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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

FORM 20-F

(Mark One)

Date of event requiring this shell company report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Commission file number: 001-35147

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 New York Stock Exchange of American depositary shares (“ADSs”). Currently, each ADS represents three Class A ordinary 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:

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.

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

o Yes   x 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 and posted on its corporate website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted 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 and post such files).

x Yes   o No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated filer and large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

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:

·                  “Activated users” refers to the number of Renren user accounts that have been registered and activated.  Our users may register with us through their mobile phone number or their email address. Following registration by mobile phone number, the mobile phone will receive an SMS verification code, which must be entered to activate the account. Following registration by email address, an email containing an activation link will automatically be sent to the user’s email address, and the user must then activate by clicking the link. Not all registered users activate the accounts they register with us.

·                  “ADSs” refers to our American depositary shares, each of which represents three Class A ordinary shares.

·                  “Monthly unique log-in users” refers to the number of different user accounts from which renren.com has been logged onto during a given month.

·                  “Monthly unique visitors” refers to the number of different IP addresses from which a website is visited during a given month. This is a common measurement used by third-party market research firms in assessing user activity on a given website, as they are able to verify this information from publicly available sources. However, this measurement may under-count or over-count the number of users. For example, if many people visit a website through one IP address, such as the IP address of an internet cafe or office, these people will only be counted as one monthly unique visitor. Conversely, if one person visits a website through two IP addresses, such as a personal computer and a hand-held device, this person would be counted as two monthly unique visitors. Due to these limitations, we also use “activated users” and “monthly unique log-in users” to measure and review our operational performance.

·                  The “PRC” or “China” refers to the People’s Republic of China, excluding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

·                  “Preferred shares” refers to our previously issued and outstanding series A and series B convertible preferred shares and series C and series D convertible redeemable preferred shares, par value US$0.001 per share.

·                  “Shares” or “ordinary shares” refer to, following the completion of our initial public offering in May 2011, collectively, our Class A and Class B ordinary shares, par value US$0.001 per share, and, prior to the completion of our initial public offering, our ordinary shares, par value US$0.001 per share; and except as otherwise indicated, all share and per share data in this annual report gives retroactive effect to the ten-for-one share split that became effective on March 25, 2011.

·                  “SNS” refers to social networking services.

·                  “We,” “us,” “our company,” and “our” refer to Renren Inc. and its subsidiaries, its consolidated affiliated entities, and subsidiaries of its consolidated affiliated entities.

Our financial statements are expressed in U.S. dollars, which is our reporting currency. Certain Renminbi figures in this annual report are translated into U.S. dollars solely for the reader’s convenience. Unless otherwise noted, all convenience translations from Renminbi to U.S. dollars in this annual report were made at a rate of RMB6.2301 to US$1.00, the exchange rate set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board on December 31, 2012. 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, at the rate stated above, or at all.

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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. 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 these forward-looking statements.

You can identify some of these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “is/are likely to” or other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements include statements relating to:

·                  our goals and strategies;

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

·                  expected changes in our revenues and certain cost and expense items;

·                  the expected growth of the SNS, online games, online advertising and social commerce businesses in China;

·                  our expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of our services;

·                  our expectations regarding the retention and strengthening of our relationships with advertisers;

·                  changes in technology affecting our business, and our company’s responses to these changes;

·                  our investment plans to enhance our user experience, infrastructure and service offerings;

·                  competition in our industry in China; and

·                  relevant government policies and regulations relating to our industry.

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

The forward-looking statements made in this annual report relate only to events or information as of the date on which the statements are made in this annual report. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

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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

Selected Consolidated Financial Data

The following selected consolidated statement of operations data for the three years ended December 31, 2010, 2011 and 2012 and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2011 and 2012 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report.  Our selected consolidated statement of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2009 and our selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements not included in this annual report.

The selected consolidated financial data should be read in conjunction with, and are qualified in their entirety by reference to, our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes and “Item 5—Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” in this annual report. Our consolidated financial statements are prepared and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or U.S. GAAP.

Our historical results do not necessarily indicate results expected for any future periods.

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(1)         Including share-based compensation expenses as set forth below:

(2)         Each ADS represents three Class A ordinary shares.

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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 Related to Our Business and Industry

If we fail to continuously anticipate user preferences and provide attractive services and applications, we may not be able to increase the size and level of engagement of our user base.

The success of our business depends on our ability to grow our user base and keep our users highly engaged.  In order to attract and retain users, we must continue to innovate and introduce services and applications that our users find enjoyable.  If we fail to anticipate and meet the needs of our users, the size and engagement level of our user base may decrease. Furthermore, because of the viral nature of social networking, users may switch to our competitors’ services more quickly than in other online sectors, despite the fact that it would be time-consuming for them to restart the process of establishing connections with friends and post photos and other content via one of our competitor’s services. A decrease in the number of our users would render our services less attractive to users and advertisers and may decrease our revenues, which may have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, since a substantial number of users of our new services and products over the years had already been users of Renren.com, our SNS platform, we believe the new services we may pursue will depend upon our ability to maintain and increase the user base for our SNS platform, the level of user engagement on our platform and the stickiness of our platform. If we are unable to maintain or increase the size and level of engagement of our user base for our SNS platform, the performance of our new services may be materially and adversely affected.

We face significant competition in almost every aspect of our business. If we fail to compete effectively, we may lose market share and our business, prospects and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We face significant competition in almost every aspect of our business.  In our social networking business, we compete with companies and services such as Tencent’s Q-zone and WeChat, SINA’s Weibo.com, and kaixin001.com.  In our online games business, we primarily compete with companies such as Tencent, Qihu360 and 7Road.com.  In our social commerce business, we mainly compete against meituan.com, dianping.com and lashou.com.  In our online video business, we compete against companies that enable users to upload, view and/or share video content, such as Youku Tudou, Sohu.com, iQiyi.com and Tencent, as well companies which provide online entertainment services, such as YY Inc.  Competition in the mobile landscape of these services is as intense, if not more, as with their PC counterparts.  We also compete for online advertising revenues with other websites that sell online advertising services in China.

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Some of our competitors have significantly larger user bases and more established brand names and may be able to effectively leverage their user bases and brand names to provide integrated internet communication, online games, social networking and other products and services available over the internet via PCs and mobile devices and increase their respective market shares.  We may also face potential competition from global social networking service providers that seek to enter the China market.  Some of our competitors may have longer operating histories and significantly greater financial, technical and marketing resources than we do, and in turn may have an advantage in attracting and retaining users and advertisers. If we are not able to effectively compete, our user base and level of user engagement may decrease, which could make us less attractive to advertisers and materially and adversely affect our ability to maintain and increase revenues from online advertising, and which may also reduce the number of paying users that purchase our internet value-added services, or IVAS.  Similarly, we may be required to spend additional resources to further increase our brand recognition and promote our services in order to compete effectively, especially with respect to marketing of our social commerce and other new services to capture market share, which could adversely affect our profitability.

In addition, we compete for advertising budgets with traditional advertising media in China, such as television and radio stations, newspapers and magazines, and major out-of-home media.  If online advertising as a new marketing channel does not become more widely accepted in China, we may experience difficulties in competing with traditional advertising media.

We may not be able to successfully expand and monetize our mobile internet services.

An important element of our strategy is to continue to expand our mobile internet services.  We have made significant efforts in recent years to develop new mobile applications to capture a greater share of the growing number of users that access social networking, online games, social commerce and other internet services through smart phones and other mobile devices.  For example, the mobile percentage of our monthly total user time spent on Renren.com was 20.2%, 54.1% and 69.1% in December 2010, December 2011 and December 2012, respectively, and the number of our monthly unique smartphone users who accessed renren.com increased from 1.4 million in December 2010 to 8.5 million in December 2011 and to 14.0 million in December 2012. If we are unable to attract and retain a substantial number of mobile device users, or if we are slower than our competitors in developing attractive services that are adapted for such devices, we may fail to capture a significant share of an increasingly important portion of the market for our services or lose existing users, either of which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Furthermore, aside from mobile games, we are in the midst of experimenting with multiple early monetization strategies for our mobile internet services. Advertisers currently spend significantly less on advertising on mobile devices as compared to advertising on PCs, and we cannot assure you that advertisers will in the future increase their spending on advertising on mobile devices.  As our users continue to allocate more time on our mobile services instead of our traditional PC services, mobile monetization will become increasingly important as a path to profitability. Accordingly, if we are unable to successfully implement monetization strategies for our mobile users and if our users continue to increasingly access our services through mobile devices as a substitute for access through personal computers, our revenue and financial results may be negatively affected.

We may not be able to further grow our online games business.

We rely on our online games business for a substantial percentage of our revenues.  Net revenues from our online games business accounted for 45.0%, 35.9% and 51.2% of our total net revenues in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively.  Going forward, we expect that revenues from the online games business will continue to be a substantial percentage of our total net revenues. Reliance on the online games business subjects us to a number of risks:

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·                  Continuing to develop and source new games that appeal to our game players is an important part of our business expansion plans. Our ability to develop successful new games further depends on our ability to anticipate and effectively respond to changing game player interests and preferences and technological advances in a timely manner, to attract, retain and motivate talented game development personnel and to execute effectively our game development plans.  There can be no assurance that we will be successful in each of these areas.

·                  We are dependent on hit titles as a large percentage of our online game revenues.  For example, in 2012, our top five games contributed 68% of our online games revenues, which comprised 35% of our total revenues for 2012.  Online games have a finite commercial lifespan and tend to become less popular after a few years. If our hit titles start to decrease in popularity and we do not have follow-up hit titles in our pipeline, our revenues may be negatively affected.

·                  While we have been operating in the online games business since 2007, mobile games and cross-platform games, which are games that allow users to play the same game between PC and mobile devices while also using the same account, are relatively new in the games sector. There can be no assurance that our strategy of providing mobile games and cross-platform games will be successful.

·                  Our users download our mobile games from direct-to-consumer digital storefronts such as Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store.  The terms and conditions between the store operators and the application developers governing the promotion, distribution and operation of applications, including mobile games, are normally standardized and non-negotiable. If the store operators believe the terms and conditions have been violated, they have the right to suspend or terminate a developer’s account.  In addition, if we are unable to maintain a good relationship with each platform, or if our mobile games were unavailable on these platforms for any prolonged period of time, our business may suffer. For example, our games were temporarily removed from Apple’s Appstore in 2012.  After communicating with Apple to address their inquiries, these games were restored.  We have since enhanced our internal processes to ensure inquiries or concerns from store operators are responded to quickly and properly.

·                  If we are unable to successfully capture and retain a significant portion of the growing number of Android users that accesses online games, we may lose users, which may have a material adverse effect on our business.

·                  We license many of our online games, including some of our most popular games, from third parties. Additionally, we depend upon our licensors to provide technical support necessary for the operation of the licensed games. We must maintain good relationships with our licensors to continue to source new games with reasonable revenue-sharing terms and ensure the continued smooth operation of our licensed games. We may incur additional costs and may face significant risks when we license our games outside of China and seek to expand our operations to select markets, such as the United States and Asia. If we fail to successfully manage these risks, our growth and business prospects could be materially and adversely affected.

We plan to continue to invest significantly in growing our social commerce services and we may not be successful in this endeavor, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Since June 2010, we have provided social commerce services through nuomi.com. In 2010, 2011 and 2012, revenues from our social commerce services were US$1.2 million, US$6.5 million and US$16.1 million, respectively, representing 1.6%, 5.5% and 9.2%, respectively, of our total revenues. Operating expenses from our social commerce services were US$1.1 million, US$30.2 million and US$42.2 million, respectively, representing 2.0%, 24.7% and 21.0%, respectively, of our total operating expenses. We plan to continue to invest significantly in the expansion of our social commerce services. As a result of the short history of the social commerce industry in China, its potentially volatile growth, and the relatively low margins experienced in this business, our ability to successfully implement our expansion strategy is subject to various risks and uncertainties, including:

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·                  our ability to maintain and increase competitiveness against the largest and leading social commerce service providers in China;

·                  the significant investments required to promote and improve our services to users;

·                  the significant investments required to market and demonstrate the value of our social commerce services to merchants;

·                  our ability to maintain our reputation and brand in the social commerce service industry;

·                  uncertainties regarding the evolution of the PRC laws and regulations applicable to the social commerce industry; and

·                  our ability to provide high quality social commerce services on mobile devices which meet our mobile users’ needs.

In addition, our social commerce services require us to engage in activities that are not a substantial part of our other services. For example, in order to arrange high quality social commerce deals regularly in each location covered by nuomi.com, we have introduced local sales teams, who work directly with local merchants or event organizers seeking to target users in a specific city or region. We may not be able to effectively manage these local sales teams. Further, some of the deals offered through our social commerce services are physical goods which must be delivered to users by third parties, and it is possible that the goods to be delivered by the third parties may not be delivered timely, or at all, and may not be in the form or condition expected by our users. If we fail to effectively perform these aspects of our social commerce services, our social commerce services and our prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

If we are unable to manage these risks and successfully implement our expansion plans, our future results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.

We may not be able to further grow 56.com, our online video business, or develop it into a profitable business.

In October 2011, we acquired Wole Inc., a Cayman Islands company which operates 56.com, a user generated content online video sharing website in China, through a set of contractual arrangements with its affiliated entities.  We believe that our acquisition of 56.com has helped us further meet the needs of our users to record and share their lives on our social network through video format.  However, the online video industry in China is very competitive and fragmented, and some of our users may prefer to use the online video services offered by larger players in the industry which have larger libraries of user-generated content and professional videos.  To empower our users, we have given them a range of tools to access and share video content from the websites of other companies which offer online video services, and it is possible that our users may use such tools to access our competitors’ websites and user traffic on 56.com may be adversely affected as a result.

Growth of the online video industry in China is affected by numerous factors, such as users’ general online video experience, technological innovations, development of internet and internet-based services, regulatory changes, especially regulations affecting copyrights, and the macroeconomic environment. If the online video industry in China does not grow as quickly as expected or if 56.com fails to benefit from such growth, user traffic on 56.com may decrease and its business and prospects may be adversely affected. Further, to date, 56.com, like many online video service providers in China, has not been profitable, and there is no assurance that it will be profitable in the future.

Our strategy to acquire or invest in complementary businesses and establish strategic alliances involves significant risk and uncertainty that may prevent us from achieving our objectives and harm our financial condition and results of operations.

As part of our plan to continue to grow our user base and improve our user experience, we from time to time consider opportunities to acquire, invest in or partner with other companies that bring us complementary or new users, technologies or services. Strategic acquisitions and investments may subject us to uncertainties and risks, including:

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·                  costs associated with, and difficulties in, integrating acquired businesses and managing a larger business;

·                  potentially significant goodwill impairment charges;

·                  potential ongoing financial obligations and unforeseen or hidden liabilities;

·                  failure to achieve our intended objectives, benefits or revenue-enhancing opportunities;

·                  high acquisition and financing costs;

·                  potential claims or litigation regarding our board’s exercise of its duty of care and other duties required under applicable law in connection with any of our significant acquisitions or investments approved by the board; and

·                  diversion of our resources and management attention.

Our failure to address these uncertainties and risks may have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we may from time to time attempt to achieve our objectives of enhancing our user experience, broadening the appeal of our platform and increasing the number of our users by establishing strategic alliances with various third parties, including through our Renren Connect and Renren Open Platform programs. Strategic alliances with third parties could subject us to a number of risks, including risks associated with sharing proprietary information, non-performance by the counter-party, and an increase in expenses incurred in establishing new strategic alliances, any of which may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

The business opportunities for SNS, online games, social commerce, online video and other internet services in China are continuously evolving and may not grow as quickly as expected, in ways that are consistent with other markets, or at all.

Our business and prospects depend on the continuous development of emerging internet business models in China, including those for social networking, online games, social commerce and online videos. Our main internet services have distinct business models which may differ from models for these businesses in other markets, such as the United States, and that are in varying stages of development and monetization. We cannot assure you that the industries in which we operate in China will continue to grow as rapidly as they have in the past, in ways that are consistent with other markets, or at all. With the development of technology, new internet services may emerge which may render our existing service offerings less attractive to users. The growth and development of the social networking, online games, social commerce and online video industries is affected by numerous factors, such as the macroeconomic environment, regulatory changes, technological innovations, development of internet and internet-based services, users’ general online experience, cultural influences and changes in tastes and preferences. If these internet industries do not grow as quickly as expected or at all, or if we fail to benefit from such growth by successfully implementing our business strategies, our business and prospects may be adversely affected.

If we fail to keep up with the technological developments and users’ changing requirements, our business and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

The social networking, online games, social commerce and online video industries are subject to rapid and continuous changes in technology, user preferences, such as the movement of our user base from personal computers to mobile devices, the nature of services offered and business models. Our success will depend on our ability to keep up with the changes in technology and user behavior resulting from technological developments. If we do not adapt our services to such changes in an effective and timely manner, we may suffer from decreased user traffic, which may result in a reduced number of advertisers for our online advertising services or a decrease in their advertising spending.  In addition, if we adopt new technologies which turn out to be less proven, and user experience suffers as a result, our users may use our platform less often.  Furthermore, changes in technologies may require substantial capital expenditures in product development as well as in modification of products, services or infrastructure. We may not successfully execute our business strategies due to a variety of reasons such as technical hurdles, misunderstanding or erroneous prediction of market demand or lack of necessary resources. Failure in keeping up with technological developments may result in our platform being less attractive, which in turn may materially and adversely affect our business and prospects.

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We have experienced net losses in the past, and you should consider our prospects in light of the risks and uncertainties fast-growing companies in evolving industries with limited operating histories, such as ours, may be exposed to or encounter.

We had a loss from continuing operations of US$61.2 million, income from continuing operations of US$41.0 million and a loss from continuing operations of US$75.1 million in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively. Our loss from continuing operations in 2010 reflects the aggregate impact of non-cash items relating to the change in fair value of our then outstanding series D warrants, share-based compensation, amortization of intangible assets and impairment of intangible assets, amounting to an aggregate of US$78.6 million in expenses in 2010.  All outstanding warrants to purchase series D preferred shares were exercised in December 2010. Our income from continuing operations in 2011 was due in part to a one-time gain of US$50.9 million from the sale of eLong ADSs, and income from continuing operations in 2011 also reflected the aggregate impact of non-cash items relating to share-based compensation, amortization of intangible assets and impairment of intangible assets of US$8.7 million.  Our net loss from continuing operations in 2012 was primarily due to substantial investments in research and development, particularly those related to mobile initiatives, continued investment in our Nuomi social commerce business, as well as investment in our video sharing business 56.com, which we acquired in October 2011, and loss in equity method investments, net of income taxes, due to investments we made in 2011 and 2012. We expect that for the foreseeable future, investments in mobile initiatives, nuomi.com and 56.com will continue to constitute significant expenses decreasing our income or increasing our loss from continuing operations.

In addition to the foregoing, our results of operations for the past three years were affected by costs and expenses required to build, operate and expand our SNS platform, grow our user base, promote our Renren brand, develop our own products and services, license third-party products and applications, and make other strategic investments. We expect that we will continue to incur significant research and development, marketing and other costs to launch new services and grow our user and advertiser bases.  In particular, our plan to continue focusing our strategy on mobile opportunities, with increasing effort to experiment with different monetization models, including mobile games, mobile advertising and mobile commerce through Nuomi, will result in significant costs and expenses, and the profitability of this strategy has yet to be proven.

