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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

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FORM 20-F

(Mark One)

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

OR

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

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

OR

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

OR

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

Date of event requiring this shell company report _______________________

For the transition period from _________________ to _______________________

Commission file number 001-39109

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Fangdd Network Group Ltd.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

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N/A

(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)

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Cayman Islands

(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

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RM2403-2406, BLDG Qianhai Shimao

NO. 3040 Xinghai Avenue, Qianhai Shimao Tower

Qianhai Shenzhen-Hongkong Cooperation Zone

Nanshan District, Shenzhen 518066

People’s Republic of China

(Address of principal executive offices)

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Jiaorong Pan
Chief Financial Officer
RM2403-2406, BLDG Qianhai Shimao
NO. 3040 Xinghai Avenue, Qianhai Shimao Tower

Qianhai Shenzhen-Hongkong Cooperation Zone
Nanshan District, Shenzhen 518066
People’s Republic of China
Phone: +86 755 2699 8968

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

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

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_____________

* Not for trading, but only in connection with the listing on the Nasdaq Global Market of American depository shares, each representing 25 Class A ordinary shares

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

None

(Title of Class)

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

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None

(Title of Class)

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

As of December 31, 2021, there were (i) 1,426,450,073 Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding, par value of US$0.0000001 per share (excluding 12,280,950 Class A ordinary shares issued to the depositary bank for bulk issuance of ADSs reserved for future issuances upon the exercise or vesting of awards granted under our share incentive plans) and (ii) 619,938,058 Class B ordinary shares outstanding, par value of US$0.0000001 per share.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yes ☐ No ☒

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

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

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

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

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

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INTRODUCTION

Conventions Used in this Annual Report

In this annual report, unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires:

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Our reporting currency is the Renminbi because our business is mainly conducted in China and all of our revenues are denominated in Renminbi. This annual report contains translations of Renminbi amounts into U.S. dollars at specific rates solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise stated, all translations from Renminbi into U.S. dollars and from U.S. dollars to Renminbi in this annual report were made at the rate of RMB6.3726 to US$1.00, the exchange rate in effect as of December 30, 2021 as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. We make no representation that any Renminbi or U.S. dollar amounts could have been, or could be, converted into U.S. dollars or Renminbi, as the case may be, at any particular rate, or at all.

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This annual report contains forward-looking statements that reflect our current expectations and views of future events. These forward-looking statements are made under the “safe-harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those listed under “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors,” may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

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

You should read this annual report and the documents that we refer to in this annual report and have filed as exhibits to this annual report completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. Other sections of this annual report include additional factors that could adversely impact our business and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. New risk factors and uncertainties emerge from time to time and it is not possible for our management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. 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. The forward-looking statements made in this annual report relate only to events or information as of the date on which the statements are made in this annual report. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

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PART I

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Please carefully consider the risks discussed under “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors” in this annual report.

Our Holding Company Structure and Contractual Arrangements with the VIE and Its Shareholders

Fangdd Network Group Ltd. is not an operating company but a Cayman Islands holding company with operations primarily conducted by its subsidiaries and variable interest entity, or the VIE, and the VIE’s subsidiaries. Foreign ownership in the business involving value-added telecommunications service (except for e-commerce, domestic conferencing, store-and-forward, and call center services), including internet real estate services, is subject to significant restrictions under current PRC laws, rules and regulations. Accordingly, we operate these businesses in China through Shenzhen Fangdd Network Technology Co. Ltd., which we refer to as Fangdd Network or the VIE, in this annual report. A series of contractual arrangements were entered into among our PRC subsidiary, the VIE and the VIE’s nominee shareholders, which we refer to as the Fangdd Network VIE Agreements. These agreements allow our PRC subsidiary to (i) exercise effective control over the VIE and the VIE’s subsidiaries; (ii) receive substantially all of the economic benefits of the VIE and the VIE’s subsidiaries; and (iii) have an exclusive option to purchase all or part of the equity interests in the VIE when and to the extent permitted by PRC law. As a result of the Fangdd Network VIE Agreements, we are the primary beneficiary of the VIE for accounting purposes and treat it as a PRC consolidated entity under U.S. GAAP. We consolidate the financial results of the VIE and its subsidiaries in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Neither we nor our investors own any equity ownership in, direct foreign investment in, or control through such ownership/investment of the VIE. These Fangdd Network VIE Agreements have not been tested in a court of law in the PRC. As a result, investors in our ADSs are not purchasing equity interest in our operating entities in China but instead are purchasing equity interest in a Cayman Islands holding company.

