, our reputation may be harmed and customers and platform partners may be less willing to allocate their spending or resources to Weibo, which could negatively affect our business and operating results.

Our business is highly sensitive to the strength of our brand and market influence, and we may not be able to maintain current or attract new users, customers and platform partners for our products and services if we do not continue to increase the strength of our brand and develop new brands successfully in the marketplace.

Our operational and financial performance is highly dependent on the strength of our brand and market influence. Such dependency will increase further as the number of internet and mobile users as well as the number of market entrants in China grows. In order to retain existing and attract new internet users, customers and platform partners, we may need to substantially increase our expenditures to create and maintain brand awareness and brand loyalty.

In addition, we receive a high degree of media coverage in Chinese communities around the world. Negative coverage in the media of our company, including about our product quality and reliability, changes to our products and services, privacy and security practices, litigation, regulatory activity, the actions of our users, or the experience of our users, platform partners and advertisers with our products and services, even if inaccurate, could threaten the perception of our brands. We cannot assure you that we will be able to defuse negative press coverage about our company to the satisfaction of our investors, users, customers and platform partners. If we are unable to defuse negative press coverage about our company, our brand may suffer in the marketplace, our operational and financial performance may be negatively impacted and the price of our ADSs may decline.

If our goodwill or intangible assets become impaired, we may be required to record a significant charge to earnings.

We review our intangible assets for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable, such as a decline in stock price and market capitalization. We test goodwill for impairment at least once a year. If such goodwill or intangible assets are deemed to be impaired, an impairment loss equal to the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the fair value of the assets would be recognized. We may be required to record a significant charge in our financial statements during the period in which any impairment of goodwill or intangible assets is determined, which would negatively affect our results of operations.

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In 2018, we recorded a goodwill and intangibles impairment charge of $10.6 million for the goodwill arising from certain previous acquisitions, due to their unsatisfactory financial performance and not optimistic forecast of future revenues. As of December 31, 2018, the total amount of our goodwill and intangible assets was $50.4 million. A substantial portion of the goodwill and intangible assets arose from the acquisition of the live streaming business of www.yizhibo.com, or Yizhibo, a live streaming platform in China, in 2018 from Yixia Tech Co Ltd; therefore, we may have to reassess and even record impairment loss if live streaming industry prospects deteriorate.

The monetization of our services may require users to accept promoted marketing in their feeds or private messages, which may affect user experience and cause a decline in user traffic and a delay in our monetization.

Weibo users typically can log in to their personal accounts to view feeds and private messages from accounts that they have selected to follow. Social platform has been subject to negative comments, and even lawsuits, for introducing promoted advertising into their users’ information feeds. We started to test promoted products on Weibo at the end of 2012 and have also received user complaints. If we are unable to address user complaints adequately, user experience may be negatively affected, the monetization of our products and services may be delayed and our user base or user engagement may decline, which may adversely impact our operations.

New technologies could block our advertisements. Users of PC and mobile devices may enable technical measures that could hinder our traffic growth and limit our monetization opportunities.

Technologies have been developed that can disable the display of our advertisements and that provide tools to users to opt out of our advertising products. Most of our revenues are derived from fees paid to us by customers in connection with the display of advertisements to our users. In addition, our traffic growth is significantly dependent on content viewed via mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. Technologies and tools for personal computers and mobile devices, such as operating systems, internet browsers, anti-virus software and other applications, as well as mobile application stores could set up technical measures to divert user traffic, require a fee for the download of our products or block our products and services altogether, which could adversely affect our overall traffic and ability to monetize our products and services.

Our business and growth could suffer if we are unable to hire and retain key personnel.

We depend on the continued contributions of our senior management and other key employees, many of whom are difficult to replace. The loss of the services of any of our executive officers or other key employees could harm our business. Competition for qualified talent in China is intense. Our future success is 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 and the trading price of our ADSs could suffer. 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 stock-based compensation.

We have incurred and expect to continue to incur substantial stock-based compensation expenses.

We have adopted share incentive plans in August 2010 and March 2014. See “Item 6.B. Directors, Senior Management and Employees—Compensation—Share Incentive Plans” for a detailed discussion. For the years ended December 31, 2016, 2017 and 2018, we recorded $36.9 million, $48.0 million and $41.0 million, respectively, in stock-based compensation expenses. We will continue to grant stock-based compensation in the future in order to attract and retain key personnel and employees. Consequently, our stock-based compensation expenses may be recurring and even significantly increase in absolute amount, which may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Future investments in and acquisitions of complementary assets, technologies and businesses may fail and may result in equity or earnings dilution.

We have in the past and may continue to invest in or acquire assets, technologies and businesses that are complementary to our existing business. For example, in October 2018, we acquired a live streaming business of Yizhibo, a live streaming platform in China. Our investments or acquisitions may not yield the results we expect. In addition, investments and acquisitions could result in the use of substantial amounts of cash, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, significant amortization expenses related to intangible assets and exposure to potential unknown liabilities of the acquired business. Moreover, the cost of identifying and consummating investments and acquisitions, and integrating the acquired businesses into ours, may be significant, and the integration of acquired businesses may be disruptive to our existing business operations. In addition, we may have to obtain approval from the relevant PRC governmental authorities for the investments and acquisitions and comply with any applicable PRC rules and regulations, which may be costly. In the event that our investments and acquisitions are not successful, our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

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Our financial results could be adversely affected by our long-term investments.

We periodically review our investments in publicly traded companies, privately held companies, and limited partnerships for impairment. If we conclude that any of these investments is impaired, we will write down the asset to its fair value and take a corresponding charge to our consolidated statements of comprehensive income. For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2016, 2017 and 2018, we recognized impairment charge of $36.4 million, $4.7 million and $23.6 million, respectively, on the carrying value of our investments. We may continue to incur impairment charges in the future, which could depress our profitability or subject us to incur a net loss.

As of December 31, 2018, our investments included $693.1 million in private companies, which may not have the resources nor level of controls in place like public companies to timely and accurately provide updates about their company to us. Furthermore, many of our investments are at an early, pre-revenue stage of development, and their impairment may be difficult to assess as market information on internet-related startups is not readily available. After our adoption of ASU 2016-01 “Classification and Measurement of Financial Instruments” starting January 1, 2018, we measure long-term investments other than equity method investments at fair value through earnings. Our investments other than equity method are subject to a wide variety of market related risks that could substantially reduce or increase the fair value of our holdings. For example, identification of observable price change in orderly transaction for those investments without readily determinable fair value may result in our recognition of gain or loss on such investments.

Determination of estimated fair value of these investments require complex and subjective judgments due to their limited financial and operating history, unique business risks and limited public information. Consequently, we may not receive information about our investments on a timely basis to properly account for them. We recognized a net gain of $40.1 million in 2018 as a result of fair value changes. We are unable to control these factors and an impairment charge recognized by us, especially untimely recorded, may adversely impact our financial results and share price.

If we cannot obtain sufficient cash when we need it, we may not be able to meet our payment obligations under our convertible notes.

In October 2017, we issued $900 million principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2022, which we refer to as 2022 Notes in this annual report. The notes bear interest at a rate of 1.25% per year, payable semiannually in arrears on May 15 and November 15 of each year, beginning on May 15, 2018, and will mature on November 15, 2022. We may not have sufficient funds to pay the interest or fulfill other obligations under the notes.

We derive most of our revenues from, and hold most of our assets through, our subsidiaries. As a result, we may rely in part upon distributions and advances from our subsidiaries in order to help us meet our payment obligations under the notes and our other obligations. Our subsidiaries are distinct legal entities and do not have any obligation, legal or otherwise, to provide us with distributions or advances. We may face tax or other adverse consequences, or legal limitations, on our ability to obtain funds from these entities. In addition, our ability to obtain external financing in the future is subject to a variety of uncertainties, including:

·                  our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows;

·                  general market conditions for financing activities by internet companies; and

·                  economic, political and other conditions in the PRC and elsewhere.

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If we are unable to obtain funding in a timely manner or on commercially acceptable terms, we may not be able to meet our payment obligations under our convertible notes. If we fail to pay interest on the notes, we will be in default under the indenture governing the notes, which in turn may constitute a default under existing and future agreements governing our indebtedness.

Many of our products and services contain open source software, and we license some of our software through open source projects, which may pose particular risks to our proprietary software, products, and services in a manner that could have a negative effect on our business.

We use open source software in our products and services and will use open source software in the future. In addition, from time to time, we contribute software source code to open source projects under open source licenses or release internal software projects under open source licenses, and anticipate doing so in the future. The terms of many open source licenses to which we are subject have not been interpreted by domestic or foreign courts, and there is a risk that open source software licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to provide or distribute our products or services. Additionally, we may from time to time face claims from third parties claiming ownership of, or demanding release of, the open source software or derivative works that we developed using such software, which could include our proprietary source code, or otherwise seeking to enforce the terms of the applicable open source license. These claims could result in litigation and could require us to make our software source code freely available, purchase a costly license or cease offering the implicated products or services unless and until we can re-engineer them to avoid infringement. This re-engineering process could require significant additional research and development resources, and we may not be able to complete it successfully. In addition to risks related to license requirements, use of certain open source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or controls on the origin of software. Additionally, because any software source code we contribute to open source projects is publicly available, our ability to protect our intellectual property rights with respect to such software source code may be limited or lost entirely, and we are unable to prevent our competitors or others from using such contributed software source code. Any of these risks could be difficult to eliminate or manage, and, if not addressed, could have a negative effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

We may not be able to adequately protect our intellectual property, which could cause us to be less competitive.

We rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws and restrictions on disclosure to protect our intellectual property rights. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, third parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property or seek court declarations that they do not infringe upon our intellectual property rights. Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly, and we cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent misappropriation of our intellectual property. From time to time, we may have to resort to litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources. For example, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, or TRAB, issued decisions in June and July, 2017 to cancel the two trademarks owned by Weibo Interactive due to the lack of the proof of use. We have appealed TRAB’s decisions through the Beijing Intellectual Property Court. On December 25, 2017, Beijing Intellectual Property Court made two first instance judgments, each lifting TRAB’s decision and instructing TRAB to issue new decisions on the application for review regarding the two trademarks. On May 8, 2018, TRAB issued that the trademarks are valid for all registered items including computer programs and computer game software.

We may be subject to intellectual property infringement claims or other allegations by third parties for information or content displayed on, retrieved from or linked to our platform, or distributed to our users, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and prospects.

Companies in the internet, technology and media industries are frequently involved in litigation based on allegations of infringement of intellectual property rights, unfair competition, invasion of privacy, defamation, and other violations of other parties’ rights. The validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property rights in internet-related industries, particularly in China, are uncertain and still evolving. As we face increasing competition and as litigation becomes more common in China in resolving commercial disputes, we face a higher risk of being the subject of intellectual property infringement claims.

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We allow users to upload written materials, images, pictures and other content on our platform and download, share, link to and otherwise access games and applications (some of which are developed by third parties) as well as audio, video and other content either on our platform or from other websites through our platform. We have procedures designed to reduce the likelihood that content might be used without proper licenses or third-party consents. However, these procedures may not be effective in preventing the unauthorized posting of copyrighted content.

With respect to games and applications available on our platform, we have procedures designed to reduce the likelihood of infringement. However, such procedures might not be effective in preventing games and applications, particularly those developed by third parties, from infringing upon other parties’ rights. We may face liability for copyright or trademark infringement, defamation, unfair competition, libel, negligence, and other claims based on the nature and content of the materials that are delivered, shared or otherwise accessed through our platform.

Defending intellectual property litigation is costly and can impose a significant burden on our management and employees, and there can be no assurances that favorable final outcomes will be obtained in all cases. Such claims, even if they do not result in liability, may harm our reputation. Any resulting liability or expenses, or changes required to our platform to reduce the risk of future liability, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and prospects.

User growth and engagement depend upon effective interoperation with operating systems, networks, devices, web browsers and standards that we do not control.

We make our products and services available across a variety of operating systems and through websites. We are dependent on the interoperability of our products and services with popular devices, desktop and mobile operating systems and web browsers that we do not control, such as Windows, Mac OS, Android, iOS, and others. Any changes in such systems, devices or web browsers that degrade the functionality of our products and services or give preferential treatment to competitive products or services could adversely affect usage of our products and services. Further, if the number of platforms for which we develop our products increases, it will result in an increase in our costs and expenses. In order to deliver high quality products and services, it is important that our products and services work well with a range of operating systems, networks, devices, web browsers and standards that we do not control. In addition, because a majority of our users access our products and services through mobile devices, we are particularly dependent on the interoperability of our products and services with mobile devices and operating systems. We may not be successful in developing relationships with key participants in the mobile industry or in developing products or services that operate effectively with these operating systems, networks, devices, web browsers and standards. In the event that it is difficult for our users to access and use our products and services, particularly on their mobile devices, our user growth and user engagement could be harmed, and our business and operating results could be adversely affected.

Our operations depend on the performance of the internet infrastructure and fixed telecommunications networks in China.

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

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In addition, we have no control over the costs of the services provided by telecommunication service providers. If the prices we pay for telecommunications and internet services rise significantly, our results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, if internet access fees or other charges to internet users increase, particularly as content shifts toward video, some users may be prevented from accessing the internet and thus cause the growth of internet users to decelerate. Such deceleration may adversely affect our ability to continue to expand our user base and increase our attractiveness to online customers.

Our business and operating results may be harmed by service disruptions, or by our failure to timely and effectively scale and adapt our existing technology and infrastructure.

One of the reasons people come to Weibo is for real-time information. We have experienced, and may in the future experience, service disruptions, outages and other performance problems due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, human or software errors, hardware failure, capacity constraints due to an overwhelming number of people accessing our products and services simultaneously, computer viruses and denial of service, fraud and security attacks. Any disruption or failure in our infrastructure could hinder our ability to handle existing or increased traffic on our platform or cause us to lose content stored on our platform, which could significantly harm our business and our ability to retain existing users and attract new users.

As the number of our users increases and our users generate more content, including photos and videos on our platform, we may be required to expand and adapt our technology and infrastructure to continue to reliably store and analyze this content. It may become increasingly difficult to maintain and improve the performance of our products and services, especially during peak usage times, as our products and services become more complex and our user traffic increases. In addition, because we lease our data center facilities, we cannot be assured that we will be able to expand our data center infrastructure to meet user demand in a timely manner, or on favorable economic terms. We rely on SINA, our controlling shareholder, and third-party vendors to provide infrastructure services. We cannot assure you that their infrastructure will operate without interruptions and that we can maintain a relationship with these parties on favorable economic terms. If our users are unable to access Weibo or we are not able to make information available rapidly on Weibo, or at all, users may become frustrated and seek other channels to obtain the information, and may not return to Weibo or use Weibo as often in the future, or at all. This would negatively impact our ability to attract users and customers and maintain the level of engagement of our users.

We prioritize product innovation and user experience over short-term operating results, which may harm our revenues and operating results.

We encourage employees to quickly develop and help us launch new and innovative features. We focus on improving the user experience for our products and services and on developing new and improved products and services for the customers on our platform. We prioritize innovation and the experience for users and customers on Weibo over short-term operating results. We frequently make product and service decisions that may reduce our short-term operating results if we believe that the decisions are consistent with our goals to improve the user experience and performance for customers, which we believe will improve our operating results over the long term. These decisions may not be consistent with the short-term expectations of investors and may not produce the long-term benefits that we expect, in which case our user growth and user engagement, our relationships with customers and our business and operating results could be adversely and materially harmed. In addition, our focus on the user experience may negatively impact our relationships with our existing or prospective customers. This could result in a loss of customers and platform partners, which could adversely and materially harm our revenues and operating results.

We may face lawsuits or incur liability as a result of content published, made available through, or linked to our social media platform.

As a social media platform, we have faced and will continue to face liability relating to content that is published, made available through, or linked to our platform. In particular, the nature of our business exposes us to claims related to defamation, intellectual property rights, rights of publicity and privacy, illegal content, content regulation and personal injury torts. The law relating to the liability of providers of online products or services for activities of their users remains somewhat unsettled in China. In addition, the public nature of communications on our platform exposes us to risks arising from the creation of impersonation accounts intended to be attributed to our users or customers. We could incur significant costs investigating and defending these claims. If we incur costs or liability as a result of these events, our business, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected.

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We may be subject to litigation for user-generated content provided on our platform, which may be time-consuming and costly to defend.

Our platform is open to the public for posting user-generated content. Although we have required our users to post only legally compliant and inoffensive materials and have set up screening procedures, our screening procedures may fail to screen out all potentially offensive or non-compliant user-generated content. Even if properly screened, a third party may still find user-generated content postings on our platform offensive and take action against us in connection with the posting of such information. As with other companies who provide user-generated content on their websites, we have had to deal with such claims in the past and anticipate that such claims will increase as user-generated content becomes more popular in China. Any such claim, with or without merit, could be time-consuming and costly to defend, and may result in litigation and divert management’s attention and resources.

We may face certain risks related to financial products available on our Weibo wallet.

Weibo wallet enables users to purchase different types of products and services, including financial services and products offered by our platform partners. The Chinese government has tightened regulation of online financing services since mid-2015. It has issued numerous laws and regulations governing online financial service. For example, on April 3, 2018, the Internet Financing Risks Special Rectification Work Leading Group under the State Council issued the Notice on Strengthening the Rectification and Inspection of Asset Management Operations via the Internet. This notice requires any entity that issues and sells fund and asset management products via the internet to obtain an asset management business license or asset management product sales license issued by the central financial management department. Operators without such license could be held to have raised funds illegally, and even subject to criminal charges in serious instances. Under this notice, current operators found in violation of applicable requirements must cease all sales of financial products and terminate or otherwise wind-down all outstanding transactions before the end of June 2018. This notice further requires that Internet platforms not act as proxies for any kind of trading or sale of financial products of operators not holding the required licensing and approvals. If any of the financial products available on our Weibo wallet are found in violation of the relevant regulations and laws, we may face warnings, fines, confiscation of illegal gains, license revocations and discontinue of the relevant business, our business, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected.

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

We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and the various regulatory authorities in China and the Cayman Islands, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.

Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.

We have limited business insurance coverage.

The insurance industry in China is still young and the business insurance products offered in China are limited. We have limited business liability or disruption insurance coverage for our operations. Any business disruption, litigation or natural disaster may cause us to incur substantial costs and divert our resources.

We face risks related to health epidemics and natural disasters.

Our business could be materially and adversely affected by natural disasters, health epidemics or other public safety concerns affecting the PRC. Natural disasters may give rise to server interruptions, breakdowns, system failures, technology platform failures or internet failures, which could cause the loss or corruption of data or malfunctions of software or hardware as well as adversely affect our ability to operate our platform. Our business could also be adversely affected if our employees are affected by health epidemics. In addition, our results of operations could be adversely affected to the extent that any health epidemic harms the Chinese economy in general. Our headquarters are located in Beijing, where most of our management and many employees currently reside. Consequently, if any natural disasters, health epidemics or other public safety concerns were to affect Beijing, our operation may experience material disruptions, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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Risks Relating to Our Carve-out from SINA and Our Relationship with SINA

We have limited experience operating as a stand-alone public company.

We were incorporated in 2010 in the Cayman Islands as a wholly owned subsidiary of SINA. We have limited experience conducting our operations as a stand-alone public company. Prior to our initial public offering in April 2014, SINA provided us with financial, administrative, sales and marketing, human resources and legal services and the services of a number of its executives and employees. After we became a stand-alone public company, SINA has continued to provide us with certain support services. To the extent SINA does not continue to provide us with such support, we will need to create our own support systems. We may encounter operational, administrative and strategic difficulties as we adjust to operating as a stand-alone public company. This may cause us to react more slowly than our competitors to industry changes and may divert our management’s attention from running our business or otherwise harm our operations.

In addition, since we have become a public company, our management team has been required to develop the expertise necessary to comply with the numerous regulatory and other requirements applicable to public companies, including requirements relating to corporate governance, listing standards and securities and investor relations issues. As a stand-alone public company, our management has to evaluate our internal control system independent of SINA with new thresholds of materiality, and to implement necessary changes to our internal control system. We cannot guarantee that we are able to do so in a timely and effective manner.

Our financial information included in this annual report may not be representative of our financial condition and results of operations if we had been operating as a stand-alone company for all periods presented.

Prior to the establishment of Weibo Corporation in 2010, the operations of our social media business were carried out by companies owned or controlled by SINA. For all periods presented, our consolidated financial statements include all assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses and cash flows that are directly attributable to our social media business whether held or incurred by SINA or by us. Only those assets and liabilities that are specifically identifiable to our business are included in our consolidated balance sheets. With respect to costs of operations of the social media business, an allocation of certain costs and expenses of SINA were also included. These allocations were made using a proportional cost allocation method by considering the proportion of revenues, infrastructure usage metrics, and labor usage metrics among other things attributable to us. We made numerous estimates, assumptions and allocations in our historical financial statements because SINA did not account for us, and we did not operate as a stand-alone company for any period prior to our initial public offering. See “Item 7.B. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions—Related Party Transactions—Our Relationship with SINA” for our arrangements with SINA and “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” and the notes to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report for our historical cost allocation. Although our management believes that the assumptions underlying our financial statements and the above allocations are reasonable, our financial statements may not necessarily reflect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows as if we had operated as a stand-alone public company during the periods presented. Therefore, you should not view our historical results as indicators of our future performance.

We may not continue to receive the same level of support from SINA.

SINA is a leading internet media company in China, and our social media business has benefited significantly from SINA’s strong market position in China and its expertise in both internet and media-related businesses. For example, our advertising and marketing revenues have benefited from SINA’s ability to attract large brand advertisers that are interested in advertising on the internet. Although we have entered into a series of agreements with SINA relating to our ongoing business partnership and service arrangements with SINA, we cannot assure you we will continue to receive the same level of support from SINA as we now operate as a stand-alone public company.

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Our agreements with SINA may be less favorable to us than similar agreements negotiated between unaffiliated parties. In particular, our non-competition agreement with SINA limits the scope of business that we are allowed to conduct.

We have entered into a series of agreements with SINA and the terms of such agreements may be less favorable to us than would be the case if they were negotiated with unaffiliated third parties. In particular, under the non-competition agreement we have entered into with SINA, we agree during the non-competition period (which will end on the later of (1) five years after the first date when SINA ceases to own in aggregate at least 20% of the voting power of our then outstanding securities and (2) the fifteenth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering) not to compete with SINA in the business currently conducted by SINA, as described in its periodic filings with the SEC, other than the microblogging and social networking business currently operated by us and any business developed by us operating under either the domain names or the brands owned by us as of the date of the agreement. Such contractual limitations significantly affect our ability to diversify our revenue sources and may materially and adversely impact our business and prospects should the growth of social media in China slow down. In addition, pursuant to our master transaction agreement with SINA, we have agreed to indemnify SINA for liabilities arising from litigation and other contingencies related to our business and assumed these liabilities as part of our carve-out from SINA. The allocation of assets and liabilities between SINA and our company may not reflect the allocation that would have been reached by two unaffiliated parties. Moreover, so long as SINA continues to control us, we may not be able to bring a legal claim against SINA in the event of contractual breach, notwithstanding our contractual rights under the agreements described above and other inter-company agreements entered into from time to time.

Our sales, marketing and brand promotion have benefited significantly from our association with SINA. Any negative development in SINA’s market position or brand recognition may materially and adversely affect our marketing efforts and the strength of our brand.

As a controlled subsidiary of SINA, we have benefited significantly from our association with SINA in marketing our brand and our platform. For example, we have benefited by providing services to SINA’s clients. We also benefit from SINA’s strong brand recognition in China, which has provided us credibility and a broad marketing reach. If SINA loses its market position, the effectiveness of our marketing efforts through our association with SINA may be materially and adversely affected. In addition, any negative publicity associated with SINA will likely have an adverse impact on the effectiveness of our marketing as well as our reputation and our brand.