Our ability to achieve profitability is affected by various factors, some of which are beyond our control. For example, revenues from, and the profitability of, our online games business depend on our ability to internally develop games that are attractive to our user base or license them from third parties. In addition, our revenues and profitability depend on the continuous development of the online advertising industry in China and advertisers’ allocation of more of their budgets to SNS and online video websites. We cannot assure you that online advertising will become more widely accepted in China or that advertisers will increase their spending on SNS or online video websites.  Aside from mobile games, we currently do not have a clear monetization model for mobile users.   Furthermore, the success of our social commerce services depends on our ability to maintain and grow our user and merchant base while earning revenues from merchants that offer attractive discounts to the users of our nuomi.com website.  We may incur net losses in the future and you should consider our future prospects in light of the risks and uncertainties experienced by early stage companies, and companies following the migration of their users from PC to mobile, in evolving industries such as the SNS, online games, social commerce and online video industries in China.

We rely on online advertising for a sizeable proportion of our revenues. If the online advertising industry in China or advertisers’ willingness to advertise on our SNS platform grow slower than expected or declines, our revenues, profitability and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

In 2010, 2011 and 2012, online advertising accounted for 41.8%, 50.5% and 30.6%, respectively, of our total net revenues. Consequently, our profitability and prospects depend in part on the continuous development of the online advertising industry and are impacted by the amount of our advertising clients’ budgets which are devoted to advertising on social networking websites in China. However, the internet penetration rate in China is relatively low as compared to most developed countries, and many advertisers in China have limited experience with online advertising and have historically allocated a small portion of their advertising budgets to online advertising. Advertising on social networking websites is an even newer marketing channel in China, and those companies which are willing to begin advertising online may decide to utilize more established methods or channels for online advertising, such as the more established Chinese internet portals or search engines.  In addition, in challenging macroeconomic conditions, advertisers are generally less willing to devote resources to online advertising, including advertising on social networks.  We believe the reduction in our advertising revenue in 2012 was due in part to the continued challenging macroeconomic conditions in China bearing on our advertising clients, and that these conditions have resulted in intensifying competition for online advertising revenue among the major websites in China offering SNS, online video and other communication services.  Further, we may be unable to respond adequately to changing trends in online advertising or advertiser demands or preferences, technological innovation and improvements in the measurement of user traffic and online advertising, and technological developments more generally.  In this regard, the migration of our user traffic from PC to mobile, which gathered momentum in 2011 and noticeably increased in 2012, has had an adverse impact on our online advertising revenues, as advertisers have, to date, spent considerably less money advertising on mobile devices.  If the online advertising market size does not increase from current levels, we are unable to successfully compete and capture a sufficient share of that market or we are unable to generate meaningful advertising revenues from mobile devices, our ability to maintain or increase our current level of online advertising revenues, and our profitability and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.

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Renren user growth and engagement on mobile devices depend upon effective operation with mobile operating systems, networks, and standards that we do not control.

There is no guarantee that popular mobile devices will continue to feature Renren, or that mobile device users will continue to use Renren rather than competing products. We are dependent on the interoperability of Renren with popular mobile operating systems that we do not control, such as iOS, Android and Windows, and any changes in such systems that degrade our products’ functionality or give preferential treatment to competitive products could adversely affect Renren usage on mobile devices. Additionally, in order to deliver high quality mobile products, it is important that our products work well with a range of mobile technologies, systems, networks, and standards that we do not control. We may not be successful in developing relationships with key participants in the mobile industry or in developing products that operate effectively with these technologies, systems, networks, or standards. In the event that it is more difficult for our users to access and use Renren on their mobile devices, or if our users choose not to access or use Renren on their mobile devices or use mobile products that do not offer access to Renren, our user growth and user engagement could be harmed.

If we fail to maintain and enhance our Renren, Nuomi, 56.com and other brands, or if we incur excessive expenses in this effort, our business, results of operations and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

We believe that maintaining and enhancing our Renren, Nuomi, 56.com and other brands is of significant importance to the success of our business. Well-recognized brands are critical to increasing the number and the level of engagement of our users and, in turn, enhancing our attractiveness to advertisers. Since we operate in a highly competitive market, maintaining and enhancing our brands directly affects our ability to maintain our market position.

We have developed our reputation and established our leading market position in the social networking industry in China by providing our users with a superior online experience. We have conducted and may continue to conduct various marketing and brand promotion activities, both through cooperation with our business partners and through more traditional methods, such as television advertisements. We cannot assure you, however, that these activities will be successful or that we will be able to achieve the brand promotion effect we expect. In addition, any negative publicity in relation to our services or products, regardless of its veracity, could harm our brands and the perception of our brands in the market.

We have received complaints from users, including users of our nuomi.com website, regarding the quality or availability of the products, services and events offered on nuomi.com by the various merchants with whom we contract, and we expect that we will continue to receive complaints in the future. The legal responsibility to users for the quality and availability of products, services and events offered on nuomi.com is normally borne by the merchants, not by us. However, regardless of which party bears such legal responsibility, if our users’ complaints are not addressed to their satisfaction, our reputation and our market position could be significantly harmed, which may materially and adversely affect our business and prospects.

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We may not be able to manage our expansion effectively.

We have experienced rapid growth in our business in recent years. The number of our activated users on Renren.com increased from approximately 110 million as of December 31, 2010 to approximately 178 million as of December 31, 2012, and our monthly unique log-in users on Renren.com increased from approximately 26 million in December 2010 to approximately 56 million in December 2012. In addition, the number of our employees grew rapidly from 1,570 as of December 31, 2010 to 4,603 as of December 31, 2012. Further, the portfolio of services we offer has expanded from real name social networking services, which has historically been the core of our company’s business, to online games, social commerce, online video services and other new initiatives.  In addition, in recent years, we have developed and launched versions of these services for mobile devices, and we currently offer them on both PCs and mobile devices.

We expect to continue to grow our user base and our business operations, including launching new services and mobile applications. Our rapid expansion may expose us to new challenges and risks. To manage the further expansion of our business and the expected growth of our operations and the number of our research and development, sales and other personnel, we need to continuously expand and enhance our infrastructure and technology, and improve our operational and financial systems, procedures and controls. We also need to train, manage and motivate our growing employee base. In addition, we need to maintain and expand our relationships with advertisers, advertising agencies, third-party developers of online games and applications offered on our platform, merchants for our nuomi.com services and other third parties. We cannot assure you that our current and planned personnel, infrastructure, systems, procedures and controls will be adequate to support our expanding operations, that our new service lines or mobile applications will experience the synergies we expect, or that we will be able to successfully monetize the mobile versions of our services.  Furthermore, expansions into new services may present operating and marketing challenges that are different from those that we currently encounter.  If we fail to manage our expansions effectively, our business, results of operations and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

Content posted or displayed on our websites may be found objectionable by PRC regulatory authorities and may subject us to penalties and other severe consequences.

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 over the internet content that, among other things, violates PRC laws and regulations, impairs the national dignity of China or the public interest, or is obscene, superstitious, fraudulent or defamatory. Furthermore, internet content providers are also prohibited from displaying content that may be deemed by relevant government authorities as “socially destabilizing” or leaking state secrets of the PRC. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in the revocation of licenses to provide internet content and other licenses, the closure of the concerned websites and reputational harm. The website operator may also be held liable for such censored information displayed on or linked to their website. For a detailed discussion, see “Item 4.B—Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations on Value-Added Telecommunications Services,” “Item 4.B—Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations on Internet Content Services” and “Item 4.B—Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations on Information Security and Censorship.”

Through our SNS platform, we allow users to upload content on our platform, including via message boards, blogs, email, chat rooms, or image-sharing webpages, and also allow users to share, link to and otherwise access audio, video and other content from other websites. In addition, we allow users to download, share and otherwise access games and other applications on and through our platform, including through our online games business and Renren Open Platform program. Further, we allow users to upload a variety of videos and graphics to our 56.com website.  After a user registers and before each upload, we require the user to click a box to confirm that the user has read and agreed to be bound by our copyright agreement. Pursuant to the copyright agreement, the user warrants that the content to be uploaded does not violate any laws or regulations or any third party rights. If we discover that any uploaded content is inappropriate, we can delete or revise the content, or terminate the user account. In addition, we remove user uploads when we are notified or made aware, by copyright owners or from other sources, of copyright infringements or other illegal uploads. For a description of how content can be accessed on or through our SNS platform, and what measures we take to lessen the likelihood that we will be held liable for the nature of such content, see “Item 4.B—Business Overview—Technology and Infrastructure—Anti-spamming and other filtering systems” and “—Risks Related to Our Business and Industry—We have been and may continue to be subject to intellectual property infringement claims or other allegations by third parties for services we provide or for information or content displayed on, retrieved from or linked to our websites, or distributed to our users, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and prospects.”

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Failure to identify and prevent illegal or inappropriate content from being displayed on or through our websites for internet users or mobile users may subject us 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 the types of content that could result in our liability as a website operator. To the extent that PRC regulatory authorities find any content displayed on or through our websites objectionable, they may require us to limit or eliminate the dissemination or availability of such content on our websites in the form of take-down orders or otherwise. Such regulatory authorities may also impose penalties on us based on content displayed or made available through our websites in cases of material violations, including a revocation of our operating licenses or a suspension or shutdown of our online operations, which would materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and reputation. Moreover, the costs of compliance with these regulations may continue to increase as a result of more content being uploaded or made available by an increasing number of users and third-party partners and developers.

Concerns about collection and use of personal data could damage our reputation and deter current and potential users from using our services.

As of December 31, 2012, our platform had accumulated a total of approximately 5.4  billion photos, 312 million blogs, 38 billion comments or reviews and 58 million videos.  Under our privacy policy, without our users’ prior consent, we will not provide any of our users’ personal information to any unrelated third party. While we strive to comply with our privacy guidelines as well as all applicable data protection laws and regulations, any failure or perceived failure to comply may result in proceedings or actions against us by government entities or others, and could damage our reputation. User and regulatory attitudes towards privacy are evolving, and future regulatory or user concerns about the extent to which personal information can be shared may adversely affect our ability to share certain data with advertisers, which may limit certain methods of targeted advertising. Concerns about the security of personal data could also lead to a decline in general internet usage, which could lead to lower user traffic on our platform. A significant reduction in user traffic could lead to lower advertising revenues or lower IVAS revenues, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We could be liable for any breach of security relating to our payment platforms or the third-party online payment platforms we use, and concerns about the security of internet transactions could damage our reputation, deter current and potential users from using our platform and have other adverse consequences to our business.

Currently, we sell a substantial portion of our virtual currency and other paid services and applications to our users and game players through third-party online payment platforms using the internet or mobile networks. In all these online payment transactions, secured transmission of confidential information over public networks is essential to maintain consumer confidence. In addition, we expect that an increasing amount of our sales will be conducted over the internet as a result of the growing use of online payment systems. As a result, associated online fraud will likely increase as well. Our current security measures and those of the third parties with whom we transact business may not be adequate. We must be prepared to increase and enhance our security measures and efforts so that our users and game players have confidence in the reliability of the online payment systems that we use, which will impose additional costs and expenses and may still not guarantee complete safety. In addition, we do not have control over the security measures of our third-party online payment vendors. Although we have not in the past experienced material security breaches of the online payments that we use, such security breaches could expose us to litigation and possible liability for failing to secure confidential customer information and could, among other things, damage our reputation and the perceived security of the online payment systems that we use.

Spammers and malicious applications may make our services less user-friendly, and distort the data used for advertising purposes, which could reduce our ability to attract advertisers.

Spammers may use our platform and services to send targeted and untargeted spam messages to users, which may embarrass or annoy users and make usage of our services and networks more time-consuming and less user-friendly. As a result, our users may use our services less or stop using them altogether. As part of fraudulent spamming activities, spammers typically create multiple user accounts, such as accounts being set-up for the purposes of sending spam messages. Although we have technologies and employees that attempt to identify and delete accounts created for spamming purposes, we may not be able to eliminate all spam messages from being sent on our platform.

In addition, we have limited ability to validate or confirm the accuracy of information provided during the user registration process. Inaccurate data with respect to the number of unique individuals registered and actively using our services may cause advertisers to reduce the amount spent on advertising through our websites. In addition, use of applications that permit users to block advertisements may become widespread, which could make online advertising less attractive to advertisers. Any such activities could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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

Under PRC advertising laws and regulations, we are obligated to monitor the advertising content shown on our websites to ensure that such content is true and accurate and in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. In addition, where a special government review is required for specific types of advertisements prior to website posting, such as advertisements relating to pharmaceuticals, medical instruments, agrochemicals and veterinary pharmaceuticals, we are obligated to confirm that such review has been performed and approval has been obtained. Violation of these laws and regulations may subject us to penalties, including fines, confiscation of our advertising income, orders to cease dissemination of the advertisements and orders to publish an announcement correcting the misleading information. In circumstances involving serious violations by us, PRC governmental authorities may force us to terminate our advertising operations or revoke our licenses.

While significant efforts have been made to ensure that the advertisements shown on our websites are in full compliance with applicable PRC laws and regulations, we cannot assure you that all the content contained in such advertisements or offers is true and accurate as required by the advertising laws and regulations, especially given the uncertainty in the interpretation of these PRC laws and regulations. If we are found to be in violation of applicable PRC advertising laws and regulations, we may be subject to penalties and our reputation may be harmed, which may have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Online communications among our users may lead to personal conflicts, which could damage our reputation, lead to government investigation and have a material and adverse effect on our business.

Our users engage in highly personalized exchanges over our platform. Users who have met online through our services may become involved in emotionally charged situations and could suffer adverse moral, emotional or physical consequences. Such occurrences could be highly publicized and have a significant negative impact on our reputation. Government authorities may require us to discontinue or restrict those services that would have led, or may lead, to such events. As a result, our business may suffer and our user base, revenues and profitability may be materially and adversely affected.

We rely on third parties to provide a number of important services in connection with our business, and any disruption to the provision of these services to us could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our business is to a significant extent dependent upon services provided by third parties and business relationships with third parties. Substantially all of our online advertising revenues are generated through agreements entered into with various third-party advertising agencies, and we rely on these agencies for sales to, and collection of payment from, our advertisers. We do not have long-term cooperation agreements or exclusive arrangements with these agencies and they may elect to direct business opportunities to other advertising service providers, including our competitors. If we fail to retain and enhance the business relationships with these third-party advertising agencies, we may suffer from a loss of advertisers and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

In addition, a significant portion of our IVAS revenues are generated from online games and applications developed by third parties, and if we are unable to obtain or renew licenses to such games or attract application developers to our platform, we could be required to devote greater resources and time to develop attractive games and applications on our own or license new games and applications from other parties.

If the third parties on whom we rely fail to provide their services effectively, terminate their service or license agreements or discontinue their relationships with us, we could suffer service interruptions, reduced revenues or increased costs, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Certain third-party service providers could be difficult and costly to replace, and any disruption to the provision of these services to us may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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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. 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 websites. 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.

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, our user traffic may decline and our business may be harmed.

Changes in the policies, guidelines or practice of mobile network operators or the PRC government with respect to mobile applications and other content may negatively affect our business operations for mobile applications.

We rely on PRC mobile network operators, directly and indirectly, to distribute our products to our users. The mobile telecommunication business in China is highly concentrated and major mobile network operators, such as China Mobile, may from time to time issue new policies or change their business practices, requesting or stating their preferences for certain actions to be taken by all mobile service providers using their networks. In addition, the PRC government may also implement new policies or change existing policies regulating the mobile telecommunication business. Such new policies or changes may negatively affect our business operations for mobile applications.

Problems with our network infrastructure or information technology systems could impair our ability to provide services.

Our ability to provide our users with a high quality online experience depends on the continuing operation and scalability of our network infrastructure and information technology systems. We face a number of risks in this area.  For example, our systems are potentially vulnerable to damage or interruption as a result of natural disasters, power loss, telecommunications failures and similar events.  We may also encounter problems when upgrading our systems or services and undetected programming errors could adversely affect the performance of the software we use to provide our services. In addition, we rely on servers, data centers and other network facilities provided by third parties, and the limited availability of third-party providers with sufficient capacity to house additional network facilities and broadband capacity in China may lead to higher costs or limit our ability to offer certain services or expand our business.

These and other events have led and may in the future lead to interruptions, decreases in connection speed, degradation of our services or the permanent loss of user data and uploaded content. If we experience frequent or persistent service disruptions, whether caused by failures of our own systems or those of third-party service providers, our reputation or relationships with our users or advertisers may be damaged and our users and advertisers may switch to our competitors, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Computer malware, viruses, hacking and phishing attacks, and spamming could harm our business and results of operations.

Computer malware, viruses, and computer hacking and phishing attacks have become more prevalent in our industry and may occur on our systems in the future.  For example, in December 2011, through hacking a third party CDN provider, a computer hacker was able to access the data of over six million internet users from a number of major internet websites in China, including our website.  We responded to this incident by notifying our users of the incident and advising them to change their log-in details. Though it is difficult to determine what, if any, harm may directly result from any specific interruption or attack, any failure to maintain performance, reliability, security, and availability of our products and technical infrastructure to the satisfaction of our users may harm our reputation and our ability to retain existing users and attract new users.

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In addition, spammers attempt to use our products to send targeted and untargeted spam messages to users, which may embarrass or annoy users and make our internet platform less user-friendly. We cannot be certain that the technologies and employees that we have to attempt to defeat spamming attacks will be able to eliminate all spam messages from being sent on our platform. As a result of spamming activities, our users may use our internet platform less or stop using our products altogether.

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

Internet, technology and media companies 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.

Intellectual property claims and litigation are expensive and time-consuming to investigate and defend, and may divert resources and management attention from the operation of our business. Such claims, even if they do not result in liability, may harm our reputation. Any resulting liability or expenses, or changes required to our websites to reduce the risk of future liability, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and prospects.

We may be subject to patent infringement claims with respect to our SNS platform.

Our technologies and business methods, including those relating to our SNS platform, may be subject to third-party claims or rights that limit or prevent their use. Certain U.S.-based companies have been granted patents in the United States relating to SNS platforms and similar business methods and related technologies. While we believe that we are not subject to U.S. patent laws since we conduct our business operations outside of the United States, we cannot assure you that U.S. patent laws would not be applicable to our business operations, or that holders of patents relating to a SNS platform would not seek to enforce such patents against us in the United States or China. For example, we are aware that Facebook applied for a number of patents relating to its social networking system and methodologies, platform and other related technologies. In addition, many parties are actively developing and seeking protection for internet-related technologies, including seeking patent protection in China. There may be patents issued or pending that are held by others that relate to certain aspects of our technologies, products, business methods or services. Although we do not believe we infringe third-party patents, the application and interpretation of China’s patent laws and the procedures and standards for granting patents in China are still evolving and involve uncertainty. Any patent infringement claims, regardless of their merits, could be time-consuming and costly to us. If we were sued for patent infringement claims with respect to our SNS platform and were found to infringe such patents and were not able to adopt non-infringing technologies, we may be severely limited in our ability to operate our SNS platform, which would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and prospects.