As used in this annual report, (i) “Fangdd Network,” “variable interest entity” or “VIE” refers to Shenzhen Fangdd Network Technology Ltd., a company incorporated in the People’s Republic of China; (ii) “Shenzhen Fangdd,” “WFOE” or “our PRC subsidiary” refer to Shenzhen Fangdd Information Technology Co. Ltd; (iii) “Fangdd Cayman” or “our holding company” refers to Fangdd Network Group Ltd., our Cayman Islands holding company; and (iv) “we,” “us,” “our company,” or “our” refer to Fangdd Network Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries and, in the context of describing our operations and consolidated financial information, also include the VIE and its subsidiaries.

Our corporate structure is subject to risks associated with our contractual arrangements with the VIE. Our holding company that investors will own may never have a direct ownership interest in the businesses that are conducted by the VIE. If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating our business in China do not comply with PRC laws and regulations, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations change or are interpreted differently in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in the operations of the VIE. This would result in the VIE being deconsolidated. The majority of our assets, including the necessary licenses to conduct business in China, are held by the VIE. A significant part of our revenue is generated by the VIE. An event that results in the deconsolidation of the VIE would have a material adverse effect on our operations and result in the ADSs diminishing substantially in value or even becoming worthless. Our holding company, our PRC subsidiary, the VIE and our investors face uncertainty about potential future actions by the PRC government that could affect the enforceability of the contractual arrangements with the VIE and, consequently, significantly affect the financial performance of the VIE and our company as a whole. For a detailed description of the risks associated with our corporate structure, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors— Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure” in this annual report.

We and the VIE face various legal and operational risks and uncertainties related to doing business in Mainland China and Hong Kong. A significant part of our business operations in China are conducted through the VIE, and we are subject to complex and evolving PRC laws and regulations. For example, we and the VIE face risks associated with regulatory approvals on offshore offerings, the use of variable interest entities, anti-monopoly regulatory actions, and oversight on cybersecurity and data privacy, as well as the lack of the inspection by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB, on our auditor, which may impact our ability to conduct certain businesses, accept foreign investments, or list on a United States or other foreign exchange. These risks could result in a material adverse change in our operations and the value of our ADSs, significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors, or cause such securities to significantly decline in value or become worthless. For a detailed description of risks related to doing business in China, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China.”

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The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act

On December 18, 2020, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCA Act, was enacted. In essence, the HFCA Act requires the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, to prohibit securities of any foreign companies from being listed on U.S. securities exchanges or traded “over-the-counter” if a company retains a foreign accounting firm that cannot be inspected by the PCAOB for three consecutive years, beginning in 2021. On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which, if enacted, would reduce the time period from three to two consecutive years. On September 22, 2021, the PCAOB adopted a final rule implementing the HFCA Act. On December 2, 2021, the SEC issued amendments to finalize the interim final rules previously adopted in March 2021 to implement the submission and disclosure requirements in the HFCA Act. On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a report relaying to the SEC its determinations that the board is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms in mainland China and Hong Kong due to positions taken by Chinese authorities. Our independent registered public accounting firm is located in and organized under the laws of the PRC, and therefore is currently not inspected by the PCAOB. If the PCAOB is unable to inspect our auditor for three consecutive years, or two consecutive years if the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act is enacted, our ADSs will be delisted or trading in our ADSs will be prohibited under the HFCA Act. The delisting of our ADSs, or the threat of their being delisted, may materially and adversely affect the value of your investment. For more details, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors —Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Our ADSs will be delisted or trading in our ADSs will be prohibited if we are unable to meet the PCAOB inspection requirements in time.”