SINA will control the outcome of shareholder actions in our company.

SINA held 45.2% of our ordinary shares, representing 71.2% of our total voting power as of March 31, 2019. SINA has advised us that it does not anticipate disposing of its voting control in us in the near future. SINA’s voting power gives it the power to control actions that require shareholder approval under Cayman Islands law, our memorandum and articles of association and NASDAQ requirements, including the election and removal of a majority of our board of directors, approval of significant mergers and acquisitions and other business combinations, changes to our memorandum and articles of association, the number of shares available for issuance under share incentive plans, and the issuance of significant amounts of our ordinary shares in private placements.

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

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

We are a “controlled company” as defined under the NASDAQ Stock Market Rules because SINA holds more than 50% of our voting power. For so long as we remain a controlled company under that definition, we are permitted to elect to rely, and will rely, on certain exemptions from corporate governance rules, including:

·                  an exemption from the rule that our director nominees must be selected or recommended solely by independent directors; and

·                  an exemption from having a corporate governance and nominating committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities.

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

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

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

·                  Indemnification arrangements with SINA. We have agreed to indemnify SINA with respect to lawsuits and other matters relating to our social media business, including operations of that business when it was a private company and a subsidiary of SINA. These indemnification arrangements could result in our having interests that are adverse to those of SINA, for example, with respect to settlement arrangements in litigation. In addition, under these arrangements, we have agreed to reimburse SINA for liabilities incurred (including legal defense costs) in connection with any litigation, while SINA will be the party prosecuting or defending the litigation.

·                  Non-competition arrangements with SINA. We and SINA have entered into a non-competition agreement under which we agree not to compete with each other’s core business. SINA agrees not to compete with us in a business that is of the same nature as the microblogging and social networking business operated by us as of the date of the agreement. We agree not to compete with SINA in the business currently conducted by SINA, as described in its periodic filings with the SEC, other than the microblogging and social networking business operated by us as of the date of the agreement.

·                  Employee recruiting and retention. Because both SINA and we are engaged internet-related businesses in China, we may compete with SINA in the hiring of new employees, in particular with respect to media and advertising-related matters. We have a non-solicitation arrangement with SINA that restricts us and SINA from hiring any of each other’s employees.

·                  Our board members or executive officers may have conflicts of interest. Two directors of our company are also executive officers of SINA. In addition, we may continue to grant incentive share compensation to SINA’s employees and consultants from time to time. These relationships could create, or appear to create, conflicts of interest when these persons are faced with decisions with potentially different implications for SINA and us.

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

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·                  Allocation of business opportunities. Business opportunities may arise that both we and SINA find attractive, and which would complement our respective businesses. SINA may decide to take the opportunities itself, which would prevent us from taking advantage of those opportunities.

·                  Developing business relationships with SINA’s competitors. So long as SINA remains as our controlling shareholder, we may be limited in our ability to do business with its competitors, such as other online media companies in China. This may limit our ability to market our services for the best interests of our company and our other shareholders.

Although our company has become a stand-alone public company, we expect to operate, for as long as SINA is our controlling shareholder, as an affiliate of SINA. SINA may from time to time make strategic decisions that it believes are in the best interests of its business as a whole, including our company. These decisions may be different from the decisions that we would have made on our own. SINA’s decisions with respect to us or our business may be resolved in ways that favor SINA and therefore SINA’s own shareholders, which may not coincide with the interests of our other shareholders. We may not be able to resolve any potential conflicts, and even if we do so, the resolution may be less favorable to us than if we were dealing with a non-controlling shareholder. Even if both parties seek to transact business on terms intended to approximate those that could have been achieved among unaffiliated parties, this may not succeed in practice.

Risks Relating to Our Corporate Structure

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

On March 15, 2019, the National People’s Congress approved the Foreign Investment Law, which will come into effect on January 1, 2020 and replace the trio of existing laws regulating foreign investment in China, namely, the Sino-foreign Equity Joint Venture Enterprise Law, the Sino-foreign Cooperative Joint Venture Enterprise Law and the Wholly Foreign-invested Enterprise Law, together with their implementation rules and ancillary regulations. The Foreign Investment Law embodies an expected PRC regulatory trend to rationalize its foreign investment regulatory regime in line with prevailing international practice and the legislative efforts to unify the corporate legal requirements for both foreign and domestic investments. However, since it is relatively new, uncertainties still exist in relation to its interpretation and implementation. For instance, under the Foreign Investment Law, “foreign investment” refers to the investment activities directly or indirectly conducted by foreign individuals, enterprises or other entities in China. Though it does not explicitly classify contractual arrangements as a form of foreign investment, there is no assurance that foreign investment via contractual arrangement would not be interpreted as a type of indirect foreign investment activities under the definition in the future. In addition, the definition contains a catch-all provision which includes investments made by foreign investors through means stipulated in laws or administrative regulations or other methods prescribed by the State Council. Therefore, it still leaves leeway for future laws, administrative regulations or provisions promulgated by the Stale Council to provide for contractual arrangements as a form of foreign investment. In any of these cases, it will be uncertain whether our contractual arrangements will be deemed to be in violation of the market access requirements for foreign investment under the PRC laws and regulations. Furthermore, if future laws, administrative regulations or provisions prescribed by the State Council mandate further actions to be taken by companies with respect to existing contractual arrangements, we may face substantial uncertainties as to whether we can complete such actions in a timely manner, or at all. Failure to take timely and appropriate measures to cope with any of these or similar regulatory compliance challenges could materially and adversely affect our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business operations.

If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating our businesses in China do not comply with PRC regulations on foreign investment in internet and other related businesses, or if these regulations or their interpretation change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations.

Current PRC laws and regulations impose certain restrictions or prohibitions on foreign ownership of companies that engage in internet and other related businesses, including the provision of internet content and online game operations. Specifically, foreign ownership of an internet content provider may not exceed 50%. We are a company registered in the Cayman Islands and Weibo Technology, our PRC subsidiary, is considered a foreign-invested enterprise. To comply with PRC laws and regulations, we conduct our business in China through Weimeng, and its subsidiaries based on a series of contractual arrangements by and among Weibo Technology, Weimeng and its shareholders. As a result of these contractual arrangements, we exert control over Weimeng and consolidate its operating results in our financial statements under U.S. GAAP. Weimeng holds the licenses, approvals and key assets that are essential for our business operations.

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In the opinion of our PRC counsel, TransAsia Lawyers, our current ownership structure, the ownership structure of our PRC subsidiary and Weimeng, and the contractual arrangements among our PRC subsidiary, Weimeng and its shareholders are in compliance with existing PRC laws, rules and regulations. There are, however, substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current or future PRC laws and regulations. Thus, we cannot assure you that the PRC government will not ultimately take a view contrary to the opinion of our PRC counsel. If we are found in violation of any PRC laws or regulations, the relevant governmental authorities would have broad discretion in dealing with such violation, including, without limitation, levying fines, restricting our right to collect revenues, confiscating our income or the income of Weimeng, revoking our business licenses or the business licenses of Weimeng, requiring us to restructure our ownership structure or operations, and requiring us or Weimeng to discontinue any portion or all of our business. Any of these actions could cause significant disruption to our business operations and may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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

Due to the PRC restrictions or prohibitions on foreign ownership of internet and other related businesses in China, we operate our business in China through Weimeng, in which we have no ownership interest. We rely on a series of contractual arrangements with Weimeng and its respective shareholders to control and operate their business. These contractual arrangements are intended to provide us with effective control over Weimeng and allow us to obtain economic benefits from them. See “Item 4.C. Information on the Company—Organizational Structure—Contractual Arrangements with Weimeng and Its Shareholders” for more details about these contractual arrangements.

Although we have been advised by our PRC counsel, TransAsia Lawyers, that these contractual arrangements are valid, binding and enforceable under existing PRC laws and regulations, these contractual arrangements may not be as effective in providing control over Weimeng as direct ownership. If Weimeng or its shareholders fail to perform their respective obligations under the contractual arrangements, we may incur substantial costs and expend substantial resources to enforce our rights. All of these contractual arrangements are governed by and interpreted in accordance with PRC law, and disputes arising from these contractual arrangements will be resolved through arbitration in China. However, the legal system in China, particularly as it relates to arbitration proceedings, is not as developed as in other jurisdictions, such as the United States. See “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws and regulations could limit the legal protections available to you and us.” There are very few precedents and little official guidance as to how contractual arrangements in the context of a variable interest entity should be interpreted or enforced under PRC law. There remain significant uncertainties regarding the ultimate outcome of arbitration should legal action become necessary. These uncertainties could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. In addition, arbitration awards are final and can only be enforced in PRC courts through arbitration award recognition proceedings, which could cause additional expenses and delays. In the event we are unable to enforce these contractual arrangements or we experience significant delays or other obstacles in enforcing these contractual arrangements, we may not be able to exert effective control over our affiliated entities and may lose control over the assets owned by Weimeng and its subsidiaries. As a result, we may be unable to consolidate Weimeng and its subsidiaries in our consolidated financial statements, our ability to conduct our business may be negatively affected, and our business operations could be severely disrupted, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

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Shareholders of Weimeng may have potential conflicts of interest with us, which may affect the performance of the contractual arrangements with Weimeng and its shareholders, which may in turn materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition.

Weimeng’s shareholders are non-executive PRC employees of our company or SINA and only hold immaterial equity interest in our company. Although each of these shareholders has authorized Weibo Technology to exercise all of his voting powers in Weimeng, and we may replace any of these shareholders at any time pursuant to the share transfer agreements, we cannot assure you that these shareholders will act in the best interest of our company should any conflict arise. If they were to act in bad faith towards us, we may have to take legal actions to enforce their contractual obligations, which may be expensive, time-consuming and disruptive to our operations. As there remain significant uncertainties regarding the ultimate outcome of a legal action due to the limited number of precedents and lack of official guidance as to how contractual arrangements in the context of a variable interest entity should be interpreted or enforced under PRC law, we cannot assure you that conflicts will be resolved in our favor. If we are unable to resolve any such conflicts, or if we suffer significant delays or other obstacles as a result of such conflicts, our business and operations could be severely disrupted, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We may lose the ability to use and enjoy assets held by Weimeng that are important to the operation of our business if Weimeng declares bankruptcy or becomes subject to a dissolution or liquidation proceeding.

Weimeng holds certain assets that are important to our business operations, including the Internet Content Provision License, the Online Culture Operating Permit, domain names and our investments. Under our contractual arrangements with Weimeng, the shareholders of Weimeng may not voluntarily liquidate Weimeng or approve Weimeng to sell, transfer, mortgage or dispose of its assets or legal or beneficial interests in the business in any manner without our prior consent. However, in the event that the shareholders breach this obligation and voluntarily liquidate Weimeng, or Weimeng declares bankruptcy, or all or part of its assets become subject to liens or rights of third-party creditors, we may be unable to continue some or all of our business operations, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, if Weimeng or its subsidiaries undergoes a voluntary or involuntary liquidation proceeding, their shareholders or unrelated third-party creditors may claim rights to some or all of their assets, thereby hindering our ability to operate our business, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Contractual arrangements we have entered into with Weimeng may be subject to scrutiny by the PRC tax authorities. A finding that we owe additional taxes could substantially reduce our consolidated net income and the value of your investment.

Pursuant to applicable PRC laws and regulations, arrangements and transactions among related parties may be subject to audit or challenge by the PRC tax authorities. We may be subject to adverse tax consequences if the PRC tax authorities determine that the contractual arrangements among our PRC subsidiary, Weimeng and its shareholders are not on an arm’s length basis and therefore constitute favorable transfer pricing. As a result, the PRC tax authorities could require that Weimeng adjust its taxable income upward for PRC tax purposes. Such a pricing adjustment could adversely affect us by increasing Weimeng’s tax expenses without reducing the tax expenses of our PRC subsidiary, subjecting Weimeng to late payment fees and other penalties for under-payment of taxes, and resulting in our PRC subsidiary’s loss of its preferential tax treatment. Our results of operations may be adversely affected if Weimeng’s tax liabilities increase or if it is subject to late payment fees or other penalties.

If the chops of our PRC subsidiary, Weimeng and its subsidiaries are not kept safely, are stolen or are used by unauthorized persons or for unauthorized purposes, the corporate governance of these entities could be severely and adversely compromised.

In China, a company chop or seal serves as the legal representation of the company towards third parties even when unaccompanied by a signature. Each legally registered company in China is required to maintain a company chop, which must be registered with the local Public Security Bureau. In addition to this mandatory company chop, companies may have several other chops which can be used for specific purposes. The chops of our PRC subsidiary, Weimeng and its subsidiaries are generally held securely by personnel designated or approved by us in accordance with our internal control procedures. To the extent those chops are not kept safely, are stolen or are used by unauthorized persons or for unauthorized purposes, the corporate governance of these entities could be severely and adversely compromised and those corporate entities may be bound to abide by the terms of any documents so chopped, even if they were chopped by an individual who lacked the requisite power and authority to do so. In addition, if the holders of such chops at Weimeng failed to employ them in accordance with the terms of the various VIE-related agreements or removed them from the premises, the operation of Weimeng could be significantly and adversely impacted.

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Risks Relating to Doing Business in China

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

The PRC government has adopted regulations governing internet access and the distribution of information over the internet. Under these regulations, internet content providers and internet publishers are prohibited from posting or displaying the internet content that, among other things, impairs the national dignity of China, is reactionary, obscene, superstitious, fraudulent or defamatory, or otherwise violates PRC laws and regulations. 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 and levy of fines. The website operator may also be held liable for such censored information displayed on or linked to the website.

In addition, the MIIT has published regulations that subject website operators to potential liability for content displayed on their websites and for the actions of users and others using their systems, including liability for violations of PRC laws prohibiting the dissemination of content deemed to be socially destabilizing. The Ministry of Public Security has the authority to order any local internet service provider to block any internet website at its sole discretion. From time to time, the Ministry of Public Security stops the dissemination over the internet of information which it believes to be socially destabilizing. The State Administration for the Protection of State Secrets is also authorized to block any website it deems to be leaking state secrets or failing to meet the relevant regulations relating to the protection of state secrets in the dissemination of online information. Cyberspace Administration of China, or the CAC, set up in May 2011 to supervise internet content management nationwide, has also promulgated regulations and taken a number of other measures to regulate and monitor online content.

Although we attempt to monitor the content posted by users on Weibo and Yizhibo, we are not able to effectively control or restrict content generated or placed on Weibo or Yizhibo by our users. In particular, with the growing popularity of multimedia content, such as photos, videos and live streaming, and long-form articles, content monitoring becomes much more complicated and challenging than text-based feeds. To the extent that PRC regulatory authorities find any content displayed on Weibo or Yizhibo objectionable, they may require us to limit, prevent, or eliminate the dissemination of such information on our platform. Failure to do so may subject us to liabilities and penalties and may even result in the temporary blockage or complete shutdown of our online operations. In this respect, we have been subject to several penalty decisions by the CAC due to information transmitted on our platform. In all cases, we have cooperated with the relevant government authorities to take corrective measures.

In addition, the Judicial Interpretation on the Application of Law in Trial of Online Defamation and Other Online Crimes jointly promulgated by the Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate, which became effective on September 10, 2013, imposes up to a three-year prison sentence on internet users who fabricate or knowingly share defamatory false information online. The implementation of this newly promulgated judicial interpretation may have a significant and adverse effect on the traffic of our platform and discourage the creation of user generated content, which in turn may impact the results of our operations and ultimately the trading price of our ADSs. Although our active user base has increased over the past several years, regulation and censorship of information disseminated over the internet in China may adversely affect our user experience and reduce users’ engagement and activities on our platform as well as adversely affect our ability to attract new users to our platform. Any and all of these adverse impacts may ultimately materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

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Substantial uncertainties exist with respect to the interpretation and implementation of Cyber Security Law as well as any impact it may have on our business operations.

On July 1, 2015, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress issued the National Security Law, which came into effect on the same day. The National Security Law provides that the state shall safeguard the sovereignty, security and cybersecurity development interests of the state, and that the state shall establish a national security review and supervision system to review, among other things, foreign investment, key technologies, internet and information technology products and services, and other important activities that are likely to impact the national security of China.

On November 7, 2016, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress issued the Cyber Security Law, which came into effect on June 1, 2017. This is the first Chinese law that focuses exclusively on cyber security.  The Cyber Security Law provides that network operators must set up internal security management systems that meets the requirements of a classified protection system for cybersecurity, including appointing dedicated cybersecurity personnel, taking technical measures to prevent computer viruses, network attacks and intrusions, taking technical measures to monitor and record network operation status and cybersecurity incidents, and taking data security measures such as data classification, backups and encryption.  The Cybersecurity Law also imposes a relatively vague but broad obligation to provide technical support and assistance to the public and state security authorities in connection with criminal investigations or for reasons of national security. The Cybersecurity Law also requires network operators that provide network access or domain name registration services, landline or mobile phone network access, or that provide users with information publication or instant messaging services, to require users to provide a real identity when they sign up.

The Cyber Security Law sets high requirements for the operational security of facilities deemed to be part of the PRC’s “critical information infrastructure.” These requirements include data localization, i.e., storing personal information and important business data in China, and national security review requirements for any network products or services that may have an impact on national security. Among other factors, “critical information infrastructure” is defined as critical information infrastructure, that will, in the event of destruction, loss of function or data leak, result in serious damage to national security, the national economy and people’s livelihood, or the public interest. Specific reference is made to key sectors such as public communication and information services, energy, transportation, water-resources, finance, public service and e-government. However, no official guidelines as to the scope of “critical information infrastructure” have been formally issued.

We do not believe that we are an operator of “critical information infrastructure” as defined in the Cyber Security Law. However, there is no assurance that we may not be considered an operator of “critical information infrastructure” in the future as the definition is not precise, and there are substantial uncertainties as to the ultimate interpretation and implementation of the Cyber Security Law. If we are considered as an operator of “critical information infrastructure”, the Cyber Security Law could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices in a manner materially adverse to our business.

We are required to, but have not been able to, verify the identities of all of our users who post on Weibo or Yizhibo, and our noncompliance exposes us to potentially severe penalty by the Chinese government.

The Rules on the Administration of Microblog Development, issued by the Beijing Municipal Government in 2011, stipulate that users who post publicly on microblogs are required to disclose their real identity to the microblogging service provider, though they may still use pen names on their accounts. Microblogging service providers are required to verify the identities of their users. In addition, microblogging service providers based in Beijing were required to verify the identities of all of their users by March 16, 2012, including existing users who post publicly on their websites. Furthermore, pursuant to the Cyber Security Law passed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, which came into effect on June 1, 2017, we will also be required to verify users’ real identities when they sign up. Further, both the Administrative Measures on Group Chat Service and the Administrative Measures on Internet User Public Account Information Service require verification of user’s real identity, both of which were issued on September 7, 2017 and became effective on October 8, 2017. The user identity verification requirements have deterred new users from completing their registrations on Weibo, and a significant portion of the registrations in which user identity information was provided were rejected because they do not match the Chinese government database. On August 1, 2018, the CAC and the other five PRC governmental authorities jointly issued the Circular on Tightening the Administration of Online Live-streaming Services, or the Online Live-streaming Services Circular, which specifies that online live-streaming service providers are required to implement real name verification system for users. Several additional regulations, including the Cyber Security Law, the Administrative Measures on Group Chat Service, and the Administrative Measures on Internet User Public Account Information Service, also requires verification of users’ identify when they sign up. The user identity verification requirements have deterred new users from completing their registrations on Weibo or Yizhibo, and a significant portion of registrations with user identity information provided were rejected because they do not match the Chinese government database.

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We have made significant efforts to comply with the user verification requirements. However, for reasons including existing user behaviors, the nature of the microblogging product and online live-streaming and the lack of clarity on specific implementation procedures, we have not been able to verify the identities of all of the users who post content publicly on Weibo or Yizhibo. We are potentially liable for our noncompliance and may be subject to penalties including the deactivation of certain features on Weibo or Yizhibo, a written warning, suspension or termination of Weibo or Yizhibo operations, fines, revocation of licenses or business license, or other penalties imposed by the Chinese government. Any of the above actions may have a material and adverse impact on the trading price of our ADSs.

Regulatory investigations could cause us to incur additional expenses or change our business practices in a manner materially adverse to our business.

Internet content regulation in China is continuously evolving, which can at times result in sustained periods of enhanced enforcement of content censorship, cyber security reviews, user privacy compliance, and internet financial services oversight. In April 2018, relevant regulators have ordered the suspension or significant curtailment of four of China’s most popular news content apps as well as one of the most popular humor platforms, all in connection with content being shared or accessed by users.

In a period of enhanced scrutiny of internet content, we may be become subject to regulatory investigations or audits in connection with products or services we provide or for information or content displayed on, retrieved from or linked to our platform, or distributed to our users. During such investigation, some or all of our products, services, features or functionalities could be terminated, and our Apps could be removed from relevant App stores. It is also possible that a regulatory investigation could result in changes to our policies or practices, could result in reputational harm, prevent us from offering certain products, services, features or functionalities, cause us to incur substantial costs, or require us to change our business practices in a manner materially adverse to our business.

We may have to register our encryption software with Chinese regulatory authorities. If they request that we change our encryption software, our business operations could be disrupted as we develop or license replacement software.

Pursuant to the Regulations for the Administration of Commercial Encryption promulgated in 1999, foreign and domestic companies operating in China are required to seek approval from the Office of the State for Cipher Code Administration, the Chinese encryption regulatory authority, for the commercial encryption products they use. Companies operating in China are allowed to use only commercial cipher code products approved by this authority and are prohibited to use self-developed or imported cipher code products without approval. In addition, all cipher code products shall be produced by those producers appointed and approved by this authority. Additional rules became effective in 2006 regulating many aspects of commercial cipher code products in detail, including development, production and sales.

Because these regulations do not specify what constitutes a cipher code product, we are unsure as to whether or how they apply to us and the encryption software we utilize. We may be required to register or apply for permits for our current or future encryption software. If the PRC authorities request that we register our encryption software or change our current encryption software to an approved cipher code product produced by an appointed producer, it could disrupt our business operations.

Regulations on virtual currency may adversely affect our game operations revenues.

We have provided Weibo Credit as an online virtual currency for users to purchase in-game virtual items or other types of fee-based services on our platform. The Notice on the Strengthening of Administration on Online Game Virtual Currency, jointly issued by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Commerce in 2009, broadly defined virtual currency as a type of virtual exchange instrument issued by internet game operation enterprises, purchased directly or indirectly by the game users by exchanging legal currency at a certain exchange rate, saved outside the game programs, stored in servers provided by the internet game operation enterprises in electronic record format and represented by specific numeric units. Virtual currency is used to exchange internet game services provided by the issuing enterprise for a designated extent and time, and is represented by several forms, such as online prepaid game cards, prepaid amounts or internet game points, and does not include game props obtained from playing online games. In 2009, the Ministry of Culture further promulgated the Filing Guidelines on Online Game Virtual Currency Issuing Enterprises and Online Game Virtual Currency Trading Enterprises, which specifically defines “issuing enterprise” and “trading enterprise” and stipulates that a single enterprise may not operate both types of business. Although we believe we do not offer online game virtual currency trading services, we cannot assure you that the PRC regulatory authorities will not take a view contrary to ours, in which case we may be subject to fines or even required by the PRC regulators to change our practices related to Weibo Credit, which consequently will have an adverse effect on our game-related revenues.