Our own intellectual property rights may be infringed, which could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We rely on a combination of monitoring and enforcement of trademark, patent, copyright and trade secret protection laws in the PRC and other jurisdictions, as well as through confidentiality agreements and procedures, to protect our intellectual property rights. Despite our precautions, third parties may obtain and use without our authorization our intellectual property, which includes trademarks related to our brands, products and services, patent applications, registered domain names, copyrights in software and creative content, trade secrets and other intellectual property rights and licenses. Historically, the legal system and courts of the PRC have not protected intellectual property rights to the same extent as the legal system and courts of the United States, and companies operating in the PRC continue to face an increased risk of intellectual property infringement. Furthermore, the validity, application, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property rights for many internet-related activities, such as internet commercial methods patents, are uncertain and still evolving in China and abroad, which may make it more difficult for us to protect our intellectual property, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, other companies have in the past copied the concepts, the look and feel and even material parts of the online games that we have developed. In such instances, we have filed and may in the future from time to time file lawsuits for copyright infringement.

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The revenue models we adopt for our online games and other entertainment and services may not remain effective, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We currently operate substantially all of our online games using the virtual item-based revenue model, whereby players can play games for free, but they have the option to purchase virtual in-game items such as items that improve the strength of game character, in-game accessories and pets. We have generated, and expect to continue to generate, a substantial majority of our online games revenues using this revenue model. However, the virtual item-based revenue model requires us to develop or license online games that not only attract game players to spend more time playing, but also encourage them to purchase virtual items. The sale of virtual items requires us to track closely game players’ tastes and preferences, especially as to in-game consumption patterns. If we fail to develop or offer virtual items which game players purchase, we may not be able to effectively convert our game player base into paying users. In addition, the virtual item-based revenue model may raise additional concerns with PRC regulators that have been implementing regulations designed to reduce the amount of time that the Chinese youth spend playing online games and limit the total amount of virtual currency issued by online game operators and the amount purchased by an individual game player. A revenue model that does not charge for playing time may be viewed by the PRC regulators as inconsistent with this goal. Furthermore, we may change the revenue model for some of our online games if we believe the existing revenue models are not optimal. We cannot assure you that the revenue model that we have adopted for any of our online games will continue to be suitable for that game, or that we will not in the future need to switch our revenue model or introduce a new revenue model for that game. A change in revenue model could result in various adverse consequences, including disruptions of our game operations, criticism from game players who have invested time and money in a game and would be adversely affected by such a change, decreases in the number of our game players or decreases in the revenues we generate from our online games.  Therefore, such changes in revenue models may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.  Further, there can be no assurance that the revenue models we have used in the PC-based versions of our services will be successful in their mobile counterparts, or that we will otherwise be able to design revenue models that successfully monetize our mobile user base.

The continuing and collaborative efforts of our senior management, key employees and highly skilled personnel are crucial to our success, and our business may be harmed if we were to lose their services.

Our success depends on the continuous effort and services of our experienced senior management team, in particular Mr. Joseph Chen, our founder, chairman and chief executive officer, and Mr. James Jian Liu, our executive director and our chief operating officer. If one or more of our executive officers or other key personnel are unable or unwilling to continue to provide us with their services, we may not be able to replace them easily or at all. Our business may be severely disrupted, our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected, and we may incur additional expenses to recruit, train and retain personnel. Competition for management and key personnel is intense and the pool of qualified candidates is limited. We may not be able to retain the services of our executive officers or key personnel, or attract and retain experienced executive officers or key personnel in the future. If any of our executive officers or key employees join a competitor or forms a competing company, we may lose advertiser customers, know-how and key professionals and staff members. Each of our executive officers and key employees has entered into an employment agreement with us, which contains non-competition provisions. However, if any dispute arises between us and our executive officers or key employees, these agreements may not be enforceable in China, where these executive officers and key employees reside, in light of uncertainties relating to China’s laws and legal system. See “—Risks Relating to Doing Business in China—Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could adversely affect us.”

Our performance and future success also depend on our ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain highly skilled personnel for all areas of our organization. Competition in the SNS, online games and social commerce industries for qualified employees, including technical personnel capable of designing mobile and cross-platform services and products, is intense, and if competition in these industries further intensifies, it may be more difficult for us to hire, motivate and retain highly skilled personnel. If we do not succeed in attracting additional highly skilled personnel or retaining or motivating our existing personnel, we may be unable to grow effectively or at all.

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The performance of our investments, which include currency deposits and equity interests in companies and funds that are not our affiliates, could materially affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Historically, we have held large cash balances in currencies other than U.S. dollars, including Japanese Yen and Renminbi. We also held dual currency deposits in U.S. dollars and Japanese Yen. Fluctuations in exchange rates and changes in the investment environment can affect market prices and the income from our deposits and other investments. We have in the past suffered substantial losses as a result of these deposits and other investments. We had an exchange loss of US$12.9 million on dual currency deposits in 2008, which primarily related to dual currency deposits in U.S. dollars and Australian dollars. We may in the future suffer substantial losses as a result of these deposits and other investments, which may materially affect our financial condition and results of operations. For a detailed discussion of our exposure to fluctuations in the value of the Renminbi against the U.S. dollar, see “—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Fluctuations in exchange rates may have a material adverse effect on your investment” and for a discussion of our foreign exchange risk in general, see “Item 11—Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk—Foreign Exchange Risk.”

We also hold marketable securities, including equity investments in corporations and funds that we do not control. If these investments perform poorly, we may suffer substantial losses, which could materially affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We have granted, and may continue to grant, share options under our equity incentive plans, which may result in increased share-based compensation expenses.

We have adopted four equity incentive plans, on February 27, 2006, January 31, 2008, October 15, 2009 and April 14, 2011. As of March 31, 2013, options to purchase a total of 76,549,353 ordinary shares of our company were outstanding. For the years ended December 31, 2010, 2011 and 2012, we recorded US$2.8 million, US$5.5 million and US$10.9 million, respectively, in share-based compensation expenses. As of December 31, 2012, we had US$36.2 million of unrecognized share-based compensation expenses relating to share options, which are expected to be recognized over a weighted average vesting period of 2.74 years. We believe the granting of share options is of significant importance to our ability to attract and retain key personnel and employees, and we will continue to grant share options to employees in the future. As a result, our expenses associated with share-based compensation may increase, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

Our quarterly revenues and operating results may fluctuate, which makes our results of operations difficult to predict and may cause our quarterly results of operations to fall short of expectations.

Our quarterly revenues and operating results have fluctuated in the past and may continue to fluctuate depending upon a number of factors, many of which are out of our control. For these reasons, comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful, and you should not rely on our past results as an indication of our future performance. Our quarterly and annual revenues and costs and expenses as a percentage of our revenues may be significantly different from our historical or projected rates. Our operating results in future quarters may fall below expectations. Any of these events could cause the price of our ADSs to fall. Other factors that may affect our financial results include, among others:

·                  global economic conditions;

·                  our ability to enhance user experience and maintain and increase user traffic;

·                  the quality and the number of games we offer on our platform in a given quarter;

·                  our ability to attract and retain advertisers or recognize online advertising revenues in a given quarter;

·                  the growth of the social networking industry in China;

·                  our ability to monetize the mobile versions of our applications and services;

·                  commission rate trends in China’s social commerce industry;

·                  competition in our industry in China;

·                  changes in government policies or regulations, or their enforcement;

·                  geopolitical events or natural disasters such as war, threat of war, earthquake or epidemics; and

·                  decreases in earnings from, or impairment of, our equity investments.

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Our operating results tend to be seasonal and fluctuating. For instance, we typically have lower online advertising revenues during the first quarter of each year primarily due to the Chinese New Year holidays in that quarter, and we experienced a decline in our online advertising revenues in the fourth quarter of 2010, 2011 and 2012. In addition, advertising spending in China has historically been cyclical, reflecting overall economic conditions as well as the budgeting and buying patterns of our customers.

Our business is sensitive to global economic conditions. A severe or prolonged downturn in the global or Chinese economy could materially and adversely affect our business and our financial condition.

The global financial markets experienced significant disruptions in 2008 and the United States, Europe and other economies went into recession. The recovery from the lows of 2008 and 2009 was uneven and is facing new challenges, including the escalation of the European sovereign debt crisis since 2011 and the slowdown of the Chinese economy in 2012. It is unclear whether the European sovereign debt crisis will be contained and whether the Chinese economy will resume its high growth rate. There is considerable uncertainty over the long-term effects of the expansionary monetary and fiscal policies that have been adopted by the central banks and financial authorities of some of the world’s leading economies, including China’s. There have also been concerns over unrest in the Middle East and Africa, which have resulted in volatility in oil and other markets, and over the possibility of a war involving Iran. There have also been concerns about the economic effect of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan and tensions in the relationship between China and Japan.

Economic conditions in China are sensitive to global economic conditions.  As the advertising industry is particularly sensitive to economic downturns, our business and prospects have been, and will continue to be, be affected by the PRC and global macroeconomic environments. Any prolonged slowdown in the global or Chinese economy may have a negative impact on our on our online advertising and other services, results of operations and financial condition, and continued turbulence in the international markets may adversely affect our ability to access the capital markets to meet liquidity needs.

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

Prior to our initial public offering in May 2011, we were a private company with limited accounting personnel and other resources for addressing our internal control over financial reporting. In preparing our consolidated financial statements for the three years in the period ended December 31, 2010 included in our registration statement on Form F-1 filed in connection with our initial public offering, we identified one “material weakness” in our internal control over financial reporting as defined in the standards established by the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Standard, or PCAOB. The material weakness identified related to insufficient accounting personnel with appropriate U.S. GAAP knowledge. In connection with the preparation of our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2011, we concluded that, as of December 31, 2011, the previously identified and disclosed material weakness still existed and that the material weakness had expanded to include insufficient financial reporting personnel with appropriate SEC financial reporting knowledge. As more fully described in “Item 15. Controls and Procedures”, we took measures to remediate the material weakness. In connection with the preparation of our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2012 included in this annual report, we concluded that, as of December 31, 2012, the aforementioned material weakness had been remediated. For the year ended December 31, 2011, we also identified a significant deficiency related to not having a formal policy for investment of our surplus cash and the management of our treasury function. And, during the process of preparing our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2012, a significant deficiency was identified related to the preparation and disclosure of segment reporting information.

If we fail to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in the future, we and our independent registered public accounting firm may not be able to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting at a reasonable assurance level. Failure to discover, address or correct any other control deficiencies in the future could result in inaccuracies in our financial statements and could also impair our ability to comply with applicable financial reporting requirements and related regulatory filings on a timely basis. Moreover, effective internal control over financial reporting is important to help prevent fraud. Failure to achieve and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could result in the loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which in turn could harm our business and negatively impact the market price of our ADSs.

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We have limited business insurance coverage.

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

The leasehold interests of some of our consolidated affiliated entities might not be fully protected by the terms of the relevant lease agreements due to defects in or the landlord’s failure to provide certain title documents with respect to some of our leased properties.

As of March 31, 2013, our consolidated affiliated entities leased properties in China covering a total floor area of approximately 57,534 square meters, primarily for use as offices. All such properties are leased from independent third parties. In respect of approximately 24,344 square meters of these properties, the lessors either do not have or have failed to provide proper title documents. In the event of a dispute related to the legal title of any of these properties, our consolidated affiliated entities could be compelled to vacate the properties on short notice and relocate to different facilities. As a result, the operations of our consolidated affiliated entities could be adversely affected if the aforementioned relocation(s) could not be completed efficiently and in a timely manner.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure and the Regulation of our Business

If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating our services in China do not comply with PRC governmental restrictions on foreign investment in internet businesses, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations 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 place certain restrictions on foreign ownership of companies that engage in internet businesses, including the provision of social networking services, online advertising services, online game services and online video services. Specifically, foreign ownership of internet service providers or other value-added telecommunication service providers may not exceed 50%. In addition, according to the Several Opinions on the Introduction of Foreign Investment in the Cultural Industry promulgated by the Ministry of Culture, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, or the SARFT, the General Administration of Press and Publication, or the GAPP, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce in June 2005, foreign investors are prohibited from investing in or operating any internet cultural operating entities.

We conduct our operations in China principally through three sets of contractual arrangements.  The first set of contractual arrangements is among our wholly owned PRC subsidiary, Qianxiang Shiji Technology Development (Beijing) Co., Ltd., or Qianxiang Shiji, and its consolidated affiliated entity, Beijing Qianxiang Tiancheng Technology Development Co., Ltd., or Qianxiang Tiancheng, and Qianxiang Tiancheng’s shareholders.  Qianxiang Tiancheng’s wholly owned subsidiaries include Beijing Qianxiang Wangjing Technology Development Co., Ltd., or Qianxiang Wangjing, Shanghai Qianxiang Changda Internet Information Technology Development Co., Ltd., or Qianxiang Changda, and Beijing Nuomi Wang Technology Development Co., Ltd., or Beijing Nuomi. Qianxiang Wangjing is the operator of our renren.com website and holds the licenses and permits necessary to conduct our SNS, online advertising and online games business in China (other than in Shanghai Municipality), Qianxiang Changda is an online advertising company that holds the licenses and permits necessary to conduct our SNS services in China, and Beijing Nuomi is the operator of our nuomi.com website and holds the licenses and permits that we believe are necessary to conduct our social commerce business in China.

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The second set of contractual arrangements is among our wholly owned PRC subsidiary, Beijing Wole Information Technology Co., Ltd., or Wole Technology, and Wole Technology’s consolidated affiliated entity, Guangzhou Qianjun Internet Technology Co., Ltd., or Qianjun Technology, and its shareholders. Qianjun Technology is the operator of our 56.com website and holds the licenses and permits necessary to conduct our online video services in China. Beijing Wole Shijie Information Technology Co., Ltd., or Wole Shijie, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qianjun Technology and is the operator of our quanquan.net website.

The third set of contractual arrangements is among our wholly owned PRC subsidiary, Renren Games Network Technology Development (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., or Renren Network, and its consolidated affiliated entity, Shanghai Renren Games Technology Development Co., Ltd., or Renren Games, and Renren Games’s shareholders. Renren Games is the operator of our online games website and holds the licenses and permits necessary to conduct our online game services in China. Suzhou Sijifeng Internet Information Technology Development Co., Ltd., or Suzhou Sijifeng, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Renren Games and is the developer and provider of designs and other games-related technologies for Renren Games.

Our contractual arrangements with Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianjun Technology, Renren Games and their respective shareholders enable us to exercise effective control over Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianjun Technology, Renren Games and their respective subsidiaries, and hence we treat Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianjun Technology, Renren Games and their respective subsidiaries as our consolidated affiliated entities and consolidate their results. For a detailed discussion of these contractual arrangements, see “Item 4.C—Information on the Company—Organizational Structure—Contractual Arrangements with Our Consolidated Affiliated Entities.”

On September 28, 2009, the GAPP, together with the National Copyright Administration and the National Office of Combating Pornography and Illegal Publications, jointly issued a Notice on Further Strengthening the Administration of Pre-examination and Approval of Online Games and the Examination and Approval of Imported Online Games, or the GAPP Notice. The GAPP Notice restates that foreign investors are not permitted to invest in online game-operating businesses in China via wholly owned, equity joint venture or cooperative joint venture investments and expressly prohibits foreign investors from gaining control over or participating in domestic online game operators through indirect ways such as establishing other joint venture companies or contractual or technical arrangements. However, the GAPP Notice does not provide any interpretation of the term “foreign investors” or make a distinction between foreign online game companies and companies with a corporate structure similar to ours (including those listed Chinese internet companies that focus on online game operation). Thus, it is unclear whether the GAPP will deem our corporate structure and operations to be in violation of these provisions.

Based on the advice of TransAsia Lawyers, our PRC legal counsel, the corporate structure of our consolidated affiliated entities and our subsidiaries in China comply with all existing PRC laws and regulations. However, as there are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of PRC laws and regulations (including the MIIT Notice and the GAPP Notice described above), we cannot assure you that the PRC government would agree that our corporate structure or any of the above contractual arrangements comply with PRC licensing, registration or other regulatory requirements, with existing policies or with requirements or policies that may be adopted in the future. PRC laws and regulations governing the validity of these contractual arrangements are uncertain and the relevant government authorities have broad discretion in interpreting these laws and regulations. If the PRC government determines that we do not comply with applicable laws and regulations, it could:

·                  revoke the business and operating licenses of our subsidiaries, our consolidated affiliated entities and their subsidiaries;

·                  discontinue or restrict any related-party transactions among our subsidiaries, our consolidated affiliated entities and their subsidiaries;

·                  impose fines on us or impose additional conditions or requirements on us with which we may not be able to comply;

·                  require us to revise our ownership structure or restructure our operations; and

·                  restrict or prohibit our use of the proceeds of any additional public offering to finance our business and operations in China.

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The imposition of any of these penalties may result in a material and adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business. If any of these penalties results in our inability to direct the activities of our consolidated affiliated entities and the subsidiaries that most significantly impact their economic performance, or results in our failure to receive the economic benefits from our consolidated affiliated entities and their subsidiaries, we may not be able to consolidate the consolidated affiliated entities and their subsidiaries in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP. In the fiscal years ended December 31, 2010, 2011 and 2012, our consolidated affiliated entities and their subsidiaries contributed in the aggregate 100%, 99.5% and 99.2%, respectively, of our consolidated net revenues.

We rely on contractual arrangements with consolidated affiliated entities for our China operations, which may not be as effective in providing operational control as direct ownership. Any failure by our affiliated entities or their respective shareholders to perform their obligations under our contractual arrangements with them would have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

We have relied and expect to continue to rely on contractual arrangements with our affiliated entities to operate our businesses in China. For a description of these contractual arrangements, see “Item 4.C—Information on the Company—Organizational Structure—Contractual Arrangements with Our Consolidated Affiliated Entities.” These contractual arrangements may not be as effective in providing us with control over these affiliated entities as direct ownership. If we had direct ownership of our consolidated affiliated entities, we would be able to exercise our rights as a shareholder to effect changes in the board of directors of each of these entities, which in turn could effect changes, subject to any applicable fiduciary obligations, at the management level. However, under the current contractual arrangements, we rely on the performance by our consolidated affiliated entities and their respective shareholders of their obligations under their respective contracts to exercise control over our affiliated entities. Therefore, our contractual arrangements with our affiliated entities may not be as effective in ensuring our control over our China operations as direct ownership would be.

If our consolidated affiliated entities or their respective shareholders fail to perform their respective obligations under the contractual arrangements of which they are a party, we may have to incur substantial costs and resources to enforce our rights under the contracts, and rely on legal remedies under PRC law, including seeking specific performance or injunctive relief and claiming damages, which may not be effective. For example, if the shareholders of our consolidated affiliated entities were to refuse to transfer their equity interests in our consolidated affiliated entities to us or our designee when we exercise the call option pursuant to these contractual arrangements, or if they were otherwise to act in bad faith toward us, then we may have to take legal action to compel them to perform their respective contractual obligations.