Permissions Required from the PRC Authorities for Our Operations

We conduct our business primarily through our subsidiaries and consolidated affiliated entities in China. Our operations in China are governed by PRC laws and regulations. As of the date of this annual report, our PRC subsidiaries and consolidated affiliated entities have obtained the requisite licenses and permits from the PRC government authorities that are material for the business operations of our subsidiaries and our consolidated affiliated entities in China, including, among others, the Value-Added Telecommunication Business Operating License and the Certificate of Filing of Real Estate Brokerage Business. Given the uncertainties of interpretation and implementation of relevant laws and regulations and the enforcement practice by relevant government authorities, we may be required to obtain additional licenses, permits, filings or approvals for the functions and services of our platform in the future. For more detailed information, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks related to Our Business and Industry—If we fail to obtain or keep licenses, permits or approvals applicable to the various real estate services provided by us, we may incur significant financial penalties and other government sanctions.”

Furthermore, in connection with our issuance of securities to investors, under current PRC laws, regulations and regulatory rules, as of the date of this annual report, we, our PRC subsidiaries and our consolidated affiliated entities, (i) are not required to obtain permissions from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, or the CSRC, (ii) are not required to go through cybersecurity review by the Cyberspace Administration of China, or the CAC, and (iii) have not been asked to obtain such permissions by any PRC authority.

However, the PRC government has recently indicated an intent to exert more oversight and control over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China-based issuers. For more detailed information, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks related to Doing Business in China—The approval and/or other requirements of the CSRC, CAC or other PRC governmental authorities may be required in connection with our offshore offerings under PRC law and if required, we cannot predict whether or how soon we will be able to obtain such approval.”

Doing Business in China

We and the VIE face risks and uncertainties related to doing business in China in general, including, but not limited to, the following:

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Recently, the PRC government initiated a series of regulatory actions and guidelines to regulate business operations in China with little advance notice, including cracking down on illegal activities in the securities market, enhancing supervision over China-based companies listed overseas, adopting new measures to extend the scope of cybersecurity reviews, regulating overseas securities offering and listing, and expanding the efforts in anti-monopoly enforcement, which may impact our ability to conduct business, accept foreign investments, or list on a U.S. or other foreign exchange.

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For a detailed description of risks related to doing business in China, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China” and “Item 4. Information on the Company—B. Business Overview—Regulation” in this annual report on Form 20-F.

Cash Flows Through Our Organization

Under our current corporate structure, we may rely on dividend payments from our subsidiaries, to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have. As of the date of this prospectus, none of our subsidiaries have ever issued any dividends or made other distributions to us or their respective holding companies nor have we or any of our subsidiaries ever paid dividends or made other distributions to U.S. investors. We currently intend to retain all future earnings to finance business operations. As a result, we do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any limitation on the ability of our subsidiaries to distribute dividends to us or on the ability of the VIE to make payments to us may restrict our ability to satisfy our liquidity requirements. If any of our subsidiaries incurs debt on its own behalf in the future, the instruments governing such debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends to us. To the extent cash in the business is in the PRC or a PRC entity, and may need to be used to fund operations outside of the PRC, the funds may not be available due to limitations placed by the government. For more details, see “Item 3. Key Information—A. [Reserved]—Transfer of Cash Through Our Organization,” “Item 3. Key Information—A. [Reserved]—Impact of Taxation on Dividends or Distributions,” and “Item 3. Key Information—A. [Reserved]—Restrictions and Limitations on Transfer of Capital.”

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ITEM 1. IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS

Not applicable.

ITEM 2. OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE

Not applicable.