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

Substantially all of our operations are conducted in China and substantially all of our revenues are sourced from China. Accordingly, our results of operations, financial condition and prospects are influenced by economic, political and legal developments in China. Economic reforms begun in the late 1970s have resulted in significant economic growth. However, any economic reform policies or measures in China may from time to time be modified or revised. China’s economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including the extent of the government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources. The PRC government exercises significant control over China’s economic growth through strategically allocating resources, controlling the payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies. While the PRC economy has experienced significant growth in the past 30 years, growth has been uneven across different regions and between economic sectors, and that growth may not continue, as evidenced by the slowing of the growth rate of the Chinese economy. Any adverse changes in economic conditions in China, in the policies of the Chinese government or in the laws and regulations in China could have a material adverse effect on the overall economic growth of China. Such developments could adversely affect our business and operating results, lead to reduction in demand for our products and services and adversely affect our competitive position.

The slowdown of new smartphone shipment in China may lead to the slowdown of growth rate of our new users, which could materially and adversely affect our business.

The annual growth rate of smartphone shipment in China decreased from 2017 to 2018. Weibo’s user growth rate is highly dependent on the growth of new users from Weibo app, and pre-installation of Weibo app on new smartphones is an important source of new Weibo users. A continuing slowdown of new smartphone shipment in China may adversely impact the growth rate of our new users. If this trend continues, our business and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.

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

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

In 1979, the PRC government began to promulgate a comprehensive system of laws and regulations governing economic matters in general. The overall effect of legislation over the past three decades has significantly enhanced the protections afforded to various forms of foreign investments in China. However, China has not developed a fully integrated legal system, and recently enacted laws and regulations may not sufficiently cover all aspects of economic activities in China. In particular, the interpretation and enforcement of these laws and regulations involve uncertainties. Since PRC administrative and court authorities have significant discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory and contractual terms, it may be difficult to evaluate the outcome of administrative and court proceedings and the level of legal protection available to you and us.

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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 which 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. Such uncertainties, including uncertainty over the scope and effect of our contractual, property (including intellectual property) and procedural rights, and any failure to respond to changes in the regulatory environment in China could materially and adversely affect our business and impede our ability to continue our operations.

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

The PRC government extensively regulates the internet industry, including the licensing and permit requirements pertaining to companies in this industry. Internet-related laws and regulations in China are relatively new and evolving, and their interpretation and enforcement involve significant uncertainty. As a result, it may be difficult to determine what actions or omissions may be deemed to be violations of applicable laws and regulations in certain circumstances.

Weimeng holds an Internet Content Provision License and an Online Culture Operating Permit that are necessary for operating our current business in China. Weimeng also holds an inter-regional Value-Added Telecommunications Services Operating License for provision of value-added telecommunication services nationwide. However, we cannot assure you that we have obtained all the permits or licenses required for conducting our business in China or will be able to maintain our existing licenses or obtain any new licenses if required by any new laws or regulations. Weimeng is currently in the process of applying for an internet publishing permit. See “Item 4.B. Information on the Company—Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations on Online Game Operations and Cultural Products.” In addition, companies engaging in internet broadcasting activities, such as the Yizhibo live streaming business we acquired in October 2018, must first obtain an audio/video program transmission license. See “Item 4.B. Information on the Company—Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations on Broadcasting Audio/Video Programs through the Internet” for more details. Weimeng is not qualified to obtain the internet audio/video program transmission license under the current legal regime as it is not a wholly state-owned or state-controlled company and it was not operating prior to the issuance of the Rules for the Administration of Internet Audio and Video Program Services, commonly known as Circular 56. Weimeng plans to apply for an internet audio/video program transmission license when feasible to do so. In June 2017, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of the People’s Republic of China issued a public notice stating that it had requested the local competent authorities to take measures to suspend several companies’ video and audio services due to their lacking of an internet audio/video program transmission license and posting of certain commentary programs with content in violation of government regulations on their sites, and Weibo is named as one of these companies. In August 2017, Beijing Integrated Law Enforcement on the Cultural Market issued two Decisions on Administrative Penalty to Weimeng, each of which imposed a warning and a fine of RMB30,000 ($4,363) on Weimeng on the grounds that, during the period from February 2016 to August 2017, Weimeng carried on internet audio/video program services without obtaining the internet audio/video program transmission license and provided online broadcasting services for relevant programs posted by certain registered users of Weibo. Currently, audio/video programs posted on Weibo are delivered through third-party video websites, and we have cooperated with the relevant government authorities to take corrective measures, including clearly indicating the third-party websites that are delivering audio/videos contents for Weibo users. However, there can be no assurance that there will not be any further enforcement action, the occurrence of which may result in further liabilities, penalties and operational disruption. Further, we may need to apply for an internet news publication license. See “Item 4.B. Information on the Company—Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations on Internet News Dissemination.” If we fail to obtain such licenses or any additional licenses required by new laws and regulations in a timely manner or at all, we could be subject to liabilities, penalties and operational disruption.

Foreign investment in online game operation is prohibited under PRC law. We currently provide our online game services through Weimeng and its subsidiaries. However, certain contracts relating to our online game services were entered into between our PRC subsidiary, Weimeng and the game developers, under which our PRC subsidiary, together with Weimeng, provides certain technical services through our website. Under these agreements, our PRC subsidiary, a foreign-invested enterprise, may be deemed to be providing value-added telecommunication services without the necessary licenses. If so, we may be subject to sanctions, including payment of delinquent taxes and fines, which may significantly disrupt our operations and materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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Furthermore, the operation of online games in China is highly regulated by the PRC government. Once a new online game or a significant enhancement of an existing online game is launched, approval must be obtained from the General Administration of Press and Publication for online publication of the game and the game must be filed with the Ministry of Culture within 30 days after its launch. If the online games operated on our platform failed to obtain or maintain any of the required permits, approvals or registrations or to make any necessary filings on a timely basis, the operator of the relevant game may be subject to various penalties and the operation of the relevant game will be discontinued or limited, which could adversely affect our business.

In addition, due to the increasing popularity and use of the internet, online games and other online services, it is possible that additional laws and regulations may be adopted with respect to the internet, online games or other online services covering issues such as user privacy, pricing, content, copyrights and distribution. The adoption of additional laws or regulations may decrease the growth of the internet, online games or other online services, which could in turn decrease the demand for our products and services and increase our cost of doing business.

PRC regulations of loans to PRC entities and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies may delay or prevent us from using offshore funds to make loans or additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary.

We may transfer funds to our PRC subsidiary or finance our PRC subsidiary by means of shareholder loans or capital contributions. Any loans from us to our PRC subsidiary, which is a foreign-invested enterprise, cannot exceed statutory limits based on the difference between the registered capital and the investment amount of such subsidiary, and shall be registered with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, or its local counterparts. Any capital contributions we make to our PRC subsidiary shall be approved by the Ministry of Commerce or its local counterparts. We may not be able to obtain these government registrations or approvals on a timely basis, if at all. If we fail to receive such registrations or approvals, our ability to provide loans or capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary in a timely manner may be negatively affected, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.

On March 30, 2015, SAFE issued the Circular on Reform of the Administrative Rules of the Payment and Settlement of Foreign Exchange Capital of Foreign-Invested Enterprises, or SAFE Circular 19, which became effective on June 1, 2015. SAFE Circular 19 adopts a concept of “discretionary conversion,” which is defined as the conversion of a foreign-invested enterprise’s foreign currency registered capital in accordance with the enterprise’s actual business needs. No review of the purpose of the funds is required at the time of conversion under SAFE Circular 19. However, use of any RMB funds converted from its registered capital shall be based on true transactions. In addition, equity investments using converted registered capital are no longer prohibited under SAFE Circular 19.  Nevertheless, foreign-invested enterprise like our PRC subsidiary is still not allowed to extend intercompany loans to Weimeng.

SAFE issued the Circular on Reforming and Regulating Policies on the Control over Foreign Exchange Settlement of Capital Accounts, or SAFE Circular 16, on June 9, 2016, which became effective on the same day. Pursuant to SAFE Circular 16, enterprises registered in the PRC may also convert their foreign debts from foreign currency to RMB on 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 self-discretionary basis which applies to all enterprises registered in the PRC. SAFE Circular 16 reiterates the principle that RMB 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 RMB shall not be provided as loans to its non-affiliated entities, or used for construction and purchase of non-self-used real estate (excluding real estate enterprises) or unless otherwise expressly provided in law, directly or indirectly used in securities investment or other financial management excluding the bank capital preservation products. As SAFE Circular 16 is newly issued and SAFE has not provided detailed guidelines with respect to its interpretation or implementation, it is uncertain how these rules will be interpreted and implemented.

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We may be subject to penalties, including restriction on our ability to inject capital into our PRC subsidiary and our PRC subsidiary’s ability to distribute profits to us, if our PRC resident shareholders beneficial owners fail to comply with relevant PRC foreign exchange rules.

The SAFE promulgated the Circular on Relevant Issues Relating to Domestic Resident’s Investment and Financing and Roundtrip Investment through Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 37, in July 2014 that requires PRC residents or entities to register with SAFE or its local branch in connection with their establishment or control of an offshore entity established for the purpose of overseas investment or financing. In addition, such PRC residents or entities must update their SAFE registrations when the offshore special purpose vehicle undergoes material events relating to any change of basic information (including change of such PRC citizens or residents, name and operation term), increases or decreases in investment amount, transfers or exchanges of shares, or mergers or divisions.

SAFE Circular 37 is issued to replace the Notice on Relevant Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Administration for PRC Residents Engaging in Financing and Roundtrip Investments via Overseas Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 75.

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

We have requested all of our current shareholders and/or beneficial owners to disclose whether they or their shareholders or beneficial owners fall within the ambit of Circular 37 and have urged relevant shareholders and beneficial owners, upon learning they are PRC residents, to register with the local SAFE branch as required under Circular 37. However, we may not be informed of the identities of all the PRC residents or entities holding direct or indirect interest in our company, nor can we compel our beneficial owners to comply with SAFE registration requirements. As a result, we cannot assure you that all of our shareholders or beneficial owners who are PRC residents or entities have complied with, and will in the future make or obtain any applicable registrations or approvals required by, SAFE regulations. Failure by such shareholders or beneficial owners to comply with SAFE regulations, or failure by us to amend the foreign exchange registrations of our PRC subsidiaries, could subject us to fines or legal sanctions, restrict our overseas or cross-border investment activities, limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to make distributions or pay dividends to us or affect our ownership structure, which could adversely affect our business and prospects.

We and/or our Hong Kong subsidiary may be classified as a “PRC resident enterprise” for PRC enterprise income tax purposes. Such classification would likely result in unfavorable tax consequences to us and our non-PRC shareholders and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and the value of your investment.

The Enterprise Income Tax Law provides that an enterprise established outside China whose “de facto management body” is located in China is considered a “PRC resident enterprise” and will generally be subject to the uniform 25% enterprise income tax on its global income. Under the implementation rules of the Enterprise Income Tax Law, “de facto management body” is defined as the organizational body which effectively manages and controls the production and business operation, personnel, accounting, properties and other aspects of operations of an enterprise.”

Pursuant to the Notice Regarding the Determination of Chinese-Controlled Offshore Incorporated Enterprises as PRC Tax Resident Enterprises on the Basis of De Facto Management Bodies, issued by the State Administration of Taxation in 2009, a foreign enterprise controlled by PRC enterprises or PRC enterprise groups is considered a PRC resident enterprise if all of the following conditions are met: (i) the senior management and core management departments in charge of daily operations are located mainly within the PRC; (ii) financial and human resources decisions are subject to determination or approval by persons or bodies in the PRC; (iii) major assets, accounting books, company seals and minutes and files of board and shareholders’ meetings are located or kept within the PRC; and (iv) at least half of the enterprise’s directors with voting rights or senior management reside within the PRC. Although the notice states that these standards only apply to offshore enterprises that are controlled by PRC enterprises or PRC enterprise groups, such standards may reflect the general view of the State Administration of Taxation in determining the tax residence of foreign enterprises.

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We believe that neither our company nor our Hong Kong subsidiary is a PRC resident enterprise because neither our company nor our Hong Kong subsidiary meets all of the conditions enumerated. For example, board and shareholders’ resolutions of our company and our Hong Kong subsidiary are adopted in Hong Kong and the minutes and related files are kept in Hong Kong. However, if the PRC tax authorities were to disagree with our position, our company and/or our Hong Kong subsidiary may be subject to PRC enterprise income tax reporting obligations and to a 25% enterprise income tax on our global taxable income, except for our income from dividends received from our PRC subsidiary, which may be exempt from PRC tax. If we and/or our Hong Kong subsidiary are treated as a PRC resident enterprise, the 25% enterprise income tax may adversely affect our ability to satisfy any of our cash needs.

In addition, if we were to be classified as a PRC “resident enterprise” for PRC enterprise income tax purpose, dividends we pay to our non-PRC enterprise shareholders and gains derived by our non-PRC enterprise shareholders from the sale of our shares and ADSs may be become subject to a 10% PRC withholding tax. In addition, future guidance may extend the withholding tax to dividends we pay to our non-PRC individual shareholders and gains derived by such shareholders from transferring our shares and ADSs. In addition to the uncertainty in how the new “resident enterprise” classification could apply, it is also possible that the rules may change in the future, possibly with retroactive effect. If PRC income tax were imposed on gains realized through the transfer of our ADSs or ordinary shares or on dividends paid to our non-resident shareholders, the value of your investment in our ADSs or ordinary shares may be materially and adversely affected.

Any limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiary to make payments to us, or the tax implications of making payments to us, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business or our financial condition.

We are a holding company, and we rely principally on dividends and other distributions from our PRC subsidiary for our cash needs, including the funds necessary to pay dividends to our shareholders or service any debt we may incur. Current PRC regulations permit our PRC subsidiary to pay dividends only out of its accumulated profits, if any, determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. In addition, our PRC subsidiary is required to set aside at least 10% of its after tax profits each year, if any, to fund certain statutory reserve funds until the aggregate amount of such reserve funds reaches 50% of its registered capital. Apart from these reserves, our PRC subsidiary may allocate a discretionary portion of its after-tax profits to staff welfare and bonus funds at its discretion. These reserves and funds are not distributable as cash dividends. Furthermore, if our PRC subsidiary incurs debt, the debt instruments may restrict its ability to pay dividends or make other payments to us. We cannot assure you that our PRC subsidiary will generate sufficient earnings and cash flows in the near future to pay dividends or otherwise distribute sufficient funds to enable us to meet our obligations, pay interest and expenses or declare dividends.

Distributions made by PRC companies to their offshore parents are generally subject to a 10% withholding tax under the Enterprise Income Tax Law. Pursuant to the Enterprise Income Tax Law and the Arrangement between the Mainland of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income, the withholding tax rate on dividends paid by our PRC subsidiary to our Hong Kong subsidiary would generally be reduced to 5%, provided that our Hong Kong subsidiary is the beneficial owner of the PRC sourced income. Our PRC subsidiary has not obtained approval for a withholding tax rate of 5% from the local tax authority and does not plan to obtain such approval in the near future as we have not achieved profitability. However, the Notice on How to Understand and Determine the Beneficial Owners in a Tax Agreement, also known as Circular 601, promulgated by the State Administration of Taxation in 2009, provides guidance for determining whether a resident of a contracting state is the “beneficial owner” of an item of income under China’s tax treaties and similar arrangements. According to Circular 601, a beneficial owner generally must be engaged in substantive business activities. An agent or conduit company will not be regarded as a beneficial owner and, therefore, will not qualify for treaty benefits. For this purpose, a conduit company is a company that is set up for the purpose of avoiding or reducing taxes or transferring or accumulating profits. Although our PRC subsidiary is wholly owned by our Hong Kong subsidiary, we will not be able to enjoy the 5% withholding tax rate with respect to any dividends or distributions made by our PRC subsidiary to its parent company in Hong Kong if our Hong Kong subsidiary is regarded as a “conduit company.”

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In addition, if Weibo HK were deemed to be a PRC resident enterprise, then dividends payable by Weibo HK to Weibo Corporation may become subject to 10% PRC dividend withholding tax. Under such circumstances, it is not clear whether dividends payable by Weibo Technology to Weibo Corporation would still be subject to PRC dividend withholding tax and whether such tax, if imposed, would be imposed at a rate of 5% or 10%.

Restrictions on the remittance of RMB into and out of China and governmental control of currency conversion may limit our ability to pay dividends and other obligations, and affect the value of your investment.

The PRC government imposes controls on the convertibility of the RMB into foreign currencies and the remittance of currency out of China. We receive substantially all of our revenues in RMB and substantially all of our cash inflows and outflows are denominated in RMB. Under our current corporate structure, our revenues are primarily derived from dividend payments from our subsidiary in China after it receives payments from Weimeng under various service and other contractual arrangements. We may convert a portion of our revenues into other currencies to meet our foreign currency obligations, such as payments of dividends declared in respect of our ordinary shares, if any. Shortages in the availability of foreign currency may restrict the ability of our PRC subsidiary to remit sufficient foreign currency to pay dividends or other payments to us, or otherwise satisfy its foreign currency denominated obligations.

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 SAFE approval as long as certain routine procedural requirements are fulfilled. Therefore, our PRC subsidiary is allowed to pay dividends in foreign currencies to us without prior SAFE approval by following certain routine procedural requirements. However, approval from or registration with competent government authorities is required where the RMB 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. The PRC government may at its discretion restrict access to foreign currencies for current account transactions in the future. If the foreign exchange control system prevents us from obtaining sufficient foreign currencies to satisfy our foreign currency demands, we may not be able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to our shareholders, including holders of our ADSs.

Discontinuation of preferential tax treatment or imposition of any additional taxes could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

The Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementing rules have adopted a uniform statutory enterprise income tax rate of 25% to all enterprises in China. The Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementing rules also permit qualified “software enterprises” to enjoy a two-year income tax exemption starting from the first profit making year, followed by a reduced tax rate of 12.5% for the subsequent three years. Weibo Technology, our PRC subsidiary, was qualified as a “software enterprise” on December 19, 2011, the qualification of which was renewed on December 3, 2013. Accordingly, Weibo Technology is eligible for the relevant preferential tax treatment upon filing with the relevant tax authorities. Its qualification as a “software enterprise” is subject to annual evaluation and a three-year review by the relevant authorities in China. Weibo Technology, as a “software enterprise”, started to enjoy the relevant tax holiday from its first accumulative profitable year in 2015 and has been entitled to a reduced enterprise income tax rate of 12.5% since 2017. In late 2018, Weibo Technology was approved to be qualified as a “key software enterprise” for 2017 and was entitled to enjoy a further reduced preferential tax rate of 10% for 2017. Weibo Technology used the preferential tax treatment of its “key software enterprise” status of 2017 in 2018. The qualification as a “key software enterprise” is subject to annual evaluation and approval by the relevant authorities in China and we will only recognize the preferential tax treatment of “key software enterprise” status when approval from the relevant authorities is obtained. If Weibo Technology fails to maintain its “software enterprise” or “key software enterprise” qualification, its applicable corporate income tax rate would increase to 25%, which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Furthermore, certain enterprises may still benefit from a preferential tax rate of 15% under the Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementing rules if they qualify as a “High and New Technology Enterprise” subject to certain general factors described in the Enterprise Income Tax Law and the related regulations. Weibo Technology is also qualified as a High and New Technology Enterprise and is entitled to a preferential tax rate from October 30, 2014 to October 29, 2017. Its qualification as a “High and New Technology Enterprise” is subject to annual evaluation and a three-year review by the relevant authorities in China. If Weibo Technology fails to maintain its “High and New Technology Enterprise” qualification, its applicable corporate income tax rate would increase to 25%, which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

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Failure to comply with PRC regulations regarding the registration requirements for stock ownership plans or stock option plans may subject PRC plan participants or us to fines and other legal or administrative sanctions.

Under SAFE regulations, PRC residents who participate in an employee stock ownership plan or stock option plan in an overseas publicly listed company are required to register with SAFE or its local branch and complete certain other procedures. Participants of a stock incentive plan who are PRC residents must retain a qualified PRC agent, which could be a PRC subsidiary of such overseas publicly listed company, to conduct the SAFE registration and other procedures with respect to the stock incentive plan on behalf of these participants. Such participants must also retain an overseas entrusted institution to handle matters in connection with their exercise or sale of stock options. In addition, the PRC agent is required to amend the SAFE registration with respect to the stock incentive plan if there is any material change to the stock incentive plan, the PRC agent or the overseas entrusted institution or other material changes.

We and our PRC resident employees who participate in our share incentive plans have been subject to these regulations since our company became publicly listed in the United States. If we or our PRC resident employees who participate in our share incentive plans fail to comply with these regulations in the future, we or our PRC resident employees who participate in our share incentive plans and their local employers may be subject to fines and legal sanctions. See “Item 4.B. Information on the Company—Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations on Employee Stock Options Plans.”

Fluctuation in the value of the RMB may have a material adverse effect on the value of your investment.

The value of Renminbi against the U.S. dollar and other currencies is affected by changes in China’s political and economic conditions and by China’s foreign exchange policies, among other things. In July 2005, the PRC government changed its decades-old policy of pegging the value of Renminbi to the U.S. dollar, and Renminbi appreciated more than 20% against the U.S. dollar over the following three years. Between July 2008 and June 2010, this appreciation halted and the exchange rate between Renminbi and the U.S. dollar remained within a narrow band. Between June 2010 and September 2016, the RMB has fluctuated against the U.S. dollar, at times significantly and unpredictably. Since October 1, 2016, the RMB has joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s basket of currencies that make up the Special Drawing Right (SDR), along with the U.S. dollar, the Euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound. In the second half of 2017, the RMB has appreciated significantly in the backdrop of a weak U.S. dollar, robust Chinese economy in 2017 and stringent foreign exchange regulation. In 2018, the RMB depreciated approximately by 5.8% against the U.S. dollar. With the development of the foreign exchange market and progress towards interest rate liberalization and Renminbi internationalization, the PRC government may in the future announce further changes to the exchange rate system and we cannot assure you that Renminbi will not appreciate or depreciate significantly in value against the U.S. dollar in the future. It is difficult to predict how market forces or PRC or U.S. government policy may impact the exchange rate between Renminbi and the U.S. dollar in the future.

Our revenues and costs are mostly denominated in RMB, and a significant portion of our financial assets are also denominated in RMB, whereas our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar. Any significant depreciation of the RMB may materially and adversely affect our revenues, earnings and financial position as reported in U.S. dollars. To the extent that we need to convert U.S. dollars we received from offerings or debt financing into RMB for our operations, appreciation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar would have an adverse effect on the RMB amount we would receive from the conversion. Conversely, if we decide to convert our RMB into U.S. dollars for the purpose of making payments for dividends on our ordinary shares or ADSs or for other business purposes, appreciation of the U.S. dollar against the RMB would have a negative effect on the U.S. dollar amount available to us.

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PRC laws and regulations establish more complex procedures for some acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors, which could make it more difficult for us to pursue growth through acquisitions in China.

A number of PRC laws and regulations, including the Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors adopted by six PRC regulatory agencies in 2006, or the M&A Rules, the Anti-monopoly Law, and the Rules of Ministry of Commerce on Implementation of Security Review System of Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors promulgated by the Ministry of Commerce in August 2011, or the Security Review Rules, have established procedures and requirements that are expected to make merger and acquisition activities in China by foreign investors more time consuming and complex. These include requirements in some instances that the Ministry of Commerce be notified in advance of any change of control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of a PRC domestic enterprise, or that the approval from the Ministry of Commerce be obtained in circumstances where overseas companies established or controlled by PRC enterprises or residents acquire affiliated domestic companies. PRC laws and regulations also require certain merger and acquisition transactions to be subject to merger control review or security review.

The Security Review Rules were formulated to implement the Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Establishing the Security Review System for Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors, also known as Circular 6, which was promulgated in 2011. Under these rules, a security review is required for mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors having “national defense and security” concerns and mergers and acquisitions by which foreign investors may acquire the “de facto control” of domestic enterprises have “national security” concerns. In addition, when deciding whether a specific merger or acquisition of a domestic enterprise by foreign investors is subject to the security review, the Ministry of Commerce will look into the substance and actual impact of the transaction. The Security Review Rules further prohibits foreign investors from bypassing the security review requirement by structuring transactions through proxies, trusts, indirect investments, leases, loans, control through contractual arrangements or offshore transactions.