All of these contractual arrangements are governed by PRC law and provide for the resolution of disputes through arbitration in the PRC. Accordingly, these contracts would be interpreted in accordance with PRC law and any disputes would be resolved in accordance with PRC legal procedures. The legal system in the PRC is not as developed as in other jurisdictions, such as the United States. As a result, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. Under PRC law, rulings by arbitrators are final, parties cannot appeal the arbitration results in courts, and the prevailing parties may only enforce the arbitration awards in PRC courts through arbitration award recognition proceedings, which would incur additional expenses and delay. In the event we are unable to enforce these contractual arrangements, we may not be able to exert effective control over our affiliated entities, and our ability to conduct our business may be severely and negatively affected.

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

Under PRC laws and regulations, arrangements and transactions between related parties may be subject to audit or challenge by the PRC tax authorities within ten years after the taxable year when the transactions are conducted. We could face material and adverse tax consequences if the PRC tax authorities determine that the contractual arrangements between our wholly owned subsidiaries in China and our consolidated affiliated entities in China do not represent arm’s-length prices and consequently adjust our consolidated affiliated entities’ income in the form of a transfer pricing adjustment. A transfer pricing adjustment could, among other things, result in a reduction of expense deductions recorded by our consolidated affiliated entities for PRC tax purposes, which could in turn increase their respective tax liabilities. In addition, the PRC tax authorities may impose late payment fees and other penalties on our consolidated affiliated entities for any unpaid taxes. Our consolidated net income may be materially and adversely affected if our affiliated entities’ tax liabilities increase or if they are subject to late payment fees or other penalties.

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The shareholders of our consolidated affiliated entities may have potential conflicts of interest with us, which may materially and adversely affect our business.

The shareholders of our consolidated affiliated entities include Ms. Jing Yang and Mr. James Jian Liu, who are the shareholders of Qianxiang Tiancheng, Mr. Sheng Liang and Ms. Juan Zhou, who are the shareholders of Qianjun Technology, and Mr. Chuan He and Mr. James Jian Liu, who are the shareholders of Renren Games. Ms. Yang is the wife of Mr. Joseph Chen, our founder, chairman and chief executive officer. Mr. Liu is our executive director and chief operating officer. Mr. Liang is an employee of our company. Ms. Zhou is a vice president of our company. Mr. He is our senior vice president for games.

Conflicts of interest may arise between the dual roles of Mr. Liu, Mr. Liang, Ms. Zhou and Mr. He as officers or employees of our company and as shareholders of our consolidated affiliated entities. Conflicts of interest may also arise between the interests of Ms. Yang as a shareholder of Qianxiang Tiancheng and as the wife of our founder and chief executive officer. Furthermore, if Ms. Yang experiences domestic conflict with Mr. Chen, she may have little or no incentive to act in the interest of our company, and she may not perform her obligations under the contractual arrangements she has entered into with Qianxiang Shiji.

Officers of our company owe a duty of loyalty and care to our company and to our shareholders as a whole under Cayman Islands law. We cannot assure you, however, that when conflicts arise, shareholders of our consolidated affiliated entities will act in the best interests of our company or that conflicts will be resolved in our favor. If we cannot resolve any conflicts of interest or disputes between us and these shareholders, we would have to rely on legal proceedings, which may be expensive, time-consuming and disruptive to our operations. There is also substantial uncertainty as to the outcome of any such legal proceedings.

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

We are a holding company, and we may rely on dividends and other distributions on equity to be paid by our wholly owned PRC subsidiaries, particularly Qianxiang Shiji, Wole Technology and Renren Network, for our cash and financing requirements, including the funds necessary to pay dividends and other cash distributions to our shareholders and service any debt we may incur. If our wholly owned PRC subsidiaries incur debt on their own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to us.

Under PRC laws and regulations, wholly foreign-owned enterprises in the PRC such as Qianxiang Shiji, Wole Technology and Renren Network may pay dividends only out of their accumulated profits as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. In addition, a wholly foreign-owned enterprises such as Qianxiang Shiji, Wole Technology and Renren Network are required to set aside at least 10% of their accumulated after-tax profits each year, if any, to fund certain statutory reserve funds, until the aggregate amount of such a fund reaches 50% of their registered capital. At their discretion, they may allocate a portion of their after-tax profits based on PRC accounting standards to staff welfare and bonus funds. These reserve funds and staff welfare and bonus funds are not distributable as cash dividends.

Any limitation on the ability of our wholly owned PRC subsidiaries to pay dividends or make other distributions to us could materially and adversely limit our ability to grow, make investments or acquisitions that could be beneficial to our business, pay dividends, or otherwise fund and conduct our business. See “—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Our global income and the dividends that we may receive from our PRC subsidiaries, dividends distributed to our non-PRC shareholders and ADS holders, and gain realized by such shareholders or ADS holders, may be subject to PRC taxes under the Enterprise Income Tax Law, which would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.”

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

We are an offshore holding company conducting our operations in China through our PRC subsidiaries and consolidated affiliated entities. We may make loans to our PRC subsidiaries and consolidated affiliated entities, or we may make additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries.

Any loans by us to our PRC subsidiaries, which are treated as foreign-invested enterprises under PRC law, are subject to PRC regulations and foreign exchange loan registrations. For example, loans by us to our wholly owned PRC subsidiaries to finance their activities cannot exceed statutory limits and must be registered with the local counterpart of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE. If we decide to finance our wholly owned PRC subsidiaries by means of capital contributions, these capital contributions must be approved by the Ministry of Commerce or its local counterpart. Due to the restrictions imposed on loans in foreign currencies extended to any PRC domestic companies, we are not likely to make such loans to our consolidated affiliated entities, which are PRC domestic companies. Further, we are not likely to finance the activities of our consolidated affiliated entities by means of capital contributions due to regulatory restrictions relating to foreign investment in PRC domestic enterprises engaged in social networking services, online advertising, online games, online video and related businesses.

On August 29, 2008, SAFE promulgated the Circular on the Relevant Operating Issues Concerning the Improvement of the Administration of the Payment and Settlement of Foreign Currency Capital of Foreign-Invested Enterprises, or SAFE Circular 142, regulating the conversion by a foreign-invested enterprise of foreign currency registered capital into RMB by restricting how the converted RMB may be used. SAFE Circular 142 provides that the RMB capital converted from foreign currency registered capital of a foreign-invested enterprise may only be used for purposes within the business scope approved by the applicable governmental authority and may not be used for equity investments within the PRC. In addition, SAFE strengthened its oversight of the flow and use of the RMB capital converted from foreign currency registered capital of a foreign-invested company. The use of such RMB capital may not be altered without SAFE approval, and such RMB capital may not in any case be used to repay RMB loans if the proceeds of such loans have not been used. Violations of SAFE Circular 142 could result in severe monetary or other penalties. Furthermore, SAFE promulgated a circular on November 19, 2010, known as Circular No. 59, which tightens the examination of the authenticity of settlement of net proceeds from our initial public offering and requires that the settlement of net proceeds shall be in accordance with the description in the prospectus included in our registration statement on Form F-1 (Registration No. 333-173548), which was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, in connection with our initial public offering.

In light of the various requirements imposed by PRC regulations on loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies, including SAFE Circular 142, we cannot assure you that we will be able to complete the necessary government registrations or obtain the necessary government approvals on a timely basis, if at all, with respect to future loans by us to our PRC subsidiaries or consolidated affiliated entities or with respect to future capital contributions by us to our PRC subsidiaries. If we fail to complete such registrations or obtain such approvals, our ability to use the proceeds we received from our initial public offering and to capitalize or otherwise fund our PRC operations may be negatively affected, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.

Changes in government policies or regulations may have material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our real name social networking services, online games and online video businesses are subject to strict government regulations in the PRC. Under the current PRC regulatory scheme, a number of regulatory agencies, including the MIIT, the Ministry of Culture, the GAPP, the SARFT and the State Council Information Office jointly regulate all major aspects of the internet industry, including the SNS, online game and online video industries. Operators must obtain various government approvals and licenses prior to the commencement of SNS, online game and online video operations, including an internet content provider license, or ICP license, an online culture operating permit, a value-added telecommunication services license, an internet publishing license and an internet audio/video program transmission license.

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We have obtained a value-added telecommunication service license, an ICP license, an online culture operating permit, and an online drug information license for online games and advertisements on our SNS website.  In addition, Qianxiang Changda has obtained an internet publishing license, permitting it to engage in internet game publication activities.  In connection with the corporate restructuring of our online games business, which was completed in March 2013, we have obtained an online culture operating permit and an ICP license for the online games business. We have filed with the GAPP and the Ministry of Culture certain online games that we developed and the imported games available on our SNS website, and will continue to make such filings for these types of games. However, we cannot assure you that our understanding of the applicability and scope of such filings and filing requirements is correct, as the interpretation and enforcement of the applicable laws and regulations by the GAPP and the Ministry of Culture are still evolving. If our current practices are challenged by the GAPP and any of our online games fail to be examined and filed by relevant authorities or are found to be in violation of applicable laws, we may be subject to various penalties, including fines and the discontinuation of or restrictions on our operations. We have obtained an ICP license for the social commerce services provided on our social commerce services website, nuomi.com. We have obtained an ICP license, internet audio/video program transmission license, online culture operating permit, internet drug information service permit, and a permit for radio and television program production and operation on our online video website, 56.com.

If the PRC government promulgates new laws and regulations that require additional licenses or imposes additional restrictions on the operation of SNS, online games, social commerce, online video and/or other services we plan to launch, to the extent we may not be able to obtain these licenses, our results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. In addition, the PRC government may promulgate regulations restricting the types and content of advertisements that may be transmitted online, which could have a direct adverse impact on our business.

Currently there is no law or regulation specifically governing virtual asset property rights and therefore it is not clear what liabilities, if any, online game operators may have for virtual assets.

In the course of playing online games, some virtual assets, such as special equipment and other accessories, are acquired and accumulated. Such virtual assets can be important to online game players and have monetary value and in some cases are sold among players for actual money. In practice, virtual assets can be lost for various reasons, often through unauthorized use of the game account of one user by other users and occasionally through data loss caused by a delay of network service, a network crash or hacking activities. Currently, there is no PRC law or regulation specifically governing virtual asset property rights. As a result, there is uncertainty as to who is the legal owner of virtual assets, whether and how the ownership of virtual assets is protected by law, and whether an operator of online games such as us would have any liability to game players or other interested parties (whether in contract, tort or otherwise) for loss of such virtual assets. In case of a loss of virtual assets, we may be sued by our game players and held liable for damages, which may negatively affect our reputation and business, financial condition and results of operations.

Based on recent PRC court judgments, the courts have typically held online game operators liable for losses of virtual assets by game players, and in some cases have allowed online game operators to return the lost virtual items to game players in lieu of paying damages.

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

The issuance and use of “virtual currency” in the PRC has been regulated since 2007 in response to the growth of the online games industry in China. In January 2007, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Culture, the MIIT and the GAPP jointly issued a circular regarding online gambling which has implications for the use of virtual currency. To curtail online games that involve online gambling, as well as address concerns that virtual currency could be used for money laundering or illicit trade, the circular (i) prohibits online game operators from charging commissions in the form of virtual currency in relation to winning or losing of games; (ii) requires online game operators to impose limits on use of virtual currency in guessing and betting games; (iii) bans the conversion of virtual currency into real currency or property; and (iv) prohibits services that enable game players to transfer virtual currency to other players. In February 2007, 14 PRC regulatory authorities jointly promulgated a circular to further strengthen the oversight of internet cafes and online games.

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On June 4, 2009, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the Notice on the Strengthening of Administration on Online Game Virtual Currency, or the Virtual Currency Notice, regarding strengthening the administration of online game virtual currency. The Ministry of Culture issued the Interim Measures for Online Game Administration, effective August 1, 2010, which provide, among other things, that virtual currency issued by online game operators may be only used to exchange its own online game products and services and may not be used to pay for the products and services of other entities.

We issue virtual currency to game players for them to purchase various virtual items or time units to be used in our online games. We have adjusted the content of our online games, but we cannot assure you that our adjustments will be sufficient to comply with the Virtual Currency Notice.  Moreover, although we believe we do not offer online game virtual currency transaction services, we cannot assure you that the PRC regulatory authorities will not take a view contrary to ours. For example, certain virtual items we issue to users based on in-game milestones they achieve or time spent playing games are transferable and exchangeable for our virtual currency or the other virtual items we issue to users. If the PRC regulatory authorities deem such transfer or exchange to be a virtual currency transaction, then in addition to being deemed to be engaged in the issuance of virtual currency, we may also be deemed to be providing transaction platform services that enable the trading of such virtual currency. Simultaneously engaging in both of these activities is prohibited under the Virtual Currency Notice. In that event, we may be required to cease either our virtual currency issuance activities or such deemed “transaction service” activities and may be subject to certain penalties, including mandatory corrective measures and fines. The occurrence of any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

In addition, the Virtual Currency Notice prohibits online game operators from setting game features that involve the direct payment of cash or virtual currency by players for the chance to win virtual items or virtual currency based on random selection through a lucky draw, wager or lottery. The notice also prohibits game operators from issuing currency to game players through means other than purchases with legal currency. It is unclear whether these restrictions would apply to certain aspects of our online games. Although we believe that we do not engage in any of the above-mentioned prohibited activities, we cannot assure you that the PRC regulatory authorities will not take a view contrary to ours and deem such feature as prohibited by the Virtual Currency Notice, thereby subjecting us to penalties, including mandatory corrective measures and fines. The occurrence of any of the foregoing could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

If we are required to pay U.S. taxes, the value of your investment in our company could be substantially reduced.

If, pursuant to a plan or a series of related transactions, a non-United States corporation, such as our company, acquires substantially all of the assets of a United States corporation, and after the acquisition 80% or more of the stock, by vote or value, of the non-United States corporation, excluding stock issued in a public offering related to the acquisition, is owned by former shareholders of the United States corporation by reason of their ownership of the United States corporation, the non-United States corporation will be considered a United States corporation for United States federal income tax purposes. Based on our analysis of the facts related to our corporate restructuring in 2005 and 2006, we do not believe that we should be treated as a United States corporation for United States federal income tax purposes. However, as there is no direct authority on how the relevant rules of the Internal Revenue Code might apply to us, our company’s conclusion is not free from doubt. Therefore, our conclusion may be challenged by the United States tax authorities and a finding that we owe additional United States taxes could substantially reduce the value of your investment in our company. You are urged to consult your tax advisor concerning the income tax consequences of purchasing, holding or disposing of ADSs or ordinary shares if we were to be treated as a United States domestic corporation for United States federal income tax purposes.

Our operations may be adversely affected by the implementation of anti-fatigue-related regulations.

The PRC government may decide to adopt more stringent policies to monitor the online games industry as a result of adverse public reaction to perceived addiction to online games, particularly by minors. On April 15, 2007, eight PRC government authorities, including the GAPP, the Ministry of Education and the MIIT issued a notice requiring all Chinese online game operators to adopt an “anti-fatigue system” in an effort to curb addiction to online games by minors. Under the anti-fatigue system, three hours or less of continuous play is defined to be “healthy,” three to five hours is defined to be “fatiguing,” and five hours or more is defined to be “unhealthy.” Online games operators are required to reduce the value of game benefits for minor game players by half when those game players reach the “fatigue” level, and to zero when they reach the “unhealthy” level. In addition, online game players in China are now required to register their identity card numbers before they can play an online game. This system allows game operators to identify which game players are minors. On July 1, 2011, the GAPP, the MIIT, the Ministry of Education and five other governmental authorities issued a Notice on Initializing the Verification of Real-name Registration for Anti-Fatigue System on Internet Games, or the Real-name Registration Notice, which took effect on October 1, 2011, to strengthen the implementation of the anti-fatigue system and real-name registration. The Real-name Registration Notice’s main focus is to prevent minors from using an adult’s ID to play internet games and, accordingly, the Real-name Registration Notice imposes stringent punishments on online game operators that do not implement the required anti-fatigue and real-name registration measures properly and effectively. These restrictions could limit our ability to increase our online games business among minors. Furthermore, if these restrictions were expanded to apply to adult game players in the future, our online games business could be materially and adversely affected.

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Risks Related to Doing Business in China

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

Substantially all of our assets and operations are located in China. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be influenced to a significant degree by political, economic and social conditions in China generally and by continued economic growth in China as a whole.

The Chinese economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including the level of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources. Although the PRC government has implemented measures since the late 1970s emphasizing the utilization of market forces for economic reform, the reduction of state ownership of productive assets, and the establishment of improved corporate governance in business enterprises, a substantial portion of productive assets in China is still owned by the PRC government. In addition, the PRC government continues to play a significant role in regulating industry development by imposing industrial policies. The PRC government also exercises significant control over China’s economic growth through allocating resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy, and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies.

While the Chinese economy has experienced significant growth over the past decades, growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. The PRC government has implemented various measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures may benefit the overall Chinese economy, but may have a negative effect on us. For example, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations. In addition, in the past few years, the PRC government has implemented certain measures, including interest rate increases, to control the pace of economic growth. These measures may cause decreased economic activity in China, which may adversely affect our business and operating results.

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

We conduct our business primarily through our PRC subsidiaries and consolidated affiliated entities in China. Our operations in China are governed by PRC laws and regulations. Our PRC subsidiaries are foreign-invested enterprises and are subject to laws and regulations applicable to foreign investment in China and, in particular, laws applicable to foreign-invested enterprises. 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 we enjoy. For example, China enacted an Anti-Monopoly Law that became effective on August 1, 2008. Because the Anti-Monopoly Law and related regulations have been in effect for only a few years, there have been very few court rulings or judicial or administrative interpretations on certain key concepts used in the law. As a result, there is uncertainty how the enforcement and interpretation of the new Anti-Monopoly Law may affect our business and operations.

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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, 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. In addition, any administrative and court proceedings in China may be protracted, resulting in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention.

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

The PRC government extensively regulates the internet industry, including foreign ownership of, and the licensing and permit requirements pertaining to, companies in the internet industry. These internet-related laws and regulations are relatively new and evolving, and their interpretation and enforcement involve significant uncertainty. As a result, in certain circumstances it may be difficult to determine what actions or omissions may be deemed to be violations of applicable laws and regulations. Issues, risks and uncertainties relating to PRC government regulation of the internet industry include, but are not limited to, the following:

·                  We only have contractual control over our websites. We do not own the websites due to the restriction of foreign investment in businesses providing value-added telecommunication services in China, including internet content provision services. This may significantly disrupt our business, subject us to sanctions, compromise enforceability of related contractual arrangements, or have other harmful effects on us.

·                  There are uncertainties relating to the regulation of the internet industry in China, including evolving licensing practices. This means that permits, licenses or operations at some of our companies may be subject to challenge, or we have failed to obtain permits or licenses that applicable regulators may deem necessary for our operations or we may not be able to obtain or renew certain permits or licenses to maintain their validity. The major permits and licenses that could be involved include the ICP license, the online culture operating permit, the value-added telecommunication services operation permit, the internet publishing license and the internet audio/video program transmission license.

·                  New laws and regulations may be promulgated that will regulate internet activities, including social networking services, online games, online advertising and online video businesses. If these new laws and regulations are promulgated, additional licenses may be required for our operations. If our operations do not comply with these new regulations at the time they become effective, or if we fail to obtain any licenses required under these new laws and regulations, we could be subject to penalties.