ITEM 3. KEY INFORMATION

Our Corporate Structure and Related Risks

Fangdd Network Group Ltd. is a Cayman Islands holding company with no material operations of its own. We conduct our operations in China primarily through our PRC subsidiary and the VIE. Foreign ownership in the business involving value-added telecommunications service (except for e-commerce, domestic conferencing, store-and-forward, and call center services), including internet real estate services, is subject to significant restrictions under current PRC laws, rules and regulations. Accordingly, we operate these businesses in China through the VIE, Shenzhen Fangdd Network Technology Co. Ltd., or Fangdd Network. Investors in our ADSs thus are not purchasing equity interest in our operating entities in China but instead are purchasing equity interest in a Cayman Islands holding company.

The following chart illustrates our corporate structure as of the date of this annual report.

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Neither we nor our subsidiaries own any equity interest in the VIE. The equity interest of the VIE Fangdd Network are legally held by individuals who act as nominee shareholders of the VIE on behalf of Shenzhen Fangdd, our PRC subsidiary. A series of contractual arrangements were entered into between our PRC subsidiary, the VIE and the VIE’s shareholders, which we refer to as the Fangdd Network VIE Agreements. The Fangdd Network VIE Agreements were originally entered into in March 2014 and subsequently amended to include registration of the Equity Interest Pledge Agreements with the relevant registration authority and amended when three nominee shareholders transferred equity interests in Fangdd Network to other nominee shareholders in 2017. The Fangdd Network VIE Agreements allow our PRC subsidiary to (i) exercise effective control over the VIE and the VIE’s subsidiaries; (ii) receive substantially all of the economic benefits of the VIE and the VIE’s subsidiaries; and (iii) have an exclusive option to purchase all or part of the equity interests in the VIE when and to the extent permitted by PRC law. As a result of the Fangdd Network VIE Agreements, we are the primary beneficiary of the VIE for accounting purposes and treat it as a PRC consolidated entity under U.S. GAAP. We consolidate the financial results of the VIE in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

The Fangdd Network VIE Agreements include Business Operation Agreement, Powers of Attorney, Equity Interest Pledge Agreements, Option Agreements, Operation Maintenance Service Agreement and Technology Development and Application Service Agreement. We refer to our PRC subsidiary, Shenzhen Fangdd Information Technology Co. Ltd., as Shenzhen Fangdd, and the VIE, Shenzhen Fangdd Network Technology Co. Ltd., as Fangdd Network. The following is a brief description of the Fangdd Network VIE Agreements:

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For a summary of the material provisions of the Fangdd Network VIE Agreements, please refer to “Item 4. Information on the Company—C. Organizational Structure” in this annual report on Form 20-F.

The contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over Fangdd Network, and we may incur substantial costs to enforce the terms of the arrangements. The legal environment in the PRC is not as developed as in other jurisdictions, such as the United States. As a result, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit our ability, as a Cayman Islands holding company, to enforce these contractual arrangements and doing so may be quite costly. There are also substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current and future PRC laws, regulations and rules regarding the status of the rights of our Cayman Islands holding company with respect to its contractual arrangements with the VIE and its shareholders. It is uncertain whether any new PRC laws, rules or regulations related to VIE structures will be adopted or if adopted, what effect they may have on our corporate structure. If, as a result of such contractual arrangements, we or Fangdd Network is found to be in violation of any existing or future PRC laws or regulations, or such contractual arrangement is determined as illegal and invalid by the PRC court, arbitral tribunal or regulatory authorities, the relevant PRC regulatory authorities would have broad discretion to take action in dealing with such violations or failures. For a detailed description of the risks associated with our corporate structure, please refer to risks disclosed under “Item 3.D. Key Information—Risk Factors— Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure” in this annual report on Form 20-F.

We and the VIE are also subject to risks and uncertainties related to our corporate structure, including, but not limited to, the following:

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A.[Reserved]

Financial Information Related to the VIE and Parent

Set forth below are the condensed consolidating schedules showing the results of operations, financial position and cash flows for our holding company, the VIE and its subsidiaries and our other subsidiaries, eliminating adjustments and consolidated totals for the periods and as of the dates presented.

Condensed Consolidated Schedule of Results of Operations

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Notes:

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Condensed Consolidated Schedule of Financial Position

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