There is no requirement for foreign investors in those mergers and acquisitions transactions already completed prior to the promulgation of Circular 6 to submit such transactions to the Ministry of Commerce for security review. As we have already obtained the “de facto control” over our affiliated PRC entities prior to the effectiveness of these rules, we do not believe we are required to submit our existing contractual arrangements to the Ministry of Commerce for security review.

However, as these rules are relatively new and there is a lack of clear statutory interpretation on the implementation of the same, there is no assurance that the Ministry of Commerce will not apply these national security review-related rules to the acquisition of equity interest in our PRC subsidiary. If we are found to be in violation of the Security Review Rules and other PRC laws and regulations with respect to the merger and acquisition activities in China, or fail to obtain any of the required approvals, the relevant regulatory authorities would have broad discretion in dealing with such violation, including levying fines, confiscating our income, revoking our PRC subsidiary’s business or operating licenses, requiring us to restructure or unwind the relevant ownership structure or operations. Any of these actions could cause significant disruption to our business operations and may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Further, if the business of any target company that we plan to acquire falls into the ambit of security review, we may not be able to successfully acquire such company either by equity or asset acquisition, capital contribution or through any contractual arrangement. We may grow our business in part by acquiring other companies operating in our industry. Complying with the requirements of the relevant regulations to complete such transactions could be time consuming, and any required approval processes, including approval from the Ministry of Commerce, may delay or inhibit our ability to complete such transactions, which could affect our ability to expand our business or maintain our market share.

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The heightened scrutiny over acquisition transactions by the PRC tax authorities may have a negative impact on our business operations, our acquisition or restructuring strategy or the value of your investment in us.

The State Administration of Taxation has issued several rules and notices to tighten the scrutiny over acquisition transactions in recent years, including the Notice on Certain Corporate Income Tax Matters Related to Indirect Transfer of Properties by Non-PRC Resident Enterprises issued in February 2015, or SAT Circular 7.  Pursuant to these rules and notices, except for a few circumstances falling into the scope of the safe harbor provided by SAT Circular 7, such as open market trading of stocks in public companies listed overseas, if a non-PRC resident enterprise indirectly transfers PRC taxable properties (i.e. properties of an establishment or a place in the PRC, real estate properties in the PRC or equity investments in a PRC tax resident enterprise) by disposing of equity interest or other similar rights in an overseas holding company, without a reasonable commercial purpose and resulting in the avoidance of PRC enterprise income tax, such indirect transfer should be deemed as a direct transfer of PRC taxable properties and gains derived from such indirect transfer may be subject to the PRC withholding tax at a rate of up to 10%. SAT Circular 7 sets out several factors to be taken into consideration by tax authorities in determining whether an indirect transfer has a reasonable commercial purpose, such as whether the main value of equity interest in an overseas holding company is derived directly or indirectly from PRC taxable properties. An indirect transfer satisfying all the following criteria will be deemed to lack reasonable commercial purpose and be taxable under PRC law without considering other factors set out by SAT Circular 7: (i) 75% or more of the equity value of the intermediary enterprise being transferred is derived directly or indirectly from the PRC taxable properties; (ii) at any time during the one-year period before the indirect transfer, 90% or more of the asset value of the intermediary enterprise (excluding cash) is comprised directly or indirectly of investments in the PRC, or 90% or more of its income is derived directly or indirectly from the PRC; (iii) the functions performed and risks assumed by the intermediary enterprise and any of its subsidiaries that directly or indirectly hold the PRC taxable properties are limited and are insufficient to prove their economic substance; and (iv) the foreign tax payable on the gain derived from the indirect transfer of the PRC taxable properties is lower than the potential PRC income tax on the direct transfer of such assets.  SAT Circular 7 also introduces an interest regime by providing that where a transferor fails to file and pay tax on time, and where a withholding agent fails to withhold the tax, interest will be charged on a daily basis. If the transferor has provided the required documents and information or has filed and paid the tax within 30 days from the date that the share transfer contract or agreement is signed, then interest shall be calculated based on the benchmark interest rate; otherwise, the benchmark interest rate plus 5% will apply. Both the foreign transferor and the transferee, and the PRC tax resident enterprise whose equity interests are being transferred may voluntarily report the transfer by submitting the documents required in SAT Circular 7.

Although SAT Circular 7 provides clarity in many important areas, such as reasonable commercial purpose, there are still uncertainties on the tax reporting and payment obligations with respect to future private equity financing transactions, share exchange or other transactions involving the transfer of shares in non-PRC resident companies. Our company and other non-resident enterprises in our group may be subject to filing obligations or being taxed if our company and other non-resident enterprises in our group are transferors in such transactions, and may be subject to withholding obligations if our company and other non-resident enterprises in our group are transferees in such transactions. For the 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 the rules and notices. As a result, we may be required to expend valuable resources to comply with these rules and notices or to request the relevant transferors from whom we purchase taxable assets to comply, or to establish that our company and other non-resident enterprises in our group should not be taxed under these rules and notices, which may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We cannot assure you that the PRC tax authorities will not, at their discretion, adjust any capital gains and impose tax return filing obligations on us or require us to provide assistance for the investigation of PRC tax authorities with respect thereto. In the future, we may conduct acquisitions or disposals of properties that may involve complex corporate structures. If the PRC tax authorities make adjustments to the taxable income of these transactions under SAT Circular 7, our income tax expenses associated with such potential transactions may be increased, which may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We face certain risks relating to the real properties that we lease.

We lease office space for our operations in China. Any defects in lessors’ title to the leased properties may disrupt our use of our offices, which may in turn adversely affect our business operations. For example, certain buildings and the underlying land are not allowed to be used for industrial or commercial purposes without relevant authorities’ approval, and the lease of such buildings to companies like us may subject the lessor to pay premium fees to the PRC government. We cannot assure you that the lessor has obtained all or any of approvals from the relevant governmental authorities. In addition, some of our lessors have not provided us with documentation evidencing their title to the relevant leased properties. We cannot assure you that title to these properties we currently lease will not be challenged. In addition, we have not registered any of our lease agreements with relevant PRC governmental authorities as required by PRC law, and although failure to do so does not in itself invalidate the leases, we may not be able to defend these leases against bona fide third parties.

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As of the date of this annual report, we are not aware of any actions, claims or investigations being contemplated by government authorities with respect to the defects in our leased real properties or any challenges by third parties to our use of these properties. However, if third parties who purport to be property owners or beneficiaries of the mortgaged properties challenge our right to use the leased properties, we may not be able to protect our leasehold interest and may be ordered to vacate the affected premises, which could in turn materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.

Our significant deposits in certain banks in China may be at risk if these banks go bankrupt or otherwise do not have the liquidity to pay us during our deposit period.

As of December 31, 2018, we had approximately $1.7 billion in cash and cash equivalent, bank deposits and short term investments, such as time deposits, with large domestic banks in China. Our remaining cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were held by financial institutions in the United States and Hong Kong. The terms of these deposits are, in general, up to twelve months. Historically, deposits in Chinese banks were viewed as secure due to the state policy on protecting depositors’ interests. However, the new Bankruptcy Law that came into effect in 2007 contains an article expressly stating that the State Council may promulgate implementation measures for the bankruptcy of Chinese banks based on the Bankruptcy Law, so the law contemplates the possibility that a Chinese bank may go bankrupt. In addition, foreign banks have been gradually permitted to operate in China since China’s accession to the World Trade Organization and have become strong competitors of Chinese banks in many respects, which may have increased the risk of bankruptcy or illiquidity for Chinese banks, including those in which we have deposits. In the event of bankruptcy or illiquidity of any one of the banks which holds our deposits, we are unlikely to claim our deposits back in full since we are unlikely to be classified as a secured creditor based on PRC laws.

On May 1, 2015, China’s new Deposit Insurance Regulation came into effect, pursuant to which banking financial institutions, such as commercial banks, established in China will be required to purchase deposit insurance for deposits in RMB and in foreign currency. Under this regulation, depositors will be fully indemnified for their deposits and interests in an aggregate amount up to a limit of RMB500,000. Deposits or interests over such limit will only be covered by the bank’s liquidation assets. Therefore, although this requirement to purchase deposit insurance may help, to a certain extent, prevent Chinese banks from going bankrupt, it would not be effective in providing effective protection for our accounts, as our aggregate deposits are much higher than the compensation limit.

Our auditor, like other independent registered public accounting firms operating in China, is not permitted to be subject to inspection by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and consequently investors may be deprived of the benefits of such inspection.

Our auditor, the independent registered public accounting firm that issued the audit reports included elsewhere in this annual report, as an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or the PCAOB, is subject to laws in the United States pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess its compliance with applicable professional standards. Our auditor is located in, and organized under the laws of the PRC, which is a jurisdiction where the PCAOB has been unable  to conduct inspections without the approval of the Chinese authorities. In May 2013, the PCAOB announced that it had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on Enforcement Cooperation with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, or the CSRC and the PRC Ministry of Finance, which establishes a cooperative framework between the parties for the production and exchange of audit documents relevant to investigations undertaken by the PCAOB, the CSRC or the PRC Ministry of Finance in the United States and the PRC, respectively. The PCAOB continues to be in discussions with the CSRC, and the PRC Ministry of Finance to permit joint inspections in the PRC of audit firms that are registered with the PCAOB and audit Chinese companies that trade on U.S. exchanges. On December 7, 2018, the SEC and the PCAOB issued a joint statement highlighting continued challenges faced by the U.S. regulators in their oversight of financial statement audits of U.S.-listed companies with significant operations in China. However, it remains unclear what further actions, if any, the SEC and the PCAOB will take to address the problem.

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

Proceedings instituted by the SEC against certain PRC-based accounting firms, including our independent registered public accounting firm, could result in financial statements being determined to not be in compliance with the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act.

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

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

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

Risks Relating to Our ADSs

The trading price for our ADSs may fluctuate significantly.

The trading prices of our ADSs have fluctuated since we first listed our ADSs. Since our ADSs became listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on April 17, 2014, the trading price of our ADSs has ranged from US$8.78 to US$142.12 per ADS, and the last reported trading price on April 26, 2019 was US$67.74 per ADS.  The prices for our ADSs may continue to fluctuate because of broad market and industry factors, like 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. A number of Chinese companies have listed or are in the process of listing their securities on U.S. stock markets. The securities of some of these companies have experienced significant volatility, including price declines in connection with their initial public offerings. The trading performances of these Chinese companies’ securities after their offerings may affect the attitudes of investors toward Chinese companies listed in the United States in general and consequently may impact the trading performance of our ADSs, regardless of our actual operating performance.

In addition to market and industry factors, the price and trading volume for our ADSs may be highly volatile for factors specific to our own operations, including (but not limited to) the following:

·                  variations in our revenues, earnings, cash flow and data related to our active user base or user engagement;

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·                  announcements of new investments, acquisitions, strategic partnerships or joint ventures;

·                  announcements of new services and expansions by us or our competitors;

·                  changes in financial estimates by securities analysts;

·                  detrimental adverse publicity about us or SINA;

·                  additions or departures of key personnel;

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

·                  potential litigation or regulatory investigations.

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

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

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

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

Sales of substantial amounts of our ADSs in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur, could adversely affect the market price of our ADSs and could materially impair our ability to raise capital through equity offerings in the future. We cannot predict what effect, if any, market sales of securities held by our significant shareholders or any other shareholder or the availability of these securities for future sale will have on the market price of our ADSs.

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

Our ordinary shares are divided into Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Holders of Class A ordinary shares are entitled to one vote per share, while holders of Class B ordinary shares are entitled to three votes per share. All of the outstanding ordinary shares held by SINA as of the date of this annual report are Class B ordinary shares. All other ordinary shares that are outstanding as of the date of this annual report are Class A ordinary shares. We intend to maintain the dual-class voting structure in the future. Each Class B ordinary share is convertible into one Class A ordinary share at any time by the holder thereof. Class A ordinary shares are not convertible into Class B ordinary shares under any circumstances. Upon any transfer of Class B ordinary shares by a holder thereof to any person or entity which is not an affiliate (as defined in our memorandum and articles of association) of such holder, such Class B ordinary shares shall be automatically and immediately converted into the equal number of Class A ordinary shares. In addition, each Class B ordinary share shall automatically and immediately be converted into one Class A ordinary share if at any time SINA and its affiliates (as defined in our memorandum and articles of association) in the aggregate hold less than five percent (5%) of the issued Class B ordinary shares in our company, and no Class B ordinary shares shall be issued by our company thereafter.

Due to the disparate voting powers attached to these two classes of ordinary shares, SINA owned approximately 45.2% of our total issued and outstanding ordinary shares and 71.2% of the voting power of our outstanding shares as of March 31, 2019. Therefore, SINA will have decisive influence over matters requiring shareholders’ approval, including election of directors and significant corporate transactions, such as a merger or sale of our company. This concentrated control will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could discourage others from pursuing any potential merger, takeover or other change of control transactions that holders of Class A ordinary shares and ADSs may view as beneficial.

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

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

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

You may be subject to PRC income tax on dividends from us or on any gain realized on the transfer of our ADSs.

Under the Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementation rules, subject to any applicable tax treaty or similar arrangement between the PRC and your jurisdiction of residence that provides for a different income tax arrangement, PRC withholding tax at the rate of 10% is normally applicable to dividends from PRC sources payable to investors that are non-PRC resident enterprises, which do not have an establishment or place of business in the PRC, or which have such establishment or place of business if the relevant income is not effectively connected with the establishment or place of business. Any gain realized on the transfer of ADSs or shares by such non-PRC resident enterprise investors is also subject to 10% PRC income tax if such gain is regarded as income derived from sources within the PRC, unless a tax treaty or similar arrangement otherwise provides. Under the PRC Individual Income Tax Law and its implementation rules, dividends from sources within the PRC paid to foreign individual investors who are not PRC residents are generally subject to a PRC withholding tax at a rate of 20% and gains from PRC sources realized by such investors on the transfer of American depositary shares or shares are generally subject to 20% PRC income tax, in each case, subject to any reduction or exemption set forth in applicable tax treaties and similar arrangements and PRC laws. Although substantially all of our business operations are in China, it is unclear whether dividends we pay with respect to our ADSs, or the gain realized from the transfer of our ADSs, would be treated as income derived from sources within the PRC and as a result be subject to PRC income tax if we were considered a PRC resident enterprise, as described above. If PRC income tax were imposed on gains realized through the transfer of our ADSs or on dividends paid to our non-PRC resident investors, the value of your investment in our ADSs may be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, our ADS holders whose jurisdictions of residence have tax treaties or similar arrangements with China may not qualify for benefits under such tax treaties or arrangements.

We may be classified as a passive foreign investment company under U.S. federal income tax law, which could result in adverse consequences to U.S. Holders of our ADSs or Class A ordinary shares.

Depending upon the value of our assets, which is determined based, in part, on the market value of our ADSs, and the nature of our assets and income over time, we could be classified as a passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. We will be classified as a PFIC for any taxable year if either (i) 75% or more of our gross income for the taxable year is passive income or (ii) 50% or more of the value of our assets (determined on the basis of a quarterly average) is attributable to assets that produce or are held for the production of passive income. Based on our income and assets, and the value of our ADSs, we do not believe that we were a PFIC for our taxable year ended December 31, 2018 and do not expect to be a PFIC for our current taxable year or for the foreseeable future. While we do not anticipate becoming a PFIC for the current taxable year, fluctuations in the market price of our ADSs may cause us to become a PFIC for the current or any subsequent taxable year.

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Although the law in this regard is not entirely clear, we treat Weimeng as being owned by us for U.S. federal income tax purposes because we control its management decisions and we are entitled to substantially all of its economic benefits, and, as a result, we consolidate its results of operations in our consolidated U.S. GAAP financial statements. If it were determined, however, that we are not the owner of Weimeng for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we would likely be treated as a PFIC for our current taxable year and any subsequent taxable year. Because of the uncertainties in the application of the relevant rules and because PFIC status is a factual determination made annually after the close of each taxable year on the basis of the composition of our income and the value of our active versus passive assets, there can be no assurance that we will not be a PFIC for the current or any future taxable year. The overall level of our passive assets will be affected by how, and how quickly, we spend our liquid assets and cash. Under circumstances where we determine not to expend significant amounts of cash for active purposes, our risk of becoming classified as a PFIC may substantially increase.

If we are or become classified as a PFIC, a U.S. Holder (as defined in “Item 10.E. Additional Information—Taxation—United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—General”) may be subject to reporting requirements and may incur significantly increased U.S. federal income tax on gain recognized on the sale or other disposition of, and on the receipt of distributions on the ADSs or Class A ordinary shares to the extent such gain or distribution is treated as an “excess distribution” under the U.S. federal income tax rules. Further, if we were a PFIC for any year during which a U.S. Holder held our ADSs or Class A ordinary shares, we would generally continue to be treated as a PFIC for all succeeding years during which such holder held our ADSs or Class A ordinary shares. U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors concerning the U.S. federal income tax considerations of acquiring, holding, and disposing of the ADSs or Class A ordinary shares if we are or become classified as a PFIC. For more information see “Item 10.E. Additional Information—Taxation—United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—Passive Foreign Investment Company Considerations” and “Item 10.E. Additional Information—Taxation—United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules.”

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

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

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

We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. Our corporate affairs are governed by our memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Law of the Cayman Islands (2018 Revision) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders to take action against our directors, actions by our minority shareholders and the fiduciary duties of our directors to our company under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from the common law of England, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding, on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary duties of our directors under Cayman Islands law are not as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a less developed body of securities laws than the United States. Some U.S. states, such as Delaware, have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law than the Cayman Islands. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholder derivative action in a federal court of the United States.

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The Cayman Islands courts are also unlikely:

·                  to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States based on certain civil liability provisions of U.S. securities laws; and

·                  to impose liabilities against us, in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, based on certain civil liability provisions of U.S. securities laws that are penal in nature.

In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the U.S., the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognise and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For such a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, and or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.

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 our board of directors or our controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a company incorporated in the United States.

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

We are a Cayman Islands exempted company and all of our assets are located outside of the United States. Substantially all of our current operations are conducted in China. In addition, a majority 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 China may render you unable to enforce a judgment against our assets or the assets of our directors and officers.

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 United States domestic public companies.

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

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

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

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

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·                  the selective disclosure rules by issuers of material nonpublic information under Regulation FD.

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 through 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.

In addition, we are permitted by NASDAQ Stock Market Rules to elect to rely, and have elected to rely, on certain exemptions from corporate governance requirements:

·                  that the board of directors be comprised of a majority of independent directors under NASDAQ Rule 5605(b)(1); and

·                  the requirement that an audit committee be comprised of at least three members under NASDAQ Rule 5605(c)(2)(A).

As a result, you may not be afforded the same protections or information, which would be made available to you, were you investing in a U.S. domestic issuer.

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

As a holder of our ADSs, you will not have any right to attend general meetings of our shareholders or to cast any votes directly at such meetings. You will only be able to exercise the voting rights which attach to the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by your ADSs indirectly by giving voting instructions to the depositary in accordance with the provisions of the deposit agreement. Under the deposit agreement, you may vote only by giving voting instructions to the depositary, as the holder of the underlying Class A ordinary shares which are represented by your ADSs. Upon receipt of your voting instructions, the depositary will endeavor to vote the underlying ordinary shares in accordance with your instructions. You will not be able to directly exercise any right to vote with respect to the underlying Class A ordinary shares at any general meeting of our shareholders unless you withdraw such shares and become the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date for the general meeting. Under our second amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the minimum notice period required to be given by our company to our registered shareholders for convening a general meeting is 14 days. When a general meeting is convened, you may not receive sufficient advance notice to enable you to withdraw the Class A ordinary shares underlying your ADSs and become the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date for the general meeting to allow you to attend the general meeting and to vote directly with respect to any specific matter or resolution which is to be considered and voted upon at the general meeting. In addition, under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, for the purposes of determining those shareholders who are entitled to attend and vote at any general meeting, our directors may close our register of members and/or fix in advance a record date for such meeting, and such closure of our register of members or the setting of such a record date may prevent you from withdrawing the shares underlying your ADSs and becoming the registered holder of such shares prior to the record date, so that you would not be able to attend the general meeting or to vote directly.  Where any matter is to be put to a vote at a general meeting, the depositary will endeavor to notify you of the upcoming vote and will arrange to deliver our voting materials to you. We cannot assure you that you will receive the voting materials in time to ensure that you can instruct the depositary to vote the shares underlying your ADSs. In addition, the depositary and its agents are not responsible for failing to carry out voting instructions or for their manner of carrying out your voting instructions. This means that you may not be able to exercise your right to direct the voting of the shares underlying your ADSs, and you may have no legal remedy if the shares underlying your ADSs are not voted as you requested.

The depositary for our ADSs will give us a discretionary proxy to vote the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs if you do not give instructions to the depositary as to how to vote at shareholders’ meetings, except in limited circumstances, which could adversely affect your interests.

Under the deposit agreement for the ADSs, if you do not timely and properly give voting instructions to the depositary as to how to vote the shares underlying your ADSs at any particular shareholders’ meeting, the depositary will give us (or our nominee) a discretionary proxy to vote the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs at the shareholders’ meeting unless:

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·                  we have failed to timely provide the depositary with notice of meeting and related voting materials;

·                  we have instructed the depositary that we do not wish a discretionary proxy to be given;

·                  we have informed the depositary that there is substantial opposition as to a matter to be voted on at the meeting;

·                  a matter to be voted on at the meeting would have a material adverse impact on shareholders; or

·                  the voting at the meeting is to be made on a show of hands.

The effect of this discretionary proxy is that if you do not timely and properly give voting instructions to the depositary as to how to vote the shares underlying your ADSs at any particular shareholders’ meeting, you cannot prevent the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs from being voted, except under the circumstances described above. This may make it more difficult for holders of ADSs to influence the management of our company. Holders of our ordinary shares are not subject to this discretionary proxy.

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

The depositary of our ADSs has agreed to pay to you the cash dividends or other distributions it or the custodian receives on ordinary shares or other deposited securities underlying our ADSs, after deducting its fees and expenses. You will receive these distributions in proportion to the number of ordinary shares your ADSs represent. However, the depositary is not responsible if it decides that it is unlawful or impractical to make a distribution available to any holders of ADSs. For example, it would be unlawful to make a distribution to a holder of ADSs if it consists of securities that require registration under the Securities Act but that are not properly registered or distributed under an applicable exemption from registration. The depositary may also determine that it is not feasible to distribute certain property through the mail. Additionally, the value of certain distributions may be less than the cost of mailing them. In these cases, the depositary may determine not to distribute such property. We have no obligation to register under U.S. securities laws any ADSs, ordinary shares, rights or other securities received through such distributions. We also have no obligation to take any other action to permit the distribution of ADSs, ordinary shares, rights or anything else to holders of ADSs. This means that you may not receive distributions we make on our ordinary shares or any value for them if it is illegal or impractical for us to make them available to you. These restrictions may cause a material decline in the value of our ADSs.

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

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

Conversion of our convertible notes may dilute the ownership interest of existing shareholders.

We issued $900 million principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2022 in October 2017. The conversion of some or all of the notes may dilute the ownership interests of existing shareholders. Any sales in the public market of the ADSs issuable upon such conversion could adversely affect prevailing market prices of our ADSs. In addition, the existence of the notes may encourage short selling by market participants because the conversion of the notes could depress the market price of our ADSs.