On July 13, 2006, the MIIT, the predecessor of which is the Ministry of Information Industry, issued the Notice of the Ministry of Information Industry on Intensifying the Administration of Foreign Investment in Value-added Telecommunications Services. This notice prohibits domestic telecommunication 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. According to this notice, either the holder of a value-added telecommunication services operation permit or its shareholders must directly own the domain names and trademarks used by such license holders in their provision of value-added telecommunication services. The notice also 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. Currently, our PRC consolidated affiliated entities own the related domain names and trademarks and hold the ICP licenses necessary to conduct our operations for websites in China.

The interpretation and application of existing PRC laws, regulations and policies and possible new laws, regulations or policies relating to the internet industry have created substantial uncertainties regarding the legality of existing and future foreign investments in, and the businesses and activities of, internet businesses in China, including our business. 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. There are also risks that we may be found to violate the existing or future laws and regulations given the uncertainty and complexity of China’s regulation of the internet industry.

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

Substantially all of our revenues and costs are denominated in RMB. The value of the RMB against the U.S. dollar and other currencies is affected by, among other things, changes in China’s political and economic conditions and China’s foreign exchange policies. The conversion of Renminbi into foreign currencies, including U.S. dollars, is based on rates set by the People’s Bank of China. The PRC government allowed the Renminbi to appreciate by more than 20% against the U.S. dollar between July 2005 and July 2008. Between July 2008 and June 2010, this appreciation was halted and the exchange rate between the Renminbi and the U.S. dollar remained within a narrow band.  Since June 2010, the PRC government has allowed the Renminbi to appreciate slowly against the U.S. dollar again, though there have been periods when the U.S. dollar has appreciated against the Renminbi as well.  It is difficult to predict how market forces or PRC or U.S. government policy may impact the exchange rate between the Renminbi and the U.S. dollar in the future.

There remains significant international pressure on the PRC government to adopt a substantial liberalization of its currency policy, which could result in further appreciation in the value of the RMB against the U.S. dollar. To the extent that we need to convert U.S. dollars into RMB for capital expenditures and working capital and other business purposes, 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 RMB into U.S. dollars for the purpose of making payments for dividends on our ordinary shares or ADSs, strategic acquisitions or investments or 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.

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

Governmental control of currency conversion may limit our ability to utilize our revenues effectively and affect the value of your investment.

The PRC government imposes controls on the convertibility of the RMB into foreign currencies and, in certain cases, the remittance of currency out of China. We receive substantially all of our revenues in RMB. 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 by complying with certain procedural requirements. Therefore, Qianxiang Shiji, Wole Technology and Renren Network are able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to us without prior approval from SAFE. However, approval from or registration with appropriate government authorities is required where 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 also 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.

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

Six PRC regulatory agencies promulgated regulations effective on September 8, 2006 that are commonly referred to as the M&A Rules. The M&A Rules establish procedures and requirements that could make some acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors more time-consuming and complex, including 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 Chinese domestic enterprise. We may expand our business in part by acquiring complementary businesses, as we had done in the acquisition of 56.com in October 2011. Complying with the requirements of the M&A Rules to complete such transactions could be time-consuming, and any required approval processes, including obtaining 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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Certain regulations in the PRC may make it more difficult for us to pursue growth through acquisitions.

The Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Companies by Foreign Investors, which became effective in September 2006 and was amended in June 2009, established additional procedures and requirements that could make merger and acquisition activities by foreign investors more time-consuming and complex. This regulation requires, among other things, 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 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 in August 2008, are triggered.  According to the Implementing Rules Concerning Security Review on the Mergers and Acquisitions by Foreign Investors of Domestic Enterprises issued by the Ministry of Commerce in August 2011, mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors involved in an industry related to national security are subject to strict review by the Ministry of Commerce. These rules also prohibit any transactions attempting to bypass such security review, including by controlling entities through contractual arrangements. We believe that our business is not in an industry related to national security. However, we cannot assure you that the Ministry of Culture or other government agencies will not publish interpretations contrary to our understanding or broaden the scope of such security review in the future.

We may grow our business in part by directly acquiring complementary businesses in China. Complying with the requirements of these regulations to complete such transactions could be time-consuming, and any required approval processes, including obtaining 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.

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

SAFE has promulgated several regulations, including the Notice on Issues Relating to the Administration of Foreign Exchange in Fund-Raising and Round-trip Investment Activities of Domestic Residents Conducted via Offshore Special Purpose Companies, or SAFE Circular 75, issued on November 1, 2005. To further clarify and simplify the implementation of SAFE Circular 75, SAFE issued Implementing Rules Relating to the Administration of Foreign Exchange in Fund-Raising and Round-trip Investment Activities of Domestic Residents Conducted via Offshore Special Purpose Companies, or SAFE Circular 19 on May 20, 2011, which came into effect on July 1, 2011. These regulations require PRC residents and PRC corporate entities to register with local branches of SAFE in connection with their direct or indirect offshore investment activities. These regulations apply to our shareholders who are PRC residents by virtue of their establishment or their maintaining a controlling interest in our company, and may apply to any offshore acquisitions that we make in the future.

Mr. Joseph Chen, our founder, chairman and chief executive officer, is not a PRC citizen, but resides in China and has established and maintains a major shareholding in our company. Based on our oral inquiry with the relevant local branch of SAFE, the requirements for registration under SAFE Circular 75 are not applicable to Mr. Chen.

Mr. James Jian Liu, our executive director and chief operating officer, and a few other senior management personnel of our company, all of whom are PRC residents, became shareholders of our company as a result of the exercise of employee share options. Based on our inquiry with the relevant local branch of SAFE, any application to such local SAFE branch with respect to the registration of Mr. Liu and the other PRC resident shareholders’ holdings of shares in our offshore holding company under SAFE Circular 75 and related rules will not be officially accepted or examined because they became shareholders of our offshore holding company as a result of their exercise of employee share options.

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However, we cannot conclude that SAFE or its local branch responsible for our PRC subsidiary’s foreign exchange registrations will not later alter their position on and interpretation of the applicability of these foreign exchange regulations to Mr. Chen, Mr. Liu or the other PRC resident shareholders of our company. In the event that the registration procedures set forth in these foreign exchange regulations becomes applicable to Mr. Chen, Mr. Liu or any of the PRC resident shareholders of our company, we will urge these individuals to file necessary registrations and amendments as required under SAFE Circular 75 and related rules. However, we cannot assure you that all of these individuals can successfully file or update any applicable registration or obtain the necessary approval required by these foreign exchange regulations.  We can provide no assurance that we will in the future continue to be informed of the identities of all PRC residents holding direct or indirect interests in our company. The failure or inability of such individuals to comply with the registration procedures set forth in these regulations may subject us to fines or legal sanctions, restrictions on our cross-border investment activities or our PRC subsidiary’s ability to distribute dividends to, or obtain foreign-exchange-dominated loans from, our company, or prevent us from making distributions or paying dividends. As a result, our business operations and our ability to make distributions to you could be materially and adversely affected.

Furthermore, as these foreign exchange regulations are still relatively new and their interpretation and implementation has been constantly evolving, it is unclear how these regulations, and any future regulation concerning offshore or cross-border transactions, will be interpreted, amended and implemented by the relevant government authorities. We cannot predict how these regulations will affect our business operations or future strategy. In addition, if we decide to acquire a PRC domestic company, we cannot assure you that we or the owners of such company, as the case may be, will be able to obtain the necessary approvals or complete the necessary filings and registrations required by the foreign exchange regulations. This may restrict our ability to implement our acquisition strategy and could adversely affect our business and prospects.

Any lack of requisite permits for any of our online video content may expose us to regulatory sanctions.

In 2009, SARFT released a Notice on Strengthening the Administration of Online Audio/Video Content, or the SARFT Notice. The SARFT Notice reiterated, among other things, that all movies and television shows released or published online must be in compliance with applicable regulations concerning the administration of radio, film and television. In particular, movies and television shows, whether produced in the PRC or overseas, must be pre-approved by SARFT prior to their release, and distributors of such movies and television shows must obtain an applicable permit prior to their release.

We rely on written representations from the content providers regarding the SARFT approval status of the content licensed to us. Under our content licensing agreements, the content providers generally represent and warrant that (i) they have obtained required approvals and all required permits under applicable laws with respect to the content that they provide and (ii) the content itself, as well as the authorization or rights granted to us, neither breach any applicable laws or regulations nor impair any third party rights.  In the event such approvals and permits are not obtained, applicable laws or regulations are breached or third party rights are impaired, we maintain the right to delete such content without any notification to the content providers.  Further, if the content providers breach the contract in such a way that the contract can no longer be performed, we maintain the right to terminate the contract and, under the contract, the content providers is required to indemnify us for any actual loss resulting from such breach.

However, we cannot guarantee that the remedies provided under these contracts will be sufficient to compensate us for potential regulatory sanctions imposed by SARFT due to violations of the approval and permit requirements, nor can we ensure that any such sanctions will not adversely affect either the general availability of video content on our website or our reputation. In addition, such risks may persist due to ambiguities and uncertainties relating to the implementation and enforcement of the SARFT Notice.

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

In December 2006, the People’s Bank of China promulgated the Administrative Measures of Foreign Exchange Matters for Individuals, which set forth the respective requirements for foreign exchange transactions by individuals (both PRC or non-PRC citizens) under either the current account or the capital account. In January 2007, SAFE issued implementing rules for the Administrative Measures of Foreign Exchange Matters for Individuals, which, among other things, specified approval requirements for certain capital account transactions such as a PRC citizen’s participation in the employee share ownership plans or share option plans of an overseas publicly listed company. In March, 2007, SAFE promulgated the Application Procedures of Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in Employee Stock Ownership Plan or Stock Option Plan of Overseas-Listed Company, or the Stock Option Rules.

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In February 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, or the Stock Option Notice. This Stock Option Notice replaced the previous Stock Option Rules. The Stock Option Notice simplifies the requirements and procedures for the registration of stock incentive plan participants, especially in respect of the required application documents and the absence of strict requirements on offshore and onshore custodian banks, as were stipulated in the earlier Stock Option Rules.  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 share option exercises as PRC residents may not directly use oversea 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 merger or acquisition or changes to the domestic or overseas custodian agent, the domestic agent must update the registration with SAFE.

As our company became listed on the NYSE in May 2011, we and our PRC citizen employees who participate in an employee share ownership plan or a share option plan are subject to these regulations. If we or our PRC optionees fail to comply with these regulations, we or our PRC optionees may be subject to fines and other legal or administrative sanctions. See “Item 4.B—Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations on Employee Stock Options Plans.”

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

Pursuant to the Notice on Strengthening Administration of Enterprise Income Tax for Share Transfers by Non-PRC Resident Enterprises, or SAT Circular 698, issued by the State Administration of Taxation on December 10, 2009 with retroactive effect from January 1, 2008, where a non-resident enterprise transfers the equity interests of a PRC resident enterprise indirectly via disposing of the equity interests of an overseas holding company, or an Indirect Transfer, and such overseas holding company is located in a tax jurisdiction that: (i) has an effective tax rate less than 12.5% or (ii) does not tax foreign income of its residents, the non-resident enterprise, being the transferor, shall report to the relevant tax authority of the PRC resident enterprise this Indirect Transfer. Using a “substance over form” principle, the PRC tax authority may disregard the existence of the overseas holding company if it lacks a reasonable commercial purpose and was established for the purpose of reducing, avoiding or deferring PRC tax. As a result, gains derived from such Indirect Transfer may be subject to PRC withholding tax at a rate of up to 10%. SAT Circular 698 also provides that, where a non-PRC resident enterprise transfers its equity interests in a PRC resident enterprise to its related parties at a price lower than the fair market value, the relevant tax authority has the power to make a reasonable adjustment to the taxable income of the transaction.

There is uncertainty as to the application of SAT Circular 698. For example, while the term “Indirect Transfer” is not clearly defined, it is understood that the relevant PRC tax authorities have jurisdiction regarding requests for information over a wide range of foreign entities having no direct contact with China. Moreover, the relevant authority has not yet promulgated any formal provisions or formally declared or stated how to calculate the effective tax rates in foreign tax jurisdictions, and the process and format of the reporting of an Indirect Transfer to the relevant tax authority of the PRC resident enterprise. In addition, there are not any formal declarations with regard to how to determine whether a foreign investor has adopted an abusive arrangement in order to reduce, avoid or defer PRC tax. SAT Circular 698 may be determined by the tax authorities to be applicable to our private equity financing transactions where non-resident investors were involved, if any of such transactions were determined by the tax authorities to lack reasonable commercial purpose. As a result, we and our non-resident investors in such transactions may become at risk of being taxed under SAT Circular 698 and we may be required to expend valuable resources to comply with SAT Circular 698 or to establish that we should not be taxed under the general anti-avoidance rule of the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law, which may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations or such non-resident investors’ investments in us.

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

The Enterprise Income Tax Law applies a uniform statutory income tax rate of 25% to enterprises in China. The Enterprise Income Tax Law and the implementation rules promulgated under it provide that “software enterprises” enjoy an income tax exemption for two years beginning with their first profitable year and a 50% tax reduction to a rate of 12.5% for the subsequent three years. Qianxiang Wangjing has been qualified as a “software enterprise” by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Science and Technology and, accordingly, enjoyed an enterprise income tax rate of 0% for 2010, enjoyed a tax reduction of 50% for 2011 and 2012, and will enjoy a tax reduction of 50% for 2013. Qianxiang Changda has been qualified as a “software enterprise” by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Science and Technology and, accordingly, was exempt from enterprise income tax rate in 2011 and 2012, and will enjoy a tax reduction of 50% for 2013, 2014 and 2015.

There are uncertainties surrounding the interpretation and implementation of the Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementation rules.  We cannot assure you that the qualification of Qianxiang Wangjing or Qianxiang Changda as a “software enterprise” by the relevant tax authority will not be challenged in the future by their supervising authorities and be repealed, or that there will not be future implementation rules that are inconsistent with current interpretation of the Enterprise Income Tax Law. If the tax benefits that each of Qianxiang Wangjing and Qianxiang Changda enjoy as a “software enterprise” are revoked prior to expiration of its term, and we are otherwise unable to qualify Qianxiang Wangjing or Qianxiang Changda for other income tax exemptions or reductions, our effective income tax rate will be adversely affected. In addition, we may have to pay additional taxes to make up any previously unpaid tax. As a result, our results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Our global income and the dividends that we may receive from our PRC subsidiaries, dividends distributed to our non-PRC shareholders and ADS holders, and gain recognized by such shareholders or ADS holders, may be subject to PRC taxes under the Enterprise Income Tax Law, which would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Under the Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementation rules, both of which became effective on January 1, 2008, an enterprise established outside of the PRC with “de facto management bodies” within the PRC is considered a resident enterprise and will be subject to the enterprise income tax at the rate of 25% on its global income. The implementation rules define the term “de facto management bodies” as “establishments that carry out substantial and overall management and control over the manufacturing and business operations, personnel, accounting, properties, etc. of an enterprise.” The State Administration of Taxation issued the Notice Regarding the Determination of Chinese-Controlled Offshore Incorporated Enterprises as PRC Tax Resident Enterprises on the Basis of De Facto Management Bodies, or SAT Circular 82, on April 22, 2009. SAT Circular 82 provides certain specific criteria for determining whether the “de facto management body” of a Chinese-controlled offshore-incorporated enterprise is located in China. See “Item 4.B—Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations on Tax—PRC Enterprise Income Tax.” Although SAT Circular 82 only applies to offshore enterprises controlled by PRC enterprises, not those controlled by PRC individuals, the determining criteria set forth in Circular 82 may reflect the State Administration of Taxation’s general position on how the “de facto management body” test should be applied in determining the tax resident status of offshore enterprises, regardless of whether they are controlled by PRC enterprises or individuals. Although we do not believe that our legal entities organized outside of the PRC constitute PRC resident enterprises, it is possible that the PRC tax authorities could reach a different conclusion. In such case, we may be considered a resident enterprise and may therefore be subject to enterprise income tax at a rate of 25% on our global income. If we are considered a resident enterprise and earn income other than dividends from our PRC subsidiaries, a 25% enterprise income tax on our global income could significantly increase our tax burden and materially and adversely affect our cash flow and profitability.

Under the PRC enterprise income taxation law applicable to us prior to January 1, 2008, dividend payments to foreign investors made by foreign-invested enterprises in China, such as Qianxiang Shiji, Wole Technology and Renren Network, were exempt from PRC withholding tax. Pursuant to the Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementation rules, however, dividends generated after January 1, 2008 and payable by a foreign-invested enterprise in China to its foreign investors, which are non-PRC tax resident enterprises without an establishment in China, or whose income has no connection with their institutions and establishments inside China, are subject to withholding tax at a rate of 10%, unless any such foreign investor’s jurisdiction of incorporation has a tax treaty with China that provides for a different withholding arrangement. We are a Cayman Islands holding company and we conduct substantially all of our operations in China through contractual arrangements between our wholly owned PRC subsidiaries and our consolidated affiliated entities.  As long as our offshore holding companies are considered non-PRC resident enterprises, dividends that they respectively receive from our PRC subsidiaries may be subject to withholding tax at a rate of 10%. See “Item 4.B—Business Overview—Regulation—Regulations on Tax—Dividends Withholding Tax.”

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As uncertainties remain regarding the interpretation and implementation of the Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementation rules, we cannot assure you that if we are regarded as a PRC resident enterprise, any dividends to be distributed by us to our non-PRC shareholders and ADS holders would not be subject to any PRC withholding tax at a rate of up to 10%. Similarly, any gain recognized by such non-PRC shareholders or ADS holders on the sale of shares or ADSs, as applicable, may also be subject to PRC withholding tax. If we are required under the Enterprise Income Tax Law to withhold PRC income tax on our dividends payable to our non-PRC enterprise shareholders and ADS holders, or on gain recognized by such non-PRC shareholders or ADS holders, such investors’ investment in our ordinary shares or ADSs may be materially and adversely affected.

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

Our independent registered public accounting firm, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Certified Public Accountants LLP, as auditors of companies that are publicly traded in the United States and a firm registered with the PCAOB is required by the laws of the United States to undergo regular inspection by the PCAOB to assess its compliance with the laws of the United States and applicable professional standards. Since the PRC is a jurisdiction where the PCAOB is currently unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the PRC regulatory authorities, the operations in the PRC of our auditor, similar to the PRC operations of other independent registered public accounting firms, is not currently inspected by the PCAOB.

Inspections of other firms that the PCAOB has conducted outside the PRC have identified deficiencies in those firms’ audit procedures and quality control procedures, which may be addressed as part of the inspection process to improve future audit quality. This lack of PCAOB inspections in the PRC prevents the PCAOB from regularly evaluating our auditor’s audits and its quality control procedures. As a result, investors may be deprived of the benefits of the PCAOB inspections.

The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of auditors in China makes it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our auditor’s audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of the PRC that are subject to PCAOB inspections. Investors may lose confidence in our reported financial information and procedures and the quality of our financial statements.

We may be adversely affected by the outcome of the administrative proceedings brought by the SEC against five accounting firms in China.