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

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

Item 4.                                 Information on the Company

A.                                    History and Development of the Company

SINA, our parent, launched Weibo in August 2009, originally as a microblogging service. In 2010, SINA incorporated a subsidiary, T.CN Corporation, in the Cayman Islands to hold the assets associated with the Weibo business. In 2011, Weibo was upgraded with social networking features and improved open platform architecture to support internally developed and third-party developer applications on our platform. In 2012, T.CN Corporation was renamed Weibo Corporation. In April 2013, Alibaba Group invested $585.8 million through its wholly owned subsidiary, Ali WB, in our ordinary and preferred shares representing approximately 18% of Weibo Corporation’s then total outstanding shares on a fully diluted basis.

In April 2014, our company completed the initial public offering and has been listed on the NASDAQ Global Selected Market since then. Our company was incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands and is headquartered in Beijing, China. With offices throughout mainland China and Hong Kong, our principal place of operations is located at QIHAO Plaza, No. 8 Xinyuan S. Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100027, People’s Republic of China. Our telephone number is +86 10 5898-3336.

Weibo Corporation holds 100% of the equity of Weibo Hong Kong Limited, or Weibo HK, which in turn holds 100% of the equity in Weibo Internet Technology (China) Co., Ltd., or Weibo Technology, our wholly owned subsidiary in China.

We are a holding company, and we conduct our business in China through Weibo Technology and Weimeng. See “Item 4.C. Information on the Company—Organizational Structure” and “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Corporate Structure.” We rely principally on dividends and other distributions from Weibo Technology for our cash needs, including the funds necessary to pay dividends to our shareholders or service any debt we may incur. Weimeng holds an Internet Content Provision License and other permits that are necessary for operating our business in China. In 2010, we gained control and became the primary beneficiary of Weimeng through a series of contractual arrangements between Weibo Technology, Weimeng and Weimeng’s shareholders.

In December 2013, Weimeng acquired from SINA the entire equity interest in Beijing Weibo Interactive Internet Technology Co., Ltd., or Weibo Interactive, a PRC company engaged in the online game business, for a consideration of $10.1 million.

In June 2015, we acquired from SINA the majority equity interest in Weibo Funds, which engage in the investment of start-up high-tech companies, for a consideration of $22.0 million.

In October 2017, we issued $900 million principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2022. The notes will bear interest at a rate of 1.25% per year, payable semiannually in arrears on May 15 and November 15 of each year, beginning on May 15, 2018. Holders of the notes may convert their notes, at their option, in integral multiples of US$1,000 principal amount, at any time prior to the close of business on November 11, 2022. The notes will mature on November 15, 2022. The notes will be convertible into our ADSs, at the option of the holders, based on an initial conversion rate of 7.5038 ADSs per $1,000 principal amount of notes.

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B.                                    Business Overview

Overview

Weibo is a leading social media platform for people to create, distribute and discover content. It provides an unprecedented and simple way for people and organizations to publicly express themselves in real time, interact with others on a massive global platform and stay connected with the world.

Since our inception in 2009, Weibo has amassed a large user base. In December 2018, Weibo had 462 million MAUs and 200 million average DAUs, increasing from 392 million MAUs and 172 million average DAUs in December 2017, and 313 million MAUs and 139 million average DAUs in December 2016.

Weibo combines the means of public self-expression in real time with a powerful platform for social interaction, content aggregation and content distribution. Any user can create and post a feed and attach multimedia and long-form content. User relationships on Weibo may be asymmetric; any user can follow any other user and add comments to a feed while reposting. The simple, asymmetric and distributed nature of Weibo allows an original feed to become a live viral conversation stream.

Weibo serves a wide range of users including ordinary people, celebrities and other public figures, as well as media outlets, businesses, government agencies, charities and other organizations, making it a microcosm of Chinese society. For many people in China, Weibo allows them to be heard publicly and exposed to the rich ideas, cultures and experiences of the broader world.

In addition to users, Weibo’s ecosystem includes customers and platform partners:

·                  Customers. We enable our advertising and marketing customers to promote their brands, products and services to our users. We offer a wide range of advertising and marketing solutions to customers ranging from large companies to SMEs, including social display advertisement and promoted marketing offerings. Our native promoted marketing offerings allow customers to reach a targeted audience based on the social interest graph, or SIG, of our users. In addition, our customers can benefit from the potential viral effect of their promoted feeds generated from the public and distributed nature of our platform, commonly known as “earned media.”

·                  Platform Partners. We have attracted a large number of platform partners, including organizations with media rights, MCNs, self-medias and app developers. Our platform partners contribute a vast amount of content to Weibo, broadly distribute Weibo content across their properties and integrate products and applications with our platform, enriching the experience of our users while increasing our monetization opportunities.

While we distinguish among users, customers and platform partners in classifying our products and analyzing our revenues, the same person or organization may simultaneously be included in two or more of the categories.

Designed with a “mobile first” philosophy, Weibo displays content in a simple information feed format and offers native advertisement that conform to the information feed on our platform. To support the mobile format, we have developed a SIG recommendation engine that makes it easier for our users to discover content and allows advertisers to promote more relevant advertisements to our users. With the high information-density of Chinese characters and users’ ability to personalize content information feed, Weibo is particularly suited for mobile use, and we have seen significant mobile adoption. Approximately 93% of our MAUs in December 2018 accessed Weibo from mobile devices at least once during the month, and mobile advertising revenues accounted for approximately 83% of our advertising and marketing revenues in 2018.

We began monetization on our platform in 2012, and we have since experienced rapid revenue growth. Our revenues increased from $655.8 million in 2016 to $1,150.1 million in 2017, and further to $1,718.5 million in 2018, representing a CAGR of 61.9%. We generate revenues primarily from customers who purchase advertising and marketing services, and, to a lesser extent, from fee-based revenues, such as VIP membership. In 2018, revenues generated from advertising and marketing services accounted for 87% of our total revenues.

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Products and Services

Our product categories include those for users, advertising and marketing customers and platform partners.

Products for Users

Our product development approach is centered on building simple and useful tools to enable our users to access Weibo to discover, create, and distribute content and interact with others on our platform in real time. We employ a “mobile first” philosophy and have designed our platform around the capabilities of mobile devices. We introduced the first generation of Weibo mobile app in the first quarter of 2010. Our app is compatible with all major mobile operating systems, including Android, iOS and others, and is accessible through mobile apps, mobile websites, computer apps and computer websites. Users can watch videos, read articles, discover hot information feeds and interest-based topics after installing Weibo app or when visiting Weibo websites. Users registered with a Weibo account can set up their account information, post feeds, upload short videos and post articles. Users can also interact between themselves on our platform by following, reposting, adding comments, sending private messages and through other channels.

Our users range from ordinary people to celebrities, businesses, government agencies and other organizations.

Discovery Products. We offer the following products to help users discover content on our platform:

·                  Information Feed. We organize and present users with information feed in different forms. Among all, two most important and most frequently browsed are relationship-based information feed (follow model) and interest-based information feed, both of which reside on users’ home page.

Each user’s relationship-based information feed displays a regularly updated flow of feeds posted by that user and other users who he or she has opted to follow. Since Weibo allows users to follow other users without establishing a reciprocal relationship, users are able to personalize whom to follow based on their interests. In other words, users can as easily follow celebrities and strangers as they follow friends and acquaintances. To improve user experience, the relationship-based information feed has evolved from a chronological timeline to one with multiple dimensions, including content relevancy, content quality, user interest, user engagement, user relationships and etc. Users can also customize their information feed by classifying followed accounts into different groups, e.g. friends, co-workers, celebrities, finance, sports and view feeds from each group separately.

Interest-based information feeds are timelines of feeds recommended by Weibo based on different interest-based themes. Hot information feed is an example of interested-based information feed that we present at users’ homepage to recommend feeds on recent popular topics, breaking news and feeds generated through users interest. We also organize other interest-based information feeds on various themes for users to further explore the topics in which they are interested. In addition to the above, we offer many other types of information feed as well. For example, video information feed, which appears after a user finishes watching a short video and a timeline of related videos are recommended; and profile information feed, which can be found on a user’s individual page and shows all of the feeds shared by that user.

·                  Search. Our search function allows users to search our large content pool for users, feeds, videos, articles, pictures, etc. based on keyword (hashtag), topic or recent popular trending. Through our powerful search function, users can efficiently acquire the most relevant information they seek in real time. Weibo hot search is our hot topic ranking chart which is calculated based on real-time search data, presenting to users the hottest and newest content.

·                  Discovery Zone. The discovery zone is the interface aggregating Search, Channels, Trends and information feeds for users to conveniently access a variety of content and services based on the user’s current location and topical interests such as games, movie review, ticket purchasing, online music streaming, online shopping and live streaming. Users can find content related to their interests and interact with others of the same interest in the discovery zone.

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·                  Channels. Channels gather users based on particular interests or locations and encourage user engagement through interaction within each channel.  Users can visit these Channels to find rich content on topics of interest and interact with other users of similar interest. For example, users can stream songs and watch movie trailers from the respective Channels and write reviews in the discussion zone. With Weibo location-based services, users can locate popular points of interest, find information about them, such as show times for movie theaters and menus for restaurants, access coupons, post comments, and see reviews shared by other users. As one of the interest channels, we also offer third-party online games, such as role-play games, card games and strategy games. Most games on Weibo are free and certain games have in-app purchase options for enhanced gaming experience. Weibo receives part of the revenues from such purchases through arrangements with the game developers.

·                  Trends. Trends are lists of hot topics on Weibo. A user can start a topic discussion by adding hashtags (#) around a word or phrase in a feed. The key word or phrase then becomes searchable with a single click. Top trends are listed in the discovery zone. Users may view feeds under each trending topic and participate in the discussion.

·                  Video Community. The video community is the interface aggregating video content from different verticals for users to conveniently access and consume. User could also interact with video content creators and other platform users within the community. Video content offerings are categorized into different channels based on users’ social relationship and vertical interests, such as Story, Movie, Celebrity, Vlog and Media, etc.

Self-Expression Products. We offer the following products to enable our users to express themselves on our platform:

·                  Post. Weibo enables users to express and share their ideas, opinions and stories in the form of text and multimedia content. A post is usually limited to 140 Chinese characters, and can include rich, descriptive and vivid content such as photos, music, short videos, live streaming and long-form articles.

·                  Individual Page. Each individual user has an Individual Page to express and share ideas, opinions and stories in the form of text and multimedia content. Basic information about a user, including username, introduction, education, location, liked feeds, accounts followed, follower accounts and Weibo account number, is also available on the user’s Page. Individual users with verified authentic identity information will have an orange “V” mark on their profile picture. Weibo VIP membership, which can be purchased mainly through monthly, quarterly, or annual subscriptions, offers certain additional services and functions not available to free users, such as following more users, more personalization of their Pages, additional options to manage information feeds and followers and access to premium games. Business and other organizations with verified identities can apply for enterprise accounts, create an Enterprise Page and will have a blue “V” mark on their profile picture. We enable organizations to customize their Pages and to increase brand awareness, interact with followers, perform marketing events, promotion activities, and advertisement campaigns on Weibo. We also enable business and other organizations to increase its business efficiency by providing various tools. For example, an e-commerce merchant can facilitate purchase activities through Weibo or offer “red envelop,” and drawings to build a follower base.

·                  Story.   Users can continuously create, share and discover photos and full-screen vertical short videos. Stories allow users to more easily create, consume contents and interact with their relations on smartphone. It gains popularity quickly among Weibo users, especially younger generation. In addition, user can use tools such as stickers, filters and music to express their personality.

·                  Top Articles. Top Articles satisfies user needs for content creation and presentation. Users can create beautifully presented content through Top Articles, and publish through Weibo which will display such content in the information feed.

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·                  Weibo Q&A. Weibo Q&A is our question-and-answer platform where users can engage in free Q&A as well as paid Q&A. Through creation and interaction of user generated content, it strengthens user engagement on Weibo.

·                  Weibo Live Streaming. Weibo Live Streaming includes showcase live streaming and media live streaming that satisfy the broadcasting demand of both individual users and business or organization users.

Social Products. We offer the following mechanisms to promote social interaction between users on our platform:

·                  Follow. Users can establish relationships with other users by electing to follow them. Feeds that are posted or reposted by a user will automatically appear in the information feed of the user’s follower. Relationships may be asymmetrical. The user being followed does not need to approve the follower’s decision to follow them, although a user can choose to limit access to certain feeds or to blacklist a certain follower.

·                  Repost, Comment, Favorite, Like. By clicking on the Repost button, users can repost feeds from other users. When a feed is reposted, the original author is able to virally reach and influence users beyond that author’s own circle of followers, leveraging the network of the followers of the author’s followers, sometimes many degrees away. Users can add their own comments when they repost and share their view on the original feed with their followers. Users can also leave comments on a feed by clicking on the Comment button. If they like a feed, they can click on the Like button to express their support for the feed. At the bottom of each feed, users can see how many people have Reposted, Commented on or Liked the feed. Users can also save feeds into their favorites by clicking on the Favorite button.

·                  @Mention. Users can view their history of interactions with other users by going to the @Mention Page, which allows users to access all the feeds in which they are mentioned by other users. In addition, users can see a list of comments from other users on their own feeds, as well as the Likes on their feeds.

·                  Messenger. Users can send private messages in the form of text or voice recordings and can attach photos, locations and group contact cards. In addition, users can also use messengers to hand out “red envelops”, lucky money, and receive payments from other users.

·                  Group Chat. Group Chat enables users to organize and participate in conversations based on common interest. For example, fans of a celebrity can establish chat rooms to share the latest gossips and tidbits, and the celebrity himself may choose to “drop in” to increase the livelihood of his fan base. In addition, users who are viewing the same live streaming session can simultaneously participate in a group chat as well.

·                  Topic Discussion: By accessing the topic feeds embedded in the Discovery Zone, users can consume hot topics and trends on Weibo, participate in specific topic discussions and interact with other platform users with similar topical interests.

Products for Advertising and Marketing Customers

We seek to provide advertising and marketing solutions to enable our customers to promote their brands and conduct effective marketing activities. We provide our customers with analytical tools to enable them to track and improve the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns on our platform. Our advertising and marketing customers include key accounts, Alibaba and SMEs that seek a full spectrum of online advertising and marketing services ranging from brand awareness to interest generation, sales conversion and loyalty marketing.

Social Display Advertisements. Social display advertisements appear on the app opening page, the Discovery Zone banner and website home page banner. When users click on a display advertisement, they may be redirected to the advertiser’s Weibo Page for further engagement. Social display advertisements mainly serve key account customers.

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Promoted Marketing. Our promoted marketing offerings include the following:

·                  Promoted Feeds. Promoted feeds appear in the user’s information feed alongside organic feeds. We encourage our customers to produce feeds that have relevant information value similar to that of the users’ organic feeds. Customers may use our SIG recommendation engine to better target their audience and improve the relevancy of the advertisement to the users. As with other feeds, users can Repost, Comment on and Like promoted feeds, amplifying the visibility and reach of the original promoted feed and generating earned media to our customers. We offer promoted feeds tailored to different customer segments such as:

·                  Super FST is an advertising platform specifically for information feeds advertising products under a real time bidding system. By leverage Weibo’s massive user data, Super FST can help customers precisely target users based on user attributes and social relations, enabling customers to achieve marketing objectives such as improving customers’ branding, increasing website visits and advertisement conversion rate, growing fan bases, increase app installation rates and collecting sales leads. Customer can place information feeds advertisements either through our authorized distributor, or directly by themselves on Super FST. Super FST can help to target segment audience via multiple dimensions, including user quality, scenarios, social relations, behaviors and interests. In this way, brands can precisely target users with different features. Super FST provides various advertising formats, such as multi-image post, image-text advertisements, video advertisements and matrix advertisements.

·                  Fans Headline is a promoted service that guarantees a certain feed from the customer will appear at the top of the information feeds of the customer’s followers;

·                  Weibo Express is a promoted service offered to key accounts for them to reach and engage with a broad range of Weibo users; and

·                  Promoted Accounts. Promoted accounts usually appear in various Weibo’s relationship recommendation scenes on mobile devices such as the recommended accounts area, or directly in the information feed on mobile devices. Promoted accounts are labeled but otherwise appear in the same format as other accounts that we recommend to our users. Promoted accounts provide customers a way to grow their followers, with whom they can then drive engagement and accumulate social assets using their Weibo Pages.

·                  Promoted Trends and Search. Promoted trends and search products appear alongside user’s organic trends discovery and search behaviors, based on keywords, topics and trends. Promoted trends, which are labeled as “promoted,” appear at the top of the list of trending topics. When a user clicks on a promoted trend, he will be redirected to the sponsor’s landing page. Promoted search usually appears as the default keyword or topic in the search bar or triggered by users’ search behaviors of certain sponsored keyword or topic.

Products for Platform Partners

We seek to provide our platform partners with abundant tools and services, which improves Weibo’s content ecosystem with more diverse and high quality content, increases user engagement, enhances user experience, expand user scale and strengthens platform influence. Our platform partners include traditional and online media outlets, copyright content providers, MCNs and other self-media, as well as app developers and data suppliers. We offer different products tailored to different types of platform partners, including:

Products for copyright content providers. We work with TV channels, online video websites and operators with copyright content through traffic resource exchange and content traffic sharing. Such cooperation enriches Weibo’s content ecosystem with diversified video content and strengthen Weibo’s brands influence, while at the same time enhances partners’ user scales, and their brands influence.

·                  Standardized products. Our standardized products to platform partners include, among others, Trends, Search, Video/Live Streaming, and Editing tools.

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·                  Customized products. We provide customized products such as content customization, pooling of copyright contents and user interaction development to our platform partners.

·                  Resource services. We provide our platform partners with operational resources to expand their brand influence, such as search list recommendation, trends list recommendation and Weibo app opening advertisements.

Products for MCNs and other self-media. Self-media refers to organization partners with the ability to manage and provide services to top content creators on Weibo, such as MCNs, unions and e-commerce partners. These top content creators produce various types of content on Weibo in the form of video, live stream, images and text. We provide self-media with standardized products and services to help them build up and monetize social assets, which in return enables them to produce more content and attracting more self-medias to our platform. Our products and services to them include:

·                  Back-end management. We provide standardized and specialized back-end management allowing self-media to manage their content creator accounts in a scalable manner. Our back-end management services include, among others, management of account, data, resource and growth.

·                  Traffic supports. We provide traffic distribution supports such as account recommendation, content recommendation and access to certain exclusive functions.

·                  Product services. We provide self-media with product solutions for better displaying and promotion of its account and content through various channels, including information feeds, video feeds and users home page.

Products for other app developers. Under user consent, our open application platform allows users to log into third-party applications with their Weibo account, which enables sharing of third-party content on our platform. User privacy is strictly protected during the authorization to third-party applications, which only have access to user’s basic public information. This product helps mobile app developers to acquire users while helps Weibo to acquire shared content from other apps and platforms.

Weibo Wallet. Our Weibo wallet product enables platform partners to conduct interest generation activities on Weibo, such as handing out “red envelops” and coupons to other users to build a bigger and more active fan base, and drive purchase conversion. Weibo wallet also enables individual users to purchase different types of products and services on Weibo, including those offered by us, such as marketing services and VIP membership, and those offered by our platform partners, such as e-commerce merchandises, financial products and virtual gifts.

Competition

Major Chinese internet companies, including Tencent, Baidu and Netease, as well as new players in China, who provide online media, including content aggregation and distribution services, compete directly with us for user traffic and user engagement, content, talent and marketing resources. As a media platform in nature, we also compete with offline media companies for audiences and content.

In addition, as a social media featuring social networking services and messenger features, we are subject to intense competition from providers of similar services as well as potentially new types of online services. These services include (i) messengers and other social apps and sites, such as Weixin/WeChat, QQ Mobile, Qzone Mobile and Momo; (ii) news apps and sites, such as those operated by other major internet companies, including Tencent, Baidu, NetEase, Sohu, Phoenix News Media and Bytedance; and (iii) multi-media (photo, short video, live streaming, etc.) apps, such as Momo, Kuaishou, YY, iQiyi, Tencent Video, Youku Tudou and Bytedance.

We also compete with both offline and online games for the time and money of gamers. We have begun to offer social commerce solutions to our customers that enable them to conduct e-commerce on our platform. Consequently, our offerings compete with e-commerce companies and online verticals that enable merchants to conduct e-commerce, including location-based services and online-to-offline services. In addition to direct competition, we face indirect competition from companies that sponsor or maintain high traffic volume websites or provide an initial point of entry for internet users, including but not limited to providers of search services, web browser and navigation pages, such as Baidu, UC Web and Qihoo360. We may also face increasing competition from global social media, social networking services and messengers, such as Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, WhatsApp, Twitter, Line, Kakao Talk and Snow.  Some of our competitors may have substantially more cash, traffic, technical and other resources than we do. See “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Business—If we are unable to compete effectively for user traffic or user engagement, our business and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.”

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We also face significant competition for advertising and marketing spending. A substantial majority of our revenues is generated from the sale of advertising and marketing services. We compete against online and mobile businesses that offer such services, including Tencent, Baidu, Youku Tudou, Bytedance, Sohu, NetEase and Phoenix News Media. We also compete with internet companies that offer online-to-offline (O2O), purchase solutions and other performance-based advertising services and digital media tailored to industries including fast moving consumer goods, IT, automobile, entertainment and travel, such as Autohome, Bitauto, Meituan/Dianping, Ctrip and Focus Media. We also compete against traditional media outlets, such as television, radio and print, for advertising and marketing spending.

Some of our larger competitors have substantially broader product or service offerings and leverage their relationships based on other products or services to gain a larger share of advertising and marketing budgets. We believe that our ability to compete effectively for advertising and marketing spending depends upon many factors, including the size, composition and engagement of our user base, our advertisement targeting capabilities, market acceptance of our advertising and marketing services, our marketing and selling efforts, the return our customers receive from our advertising and marketing services and the strength and reputation of our brands. See “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Business—If we are unable to compete effectively for advertising and marketing spending, our business and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.”

We experience significant competition for highly skilled personnel, including management, engineers, designers and product managers. Our growth strategy depends in part on our ability to retain our existing personnel and add additional highly skilled employees. See “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Business—Our business and growth could suffer if we are unable to hire and retain key personnel.”

Technology

Our business is based on our proprietary technology, which supports our unified platform, scalable distributed storage and SIG recommendation engine.

Unified Platform. We have developed a unified, open platform that allows our users, customers and platform partners to access a vast amount of content on Weibo from mobile devices, personal computers and other internet-enabled devices in real time. Our platform adopts service-oriented architecture that allows easy up-scaling and frequent upgrading of our products. Our platform is built on technologies that can process and analyze bulk data generated by millions of users instantaneously.

Scalable Distributed Storage. Our proprietary model optimizes and facilitates efficient data storage by dividing data into different levels. This distributed storage model allows us to efficiently manage billions of pieces of data while storing data on ordinary servers that are easily scalable. In addition, our proprietary cloud platform and multimedia data content delivery network (CDN) access acceleration technology allow us to store the massive volume of multimedia data generated, viewed or shared on our platform every day. Our geographically distributed architecture enables fast access for users across the country.

Social Interest Graph Recommendation Engine. We have developed a comprehensive database of our users’ social interest graphs as a result of the activities taking place on our platform. The SIGs are built based on user actions such as Post, Repost, Comment, Like and Follow, social relationships, and demographic data such as age, gender and geography. Our SIG recommendation engine allows us and our customers to push content to Weibo users that they are more likely to find interesting and relevant. We are continually refining our recommendation engine to improve the relevance of information we push to users to increase user stickiness. In addition, we believe that advertisements can gain greater relevance from social context and become part of the user experience rather than an interruption of it.

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Video Platform. Our video platform supports media content in multiple formats. We have a large scale video processing system, which supports users to upload videos effectively and provides high quality video sources to end users in complex networks. We utilize machine learning technologies to semantically understand videos uploaded to our platform, whereby we extract texts, basic features from videos to generate content labels, interest-based themes and video fingerprint information. We use these information to accelerate content review of the videos and distribution of the videos on our platform.