Recently, the SEC commenced administrative proceedings under Rule 102(e) of its Rules of Practice and also under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 against the Chinese affiliates of five audit firms, including our auditors. The Rule 102(e) proceedings initiated by the SEC relate to these firms’ failure to produce documents, including audit workpapers, to the request of the SEC pursuant to Section 106 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as the auditors located in the PRC are not in a position lawfully to produce documents directly to the SEC because of restrictions under PRC law and specific directives issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. As the administrative proceedings are ongoing, it is impossible to determine their outcome or the consequences thereof to us. The issues raised by the proceedings are not specific to our auditors or to us, but affect equally all audit firms based in China and all China-based businesses with securities listed in the United States. However, if the administrative judge were to find in favor of the SEC under the proceeding and depending upon the remedies sought by the SEC, these audit firms could be barred from practicing before the SEC. As a result, listed companies in the United States with major PRC operations, including our company, may find it difficult or impossible to retain auditors in respect of their operations in the PRC, which may result in their delisting. Moreover, any negative news about the proceedings against these audit firms may erode investor confidence in China-based, United States listed companies and the market price of our ADSs may be adversely affected.

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Risks Related to Our ADSs

The market price for our ADSs has fluctuated and may continue to be volatile.

The market price for our ADSs has fluctuated significantly since we first listed our ADSs. Since our ADSs became listed on the NYSE on May 4, 2011, the closing prices of our ADSs have ranged from US$2.60 to US$18.01 per ADS, and the last reported trading price on April 22, 2013 was US$2.60 per ADS.

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

·                  regulatory developments in our industry affecting us, our advertisers or our competitors;

·                  announcements of studies and reports relating to the quality of our services or those of our competitors;

·                  changes in the economic performance or market valuations of other companies that provide SNS, online games, online advertising or social commerce services or other internet companies;

·                  actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly results of operations and changes or revisions of our expected results;

·                  changes in financial estimates by securities research analysts;

·                  conditions in the SNS, online game, online advertising and social commerce industries or the internet industry in general;

·                  announcements by us or our competitors of new services, acquisitions, strategic relationships, joint ventures or capital commitments;

·                  additions to or departures of our senior management;

·                  fluctuations of exchange rates between the RMB and the U.S. dollar; and

·                  sales or perceived potential sales of additional ordinary shares or ADSs.

In addition, the stock market in general, and the market prices for internet-related companies and companies with operations in China in particular, have experienced volatility that often has been unrelated to the operating performance of such companies. The securities of some China-based companies that have listed their securities in the United States have experienced significant volatility since their initial public offerings, including, in some cases, substantial price declines in the trading prices of their securities. 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, which consequently may impact the trading performance of our ADSs, regardless of our actual operating performance. In addition, any negative news or perceptions about inadequate corporate governance practices or fraudulent accounting, corporate structure or other matters of other Chinese companies may also negatively affect the attitudes of investors towards Chinese companies in general, including us, regardless of whether we have conducted any inappropriate activities.  Further, the global financial crisis and the ensuing economic recessions in many countries have contributed and may continue to contribute to extreme volatility in the global stock markets. These broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect operating performance. Volatility or a lack of positive performance in our ADS price may also adversely affect our ability to retain key employees, most of whom have been granted options or other equity incentives.

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.

We have a dual-class voting structure which consists of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Subject to certain exceptions, in respect of matters requiring the votes of shareholders, holders of Class A ordinary shares are entitled to one vote per share, while holders of Class B ordinary shares are entitled to ten votes per share. Each Class B ordinary share is convertible into one Class A ordinary share at any time by the holder thereof, while Class A ordinary shares are not convertible into Class B ordinary shares under any circumstances. Upon any transfer of Class B ordinary shares by a holder thereof to any person or entity which is not an affiliate of such holder, such Class B ordinary shares shall be automatically and immediately converted into the equal number of Class A ordinary shares.

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We issued Class A ordinary shares represented by our ADSs in our initial public offering in May 2011. Mr. Joseph Chen, our founder, chairman and chief executive officer and SB Pan Pacific Corporation are our only shareholders who hold Class B ordinary shares.  Due to the disparate voting powers attached to the two classes of ordinary shares, Mr. Chen and SB Pan Pacific Corporation beneficially own approximately 56.5% and 33.9%, respectively, of the aggregate voting power of our company as of March 31, 2013 and have controlling power over matters requiring shareholder approval, subject to certain exceptions. As between Mr. Chen and SB Pan Pacific Corporation, the approvals of SB Pan Pacific Corporation are required for certain important matters relating to our company. See “Item 10. Additional Information—B. Memorandum and Articles of Association—Ordinary Shares—Voting Rights.” 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.

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. 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 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.

Substantial future sales or perceived potential sales of our ADSs in the public market could cause the price of our ADSs to decline.

Sales of our ADSs or ordinary shares in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur, could cause the market price of our ADSs to decline. As of March 31, 2013, we have 1,136,397,903 ordinary shares outstanding, comprised of (i) 431,017,239 Class A ordinary shares represented by ADSs, which ADSs are freely transferable without restriction or additional registration under the Securities Act, (ii) 299,992,214 Class A ordinary shares not represented by ADSs, which are available for sale subject to volume and other restrictions as applicable under Rules 144 and 701 under the Securities Act, and (iii) 405,388,450 Class B ordinary shares which, following conversion to Class A ordinary shares by the holder of the Class B ordinary shares, are available for sale subject to volume and other restrictions as applicable under Rules 144 and 701 under the Securities Act.

Certain holders of our ordinary shares have the right to cause us to register under the Securities Act the sale of their shares. Registration of these shares under the Securities Act would result in ADSs representing these shares becoming freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act immediately upon the effectiveness of the registration. Sales of these registered shares in the form of ADSs in the public market could cause the price of our ADSs to decline.

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You may not have the same voting rights as the holders of our ordinary shares and may not receive voting materials in time to be able to exercise your right to vote.

Except as described in this annual report and in the deposit agreement, dated as of May 4, 2011, by and among our company, Citibank, N.A., as depositary, and the holders and beneficial owners of American depositary shares, holders of our ADSs will not be able to exercise voting rights attaching to the Class A ordinary shares represented by our ADSs on an individual basis. Holders of our ADSs will appoint the depositary or its nominee as their representative to exercise the voting rights attaching to the Class A ordinary shares represented by the ADSs. Upon receipt of your voting instructions, the depositary will vote the underlying Class A ordinary shares in accordance with these instructions.

Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we may convene a shareholders’ meeting upon seven (7) calendar days’ notice. If we give timely notice to the depositary under the terms of the deposit agreement (30 days’ notice), the depositary will notify you of the upcoming vote and arrange to deliver our voting materials to you. We cannot assure you that you will receive the voting materials in time to instruct the depositary to vote the Class A ordinary shares underlying your ADSs, and it is possible that you, or persons who hold their ADSs through brokers, dealers or other third parties, will not have the opportunity to exercise a right to vote. In addition, the depositary and its agents are not responsible for failing to carry out voting instructions or for the manner of carrying out voting instructions. This means that you may not be able to exercise your right to vote and there may be nothing you can do if the Class A ordinary shares underlying your ADSs are not voted as you requested. In addition, although you may directly exercise your right to vote by withdrawing the Class A ordinary shares underlying your ADSs, you may not receive sufficient advance notice of an upcoming shareholders’ meeting to withdraw the Class A ordinary shares underlying your ADSs to allow you to vote with respect to any specific matter.

Your right to participate in any future rights offerings may be limited, which may cause dilution to your holdings, and you may not receive cash dividends if it is impractical to make them available to you.

We may from time to time distribute rights to our shareholders, including rights to acquire our securities. However, we cannot make rights available to you in the United States unless we register both the rights and the securities to which the rights relate under the Securities Act or an exemption from the registration requirements is available. Under the deposit agreement, the depositary will not make rights available to you unless both the rights and the underlying securities to be distributed to ADS holders are either registered under the Securities Act or exempt from registration under the Securities Act. We are under no obligation to file a registration statement with respect to any such rights or securities or to endeavor to cause such a registration statement to be declared effective and we may not be able to establish a necessary exemption from registration under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you may be unable to participate in our rights offerings and may experience dilution in your holdings.

The depositary of our ADSs has agreed to pay to you the cash dividends or other distributions it or the custodian receives on our ordinary shares or other deposited securities after deducting its fees and expenses. You will receive these distributions in proportion to the number of ordinary shares your ADSs represent. However, the depositary may, at its discretion, decide that it is inequitable or impractical to make a distribution available to any holders of ADSs. For example, the depositary may determine that it is not practicable to distribute certain property through the mail, or that the value of certain distributions may be less than the cost of mailing them. In these cases, the depositary may decide not to distribute such property to you.

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

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

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You may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited because we are incorporated under Cayman Islands law, we conduct substantially all of our operations in China and substantially all of our directors and officers reside outside the United States.

We are incorporated in the Cayman Islands and conduct substantially all of our operations in China through our PRC subsidiaries and consolidated affiliated entities. Most of our directors and officers reside outside the United States and a substantial portion of the assets of such directors and officers are located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for you to bring an action against us or against these individuals in the Cayman Islands or in China in the event that you believe that your rights have been infringed under the securities laws or otherwise. Even if you are successful in bringing an action of this kind, the laws of the Cayman Islands and of China may render you unable to enforce a judgment against our assets or the assets of our directors and officers. There is no statutory recognition in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, although a final and conclusive judgment in the federal or state courts of the United States under which a sum of money is payable, other than a sum payable in respect of taxes, fines, penalties or similar charges, and which was neither obtained by fraud or in proceedings contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands, may be subject to enforcement proceedings as a debt in the courts of the Cayman Islands under the common law doctrine of obligation without any re-examination of the merits of the underlying dispute.

Our corporate affairs are governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, as amended and restated from time to time, and by the Companies Law (2012 Revision) and common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of shareholders to take legal action against us and our directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors 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 English common law, which provides persuasive, but not binding, authority. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are not as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedents in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a less developed body of securities laws than the United States and provides significantly less protection to investors. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholder derivative action in U.S. federal courts.

As a result, our public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests through actions against us, our management, our directors or our major shareholders than would shareholders of a corporation incorporated in a jurisdiction in the United States.

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain anti-takeover provisions that could adversely affect the rights of holders of our ordinary shares and ADSs.

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain certain provisions that could limit the ability of others to acquire control of our company, including a provision that grants authority to our board directors to establish from time to time one or more series of preferred shares without action by our shareholders and to determine, with respect to any series of preferred shares, the terms and rights of that series. The provisions could have the effect of depriving our shareholders of the opportunity to sell their shares at a premium over the prevailing market price by discouraging third parties from seeking to obtain control of our company in a tender offer or similar transactions.

Our two largest shareholders are able to significantly influence our actions over important corporate matters, which may deprive you of an opportunity to receive a premium for your shares and reduce the price of our ADSs.

As of March 31, 2013, Mr. Joseph Chen, our founder, chairman and chief executive officer, beneficially owns approximately 66.7% of our outstanding Class B ordinary shares, representing in aggregate 56.5% of our total voting power, and SB Pan Pacific Corporation beneficially owns approximately 37.0% of our outstanding Class A ordinary shares and approximately 33.3% of our outstanding Class B ordinary shares, representing in aggregate 33.9% of our total voting power. As between Mr. Chen and SB Pan Pacific Corporation, the approvals of SB Pan Pacific Corporation are required for certain important matters relating to our company. See “Item 10. Additional Information—B. Memorandum and Articles of Association—Ordinary Shares—Voting Rights.” Consequently, these shareholders are able to significantly influence matters such as electing directors and approving material mergers, acquisitions or other business combination transactions. This concentration of ownership and voting power may also discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company, which could have the dual effect of depriving our shareholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their shares as part of a sale of our company and reducing the price of our ADSs. These actions may be taken even if they are opposed by our other shareholders, including those who purchase ADSs. In addition, these persons could divert business opportunities away from us to themselves or others.

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We may be a passive foreign investment company for United States federal income tax purposes, which could subject United States investors in the ADSs or ordinary shares to significant adverse United States income tax consequences.

Depending upon the value of our ordinary shares and ADSs and the nature of our assets and income over time, we could be a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, for United States federal income tax purposes. A non-United States corporation will be treated as a PFIC for any taxable year if either (i) 75% or more of its gross income for such year consists of certain types of “passive” income, or (ii) 50% or more of the value of its assets (determined on the basis of a quarterly average) during such year is attributable to assets that produce passive income or are held for the production of passive income. Passive income is any income that would be foreign personal holding company income under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, including, without limitation, dividends, interest, royalties, rents, annuities, net gains from the sale or exchange of property producing such income, net gains from commodity transactions, net foreign currency gains and income from notional principal contracts.

We believe we were a PFIC for the taxable years ending December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2012.  Our PFIC status for the current taxable year will not be determinable until after the close of the current taxable year.  Because we currently hold, and expect to continue to hold, a substantial amount of cash and other passive assets and, because, as a public company, the value of our assets for this purpose is determined in part by reference to the market prices of our ADSs and outstanding ordinary shares, there can be no assurance that we will not be a PFIC for the current or any future taxable year.

If we are a PFIC for any taxable year in which you hold our ADSs or ordinary shares and you are a U.S. Holder (as defined in “Item 10.E—Additional Information—Taxation—Certain United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—General”), you generally will become subject to increased U.S. federal income tax liabilities and special U.S. federal income tax reporting requirements, unless you make a timely “mark-to-market” election to mitigate some of the applicable consequences.  For more information on the U.S. federal income tax consequences to you that would result from our classification as a PFIC, see “Item 10.E—Additional Information—Taxation—Certain United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules.”

Item 4.                                 Information on the Company

A.                                    History and Development of the Company

We began our operations in China in 2002 through Beijing Qianxiang Tiancheng Technology Development Co., Ltd., or Qianxiang Tiancheng, which has subsequently become one of our consolidated affiliated entities through the contractual arrangements described below. CIAC/ChinaInterActiveCorp, or CIAC, was incorporated in August 2005 in the Cayman Islands. CIAC wholly owns Qianxiang Shiji Technology Development (Beijing) Co., Ltd., or Qianxiang Shiji, a company established in Beijing, China and one of the subsidiaries through which we operate our business in China in reliance on a series of contractual arrangements.

Our current holding company, Renren Inc., was incorporated in February 2006 in the Cayman Islands under our prior name, Oak Pacific Interactive. Through a corporate restructuring, in March 2006, CIAC’s shareholders exchanged all of their outstanding ordinary and preferred shares of CIAC for ordinary and preferred shares of Oak Pacific Interactive on a pro rata basis. As a result, Oak Pacific Interactive acquired all of the equity interests in CIAC and CIAC became a wholly owned subsidiary of Oak Pacific Interactive. In December 2010, we changed our corporate name from Oak Pacific Interactive to Renren Inc.

On March 25, 2011, we implemented a ten-for-one share split. Except as otherwise indicated, all information in this annual report concerning share and per share data gives retroactive effect to the ten-for-one share split.

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In May 2011, we completed our initial public offering, wherein we issued and sold 50,863,711 ADSs, and certain selling shareholders sold 10,201,289 ADSs, at an initial offering price of $14.00 per ADS.  On May 4, 2011, we listed our ADSs on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “RENN.”  In addition, concurrently with our initial public offering, we sold an aggregate of 23,571,426 Class A ordinary shares to certain unrelated third party investors in a private placement, at a price of US$4.67 per Class A ordinary share.

In October 2011, we completed the acquisition of 100% of the equity interest in Wole Inc., a Cayman Islands limited liability company. Wole Inc. operates 56.com, a leading user generated content online video sharing website in China, through a set of contractual arrangements between Wole Inc.’s PRC subsidiary, Wole Technology, and Qianjun Technology.  We acquired Wole Inc. for US$80.0 million in cash.  See “Item 4.C—Information on the Company—Organizational Structure” for more information.

In March 2013, we completed a corporate restructuring wherein we moved our online games business to Renren Games, a PRC company incorporated in November 2012.  Through a set of contractual arrangements between Renren Network, one of our wholly owned PRC subsidiaries, and Renren Games, we effectively control and receive substantially all of the economic benefits of Renren Games.  See “Item 4.C—Information on the Company—Organizational Structure” for more information.

Our principal executive offices are located at 23/F, Jing An Center, 8 North Third Ring Road East, Chao Yang District, Beijing, 100028, the People’s Republic of China. Our telephone number at this address is +86 (10) 8448-1818. Our registered office in the Cayman Islands is located at PO Box 309, Ugland House, Grand Cayman, KY1-1104, Cayman Islands. Our telephone number at this address is +1 345-949-8066. We also have offices in over 50 cities in China, including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan.  Our agent for service of process in the United States in connection with our registration statement on Form F-1 for our initial public offering in May 2011 is Law Debenture Corporate Services Inc., located at 400 Madison Avenue, 4th Floor, New York, New York 10017.

B.                                    Business Overview

Overview

Renren operates a leading real name social networking internet platform in China.  We enable users to connect and communicate with each other, share information and user generated content, play online games, shop for deals, watch videos and enjoy a wide range of other features and services.  Our primary services are:

·                  Renren.com, our main social networking website;

·                  Renren Games, our online games business, available at wan.renren.com and major mobile game distribution platforms, such as Apple’s appstore;

·                  Nuomi, our social commerce services, available at nuomi.com; and

·                  56.com, our user-generated content focused video sharing website.

Renren.com

Renren.com, our main real name social networking website, is the foundation of our service offerings.  Renren.com enables users to communicate and stay connected with their friends, classmates, family members and co-workers.  We began at university campuses, and we believe our users include a majority of all current college students and a significant portion of recent college graduates in China.  Our real name social networking community has diversified over the years to include white-collar professionals, university-bound high school students and other demographics.  We believe real name relationships, through which users share personal content and experiences, provide the basis for a deeper and more authentic sense of community, and hence create stronger and more enduring social graphs on the network.

Since our inception, our user base has grown rapidly. As of December 31, 2010, 2011 and 2012, the cumulative total of our activated users was approximately 110 million, 147 million and 178 million, respectively. From January 2012 through December 2012, we added an average of approximately 2.6 million new activated users per month.  In December 2010, December 2011 and December 2012, the number of our monthly unique log-in users was approximately 26 million, 38 million and 56 million, respectively.  Our users’ high level of engagement with our platform is reflected in the amount of time our users spend on our platform. From January 2012 through December 2012, our unique log-in users spent a monthly average of approximately 7.6 hours on our platform, compared to an average of 7.1 hours in 2011.

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Our SNS platform is accessible from internet-enabled devices, including PCs and mobile phones, so that users can access our platform anytime from anywhere they are connected to the internet. We offer versions of our sites and client applications that have been optimized for a range of mobile device operating systems, including for the iPhone, Android and Windows.  Increasingly, our users are accessing and spending time on Renren.com through mobile devices.  For example, the mobile percentage of our monthly total user time spent on Renren.com was 20.2%, 54.1%, and 69.1% in December 2010, December 2011 and December 2012, respectively, and the number of our monthly unique smartphone users who accessed Renren’s mobile applications grew from approximately 1.4 million in December 2010 to 8.5 million in December 2011 and to 14.0 million in December 2012, respectively. We have also developed Renren Check-In for mobile devices, which enables our users to share their location information with friends.

By providing content and applications that are attractive to Chinese internet users, we have been able to strengthen our user base and increase user engagement and retention.  For example, our Renren Open Platform program, which is one of the first and largest open application programming interface programs in China, enables our users to access and enjoy a wide variety of third-party applications.  Our Renren Connect program allows our users to log on to over 3,000 Renren Connect partner websites using their Renren identity.  Our Renren Desktop software, which can be downloaded by users, displays real time news feeds, notifications, reminders and other interactive content to users while they are logged on to our platform.  Through Renren Voice SNS, a new initiative of ours, users can send voice status and exchange voice comments on friends’ status and photos.

In addition, from time to time, we develop and offer new services that we believe have synergies with our SNS platform. For instance, we have Jingwei, a business card reader and social networking mobile application for professionals, Jiexi, an on-line wedding planning and service business, Chewen, a vertical portal focused on automotive related information, and Xiaozhao, an on-line campus recruiting service dedicated to connecting and helping college graduates find jobs.

One of the primary approaches for us to monetize our user base on Renren.com is online advertising services.  We offer a broad range of advertising formats and solutions, such as social ads, display advertisements, top promoted news feeds, fan or brand page advertising, sponsored online events, campaigns and virtual gifts and mobile advertising, which are described in more detail below.  For social ads, display advertising, and top promoted news feed items, we have the capability to target and reach users meeting certain geographic and demographic criteria, such as users with a certain educational background, a certain life stage (for example, students or white collar workers), certain user interests and/or residence in a certain geographic region.  We have developed mobile advertisement solutions which offer similar targeting capabilities, including location based recommendations.

·                  Social ads—Our social ads come in a variety of formats, including video advertisements, user icon displays, and light flash-based interactions, including polls and coupons. Our social ads allow users to interact with the advertisement alone or together with friends using user-initiated call-to-action buttons such as “participate,” “like this ad,” “comment on this ad,” “share this ad” and “become a fan,” which can result in friend recommendations and other forms of social influence. Our social ads are designed to be non-intrusive and typically do not employ heavy flashing fields or pop-ups that cover large parts of the user’s screen. Advertisers pay for social ads based on the time period that the advertisement is displayed or the number of impressions delivered.

·                  Display advertisements—Our display advertisements are delivered alongside a web page primarily as graphical advertisements and also as bottom scrolling banners. Display advertisements can be targeted to certain users or can be displayed on a page at a certain time to all users viewing the page. Advertisers can pay for display advertising based on the time period that the advertisement is displayed, the number of ad impressions delivered or the number of clicks on their advertisement. An “ad impression” is delivered when an advertisement appears on a page and the page is viewed by a user.

·                  Top promoted news feeds—Our promoted news feeds display news, events and promotions regarding an advertiser or its brand to users, in various formats, including text and text plus graphic, which can be further shared among their friends.

·                  Fan or brand page advertising—Advertisers can create a page within our platform that users may choose to join. The page builds an advertiser’s base of “fans,” and the advertiser can use the page and its fan base as a long-term community where the advertiser can constantly communicate with, educate and engage its target consumers by publishing content in diverse formats, promoting new products, and holding online events to continue to grow the fan base.

·                  Sponsored online events, campaigns and virtual gifts—We enable advertisers to sponsor a particular area on our website for online events or campaigns, and to sponsor virtual gifts.

·                  Mobile advertising—Our mobile advertising products include top and bottom banner, location-based services promotions and promoted top news feeds through our mobile applications. Advertisers may pay for different types of advertising formats including user interests, time period, demographics and geographic criteria selections. We are currently still in the early phases of developing our mobile advertising strategies.

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The social attributes of our promoted news feeds, social ads and fan or brand pages allow advertisers to earn organic word-of-mouth impressions, clicks and engagement through users’ further sharing and spreading of information among their friends.  In addition, we believe that mobile targeting, while still at a nascent stage, will also become more important as users continue to spend more time on our mobile services.

Our online advertising serves a broad base of advertisers, including leading international companies such as Yum and Coca-Cola, leading companies in China such as China Mobile, Snow Beer and Lenovo, and various small- and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs. In 2010, 2011 and 2012, the number of our brand advertisers was 248, 301 and 277, respectively, and the average annual spending by our brand advertisers was approximately US$129,000, US$181,000 and US$165,000, respectively. Our advertisers operate in a variety of industries, including fast-moving consumer goods, information technology hardware, apparel and accessories, personal care products, automobile manufacturing and financial services. Our online advertising service team has direct contacts with our advertisers, the vast majority of whom purchase our online advertising services through third-party advertising agencies.  As of December 31, 2012, we had 307 sales representatives and supporting personnel for online advertising services.

We also have an advertising division dedicated to servicing SME brand advertisers.  We utilize our Renren.com platform to allow SME advertisers to select certain user information, such as city, gender, age, interest graph and university, for better targeting accuracy.  SME advertising verticals typically consists of services relating to tutoring, wedding packages, personal electronics and on-line B2C services. In 2012, SME advertising represented approximately 14% of our total advertising revenue.

In addition to online advertising, we also monetize our Renren user base through VIP memberships and virtual gifts. VIP memberships provide users with larger size limits on photo albums and email inboxes and other additional features and benefits. Virtual gifts, such as cartoon images, flashes, birthday cards and gift cards containing our virtual currency, can be sent by users to friends. Some virtual gifts are free and others must be purchased.

Renren Games

We offer a portfolio of web-based, cross-platform and mobile games to our users through Renren Games.  The games we offer include games that we develop internally and games licensed from third parties.  Through our strong internal technology and creative game design capabilities, we develop in-house web-based, mobile and cross-platform games.  We market our in-house games on our own games platform as well as other direct-to-consumer digital storefronts and marketing channels.  By offering games from third-party developers, we enhance the portfolio of games available to users on our platform.

Web-based games are games that can be played directly from the user’s internet browser without downloading additional software. We believe we developed and launched one of the first web-based role-playing games in the world, Pet Mop, in early 2007, which has won many awards, including China’s Most Valuable Web Game in 2008. We subsequently developed and launched one of the first web-based MMORPGs in the world, Tianshu Qitan, in late 2008.

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Cross-platform games are games that allow users to play the same game between PC and mobile devices seamlessly while also using the same account.  Cross-platform games are optimized for both PC and mobile games so that user experience on both mediums remains high. In the third quarter of 2011, we launched what we believe was one of the first successful cross-platform games in the world, Luanshi Tianxia, and have since continued to offer additional cross-platform games as part of our games services.  Our cross-platform games have shown early signs of acceptance by users as gamers begin to shift and share more time between PC and mobile devices.  In 2012, Luanshi Tianxia received the Gold Feather Award, the highest honor in China’s online games industry, as one of the top ten web games in China for 2012.  With smartphone and tablet penetration continuing to increase in China and globally, we believe our cross-platform strategy coupled with mobile games for iOS and Android devices will be welcomed by the new breed of mobile gamers. Our platform and games options provide users with easy access to our games, while allowing them to select and choose conveniently whichever device they wish to use to play our games.

We use a virtual item-based revenue model for our games, under which players can play games for free but are charged for optional purchases of virtual in-game items, such as items that improve the strength of game character, in-game accessories and pets. In most cases, users that wish to obtain such items immediately can do so by paying a fee.

Nuomi

Nuomi.com offers deep-discount localized social commerce services and products to Nuomi users. Entertainment, dining, health and beauty services make up the majority of our social commerce deals. Nuomi users can access nuomi.com from internet-enabled devices, including PCs and mobile phones.

We launched our social commerce services in June 2010 in Beijing, and the business has since expanded rapidly.  As of December 31, 2010, 2011 and 2012, the aggregate number of our paying users was approximately 0.7 million, 4.9 million and 11.2 million, respectively, and the number of total deals sold was approximately 2.1 million, 29.2 million and 72.5 million, respectively.  As of December 31, 2012, Nuomi had sales offices in 57 major cities and municipalities in China and we employed 1,391 employees for Nuomi. In 2012, Nuomi was awarded the “Best Chinese Internet Company for User Experience” by Analysys International, a third party research provider.

We have also recognized the importance of mobile for Nuomi, as over 20% of the total value of transactions completed through our Nuomi social commerce services are now conducted via mobile devices. We launched our first Nuomi mobile application in 2011, and it is now on all major mobile operating systems.

56.com

56.com, which we acquired in October 2011, is a video service we provide to our users which allows them to load, view and share user generated content videos and other contents.  A majority of 56.com’s video library is comprised of user generated content, created by users such as video enthusiasts, performing artists and amateur groups.  The rest of the video library is comprised of content created in-house by our 56.com production team and, to a lesser extent, purchased content produced by professionals.

Woxiu, which means “a show of your own” in Chinese, is a virtual stage we offer at 56.com where grassroots musicians and performers can live-stream their performances and share them with other viewers. Fans of the performing user can chat along with the performer and other live audience and purchase consumer virtual items from us to show support to the performers.

We monetize 56.com’s users primarily through on-line advertising and sales of Woxiu virtual items.  On 56.com, the primary advertising formats and solutions offered are display advertisements, pre-roll advertisements, post-roll advertisements, pause advertisements and text-link, and other formats such as sponsored online events and branded virtual gifts.

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Payment Methods and Systems

In October 2007, we launched “Renren Beans,” virtual currency that can be used to purchase any of our IVAS or other paid services and applications for users. Users can acquire our virtual currency through:

·                  Online sales—Users can purchase the virtual currency directly on the Renren platform through third-party online payment systems using bank cards and mobile and SMS payments, among other methods. In cooperation with third-party payment service providers, such as Alipay, 99 Bills, Yeepay and Jcard, we provide a wide selection of payment services to users.

·                  Offline distribution—Users can purchase online prepaid cards redeemable for our virtual currency from retail points across China, which primarily consist of newsstands, convenience stores and internet cafés.

Sales and Marketing

Advertising Sales

As is customary in China, we sell our online advertising services and solutions primarily through third-party advertising agencies that represent end-advertisers. We cultivate and strengthen our relationships with end-advertisers by sharing our understanding of the evolving social networking industry and related online advertising services and solutions. As a relatively young company in the online advertising sector, we also intend to leverage advertising agencies’ existing client relationships and network resources to increase our sales and expand our advertiser base.  We market our services and solutions through direct marketing, by hosting or attending public relations events such as trade marketing events, and through other marketing activities.

We rely primarily on our direct sales force for our social commerce services, which are directed at local merchants or event organizers seeking to target customers in a specific city or region. Advertising agencies in China currently do not generally cover social commerce services such as those offered by Nuomi.

As of December 31, 2012, we had 307 sales representatives and supporting personnel for online advertising services. Our sales force for online advertising services is organized by industry and provides a broad range of services and solutions. In addition to building and maintaining customer relationships, our sales force assists advertisers in structuring advertising campaigns by analyzing the advertisers’ target audiences and marketing objectives. As of December 31, 2012, we also had 762 sales representatives for our nuomi.com social commerce services. Our sales force for Nuomi is organized by the regions in which we offer social commerce services. The Nuomi sales team works directly with current and prospective customers to secure social commerce deals for each day in each Nuomi location.

Marketing and Brand Promotion

We believe brand recognition is important to our ability to attract users. We have engaged in both online and offline marketing activities to promote our Renren and Nuomi brands. To date, user recognition of our Renren and Nuomi brands has primarily grown virally, and we have built our Renren brand, and especially our Nuomi brand, with only modest marketing and brand promotion expenditures. Since acquiring the rights to operate 56.com in October 2011, we have not had significant expenditures to promote the 56.com brand.

To facilitate such viral growth, we focus on continuously improving the quality of our services, as we believe satisfied users and their friends are more likely to recommend our services to others.  We also work with other operators and platforms for cross-marketing and co-branding projects to further leverage our existing brand value.

We have a marketing team that initiates various marketing activities. For example, we market our services through media partnerships, co-branding campaigns with other brands, initiatives with hit movies and sponsorship of cultural events such as music festivals.

Seasonality

Seasonal fluctuations and industry cyclicality have affected, and are likely to continue to affect, our online advertising services. We generally generate less revenue from online advertising during national holidays in China, in particular during the first quarter of each year due to the slowdown of business during the Chinese New Year holiday season that lasts approximately two weeks. To a lesser extent, we also generally generate less revenues from online advertising during the fourth quarter of each year.  This decrease in revenues is due to the fact that historically a large concentration of our advertising customers are in the consumer sector, with many of them purchasing more of our advertising services in the spring and summer seasons due to the fact that certain of their major products sell better during spring and summer. In addition, advertising spending in China has historically been cyclical, reflecting overall economic conditions as well as the budgeting and buying patterns of our advertisers. We expect that seasonal fluctuations and cyclicality will continue to cause our quarterly and annual operating results to fluctuate. See “Item 3.D—Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Industry—Our quarterly revenues and operating results may fluctuate, which makes our results of operations difficult to predict and may cause our quarterly results of operations to fall short of expectations.”

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Competition

The internet industry in China is rapidly evolving and highly competitive. We face significant competition in almost every aspect of our business. In our social networking business, we compete with companies and services such as Tencent’s Q-zone and WeChat, SINA’s Weibo.com, and kaixin001.com.  In our online games business, we primarily compete with companies such as Tencent, Qihu360 and 7Road.com.  In our social commerce business, we mainly compete against meituan.com, dianping.com and lashou.com.  In our online video business, we compete against companies that enable users to upload, view and/or share video content, such as Youku Tudou, Sohu.com, iQiyi.com and Tencent, as well companies which provide online entertainment services, such as YY Inc.  Competition in the mobile landscape of these services is as intense, if not more, as with their PC counterparts.

We also compete for online advertising revenues with other websites that sell online advertising services in China. In addition, we indirectly compete for advertising budgets with traditional advertising media in China, such as television and radio stations, newspapers and magazines, and major out-of-home media. We may also face potential competition from global social networking service providers that seek to enter the China market.

We compete for advertisers primarily on the basis of size and purchasing power of our user base, effectiveness of services in reaching targeted consumers, ability to demonstrate marketing results, knowledge of our sales force, and leadership in our social network services category. In social commerce services, we compete for merchant partners and deals primarily on the basis of the effectiveness of our services in generating sales, the size and purchasing power of our user base, and the rate of commission for our services.

We compete for users and user engagement primarily on the basis of helping users communicate, share and have fun on our platform as a result of quality and innovation in our user-facing products, as well as brand name and recognition and quality of user-generated content.  We believe the mobile market competitive landscape will continue to intensify in the near future.

Regulation

This section summarizes the principal current PRC laws and regulations relevant to our business and operations.

Regulations on Value-Added Telecommunications Services

On September 25, 2000, the State Council promulgated the Telecommunications Regulations. These regulations draw a distinction between “basic telecommunication services” and “value-added telecommunication services.” Internet content provision services, or ICP services, is a subcategory of value-added telecommunications services. Under the Telecommunications Regulations, commercial operators of value-added telecommunications services must first obtain an operating license from the MIIT or its provincial level counterparts.

On September 25, 2000, the State Council issued the Administrative Measures on Internet Information Services, which in particular regulate ICP services. According to these measures, commercial ICP service operators must obtain an ICP license from the relevant government authorities before engaging in any commercial ICP operations within the PRC. In November 2000, the MIIT promulgated the Administrative Measures on Internet Electronic Messaging Services, which requires the operator to obtain a special BBS Permit from the local bureau of the MIIT prior to engaging in BBS services. BBS services include electronic bulletin boards, electronic forums, message boards and chat rooms.

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On December 26, 2001, the MIIT promulgated the Administrative Measures on Telecommunications Business Operating Licenses. The measures were subsequently revised on April 10, 2009. These measures 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 services 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.

On April 19, 2004, the MIIT issued a notice stating that mobile network carriers can only provide mobile network access to those mobile internet service providers that have obtained licenses from the MIIT before conducting operations, and that such carriers must terminate mobile network access for those providers who have not secured the required licenses.

To comply with these PRC laws and regulations, our information services operator, Qianxiang Tiancheng, holds a value-added telecommunications business operating license and an ICP license, and our ICP operators Qianxiang Wangjing, Beijing Nuomi, Qianxiang Changda, Qianjun Technology and Renren Games all hold ICP licenses. Moreover, Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianxiang Wangjing, Beijing Nuomi and Qianjun Technology all possess BBS Permits issued by the local bureau of the MIIT.

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 on December 11, 2001 and amended on September 10, 2008, 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, and the relevant approval application process usually takes six to nine months. Due to the limitation of foreign investment in value-added telecommunications services companies that conduct online culture activities, we would be prohibited from acquiring any equity interest in our PRC domestic companies without diverting management attention and resources. In addition, we believe that our contractual arrangements with our PRC domestic companies and their respective individual/entity shareholders provide us with sufficient and effective control over our PRC domestic companies. Accordingly, we currently do not plan to acquire any equity interest in our PRC domestic companies.

On July 13, 2006, the MIIT issued the Notice of the MIIT on Intensifying the Administration of Foreign Investment in Value-added Telecommunications Services. This notice prohibits domestic telecommunication 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. According to this notice, either the holder of a value-added telecommunication business operating license or its shareholders must legally own the domain names and trademarks used by such license holders in their provision of value-added telecommunication 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 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.

To comply with these PRC regulations, we operate our websites through our PRC domestic companies, i.e., Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianxiang Wangjing, Beijing Nuomi, Qianxiang Changda, Qianjun Technology and Renren Games. Qianxiang Tiancheng is currently 99% owned by Ms. Jing Yang and 1% owned by Mr. James Jian Liu, both of whom are PRC citizens. Qianxiang Tiancheng holds a value-added telecommunications business operating license, an ICP license and a BBS Permit. Qianxiang Wangjing and Beijing Nuomi are currently wholly owned by Qianxiang Tiancheng, and each holds an ICP license and a BBS Permit. Qianxiang Changda is currently wholly owned by Qianxiang Tiancheng, and holds an ICP license. Qianjun Technology is currently 80% owned by Mr. Sheng Liang and 20% owned by Ms. Juan Zhou, both of whom are PRC citizens. Qianjun Technology holds an ICP license and a BBS Permit.  Renren Games is currently 70% owned by Mr. Chuan He and 30% owned by Mr. James Jian Liu, both of whom are PRC citizens. Renren Games holds an ICP license.

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If, despite these precautions, the PRC government determines that we do not comply with applicable laws and regulations, it could revoke our business and operating licenses, require us to discontinue or restrict our operations, restrict our right to collect revenues, block our websites, require us to restructure our operations, including possibly the establishment or restructuring of a foreign-invested telecommunication 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—Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure and the Regulation of Our Business—If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating our services in China do not comply with PRC governmental restrictions on foreign investment in internet businesses, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations 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, the PRC’s national legislature, 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;

·                  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 heretical teachings or feudal superstitions;

·                  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.

ICP 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 ICP license holders that violate any of the above-mentioned content restrictions, order them to suspend their operations, or revoke their ICP licenses.

To comply with these PRC laws and regulations, we have adopted internal procedures to monitor content displayed on our websites, including a team of employees dedicated to screening and monitoring content uploaded on our websites and removing inappropriate or infringing content. However, due to the large amount of user uploaded content, we may not be able to identify all videos, photos or other content that may violate relevant laws and regulations.