Multi-media Live Streaming System. We have developed a smart dispatch system that links push streaming with node load balancing and optimal path finding technologies, which adjusts video caches to adapt to different networks and ensures video quality and stability in live streaming.

Sales and Marketing

We maintain our own sales operations team. We transact business directly with key account customers or through third-party advertising agencies and with SMEs primarily through our own distribution network.

Due to the expertise required to carry out an effective online marketing campaign, key accounts usually hire advertising agencies to handle their internet brand campaigns. These advertising agencies provide a broad spectrum of internet marketing and advertising services. Our sales team leverages Weibo’s unique position and advantages in social marketing to assist key account customers or their advertising agencies throughout their advertising campaign cycle, from designing advertisement campaigns and crafting advertisements in different formats to executing social marketing campaigns and providing analytical tracking.

Our distribution network for SME customers includes local distributors throughout China. Our distributors provide numerous services, including identifying customers, collecting payments, assisting customers in setting up their accounts with us, and engaging in other marketing and educational services aimed at acquiring customers. We have relied on distributors for several reasons. Our SME customer base in China is geographically diverse and fragmented, located in different regions in China. Moreover, SMEs are generally less experienced with online advertising and marketing as compared to large companies and, therefore, benefit from the support provided by distributors. Distributors serve as an efficient channel for us to reach SME customers throughout China and collect payments from them. We require distributors to staff dedicated customer service representatives for our SME customers. We provide periodic training programs to our distributors to maintain the service quality of our distributors and strengthen our relationships with them. In addition, we also offer marketing services through our self-service platform on Weibo.

SINA acts as our agent in servicing our advertising and marketing clients. We have signed an agreement with SINA relating to these sales and marketing services. See “Item 7.B. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions—Related Party Transactions—Our Relationship with SINA—Sales and Marketing Services Agreement.” We will continue to offer integrated solutions to customers with both SINA’s and our advertising and marketing solutions. We believe that our advertising and marketing solutions are complementary to SINA’s.

We believe that our position as a leading social media in China has given us widespread name recognition. We focus on continually improving the quality of our products and services to strengthen our brand, as we believe satisfied users and customers are more likely to recommend our products and services to others. While word of mouth has helped us, we also make selective use of advertising, promotions and special events to promote Weibo awareness and usage.

Intellectual Property

We rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws and restrictions on disclosure to protect our intellectual property rights. We have registered 65 patents and applied for an additional 260 patents with the PRC State Intellectual Property Office. We have registered 180 software copyrights with the PRC National Copyright Administration. We have also registered domain names, including weibo.com, weibo.cn and weibo.com.cn. We have obtained an exclusive, perpetual, worldwide and royalty-free license from SINA to use its  trademarks.

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Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use our technology. Monitoring unauthorized use of our technology is difficult and costly, and we cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent misappropriation of our technology, particularly in foreign countries where the laws may not protect our proprietary rights as fully as in the United States. From time to time, we may have to resort to litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources.

In addition, third parties may initiate litigation against us alleging infringement of their proprietary rights or declaring their non-infringement of our intellectual property rights. In the event of a successful claim of infringement and our failure or inability to develop non-infringing technology or license the infringed or similar technology on a timely basis, our business could be harmed. In addition, even if we are able to license the infringed or similar technology, license fees could be substantial and may adversely affect our results of operations. See “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Business—We may not be able to adequately protect our intellectual property, which could cause us to be less competitive” and “—We may be subject to intellectual property infringement claims or other allegations by third parties for information or content displayed on, retrieved from or linked to our platform, or distributed to our users, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and prospects.”

Seasonality

Weibo has experienced seasonality in its online advertising business. Historically, advertising spending tends to be the lowest in the first quarter of each calendar year due to long holidays around the Lunar New Year. Past performance may not be indicative of future trends, as the mix of advertising industry sectors, which may have different seasonality factors, may shift from quarter to quarter.

Regulation

The following description of PRC laws and regulations is based upon the opinion of TransAsia Lawyers, our PRC counsel. For a description of legal risks relating to our ownership structure and business, see “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors.”

Regulations on Microblogs

The Rules on the Administration of Microblog Development, issued by the Beijing Municipal Government in 2011, stipulate that users who post publicly on microblogs are required to disclose their real identity to the microblogging service provider, though they may still use pen names on their accounts. Microblogging service providers are required to verify the identities of their users. In addition, microblogging service providers based in Beijing were required to verify the identities of all of their users by March 16, 2012, including existing users who post publicly on their websites.

The Cyber Security Law, issued by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on November 7, 2016, which came into effect on June 1, 2017, requires network operators that provide network access or domain name registration services, landline or mobile phone network access, or that provide users with information publication or instant messaging services, to require users to provide a real identity when they sign up.

The Cyberspace Administration of China, or the CAC, released the Provisions on the Administration of Microblog Information Services, or the Microblogs Provisions, on February 2, 2018, which came into effect on March 20, 2018. The Provisions for Microblogs provide the principal responsibilities of the microblog service providers, including, among other matters, authentication of true identity information; tiered and categorized management; rumor-dispelling mechanisms; industry self-discipline; social supervision; and administrative management. The Microblogs Provisions further require microblog service providers to establish complete and comprehensive systems for registering users; verifying published information; managing posts, comments, and emergency responses; and providing education and training for practitioners; as well as implement a “chief editor system.” Additionally, the Microblogs Provisions require microblog service providers to set up sound rumor-dispelling mechanisms, whereby it shall take the initiative to refute rumors when it finds that any microblog service user publishes or spreads any rumor or untruthful information. Furthermore, if new technology is adopted or if any update is made to add an application or function which enable discussion of news or social mobilization capabilities, it shall be reported to the local CAC office of the relevant province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the State Council for security assessment.

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On November 15, 2018, the CAC and the Ministry of Public Security jointly promulgated the Provisions on the Security Assessment of Internet Information Services Capable of Creating Public Opinions or Social Mobilization, which categorizes microblogging services as type of “internet information services capable of creating public opinions or social mobilization.” As a result, a microblogging service provider is required to conduct security assessments and submit reports to the local cyberspace authority and public security bureau through the National Internet Security Management Service Platform.

In order to comply with the abovementioned rules, we have added additional clauses into the agreements between the users of our microblog service and us requesting our microblog users to register using their real names.

Regulations on Advertisements

The PRC government regulates advertising, including online advertising, principally through State Administration for Market Regulation, or the SAMR, formerly the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. Since 2005, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce has exempted most enterprises (other than radio stations, television stations, newspapers and magazines, non-corporate entities and entities specified in other regulations) that engage in advertising business from the requirement of holding an operating license for advertising in addition to a relevant business license. We conduct our online advertising business through Weimeng, which holds a business license that covers online advertising in its scope of business.

Advertisers, advertising operators and advertising distributors are required by PRC advertising laws and regulations to ensure that the content of the advertisements they produce or distribute are true and in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. In addition, where a special government review is required for certain categories of advertisements before publishing, advertisers, advertising operators and advertising distributors are obligated to confirm that such review has been duly performed and that the relevant approval has been obtained. Violations of these regulations may result in penalties, including fines, confiscation of advertising income, orders to cease dissemination of the advertisements and orders to publish an advertisement correcting the misleading information. For serious violations, the SAMR or its local branches may order the violator to terminate its advertising operations or even revoke its business license. Furthermore, advertisers, advertising operators or advertising distributors may be subject to civil liabilities if they infringe on the legal rights and interests of third parties.

On April 24, 2015, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress issued the PRC Advertising Law or the Advertising Law, which came into effect on September 1, 2015 and was amended on October 26, 2018. The Advertising Law applies to all advertising activities conducted via the internet. The Advertising Law requires that users must be able to close online pop-up ads with one click. Moreover, internet service providers are obligated to cease publishing any advertisements that they know or should know are illegal. Violation of these regulations may result in penalties, including fines, confiscation of the advertising incomes, termination of advertising operations and even suspension of the provider’s business license.

On July 8, 2016, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce issued the Interim Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising, or the Interim Measures, which became effective on September 1, 2016. The Interim Measures clarify that “Internet Advertisements” means commercial advertisements that promote commodities or services directly or indirectly via Internet media such as websites, webpages and Internet application programs in the form of texts, pictures, audio, video or other forms. The Interim Measures also impose a number of new requirements on Internet advertisers.  For example, the Interim Measures state that paid search advertisements should be clearly distinguished from ordinary search results. In addition, consistent with the Advertising Law, the Interim Measures require that advertisements published on Internet pages in the form of pop-ups or other similar forms shall be clearly marked with a “Close” button to ensure “one click to close.” The measures also prohibit unfair competition in internet advertisement publishing, including (i) providing or using any programs or hardware to intercept or filter any legally operated advertisements of other persons; and (ii) using network pathways, network equipment or applications to disrupt the normal data transmission of advertisements, alter or block legally operated advertisements of other persons or load advertisements without authorization. Violation of these regulations may result in fine of up to RMB30,000, with any punishments administrated by the Administrative Authority for Industry and Commerce in the place where the advertisement publisher is located.

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To comply with these laws and regulations, we include clauses in all of our advertising contracts requiring that all advertising content provided by advertisers or advertising agencies must comply with the relevant laws and regulations.

Regulations on Value-Added Telecommunications Services

The Telecommunications Regulations, promulgated by the State Council in 2000, and were subsequently revised in 2014 and 2016 respectively, draw a distinction between “basic telecommunication services” and “value-added telecommunication services.” Internet content provision services is a subcategory of value-added telecommunications services. On December 25 2015, the MIIT published the Classification Catalogue of Telecommunications Services (the 2015 Catalogue), which took effect on March 1, 2016. The first catalogue was published in September 2000 and was subsequently amended in 2001 and 2003 respectively. Under the 2015 Catalogue, the “value-added telecommunication services” was further classified into two sub-categories and 10 items. Internet content provision services, or ICP services, is under the second subcategory of value-added telecommunications businesses. Under the Telecom Regulations, commercial operators of value-added telecommunications services must first obtain an operating license from the MIIT or its provincial level counterparts.

The State Council issued the Administrative Measures on Internet Information Services concurrently with the Telecommunications Regulations in 2000 to regulate internet content provision services, which was subsequently amended on January 8, 2011. According to these measures, commercial internet content provision service operators must obtain an Internet Content Provision License from the relevant government authorities before engaging in any commercial internet content provision operations within the PRC. These measures further stipulate that entities providing internet content provision services regarding news, publishing, education, medicine, health, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment must procure the approval of the national government authorities responsible for such areas prior to applying for an operating license from the relevant government authorities.

The Administrative Measures on Telecommunications Business Operating Licenses, promulgated by the MIIT in 2001 and revised in 2009 and 2017, set forth the types of licenses required to operate value-added telecommunications services and the qualifications and procedures for obtaining such licenses. For example, an information service operator providing value-added services in multiple provinces is required to obtain an inter-regional license, whereas an information services operator providing the same services in one province is required to obtain a local license.

To comply with these PRC laws and regulations, Weimeng holds an Internet Content Provision License issued by the Beijing Telecommunications Administration. In addition, Weimeng also holds an inter-regional Value-Added Telecommunications Services Operating License for provision of value-added telecommunication services nationwide.

Restrictions on Foreign Ownership in Value-Added Telecommunications Services

According to the Provisions on Administration of Foreign Invested Telecommunications Enterprises, promulgated by the State Council in 2001 and amended in 2008 and 2016, respectively, the ultimate foreign equity ownership in a value-added telecommunications service provider must not exceed 50%. Moreover, for a foreign investor to acquire any equity interest in a value-added telecommunications business in China, it must demonstrate a good track record and experience in operating value-added telecommunications services. Foreign investors that meet these requirements must obtain approvals from the MIIT and the Ministry of Commerce or their authorized local branches. Due to the limitation of foreign investment in value-added telecommunications services companies that provide internet information services, we would be prohibited from acquiring any equity interest in Weimeng. In addition, we believe that our contractual arrangements with Weimeng and its individual shareholders provide us with sufficient and effective control over Weimeng. Accordingly, we currently do not plan to acquire any equity interest in Weimeng.

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The Notice of the MIIT on Intensifying the Administration of Foreign Investment in Value-added Telecommunications Services, issued in 2006, prohibits domestic telecommunications services providers from leasing, transferring or selling telecommunications business operating licenses to any foreign investor in any form, or providing any resources, sites or facilities to any foreign investor for their illegal operation of a telecommunications business in China. Either the holder of a value-added telecommunications business operating license or its shareholders must legally own the domain names and trademarks used by such license holder in providing value-added telecommunications services. The notice further requires each license holder to have the necessary facilities, including servers, for its approved business operations and to maintain such facilities in the regions covered by its license. In addition, all value-added telecommunications service providers are required to maintain network and internet security in accordance with the standards set forth in the relevant PRC regulations. If a license holder fails to comply with the requirements in the notice and cure such non-compliance, the MIIT or its local counterparts have the discretion to take measures against such license holders, including revoking their value-added telecommunications business operating licenses.

On March 13, 2019, the National People’s Congress promulgated the PRC Foreign Investment Law, effective January 1, 2020 and replacing a trio of existing laws regulating foreign investment in China: namely, the Sino-foreign Equity Joint Venture Enterprise Law, the Sino-foreign Cooperative Joint Venture Enterprise Law and the Wholly Foreign-invested Enterprise Law, together with their implementation rules and ancillary regulations. The Foreign Investment Law embodies an expected PRC regulatory trend to rationalize its foreign investment regulatory regime in line with prevailing international practice and the legislative efforts to unify the corporate legal requirements for both foreign and domestic investments. The Foreign Investment Law references pre-establishment national treatment along with a negative industry list for foreign investment. The negative list will be issued by the State Council and list industry sectors prohibited to foreign investment. According to the Special Administrative Measures for Access of Foreign Investment (Negative List) (2018 Edition) issued in June 28, 2018, the ultimate foreign equity ownership of a value-added telecommunications service provider in the PRC may not exceed 50%.

To comply with these PRC regulations, we operate our platform through Weimeng. Weimeng is currently owned by four individuals, Z. Cao, W. Zheng, Y. Liu, and W. Wang, all of whom are PRC citizens. Weimeng holds an Internet Content Provision License and a Bulletin Board Service Permit. Weimeng owns the domain names related to its operations and our platform (weibo.com, weibo.cn, and weibo.com.cn), while the trademarks relating to our operations are held by Weibo Technology and SINA’s subsidiaries. Due to the fact that trademarks owned by SINA’s subsidiaries contain SINA’s Chinese name or logo, such trademarks cannot be transferred to us. However, each of SINA’s subsidiaries has granted an exclusive license to Weimeng for its use of such trademarks. If the relevant PRC government authorities determine in the future that the current ownership of our trademarks do not comply with the relevant regulations and the trademarks relating to our operations must be held by Weimeng, we may need to transfer these trademarks to Weimeng, which could severely disrupt our business.

If, despite these precautions, the PRC government determines that we do not comply with applicable laws and regulations, it can revoke our business and operating licenses, require us to discontinue or restrict our operations, restrict our right to collect revenues, block our platform, require us to restructure our operations, including possibly the establishment or restructuring of a foreign-invested telecommunications enterprise, re-application for the necessary licenses, or relocation of our businesses, staff and assets, impose additional conditions or requirements with which we may not be able to comply, or take other regulatory or enforcement actions against us. See “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Corporate Structure—If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating our businesses in China do not comply with PRC regulations on foreign investment in internet and other related businesses, or if these regulations or their interpretation change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations.”

Regulations on Internet Content Services

National security considerations are an important factor in the regulation of internet content in China. The National People’s Congress has enacted laws with respect to maintaining the security of internet operations and internet content. According to these laws, as well as the Administrative Measures on Internet Information Services, violators may be subject to penalties, including criminal sanctions, for internet content that:

·                  opposes the fundamental principles stated in the PRC Constitution;

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·                  compromises national security, divulges state secrets, subverts state power or damages national unity;

·                  harms the dignity or interests of the state;

·                  incites ethnic hatred or racial discrimination or damages inter-ethnic unity;

·                  undermines the PRC’s religious policy or propagates superstition;

·                  disseminates rumors, disturbs social order or disrupts social stability;

·                  disseminates obscenity or pornography, encourages gambling, violence, murder or fear or incites the commission of a crime;

·                  insults or slanders a third party or infringes upon the lawful rights and interests of a third party; or

·                  is otherwise prohibited by law or administrative regulations.

Internet content provision service operators are required to monitor their websites. They may not post or disseminate any content that falls within these prohibited categories and must remove any such content from their websites. The PRC government may shut down the websites of Internet Content Provision License holders that violate any of the above-mentioned content restrictions, order them to suspend their operations, or revoke their Internet Content Provision Licenses.

On February 4, 2015, the CAC promulgated the Administrative Provisions on Account Names of Internet Users, or the Account Names Provisions, which became effective as of March 1, 2015. The Account Name Provisions require internet service providers to authenticate registered users’ identity information and to commit to complying with the “seven basic requirements,” including, among other things, observing the laws and regulations, protecting state interests, as well as ensuring the authenticity of any information they provide. Relevant internet information service providers are responsible for protecting users’ privacy, the consistency between user information, such as account names, avatars, and the requirements set forth in the Account Names Provisions, making reports to the competent authorities regarding any violation of the Account Names Provisions, and taking appropriate measures to stop any such violations, such as, notifying the user to make corrections within a specified time and suspending or closing accounts in the event of continuing non-compliance.

On August 25, 2017, the CAC promulgated the Administrative Provisions on Internet Follow-up Comment Services, which became effective as of October 1, 2017. It provides that services related to following-up on or responding to online comments must also strictly verify the identification information of registered users, establish and improve a user information protection system, establish and improve an Internet follow-up comment review and administration system for real-time monitoring of user comments, and emergency responses, among other things.

On August 25, 2017, the CAC promulgated the Administrative Provisions on Internet Forum and Community Services, which became effective as of October 1, 2017. It provides that Internet forum and community service providers must assume primary responsibility for establishing and improving real-time information verification, emergency response capabilities, and personal information protections as well as other information security administration systems to institute preventative safety measures with employed professionals and necessary technical support for performing these duties.

On September 7, 2017, the CAC promulgated the Provisions on the Administration of Information Services Provided through Chat Groups on the Internet, which became effective as of October 8, 2017. It requires that providers verify the identification information of users of information services through Internet chat groups and take necessary measures to protect user safety and personal information.

On September 7, 2017, the CAC promulgated the Administrative Provisions on the Information Services Provided through Official Accounts of Internet Users, which became effective as of October 8, 2017. It requires that providers review user information such as account information and qualifications for and scope of services, categorize users, and file such information with the local cyberspace administrator; and further establish a database with respect to registered persons, published content, the number of people subscribing to a given account, and the number of people reading the relevant articles published by the official user accounts, and implement specific management systems for official user accounts to be filed with the Cyberspace Administration.

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To comply with these PRC laws and regulations, we have adopted internal procedures to monitor content displayed on our platform, including a team of employees dedicated to screening and monitoring content uploaded on our platform and removing inappropriate or infringing content.

To the extent that PRC regulatory authorities find any content displayed on or through our platform objectionable, they may require us to limit or eliminate the dissemination or availability of such content on our platform or impose penalties, including the revocation of our operating licenses or the suspension or shutdown of our online operations. In addition, the costs of compliance with these regulations may increase as the volume of content and number of users on our website increase. See “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Doing Business in China—Regulation and censorship of information disseminated over the internet in China may adversely affect our business and subject us to liability for information displayed on our platform.”

Regulations on Information Security

Internet content in China is also regulated and restricted from a state security point of view. The Decision Regarding the Safeguarding of Internet Security, enacted by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and amended in 2009, makes it unlawful to: (i) gain improper entry into a computer or system of strategic importance; (ii) disseminate politically disruptive information; (iii) leak state secrets; (iv) spread false commercial information; or (v) infringe intellectual property rights.

The Administrative Measures for the Security Protection of International Connections to Computer Information Network, promulgated by the Ministry of Public Security in 1997 and amended in 2011, prohibit the use of the internet in ways that, among other things, result in a leakage of state secrets or the distribution of socially destabilizing content. Socially destabilizing content includes any content that incites defiance or violations of PRC laws or regulations or subversion of the PRC government or its political system, spreads socially disruptive rumors or involves cult activities, superstition, obscenities, pornography, gambling or violence. State secrets are defined broadly to include information concerning PRC’s national defense affairs, state affairs and other matters as determined by the PRC authorities.

The Provisions on Technological Measures for Internet Security Protection, promulgated by the Ministry of Public Security in 2006, require all internet content provision operators to keep records of certain information about their users (including user registration information, log-in and log-out times, IP addresses, content and time of posts by users) for at least 60 days and submit the above information as required by laws and regulations. Internet content provision operators must regularly update information security systems for their websites with local public security authorities, and must also report any instances of public dissemination of prohibited content. If an internet content provision operator violates these measures, the PRC government may revoke its Internet Content Provision License and shut down its websites.

In addition, the State Secrecy Bureau has issued provisions authorizing the blocking of access to any website it deems to be leaking state secrets or failing to comply with the relevant legislation regarding the protection of state secrets.

On July 1, 2015, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress issued the National Security Law, which came into effect on the same day. The National Security Law provides that the state shall safeguard the sovereignty, security and cyber security development interests of the state, and that the state shall establish a national security review and supervision system to review, among other things, foreign investment, key technologies, internet and information technology products and services, and other important activities that are likely to impact the national security of China.

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On November 7, 2016, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress issued the Cyber Security Law, which came into effect on June 1, 2017.  This is the first Chinese law that focuses exclusively on cyber security.  The Cyber Security Law provides that network operators must set up internal security management systems that meet the requirements of a classified protection system for cyber security, including appointing dedicated cyber security personnel, taking technical measures to prevent computer viruses, network attacks and intrusions, taking technical measures to monitor and record network operation status and cyber security incidents, and taking data security measures such as data classification, backups and encryption.  The Cyber Security Law also imposes a relatively vague but broad obligation to provide technical support and assistance to the public and state security authorities in connection with criminal investigations or for reasons of national security. The Cyber Security Law also requires network operators that provide network access or domain name registration services, landline or mobile phone network access, or that provide users with information publication or instant messaging services, to require users to provide a real identity when they sign up. The Cyber Security Law sets high requirements for the operational security of facilities deemed to be part of the PRC’s “critical information infrastructure.” These requirements include data localization, i.e., storing personal information and important business data in China, and national security review requirements for any network products or services that may have an impact on national security. Among other factors, “critical information infrastructure” is defined as critical information infrastructure, that will, in the event of destruction, loss of function or data leak, result in serious damage to national security, the national economy and people’s livelihoods, or the public interest. Specific reference is made to key sectors such as public communication and information services, energy, transportation, water-resources, finance, public services and e-government. A prior draft of the Cyber Security Law included reference to any networks with a large number of users, but this language was deleted in the final version of the law.

On March 15, 2019, the CAC and the SAMR jointly issued the Notice on App Security Certification and the Implementation Rules on Security Certification of Mobile Internet Application, which encourages mobile application operators to voluntarily obtain app security certification, and search engines and app stores are encouraged to recommend certified applications to users. The institution designated for this certification is the China Cybersecurity Review Technology and Certification Center, or the CCRC. CCRC has the right to appoint testing agencies to inspect technical capabilities and business operations for the certification.

Because Weimeng is an internet content provision operator, we are subject to laws and regulations relating to information security. To comply with these laws and regulations, Weimeng has completed the mandatory security filing procedures with local public security authorities. We regularly update our information security and content-filtering systems based on any newly issued content restrictions, and maintain records of user information as required by relevant laws and regulations. We have also taken measures to delete or remove links to content that, to our knowledge, contains information that violates PRC laws and regulations.

If, despite the precautions, we fail to identify and prevent illegal or inappropriate content from being displayed on or through our platform, we may be subject to liability. In addition, these laws and regulations are subject to interpretation by the relevant authorities, and it may not be possible to determine in all cases what content could result in liability. To the extent that PRC regulatory authorities find any content displayed on or through our platform objectionable, they may require us to limit or eliminate the dissemination or availability of such content or impose penalties, including the revocation of our operating licenses or the suspension or shutdown of our online operations. In addition, the costs of compliance with these regulations may increase as the volume of content and users on our website increase. See “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Doing Business in China—Regulation and censorship of information disseminated over the internet in China may adversely affect our business and subject us to liability for information displayed on our platform.”

Regulations on Internet Privacy

In recent years, PRC government authorities have enacted legislation on internet use to protect personal information from any unauthorized disclosure. PRC law does not prohibit internet content provision operators from collecting and analyzing personal information from their users. However, the Administrative Measures on Internet Information Services prohibit an internet content provision operator from insulting or slandering a third party or infringing the lawful rights and interests of a third party. Pursuant to the Administrative Measures on Internet Electronic Messenger Services, internet content provision operators that provide electronic messenger services must keep users’ personal information confidential and must not disclose such personal information to any third party without the users’ consent unless required by law. The regulations further authorize the relevant telecommunications authorities to order internet content provision operators to rectify any unauthorized disclosure. Internet content provision operators are subject to legal liability if the unauthorized disclosure results in damages or losses to users. The PRC government, however, has the power and authority to order internet content provision operators to turn over personal information if an internet user posts any prohibited content or engages in illegal activities on the internet.

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The Several Provisions on Regulating the Market Order of Internet Information Services, promulgated by the MIIT and effective in 2012, stipulate that internet content provision operators must not, without user consent, collect user personal information, which is defined as user information that can be used alone or in combination with other information to identify the user, and may not provide any such information to third parties without prior user consent. Internet content provision operators may only collect user personal information necessary to provide their services and must expressly inform the users of the method, content and purpose of the collection and processing of such user personal information. In addition, an internet content provision operator may only use such user personal information for the stated purposes under the internet content provision operator’s scope of service. Internet content provision operators are also required to ensure the proper security of user personal information, and take immediate remedial measures if user personal information is suspected to have been disclosed. If the consequences of any such disclosure are expected to be serious, ICP operators must immediately report the incident to the telecommunications regulatory authority and cooperate with the authorities in their investigations.

On December 28, 2012, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress issued the Decision on Strengthening the Protection of Online Information. Most requirements under the decision that are relevant to internet content provision operators are consistent with the requirements already established under the MIIT provisions mentioned above, though often more strict and broad. Under the decision, if an internet content provision operator wishes to collect or use personal electronic information, it must do so in a legal and appropriate manner, and may do so only if it is necessary for the services it provides. It must disclose the purpose, method and scope of any such collection or use, and must seek consent from the relevant individuals. Internet content provision operators are also required to publish their policies relating to information collection and use, must keep such information strictly confidential, and must take technological and other measures to ensure the safety of such information. Internet content provision operators are further prohibited from divulging, distorting or destroying of any such personal electronic information, or selling or proving such information to other parties. The decision also requires that internet content provision operators providing information publishing services must collect from users their personal identification information, for registration. In very broad terms, the decision provides that violators may face warnings, fines, confiscation of illegal gains, license revocations, filing cancellations and website closures.

On July 16, 2013, the MIIT issued the Order for the Protection of Telecommunication and Internet User Personal Information. Most requirements under the order that are relevant to internet content provision operators are consistent with pre-existing requirements but the requirements under the order are often more stringent and have a wider scope. If an internet content provision operator wishes to collect or use personal information, it may do so only if such collection is necessary for the services it provides. Further, it must disclose to its users the purpose, method and scope of any such collection or use, and must obtain consent from its users whose information is being collected or used. Internet content provision operators are also required to establish and publish their rules relating to personal information collection or use, keep any collected information strictly confidential, and take technological and other measures to maintain the security of such information. Internet content provision operators are required to cease any collection or use of the user personal information, and de-register the relevant user account, when a given user stops using the relevant internet service. Internet content provision operators are further prohibited from divulging, distorting or destroying any such personal information, or selling or providing such information unlawfully to other parties. In addition, if an internet content provision operator appoints an agent to undertake any marketing and technical services that involve the collection or use of personal information, the internet content provision operator is still required to supervise and manage the protection of the information. As to penalties, in very broad terms, the order states that violators may face warnings, fines, and disclosure to the public and, in most severe cases, criminal liability.

On November 7, 2016, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress issued the Cyber Security Law, which came into effect on June 1, 2017. The Cyber Security Law imposes certain data protection obligations on network operators, including that network operators may not disclose, tamper with, or damage users’ personal information that they have collected, and are obligated to delete unlawfully collected information and to amend incorrect information. Moreover, internet operators may not provide users’ personal information to others without consent. Exempted from these rules is information irreversibly processed to preclude identification of specific individuals. Also, the Cyber Security Law imposes breach notification requirements that will apply to breaches involving personal information.

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Following Cyber Security Law, the State Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine (now incorporated into SAMR) and China National Standardization Management Committee issued the Personal Information Security Standard on December 29, 2017. These standards supplement and refine the Cyber Security Law in many aspects while further subdividing personal information into general information and sensitive information. Sensitive information, including without limitation, ID number, bank account, property information, transaction information, must be collected with explicit, specific, distinct and clear user consent on a fully informed basis.

On January 23, 2019, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, MIIT, and the Ministry of Public Security and SAMR jointly issued the Notice on Special Governance of Illegal Collection and Use of Personal Information via APP, which restates the legal collection and use of personal information, encourages APP operators to conduct security certifications and search engines and APP stores to clearly mark and recommend certified APPs.

To comply with these laws and regulations, we require our users to accept terms of services under which they agree to provide certain personal information to us, to have established information security systems protect user privacy and to have such information filed with the MIIT or its local branch as required. If Weimeng, which is an internet content provision operator, violates PRC laws in this regard, the MIIT or its local bureau may impose penalties and Weimeng may be liable for damages caused to their users. See “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Business—Privacy concerns relating to our products and services and the use of user information could damage our reputation, deter current and potential users and customers from using Weibo and negatively impact our business.”

On May 25, 2018, EU Directive 95/46/EEC was replaced by the GDPR on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. The GDPR applies directly in all European Union member states from May 25, 2018 and applies to companies with an establishment in the European Economic Area, or the EEA, and to certain other companies not in the EEA that offer or provide goods or services to individuals located in the EEA or monitor individuals located in the EEA. The GDPR implements more stringent operational requirements for controllers of personal data, including, for example, expanded disclosures about how personal information is to be used, limitations on retention of information and pseudonymized data, increased cyber security requirements, mandatory data breach notification requirements and higher standards for controllers to demonstrate that they have obtained a valid legal basis for certain data processing activities.

The activities of data processors will be regulated for the first time, and companies undertaking processing activities are required to offer certain guarantees in relation to the security of such processing and the handling of personal data. Contracts with data processors will also need to be updated to include certain terms prescribed by the GDPR, and negotiating such updates may not be fully successful in all cases. Failure to comply with EU laws, including failure under the GDPR and other laws relating to the security of personal data may result in fines up to €20,000,000 or up to 4% of the total worldwide annual turnover of the preceding financial year, if greater, and other administrative penalties including criminal liability.

Regulations on Online Game Operations and Cultural Products

Online Cultural Products

The Provisional Regulations for the Administration of Online Culture, issued by the Ministry of Culture in 2003 and further revised in 2004, 2011 and 2017, apply to entities engaging in activities related to “internet cultural products,” which include cultural products that are produced specifically for internet use, such as online music and entertainment, online games, online plays, online performances, online works of art and Web animation, and other online cultural products that through technical means, produce or reproduce music, entertainment, games, plays and other art works for internet dissemination. According to these Regulations, commercial entities are required to apply to the relevant local branch of the Ministry of Culture for an Online Culture Operating Permit if they engage in the production, duplication, importation, release or broadcasting of internet cultural products; the dissemination of online cultural products on the internet or the transmission of such products via internet or mobile phone networks to user terminals, such as computers, phones, television sets and gaming consoles, or internet surfing service sites such as internet cafes; or the holding or exhibition of contests related to internet cultural products.

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The Administrative Measures for Content Self-review by Internet Culture Business Entities, which were issued by the Ministry of Culture on August 12, 2013, and took effect on December 1, 2013, require internet culture business entities to review the content of products and services before providing them to the public. The content management system of an internet culture business entity is required to specify the responsibilities, standards and processes for content review as well as accountability measures, and is required be filed with the local provincial branch of the Ministry of Culture.

Internet Publication

The Rules for the Administration of Electronic Publications, which were issued by the General Administration of Press and Publication in 2008 and further amended in 2015, regulate the production, publishing and importation of electronic publications in the PRC and outline a licensing system for business operations involving electronic publishing. Under these rules and other regulations issued by the General Administration of Press and Publication, online games are classified as a type of electronic production and publishing of online games is required to be done by licensed electronic publishing entities with standard publication codes. If a PRC company is contractually authorized to publish foreign electronic publications, it must obtain the approval of, and register the copyright license contract with, the State Administration for Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, which was formed when the General Administration of Press and Publication was combined with the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television in March 2013.

The Administrative Provisions on Online Publishing Services, or the Provisions, which were jointly issued by the MIIT and the State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television in 2016, and took effect on March 10, 2016. The Provisions define “online publishing services” as providing online publications to the public through information networks. Any online publishing services provided in the territory of the PRC is subject to the Provisions.  The Provisions requires any internet publishing services provider to obtain an online publishing service license to engage in online publishing services. Under the Provisions, online publications refer to digital works which have publishing features such as having been edited, produced or processed and which are made available to the public through information networks, including written works, pictures, maps, games, cartoons, audio/video reading materials and others. Any online game shall obtain approval from SAPPRFT before it is launched online. Further, Sino-foreign equity joint ventures, Sino-foreign cooperative joint ventures and wholly foreign-owned enterprises cannot engage in providing web publishing services.

Online Games

According to the Circular of the Ministry of Culture on Strengthening the Examination of Content of Online Games Products issued by the Ministry of Culture in 2004, the content of any foreign online game products should be examined and approved by the Ministry of Culture before they are operated within China. Entities engaged in developing and operating domestic online games products should register with the Ministry of Culture.

The Circular of the Ministry of Culture on Improving and Strengthening the Examination of Content of Online Games, issued by the Ministry of Culture in 2009, strictly prohibits offensive promotion and advertisement of online games, games propagating eroticism and gambling and violence, and requires game operators to obtain prior approval from the Ministry of Culture before operating any online games.

The Notice Regarding the Consistent Implementation of the “Stipulations on ‘Three Provisions’ of the State Council and the Relevant Interpretations of the State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform and the Further Strengthening of the Administration of Pre-examination and Approval of Internet Games and the Examination and Approval of Imported Internet Games”, also known as Circular 13, was jointly published by the General Administration of Press and Publication, the National Copyright Administration and the National Office of Combating Pornography and Illegal Publications in 2009. Circular 13 expressly states that foreign investors are not permitted to participate in the operation of online games via wholly owned, equity joint venture or cooperative joint venture investments in China, and from controlling and participating in such businesses directly or indirectly through contractual or technical support arrangements. In addition, according to Circular 13, the approval of the General Administration of Press and Publication is required for publishing any imported online games. Although Circular 13 was issued several years ago, it is not yet clear what impact, if any, it will have on the operation of online games in China.

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The Interim Measures for Administration of Online Games, promulgated by the Ministry of Culture in 2010 and revised in 2017, reiterate that any online games operator should obtain an Online Culture Operating Permit to engage in online game services. In addition, the content of any imported online games should be examined and approved by the Ministry of Culture before they are operated within China, and any domestic online game must be registered with the Ministry of Culture within 30 days after its launch.

As a result of the various regulations described above, commercial entities are required to apply to the relevant local branch of the Ministry of Culture for an Online Culture Operating Permit to provide online games services.

Virtual Currency

The Notice on the Reinforcement of the Administration of Internet Cafes and Online Games, jointly issued by the Ministry of Culture, the People’s Bank of China and other government authorities in 2007, directs the People’s Bank of China to strengthen the administration of virtual currency in online games to avoid any adverse impact on the real economic and financial systems. This notice provides that the total amount of virtual currency issued by online game operators and the amount purchased by individual users should be strictly limited, with a strict and clear division between virtual transactions and real e-commerce transactions. This notice also provides that virtual currency should only be used to purchase virtual items.

The Notice on the Strengthening of Administration on Online Game Virtual Currency, jointly issued by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Commerce in 2009, broadly defined virtual currency as a type of virtual exchange instrument issued by internet game operation enterprises, purchased directly or indirectly by the game user by exchanging legal currency at a certain exchange rate, saved outside the game programs, stored in servers provided by the internet game operation enterprises in electronic record format and represented by specific numeric units. Virtual currency is used to exchange internet game services provided by the issuing enterprise for a designated extent and time, and is represented by several forms, such as online prepaid game cards, prepaid amounts or internet game points, and does not include game props obtained from playing online games. In 2009, the Ministry of Culture further promulgated the Filing Guidelines on Online Game Virtual Currency Issuing Enterprises and Online Game Virtual Currency Trading Enterprises, which specifically defines “issuing enterprise” and “trading enterprise” and stipulates that a single enterprise may not operate both types of business.

Protection of Minors

In 2007, the General Administration of Press and Publication and several other governmental authorities issued a circular requiring the implementation of an “anti-fatigue system” and a real-name registration system by all PRC online game operators, in an effort to curb addictive online game play behaviors of minors. Under the anti-fatigue system, three hours or less of continuous play by minors is considered to be “healthy,” three to five hours to be “fatiguing,” and five hours or more to be “unhealthy.” Game operators are required to reduce the value of in-game benefits to a game player by half if the game player has reached “fatiguing” level, and to zero in the case of “unhealthy” level.

The Notice on Initializing the Verification of Real-name Registration for Anti-Fatigue System on Internet Games, issued by the General Administration of Press and Publication, the MIIT, the Ministry of Education and five other governmental authorities in 2011, imposes stringent penalties on online game operators that do not implement the required anti-fatigue and real-name registration measures properly and effectively. Its main focus is to prevent minors from using an adult ID to play internet games. The operation of an online game may be terminated if the operator is found to be in violation of this notice.

The Implementation of Online Game Monitoring System of the Guardians of Minors, a circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Culture, the MIIT and six other central government authorities in 2011, aimed to provide specific protective measures to monitor the online game activities of minors and curb addictive online game play behavior by minors. Under this circular, online game operators are required to adopt various measures to maintain a system to communicate with the parents or other guardians of minors playing online games and online game operators are required to monitor the online game activities of minors, and must suspend the account of a minor if so requested by the minor’s parents or guardians. The monitoring system was formally implemented on March 1, 2011.

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The Work Plan for the Integrated Prevention of Minors’ Online Game Addiction, jointly issued by the General Administration of Press and Publication, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture, the MIIT and 11 other PRC government authorities on February 5, 2013, implemented integrated measures by different authorities to prevent minors from becoming addicted to online games. Under the work plan, the current relevant regulations regarding online games will be further clarified and additional implementation rules will be issued, and as a result, online game operators will be required to implement additional measures to protect minors.

Weimeng currently holds an Online Culture Operating License with a business scope encompassing the “issuance of virtual currency” and the “operation of game products” issued by the Ministry of Culture in July 2011, which was renewed on November 30 2017 and is valid through December 30, 2020. Weimeng is in the process of applying for an internet publishing permit. We have adopted our own anti-fatigue and real name registration systems.

Regulations on Broadcasting Audio/Video Programs through the Internet

On December 20, 2007, the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television and the MIIT jointly issued the Rules for the Administration of Internet Audio and Video Program Services, commonly known as Circular 56, which came into effect as of January 31, 2008 and was later amended in 2015. Circular 56 reiterates the requirement set forth in the earlier rules that online audio/video service providers must obtain an internet audio/video program transmission license from the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television. Furthermore, Circular 56 requires all online audio/video service providers to be either wholly state-owned or state-controlled companies. According to relevant official answers to press questions published on the website of State Administration for Radio, Film and Television on February 3, 2008, officials from the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television and the MIIT clarified that online audio/video service providers that already had been operating lawfully prior to the issuance of Circular 56 may re-register and continue to operate without becoming state-owned or controlled, provided that such providers have not engaged in any unlawful activities. This exemption will not be granted to online audio/video service providers established after Circular 56 was issued. These policies have been reflected in the Application Procedure for Audio/Video Program Transmission License. Failure to obtain the internet audio/video program transmission license may subject an online audio/video service provider to various penalties, including fines of up to RMB30,000, seizure of related equipment and servers used primarily for such activities and even suspension of its online audio/video services.

On December 16, 2016, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of the PRC (SAPPRFT) issued the Rules for the Administration of Video and Audio Programs on Weibo, WeChat and other Social Media Platforms, or Circular 196. Circular 196 requires that any organizations that provide online streaming through social media platforms such as Weibo or WeChat should obtain an internet audio/video program transmission license. For organizations and individuals that do not hold license, the hosting social networking platform shall be responsible for supervising the content of the posted programs, and the scope of the programs must not exceed the scope stated on the platform’s audio/video program transmission license. Similarly, film and TV dramas broadcasted through social media are required to obtain a license for public airing, and social media platforms are not allowed to repost user-generated video or audio programs featuring political news.

Regulations on Producing Audio/Video Programs

On July 19, 2004, the SARFT promulgated the Administrative Measures on the Production and Operation of Radio and Television Programs, effective as of August 20, 2004 and amended in 2015. These Measures provide that anyone who wishes to produce or operate radio or television programs must first obtain an operating permit. Applicants for this permit must meet several criteria, including having a minimum registered capital of RMB3.0 million. Weimeng holds a permit for radio and television program production and operation, with a permitted scope encompassing production of animated programs, features programs and television entertainment programs, which is in the process of obtaining a renewal.

Regulations on Online Live-streaming Services

On November 4, 2016, the CAC promulgated the Regulations on the Administration of Online Live-streaming Services, or the Online Live-streaming Regulations, which became effective on December 1, 2016.

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The Online Live-streaming Regulations provides that online live-streaming service providers and distributors must legally obtain the qualification for internet news information services before providing such services on the internet, and engage in online news information services to the licensed extent. Online live-streaming service providers must review all live internet news information and interactions before publishing them, and set up their “chief editor” position if they provide live-streaming services of internet news information. The Online Live-streaming Regulations also stipulate that online live-streaming service providers must carry out their subject responsibility, arrange professionals commensurate with its service size, establish and improve various management systems, and have the technical capability to immediately cut online live-streaming, and its technical plans shall comply with relevant national standards. In addition, online live-streaming service providers must conduct graded and categorized management according to the content category and user scale of online live-streaming, and establish a credit rating management system for online live-streaming distributors as well as a blacklist management system.

On December 2, 2016, the Ministry of Culture issued the Administrative Measures for Business Activities of Online Performances, which took effect on January 1, 2017, and provide that the online performances must not involve six types of content, such as “those infringing upon others’ legitimate rights and interests by taking candid photographs or using a hidden recorder.” Entities engaging in online performances must require and verify the registration of performers with their own valid IDs and real names. Moreover, the Measures stress that entities engaging in online performances must improve their own user registration systems, maintain the information provided by users for registration, and take active actions to safeguard the safety of users’ information.

On August 1, 2018, the CAC and the other five PRC governmental authorities jointly issued the Circular on Tightening the Administration of Online Live-streaming Services, or the Online Live-streaming Services Circular, which specifies respective duties of online live-streaming service providers, network access service providers and application stores, aiming to prompt relevant internet-based enterprises to fulfill their responsibilities. The Online Live-streaming Services Circular provides that an online live-streaming service provider must make a record filing with the competent telecommunications authority as an internet content provider (ICP). Online live-streaming service providers are also required to apply for a permit with the local authorities if it engages in telecommunications business, livestreaming business for internet news information, online performance, and/or online visual-audio programs. Online live-streaming service providers must make record filings with the local public security authorities within 30 days after live-streaming services have been published on the internet. In addition, online live-streaming service providers are required to implement real name verification system for users, intensify administration of online anchors, establish blacklist system for online anchors, optimize the system of watching and censoring livestreamed content for regulatory purposes, and improve measures to better respond to harmful content.

Regulations on Online Music

On November 20, 2006, the Ministry of Culture issued Several Suggestions of the Ministry of Culture on the Development and Administration of Internet Music, which became effective immediately upon its issuance. These suggestions, among other things, reiterate the requirement for an internet service provider to obtain an internet culture business permit to carry out any business relating to internet music products. In addition, foreign investors are prohibited from operating internet culture businesses. However, the laws and regulations on internet music products are still evolving, and there have not been any provisions stipulating whether or how music videos will be regulated by these suggestions.

On August 18, 2009, the Ministry of Culture promulgated the Notice on Strengthening and Improving the Content Review of Online Music. According to this notice, only “internet culture operating entities” approved by the Ministry of Culture may engage in the production, release, dissemination (including providing direct links to music products) and importation of online music products. On October 23, 2015, the Ministry of Culture promulgated the Circular on Further Strengthening and Improving the Administration of Content of Online Music, which became effective on January 1, 2016 According to the Circular, the content of online music shall be reviewed by or filed with the Ministry of Culture. Internet culture operating entities should establish a strict self-monitoring system of online music content and set up a special department in charge of such monitoring. Weimeng has obtained an Online Culture Operating Permit, the scope of which covers online music operations.

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Regulations on Internet News Dissemination

On April 28, 2015, the CAC issued the Provisions on the Questioning Procedures for Internet News Service Providers, or the Provisions. The Provisions provide the CAC and its local branches with a formal procedure for bringing in key personnel from internet news service providers for questioning as well as giving oral warnings, identifying problems and ordering rectifications in certain circumstances specified in the Provisions such as the failure to deal with illegitimate information in a timely fashion and when circumstances are severe. If the CAC or its local branches orders an internet news service provider to rectify a problem through the questioning procedures and it fails to do so, then the internet new service provider may be subject to administrative action including a written warning, fine, temporary suspension of operations or the revocation of licenses. Internet news service providers are also subject to enhanced penalties for several violations under the questioning procedures. Additionally, the CAC and its local branches may publicize information related to the questioning procedures that it conducted against internet news service providers under the Provisions. The Provisions took effect on June 1, 2015.

On May 2, 2017, the CAC issued the Administrative Provisions for Internet News Information Services, or the New Provisions, which became effective on June 1, 2017. The New Provisions replace the Provisions for the Administration of Internet News Information Services promulgated by the SCIO and the MII in 2015, and are intended to help solidify the CAC’s jurisdiction over internet news information services. The New Provisions require that internet websites, apps, forums, blogs, microblogs, official accounts, instant messaging tools, and network-based broadcasts that provides internet news information services obtain a permit for internet news information services. The New Provisions also broaden the scope of internet news information services to include (i) services of collecting, editing, and releasing internet news information; (ii) reposting such news information; and (iii) providing a platform to spread such news information. To apply for such a permit, the applicant must satisfy requirements set forth under the New Provisions, such as that it be a legal entity established in China and that its principal or chief editor be a Chinese citizen. In addition, all internet news providers are explicitly required to review and self-censor the content published by them and to take measures to cease transmission and remove content if inappropriate content is discovered, as well as maintain relevant records and report such matters to the competent regulators.

Weimeng currently provides a platform for our users to post news, current topics and social events and has not obtained an internet news publication license. However, if the relevant government authorities determine that the services provided by Weimeng are internet news dissemination services and an internet news publication license for such services is needed, we may need to apply for the permit for internet news information services. Weimeng may not successfully obtain such permit in a timely manner or at all.

Internet Mapping Services

Under the Surveying and Mapping Law promulgated by the National People’s Congress in 1992 and amended in 2002 and 2017, entities engaged in surveying and mapping services should obtain a surveying and mapping qualification certificate and comply with the state’s surveying and mapping criteria. According to the amended Administrative Rules of Surveying Qualification Certificate and the amended Standard for Surveying Qualification Certificate issued by the former National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geo-information, or NASMG in August 2014 and July 2014, respectively, non-surveying and mapping enterprise is subject to the approval of the NASMG and requires a surveying and mapping qualification certificate to provide internet mapping services.

On November 26, 2015, the State Council enacted the Administrative Regulations on Maps, or the Maps Regulations, effective as of January 1, 2016.  The Maps Regulations requires entities engaging in internet mapping services, such as geographic positioning, the uploading of geographic information or markings, and the development of a public map database, to obtain a relevant qualification certificate for surveying and mapping. The Maps Regulations require entities engaging in online map services to use mapping data approved by the relevant governmental authorities, host servers storing map data within the PRC, and establish a management system as well as protection measures for the data security of the online maps. The mapping data must not contain any content prohibited by the Maps Regulations, and no entities or individuals are allowed to upload or mark such prohibited content online. Further, entities engaging in internet mapping services shall keep confidential any information involving state secrets and trade secrets acquired during their work.

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Weimeng holds a surveying and mapping qualification certificate issued by the NASMG, which is valid till December 31, 2019.

Regulations on Intellectual Property Rights

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

Patent. The Patent Law was adopted in 1984 and amended in 1992, 2000 and 2008. The purpose of the Patent Law is to protect lawful interests of patent holders, encourage invention, foster applications of invention, enhance innovative capabilities and promote the development of science and technology. To be patentable, invention or utility models must meet three conditions: novelty, inventiveness and practical applicability. Patents cannot be granted for scientific discoveries, rules and methods for intellectual activities, methods used to diagnose or treat diseases, animal and plant breeds, substances obtained by means of nuclear transformation or a design which has major marking effect on the patterns or colors of graphic print products or a combination of both patterns and colors. The Patent Office under the State Intellectual Property Office is responsible for receiving, examining and approving patent applications. A patent is valid for a term of twenty years in the case of an invention and a term of ten years in the case of utility models and designs. A third-party user must obtain consent or a proper license from the patent owner to use the patent. Otherwise, the use constitutes an infringement of patent rights.

We have registered 65 patents and applied for 260 patents with the State Intellectual Property Office as of March 31, 2019.

Copyright. The Copyright Law was adopted in 1990 and amended in 2001 and 2010. The amended Copyright Law extends copyright protection to internet activities, products disseminated over the internet and software products. In addition, there is a voluntary registration system administered by the China Copyright Protection Center. The amended Copyright Law also requires registration of a copyright pledge.

According to the Copyright Law, an infringer will be subject to various civil liabilities, which include stopping the infringement, eliminating the damages, apologizing to the copyright owners and compensating the losses of copyright owners. The Copyright Law further provides that the infringer must compensate the actual loss suffered by the copyright owner. If the actual loss of the copyright owner is difficult to calculate, the illegal income received by the infringer as a result of the infringement will be deemed as the actual loss or if such illegal income is also difficult to calculate, the court can decide the amount of the actual loss up to RMB500,000.

To address the problem of copyright infringement related to the content posted or transmitted over the internet, the National Copyright Administration and the MIIT jointly promulgated the Measures for Administrative Protection of Copyright Related to the Internet in 2005.

The Protection of the Right of Communication through Information Networks was promulgated by the State Council in 2006 and amended in 2013. Under this regulation, with respect to any information storage space, search or link services provided by an internet service provider, if the legitimate right owner believes that the works, performance or audio or video recordings pertaining to that service infringe his or her rights of communication, the right owner may give the internet service provider a written notice containing the relevant information along with preliminary materials proving that an infringement has occurred, and requesting that the internet service provider delete, or disconnect the links to, such works or recordings. The right owner will be responsible for the truthfulness of the content of the notice. Upon receipt of the notice, the internet service provider must delete or disconnect the links to the infringing content immediately and forward the notice to the user that provided the infringing works or recordings. If the written notice cannot be sent to the user due to the unknown IP address, the contents of the notice shall be publicized via information networks. If the user believes that the subject works or recordings have not infringed others’ rights, the user may submit to the internet service provider a written explanation with preliminary materials proving non-infringement, and a request for the restoration of the deleted works or recordings. The internet service provider should then immediately restore the deleted or disconnected content and forward the user’s written statement to the right owner.

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Under the Torts Liability Law, which became effective in 2010, both internet users and internet service providers may be liable for the wrongful acts of users who infringe the lawful rights of other parties. If an internet user utilizes internet services to commit a tortious act, the party whose rights are infringed may request the internet service provider to take measures, such as removing or blocking the content, or disabling the links thereto, to prevent or stop the infringement. If the internet service provider does not take necessary measures after receiving such notice, it shall be jointly liable for any further damages suffered by the rights holder. Furthermore, if an internet service provider fails to take necessary measures when it knows that an internet user utilizes its internet services to infringe the lawful rights and interests of other parties, it shall be jointly liable with the internet user for damages resulting from the infringement.

To address issues related to the hearing of civil disputes concerning the infringement of the right of communication through information networks, the PRC Supreme People’s Court issued the Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Hearings of Civil Dispute Cases on the Infringement of Information Networking Transmission Rights, which took effect as of January 1, 2013. This document provides more detailed guidance as to the circumstances in which the provision by network users or network service providers of other’s works, performances, and audio or video products without permission from the rights owner constitutes infringement of information network transmission rights. This document provides that internet service providers will be jointly liable if they assist in infringing activities or fail to remove infringing content from their websites once they know of the infringement or receive notice from the rights holder. This document also provides that where a network service provider obtains economic advantage directly from the works, performances, and sound or visual recordings provided by the network service provider, it must pay close attention to infringement of network information transmission rights by network users.

In order to further implement the Computer Software Protection Regulations promulgated by the State Council on December 20, 2001 and amended on January 30, 2013, the National Copyright Administration of the PRC issued Computer Software Copyright Registration Procedures on February 20, 2002, which apply to software copyright registration, license contract registration and transfer contract registration.

In compliance with, and in order to take advantage of, the above rules, we have registered 180 software copyrights as of March 31, 2019.

Trademark. The Trademark Law, adopted in 1982 and revised in 1993, 2001 and 2013, protects registered trademarks. The Trademark Law has adopted a “first-to-file” principle with respect to trademark registration. Where a trademark for which a registration has been made is identical or similar to another trademark that has already been registered or been subject to a preliminary examination and approval for use on the same kind of or similar commodities or services, the application for registration of such trademark may be rejected. Any person applying for the registration of a trademark must not prejudice the existing right of others obtained by priority, nor may any person register in advance a trademark that has already been used by another person and has already gained a “sufficient degree of reputation” through that person’s use. After receiving an application, the Trademark Office, which is under the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and handles trademark registration affairs in China, will make a public announcement if the relevant trademark passes the preliminary examination. Within three months after such public announcement, any person may file an objection against a trademark that has passed a preliminary examination. The PRC Trademark Office’s decisions on rejection, objection or cancellation of an application may be appealed to the PRC Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, whose decision may be further appealed through judicial proceedings. If no objection is filed within three months after the public announcement period or if the objection has been overruled, the PRC Trademark Office will approve the registration and issue a registration certificate, at which point the trademark is deemed to be registered and will be effective for a renewable ten-year period, unless otherwise declared invalid or revoked. The licensor shall file the trademark licensing with the Trademark Office for record. The licensing of a trademark that has not been filed for record may not be used against a bona fide third party. “” and “” are registered trademarks of SINA’s subsidiaries in China and are exclusively licensed to us for use.

Domain Names. In 2002, the CNNIC issued the Implementing Rules for Domain Name Registration setting forth detailed rules for registration of domain names, as amended in 2009 and 2012. According to these rules, any natural person or organization that can bear independently its own civil responsibilities has the right to apply for the domain registration under the top level domain names, such as “.cn” and “. 中国”. On August 24, 2017, the MIIT promulgated the Measures for Administration of Domain Names to replace the Measures for Administration of Domain Names for the Chinese Internet. These measures regulate the registration of domain names, such as the first tier domain name “.cn”. On September 1, 2014, the CNNIC issued the Measures on Domain Name Dispute Resolution to replace the CNNIC Measures on Domain Names Dispute Resolution pursuant to which the CNNIC can authorize a domain name dispute resolution institution to decide disputes. We have registered domain names including weibo.com, weibo.cn, and weibo.com.cn.

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Anti-unfair Competition. Under the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, effective in 1993 and revised in 2017, a business operator is prohibited from carrying out acts intending to cause confusion, which would mislead others into thinking that its products belong to another party or that there is an association with another party, by:

·                  using without permission, a mark that is identical with or similar to product names, packaging or decoration of others with a certain degree of influence;

·                  using without permission, the name of an enterprise, a social organization or an individual with a certain degree of influence;

·                  using without permission, the main element of a domain name, website name or webpage with a certain degree of influence;

·                  carrying out confusing acts that are intended to mislead others into thinking that a product belongs to another party or there is an affiliation with another party.

See “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk factors—Risks Relating to Our Business—We may not be able to adequately protect our intellectual property, which could cause us to be less competitive.”

Regulations on Foreign Exchange

Under the 2008 Foreign Currency Administration Rules, if documents certifying the purposes of the conversion of RMB into foreign currency are submitted to the relevant foreign exchange conversion bank, the RMB will be convertible for current account items, including the distribution of dividends, interest and royalties payments, and trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions. Conversion of RMB for capital account items, such as direct investment, loans, securities investment and repatriation of investment, however, is subject to the approval of SAFE or its local counterparts.

Under the 1996 Administration Rules of the Settlement, Sale and Payment of Foreign Exchange, foreign-invested enterprises may only buy, sell and/or remit foreign currencies at banks authorized to conduct foreign exchange business after providing valid commercial documents and, in the case of capital account item transactions, obtaining approval from SAFE or its local counterparts. Capital investments by PRC entities outside of China, after obtaining the required approvals from the relevant approval authorities, such as the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission or their local counterparts, are also required to register with SAFE or its local counterparts.

SAFE promulgated a circular on November 19, 2010, or Circular No. 59, which tightens the examination on the authenticity of settlement of net proceeds from an offering and requires that the settlement of net proceeds shall be in accordance with the description in its prospectus. On March 30, 2015, the SAFE issued the Circular on Reform of the Administrative Rules of the Payment and Settlement of Foreign Exchange Capital of Foreign-Invested Enterprises, or SAFE Circular 19, which became effective on June 1, 2015. Pursuant to SAFE Circular 19, foreign-invested enterprises may either continue to follow the current payment-based foreign currency settlement system or elect to follow the “conversion-at-will” regime of foreign currency settlement. Where a foreign-invested enterprise follows the conversion-at-will regime of foreign currency settlement, it may convert part or all of the amount of the foreign currency in its capital account into Renminbi at any time. The converted Renminbi will be kept in a designated account labeled as settled but pending payment, and if the foreign-invested enterprise needs to make payment from such designated account, it still needs to go through the review process with its bank and provide necessary supporting documents. SAFE Circular 19, therefore, has substantially lifted the restrictions on the usage by a foreign-invested enterprise of its RMB registered capital converted from foreign currencies. According to SAFE Circular 19, such Renminbi capital may be used at the discretion of the foreign-invested enterprise and the SAFE will eliminate the prior approval requirement and only examine the authenticity of the declared usage afterwards. Nevertheless, foreign-invested enterprises like our PRC subsidiary are still not allowed to extend intercompany loans to our PRC consolidated entities. In addition, as Circular 19 was promulgated recently, there remain substantial uncertainties with respect to the interpretation and implementation of this circular by relevant authorities.

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In utilizing the proceeds, we received from our offerings or debt financings, as an offshore holding company with a PRC subsidiary, we may (i) make additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary, (ii) establish new PRC subsidiaries and make capital contributions to these new PRC subsidiaries, (iii) make loans to our PRC subsidiaries, or (iv) acquire offshore entities with business operations in China in offshore transactions. However, most of these uses are subject to PRC regulations and/or approvals, For example, loans by us to our PRC subsidiaries, which are foreign-invested enterprises, to finance their activities cannot exceed statutory limits and must be registered with SAFE or its local branches.

See “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Doing Business in China—PRC regulations of loans to PRC entities and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies may delay or prevent us from using offshore funds to make loans or additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary.”

Regulations on Employee Stock Options Plans

In 2006, the People’s Bank of China promulgated the Administrative Measures of Foreign Exchange Matters for Individuals, setting forth the respective requirements for foreign exchange transactions by individuals (both PRC and non-PRC citizens) under either the current account or the capital account. SAFE issued implementing rules for these measures in 2007 that specified approval requirements for certain capital account transactions, such as a PRC citizen’s participation in employee stock ownership plans or share option plans of an overseas publicly listed company. In 2007, SAFE promulgated the Application Procedures of Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in Employee Stock Ownership Plans or Stock Option Plans of Overseas Listed Companies. In 2012, SAFE promulgated the Notice on the Administration of Foreign Exchange Matters for Domestic Individuals Participating in the Stock Incentive Plans of Overseas Listed Companies to replace the former procedures. The new notice simplifies the requirements and procedures for the registration of stock incentive plan participants, especially with respect to the required application documents and the absence of strict requirements on offshore and onshore custodian banks, as were stipulated in the former procedures. The purpose of both the former procedures and the new notice is to regulate the foreign exchange administration of PRC resident individuals who participate in employee stock holding plans or share option plans of overseas listed companies.

Under these rules, for PRC resident individuals who participate in stock incentive plans of overseas publicly listed companies, which includes employee stock ownership plans, stock option plans and other incentive plans permitted by relevant laws and regulations, a PRC domestic qualified agent or the PRC subsidiary of such overseas listed company must, among other things, file on behalf of such resident an application with SAFE or its local counterpart to obtain approval for an annual allowance with respect to the purchase of foreign exchange in connection with the stock holding or exercise of share options, as PRC residents may not directly use overseas funds to purchase shares or exercise share options. In addition, within three months after any substantial changes to any such stock incentive plan, including for example, any changes due to a merger or acquisition or changes to the domestic or overseas custodian agent, the domestic agent must update the registration with SAFE.

Under the Foreign Currency Administration Rules, as amended in 2008, the foreign exchange proceeds of domestic entities and individuals can be remitted into China or deposited abroad, subject to the terms and conditions to be issued by SAFE. However, the implementing rules with respect to depositing foreign exchange proceeds abroad have not been issued by SAFE. The foreign exchange proceeds from the sales of shares can be converted into RMB or transferred to such individuals’ foreign exchange savings account after the proceeds have been remitted back to the special foreign exchange account opened at the PRC domestic bank. If share options are exercised in a cashless exercise, the PRC domestic individuals are required to remit the proceeds to special foreign exchange accounts.

Many issues with respect to the new notice require further interpretation. We and our PRC employees who have participated in an employee stock ownership plan or share option plan are subject to the new notice. If we or our PRC employees fail to comply with the new notice, we and our PRC employees may face sanctions imposed by the PRC foreign exchange authority or any other PRC government authorities, including restrictions on foreign currency conversions and additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary.

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In addition, the State Administration of Taxation has issued circulars concerning employee share options. Under these circulars, our employees working in China who exercise share options will be subject to PRC individual income taxes. Our PRC subsidiary has obligations to file documents related to employee share options with the relevant tax authorities and withhold individual income taxes of employees who exercise their share options.

See “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Doing Business in China—Failure to comply with PRC regulations regarding the registration requirements for stock ownership plans or stock option plans may subject PRC plan participants or us to fines and other legal or administrative sanctions.”

Labor Laws and Social Insurance

Pursuant to the PRC Labor Law and the PRC Labor Contract Law, employers must execute written labor contracts with full-time employees. All employers must compensate their employees with wages equal to at least the local minimum wage standards. All employers are required to establish a system for labor safety and sanitation, strictly abide by state rules and standards and provide employees with workplace safety training. Violations of the PRC Labor Contract Law and the PRC Labor Law may result in the imposition of fines and other administrative liabilities. Criminal liability may arise for serious violations.

In addition, employers in China are obliged to provide employees with welfare schemes covering pension insurance, unemployment insurance, maternity insurance, work-related injury insurance, medical insurance and housing funds.

To comply with these laws and regulations, we have caused all of our full-time employees to enter into labor contracts and provide our employees with the proper welfare and employment benefits. If we are made subject to severe penalties or incur significant liabilities in connection with labor disputes or investigations, our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

Regulations on Concentration in Merger and Acquisition Transactions

The M&A Rules established procedures and requirements that could make merger and acquisition activities by foreign investors more time-consuming and complex. The M&A Rules require, among other things, that the Ministry of Commerce be notified in advance of any change-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor will take control of a PRC domestic enterprise or a foreign company with substantial PRC operations, if certain thresholds under the Provisions on Thresholds for Prior Notification of Concentrations of Undertakings issued by the State Council on August 3, 2008 and amended on September 18, 2018 are triggered.

Complying with these requirements could affect our ability to expand our business or maintain our market share. See “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Doing Business in China—PRC laws and regulations establish more complex procedures for some acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors, which could make it more difficult for us to pursue growth through acquisitions in China.”

C.                                    Organizational Structure

Weibo is the parent company of our group and conducts business operations in China through wholly owned and partially owned subsidiaries, and consolidated VIEs and the subsidiaries of VIEs. The following diagram illustrates our corporate structure, including our significant subsidiaries, consolidated VIE and VIE’s subsidiary, as of the date of this annual report:

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Contractual Arrangements with Weimeng and Its Shareholders.

The capital investments in Weimeng were funded through Weibo Technology and recorded as interest-free loans to the shareholders of Weimeng. As of December 31, 2018, the total amount of interest-free loans to the shareholders of Weimeng was RMB555 million ($80.7 million). Under various contractual agreements, the shareholders of Weimeng are required to transfer their ownership in Weimeng to our wholly owned subsidiary in China, Weibo Technology, when permitted by PRC laws and regulations, or to our designees at any time for the amount of the outstanding loans, and all voting rights of Weimeng are assigned to Weibo Technology. Weibo Technology has the power to appoint all directors and senior management personnel of Weimeng. Through Weibo Technology, we have also entered into an exclusive technical services agreement and other service agreements with Weimeng, under which Weibo Technology provides technical services and other services to Weimeng in exchange for substantially all of its economic benefits. In addition, the shareholders of Weimeng have pledged their shares in Weimeng as collateral for repayment of loans and payment of fees on technical and other services due to us.

The following is a summary of the VIE agreements with Weimeng:

Loan Agreements. Weibo Technology has granted interest-free loans to the shareholders of Weimeng with the sole purpose of providing funds necessary for those shareholders to make capital injections to Weimeng. The term of the loans is 10 years and Weibo Technology has the right, at its own discretion, to shorten or extend the term of the loans if necessary. In our consolidated financial statements, these loans are eliminated with the capital of Weimeng during consolidation.

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Share Transfer Agreements. Each shareholder of Weimeng has granted Weibo Technology an option to purchase his shares in Weimeng at a purchase price equal to the amount of capital injection. Weibo Technology may exercise such option at any time until it has acquired all shares of Weimeng, subject to applicable PRC laws. The options will be effective until the earlier of (i) Weibo Technology and the shareholders of Weimeng have fully performed their obligations under these agreements, and (ii) Weibo Technology and the shareholders of Weimeng agree in writing to terminate these agreements.

Loan Repayment Agreements. Each shareholder of Weimeng has agreed with Weibo Technology that the interest-free loans under the loan agreements shall only be repaid through share transfers. Once the share transfers are completed, the purchase price for the share transfer will be set off against the loan repayment. These agreements will be effective until the earlier of (i) Weibo Technology and the shareholders of Weimeng have fully performed their obligations under these agreements, and (ii) Weibo Technology and the shareholders of Weimeng agree in writing to terminate these agreements.

Agreement on Authorization to Exercise Shareholder’s Voting Power. Each shareholder of Weimeng has authorized Weibo Technology to exercise all his voting power as a shareholder of the applicable VIE on all matters requiring shareholders’ approval under PRC laws and regulations and the articles of association of Weimeng, including without limitation appointment of directors, transfer, mortgage or dispose of Weimeng’s assets, transfer of any equity interest in Weimeng, and merger, split, dissolution and liquidation of Weimeng. The authorizations are irrevocable and will not expire until Weimeng dissolves.

Share Pledge Agreements. Each shareholder of Weimeng has pledged all of his shares in Weimeng and all other rights relevant to his rights in those shares to Weibo Technology as security for his obligations to pay off all debts to Weibo Technology under the loan agreements and for the payment obligations of Weimeng under the trademark license agreement and the technical services agreement. In the event of default of any payment obligations, Weibo Technology will be entitled to certain rights, including transferring the pledged shares to itself and disposing of the pledged shares through sale or auction. During the term of the agreements, Weibo Technology is entitled to receive all dividends and distributions paid on the pledged shares. The pledges will be effective until the earlier of (i) the third anniversary of the due date of the last guaranteed debt, (ii) Weimeng and its shareholders have fully performed their obligations under these agreements, and (iii) Weibo Technology consents to terminate these agreements. We have completed registration of equity pledges with the relevant office of the administration for industry and commerce in accordance with the PRC Property Rights Law.

Exclusive Technical Services Agreement, Exclusive Sales Agency Agreement and Trademark License Agreement. Weimeng has entered into an exclusive technical services agreement, an exclusive sales agency agreement and a trademark license agreement with Weibo Technology. Under the exclusive technical services agreement, Weibo Technology is engaged to provide technical services for Weimeng’s online advertising and other related businesses. Under the exclusive sales agency agreement, Weimeng has granted Weibo Technology the exclusive right to distribute, sell and provide agency services for all the products and services provided by Weimeng. Due to its control over Weimeng, Weibo Technology has the right to determine the service fee to be charged to Weimeng under these agreements by considering, among other things, the technical complexity of the services, the actual cost that may be incurred for providing such services, the operations of Weimeng, applicable tax rates, planned capital expenditure and business strategies. These agreements can only be prematurely terminated by Weibo Technology, and will not expire until Weimeng dissolves. Under the trademark license agreement, Weibo Technology has granted Weimeng trademark licenses to use the trademarks held by Weibo Technology in specific areas, and Weimeng is obligated to pay license fees to Weibo Technology. The term of this agreement is one year and is automatically renewed provided there is no objection from Weibo Technology. In the years ended December 31, 2016, 2017 and 2018, the total amount of service fees that Weibo Technology received from Weimeng under these service agreements and trademark license agreement was $335.6 million, $618.1 million and $842.6 million, respectively, which were based on the actual cost incurred from providing the services and the cash position and operations of Weimeng.

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Although we have been advised by our PRC counsel, TransAsia Lawyers, that our arrangements with Weimeng are not in conflict with current PRC laws and regulations, we cannot assure you that we will not be required to restructure our organization and operations in China to comply with the changing and new PRC laws and regulations. Restructuring of our operations may result in disruption to our business. If PRC tax authorities were to determine that our transfer pricing structure was not done on an arm’s-length basis and therefore constitutes favorable transfer pricing, they could request Weimeng to adjust its taxable income upward for PRC tax purposes. Such a pricing adjustment may not reduce the tax expenses of Weibo Technology but could adversely affect us by increasing Weimeng’s tax expenses, which could subject Weimeng to late payment fees and other penalties for tax underpayment and/or could result in the loss of tax benefits available to Weibo Technology in China. Any of these measures may result in adverse tax consequences to us and adversely affect our results of operations.

D.                                    Property, Plant and Equipment

Our headquarters and our principal product development facilities are located in Beijing. As of December 31, 2018, we have leased approximately 36,000 square meters of office space in multiple cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenyang and Chengdu. These leases have various expiration dates of until 2023. In addition, SINA allocates rental expenses to us for some of its office space where SINA employees devote part of their time to providing services to us or where SINA shares certain office space with us for our employees to use.