To the extent that PRC regulatory authorities find any content displayed on or through our websites objectionable, they may require us to limit or eliminate the dissemination or availability of such content on our websites 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 increases. See “Item 3.D—Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Industry—Content posted or displayed on our websites may be found objectionable by PRC regulatory authorities and may subject us to penalties and other administrative actions.”

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Regulations on Information Security

Internet content in China is also regulated and restricted from a state security standpoint. The National People’s Congress, China’s national legislative body, enacted a law on December 28, 2000, as amended on August 28, 2009, that 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 Ministry of Public Security has promulgated measures on December 16, 1997 that prohibit the use of the internet in ways which, 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 national defense, state affairs and other matters as determined by the PRC authorities.

On December 13, 2005, the Ministry of Public Security promulgated Provisions on Technological Measures for Internet Security Protection, or the Internet Protection Measures. The Internet Protection Measures require all ICP operators to keep records of certain information about its users (including user registration information, log-in and log-out time, IP address, content and time of posts by users) for at least 60 days and submit the above information as required by laws and regulations. The ICP operators must regularly update information security systems for their websites with local public security authorities, and must also report any public dissemination of prohibited content. If an ICP operator violates these measures, the PRC government may revoke its ICP 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.

As Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianxiang Wangjing, Beijing Nuomi, Qianjun Technology and Renren Games are all ICP operators, they are subject to the laws and regulations relating to information security.  To comply with these laws and regulations, Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianxiang Wangjing, Beijing Nuomi and Qianjun Technology have completed the mandatory security filing procedures with the local public security authorities, regularly update their information security and content-filtering systems with newly issued content restrictions, and maintain records of users’ information as required by the relevant laws and regulations. In connection with the recent corporate restructuring relating to our online games business, Renren Games will also start the mandatory security filing procedures with the local public security authorities.  Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianxiang Wangjing, Beijing Nuomi, Qianjun Technology and Renren Games have also taken measures to delete or remove links to content that to their knowledge contains information violating PRC laws and regulations. Substantially all of the content published on our websites is manually screened by employees who are dedicated to screening and monitoring content published on our website and removing prohibited content. All of the other content, primarily consisting of comments posted by users, is first screened by our filtering systems and content containing prohibited words or images is manually screened by our employees. We believe that with these measures in place, no prohibited content under PRC information security laws and regulations should have been publicly disseminated through our website in the past. However, due to the significant amount of content published on our website by our users on a daily basis, if any prohibited content is publicly disseminated in the future and we become aware of it, we will report it to the relevant governmental authority. We believe these measures are generally in compliance with the relevant laws and regulations.

If, despite the precautions, we fail to identify and prevent illegal or inappropriate content from being displayed on or through our websites, 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 the types of content that could result in liability. To the extent that PRC regulatory authorities find any content displayed on or through our websites 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 increases. See “Item 3.D—Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Industry—Content posted or displayed on our websites may be found objectionable by PRC regulatory authorities and may subject us to penalties and other administrative actions.”

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Regulations on Internet Privacy

The PRC Constitution states that PRC law protects the freedom and privacy of communications of citizens and prohibits infringement of such rights. In recent years, PRC government authorities have enacted legislation on internet use to protect personal information from any unauthorized disclosure. The PRC law does not prohibit ICP operators from collecting and analyzing personal information from their users. However, the Administrative Measures on Internet Information Services prohibit an ICP operator from insulting or slandering a third party or infringing the lawful rights and interests of a third party. Pursuant to Administrative Measures on Internet Electronic Messaging Services, ICP operators that provide electronic messaging services must keep users’ personal information confidential and must not disclose such personal information to any third party without the users’ consent or unless required by law. The regulations further authorize the relevant telecommunications authorities to order ICP operators to rectify unauthorized disclosure. ICP 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 ICP operators to turn over personal information if an internet user posts any prohibited content or engages in illegal activities on the internet. On December 29, 2011, the MIIT promulgated the Several Provisions on Regulating the Market Order of Internet Information Services, in effect as of March 15, 2012.  In regard to user personal data, it stipulates that ICP operators must not, without user consent, collect information on users that can be used alone or in combination with other information to identify the user (defined as “User Personal Information”) and may not provide any such information to third parties without prior user consent. ICP 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 ICP operator may only use such User Personal Information for the stated purposes under the ICP operator’s scope of service. ICP 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 of the PRC issued the Decision on Strengthening the Protection of Online Information.  Most requirements under the decision that are relevant to ICP operators are consistent with the requirements already established under the MIIT Provisions, as discussed above, though often more strict and broad. Under the decision, if an ICP 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. ICP 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. ICP 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 ICP 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, filling cancellations and website closures.

To comply with these laws and regulations, we require our users to accept a user term whereby they agree to provide certain personal information to us, and have established information security systems to protect users’ privacy and have filed them with the MIIT or its local branch as required. However, due to the significant amount of content uploaded by users on a daily basis, we cannot ensure that no content uploaded by our users will infringe the privacy rights of any third party without receiving notice from such third party. If our ICP operators violate PRC laws in this regard, the MIIT or its local bureaus may impose penalties and the ICP operators may be liable for damages caused to their users. See “Item 3.D—Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Industry—Concerns about collection and use of personal data could damage our reputation and deter current and potential users from using our services.”

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Regulations on Online Game Operations

Online Game Publishing and Operation

Online games operation is covered extensively by a number of existing laws and regulations issued by various PRC governmental authorities, including the MIIT, the GAPP and the Ministry of Culture.

On December 30, 1997, the GAPP issued the Rules for the Administration of Electronic Publications. These rules were later replaced by new rules effective April 15, 2008. The rules 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 GAPP, online games are classified as a kind 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 GAPP.

The GAPP and the MIIT jointly promulgated the Tentative Measures for Internet Publication Administration, or the Internet Publishing Rules, on June 27, 2002, which took effect on August 1, 2002 and imposed a license requirement for any company that intends to engage in internet publishing, defined as any act by an internet information service provider to select, edit and process content or programs and to make such content or programs publicly available on the internet. Since the provision of online games is deemed to be an internet publication activity, an online game operator needs to obtain an internet publishing license in order to directly make its online games publicly available in the PRC.  In connection with the corporate restructuring of our online games business, we are in the process of applying for such license for Renren Games with the GAPP.

On February 17, 2011, the Ministry of Culture issued the Provisional Regulations for the Administration of Online Culture, which took effect on April 1, 2011. This regulation applies to entities engaging in activities related to “online cultural products,” including music and video files, internet games, animation features and audiovisual products, performed plays and artwork converted for dissemination via the internet. Pursuant 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 any of the following types of activities:

·                  the production, duplication, importation, publication or broadcasting of online cultural products;

·                  the dissemination of cultural products on the internet or transmission thereof to (i) client end devices such as computers, fixed-line or mobile phones, television sets or games consoles, and (ii) places offering internet access services such as internet cafes for the purpose of browsing, reading, using or downloading such products; or

·                  the exhibition or holding of contests related to online cultural products.

On July 1, 2009, the GAPP issued the Notice on Strengthening the Approval and Administration of Imported Online Games. Pursuant to this notice, GAPP is the only competent approval authority authorized by the State Council for imported online games authorized by offshore copyright owners. Any enterprise engaging in online game publication or operation within China must undergo examination and approval by the GAPP and obtain the relevant internet publication service license. Moreover, the showing, exhibiting, trading or promoting of offshore online games in China also must be examined and approved by the GAPP.

On September 7, 2009, the State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform issued the Notice on Interpretation of the State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform on Several Provisions Relating to Animation, Online Games and Comprehensive Law Enforcement in the Culture Market in the ‘Three Provisions’ jointly promulgated by the Ministry of Culture, the SARFT and the GAPP. According to this notice, the GAPP is responsible for the examination and approval of online games that will be uploaded on the internet, while after the uploading, such online games shall be regulated by the Ministry of Culture. The notice further clarifies that the GAPP is responsible for the examination and approval of game publications authorized by offshore copyright owners to be uploaded on the internet, while other imported online games shall be examined and approved by the Ministry of Culture.

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On September 28, 2009, the GAPP, the National Copyright Administration, and the National Office of Combating Pornography and Illegal Publications jointly published the Further Strengthening of the Administration of Pre-examination and Approval of Online Games and the Examination and Approval of Imported Online Games, or the GAPP Notice. According to this notice, where new versions, expansion packs or new content shall be updated for online games that have been approved by the GAPP, the operating entity shall undertake the same examination and approval procedures with the GAPP as would be applicable to new content. The GAPP Notice further emphasizes the GAPP’s examination and approval authority over online games, and defines online games as all “games interactively played via internet (including cable internet and wireless mobile telecommunication networks) or provided via the internet for downloading, including without limitation, MMORPGs, web-based games (web games), casual games, online downloads of offline games, games with networking functions, game platforms for online network play and mobile online games.” Pursuant to the Internet Publishing Rules, the GAPP requires every entity wishing to operate online games to hold an Online Publishing Permit, which specifically authorizes the publishing of games on the internet.

The Ministry of Culture issued the Interim Measures for Online Game Administration effective August 1, 2010. These measures define “online games” as “game products and services composed of software programs and information databases, provided via the internet or mobile networks or other information networks.”

To comply with these regulations, each of Qianxiang Wangjing and Qianxiang Changda possesses an Online Culture Operating Permit, and Qianxiang Changda holds an Internet Publishing License. In connection with the corporate restructuring of our online games business, Renren Games has obtained an Online Culture Operating Permit and will apply for an Internet Publishing Permit.

The GAPP Notice also restates that foreign investors are not permitted to invest in online game operating businesses in China via wholly owned, equity joint venture or cooperative joint venture investments and expressly prohibits foreign investors from gaining control over or participating in domestic online game operators through the establishment of other joint venture companies, or contractual or technical arrangements.

Based on the advice of TransAsia Lawyers, our PRC legal counsel, the corporate structure of our consolidated affiliated entities and our subsidiary in China comply with all existing PRC laws and regulations. However, it is unclear whether the GAPP will deem our corporate structure and operations to be in violation of these provisions. If they are, our corporate structure and operations may be challenged by the GAPP. See “Item 3.D—Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure and the Regulation of our Business—If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating our services in China do not comply with PRC governmental restrictions on foreign investment in internet businesses, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations.” If we are found to be in violation of any existing or future PRC laws or regulations, including the Notice of the MIIT on Intensifying the Administration of Foreign Investment in Value-added Telecommunications Services and the GAPP Notice, the relevant regulatory authorities would have broad discretion in dealing with such a violation, including taking actions such as levying fines, confiscating our income, revoking Renren Games’s business or operating licenses, requiring us to restructure the relevant ownership structure or operations or requiring us to discontinue all or any portion of our game operations. Any of these actions could cause significant disruption to our business operations.

Regulatory Developments Relating to Web-Based Games

We are both a game operator and a third-party platform provider and operate web-based games under two models:

·                  Self-developed games launched on our platform;

·                  Cooperation with third-party online game developers to launch their games on our platform. For this model, the developer must register any software copyrights and be responsible for game maintenance and customer service.

Prior to the promulgation of the GAPP Notice and the Interim Measures for Online Game Administration, both the GAPP and the Ministry of Culture attempted to regulate the operation—and operators—of MMORPGs, and there was no specific regulation or policy that included web-based games as online games. However, due to the growing popularity of social and web-based games, these games are coming under increasing scrutiny with efforts being made to limit the role and impact of foreign companies in this sector. The GAPP and the Ministry of Culture have both indicated that social and web-based games should be regulated similarly to other online games. However, this principle has not been strictly enforced in respect of social and web-based games published through third-party platforms and SNS websites.

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In addition, according to the Provisional Regulations for the Administration of Online Culture, domestically developed online games are required to be filed with the Ministry of Culture. Most major players in the online games industry typically publish their online games in cooperation with traditional publishing houses. This is known as the Traditional Publishing Entity Model, and is also acceptable to the GAPP in practice. In light of this continuing uncertainty, it has been reported that the GAPP is considering promulgating new regulations soon, which would seek to improve the administration of internet publishing activities by requiring all private entities engaging in such activities—including those already operating without an Internet Publishing Permit—to obtain one and thus be subject to the GAPP’s monitoring and regulatory control.

To keep up with developments in the regulation of web-based games, we have already filed with the Ministry of Culture certain online games that we developed and with the GAPP for the imported games available on our SNS website, and will continue such filings for these types of games.  However, we cannot assure you as to whether our understanding of the applicability and scope of such filings is correct as the interpretation and enforcement of the applicable laws and regulations by the GAPP and Ministry of Culture are still evolving.

The consequences of operating a web-based game without the relevant approvals or filings remain uncertain. Moreover, due to the numerous web-based games launching on our platform, we cannot assure you that all such games have been or can be approved by the GAPP or its provincial bureaus prior to their launching, or have been or can be filed with the Ministry of Culture. Therefore, if we are found to be in violation of such approval and/or filing requirements, the GAPP, the Ministry of Culture or their respective local branches could impose penalties. See “Item 3.D—Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure and the Regulation of Our Business—Changes in government policies or regulations may have material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.”

Online Game Censorship and Imported Games

On May 14, 2004, the Ministry of Culture issued the Notice Regarding the Strengthening of Online Game Censorship. This notice mandates the establishment of a new committee under the Ministry of Culture that will screen the content of imported online games. In addition, all imported and domestic online games are required to be examined and filed with the Ministry of Culture.

On July 12, 2005, the Ministry of Culture and the MIIT promulgated the Opinions on the Development and Administration of Online Games, reflecting the government’s intent to both foster and control the development of the online game industry in China. In addition, the Ministry of Culture will censor online games that “threaten state security,” “disturb the social order,” or contain “obscenity” or “violence.”

On November 13, 2009, the Ministry of Culture issued its Notice Regarding Improving and Strengthening the Administration of Online Game Content (or the Online Game Content Notice). This notice calls for online game operators to improve and innovate their game models. Emphasis is placed specifically on the following: (i) mitigating the pre-eminence of the “upgrade by monster fighting” model, (ii) imposing more severe restraints on the “player kill” model (i.e., where one player’s character attempts to kill another player’s character), (iii) restricting in-game marriages among game players, and (iv) improving the enforcement of the legal requirements for the registration of minors and games time-limits.

The Online Game Content Notice also requires online game operators to set up committees to carry out game content self-censorship. The person responsible for such self-censorship must receive training from the Ministry of Culture or its local department/counterpart. The Ministry of Culture also intends to introduce a training and evaluation system for the persons in charge of research and development and operations at online game companies. This system is expected to be launched within two years. In addition, the Ministry of Culture intends to formulate technical standards and norms for game development, in order to provide technological support for original domestic games. The development and operation of “thoughtful and educational” online games is also to be encouraged.

The Interim Measures for Online Game Administration require that domestic online games must be filed with the Ministry of Culture within 30 days of their initial launch and in case of any substantial change (for example, any prominent modification to a game’s storyline, language, tasks or trading system). These measures also require that all imported online games be subject to content review prior to their launch.

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Pursuant to the Provisional Regulations for the Administration of Online Culture, an Online Game Import Approval must be obtained from the GAPP before a game is launched in China. The GAPP handles applications for such approval through its provincial branches. The local provincial bureau of the GAPP will review an application and forward it to the GAPP for approval within 20 days of its own decision, together with a preliminary approval document. These provisional regulations also require that imported online games be subject to content review and approval by the Ministry of Culture. On May 14, 2004, the Ministry of Culture issued the Notice Regarding the Strengthening of Online Game Censorship. This notice mandates the establishment of a new committee, called the “Committee for the Censorship of the Content of Imported Game Products,” under the Ministry of Culture, which will be responsible for the censorship of politically sensitive content in imported online games. This committee will also be responsible for censoring games that “threaten national security,” “disturb social order,” “distort historical facts” or “infringe on third-party intellectual property rights.”

To comply with these requirements, we carry out game content self-censorship. We have also filed with the Ministry of Culture and/or GAPP certain online games that we developed and those imported games available on our SNS website, and will continue to do so. See “Item 3.D—Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure and the Regulation of Our Business—Changes in government policies or regulations may have material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.”

Anti-Fatigue System and the Real Name Registration System

On April 15, 2007, the MIIT, the GAPP, the Ministry of Education and five other government authorities jointly issued the Notice on the Implementation of Online Game Anti-Fatigue System to Protect the Physical and Psychological Health of Minors, or the Anti-Fatigue Notice. Pursuant to the Anti-Fatigue Notice, online game operators are required to install an “anti-fatigue system” that discourages game players from playing games for more than five hours per day. 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 player has reached the “fatiguing” level, and to zero for the “unhealthy” level.

To identify whether a game player is a minor and thus subject to the anti-fatigue system, a real name registration system also must be used. This requires online game players to register their identity and requires us to submit such identity information to the public security authorities for verification.

On January 15, 2011, the Ministry of Culture, the MIIT and six other central government authorities jointly issued a circular entitled Implementation of Online Game Monitor System of the Guardians of Minors, or the Monitor System Circular, aiming to provide specific protection measures to monitor the online game activities of minors and curb addictive online game play behaviors of minors. Under the Monitor System 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.

On July 1, 2011, the GAPP, the MIIT, the Ministry of Education and five other governmental authorities issued a Notice on Initializing the Verification of Real-name Registration for Anti-Fatigue System on Internet Games, or the Real-name Registration Notice, which took effect on October 1, 2011, to strengthen the implementation of the anti-fatigue system and real-name registration. The Real-name Registration Notice’s main focus is to prevent minors from using an adult ID to play internet games and, accordingly, the Real-name Registration Notice imposes stringent punishments on online game operators that do not implement the required anti-fatigue and real-name registration measures properly and effectively. The most severe punishment under the Real-name Registration Notice is to require termination of the operation of the online game if the operator is found to be in violation of the Anti-Fatigue Notice, the Monitor System Circular or the Real-name Registration Notice.

We have developed our own anti-fatigue and real name registration systems, which have been in place since December 2007. As renren.com is a real name system, game players are required to use their real identification to create accounts. For game players who do not provide age information, we assume that they are minors. In order to comply with the anti-fatigue rules, after three hours of play, users under 18 years of age only receive only half of the experience or other benefits they would otherwise earn. After five hours of play, minors receive no experience points. These restrictions could limit our ability to increase our online games business among minors. Furthermore, if these restrictions were expanded to apply to adult game players in the future, our online games business could be affected. See “Item 3.D—Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure and the Regulation of Our Business—Our operations may be adversely affected by implementation of new anti-fatigue-related regulations.”  In connection with the corporate restructuring relating to our online games business, Renren Games will use our own anti-fatigue and real name registration systems in its operation.

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Virtual Currency and Virtual Items

On February 15, 2007, the Ministry of Culture, the People’s Bank of China and other relevant government authorities jointly issued the Notice on the Reinforcement of the Administration of Internet Cafés and Online Games. Under this notice, the People’s Bank of China is directed 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.

On June 4, 2009 the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the Notice on the Strengthening of Administration on Online Game Virtual Currency. Virtual currency is broadly defined in the Notice 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. Notably, game props (i.e., virtual items or equipment used in a particular game), are explicitly excluded from the above definition. The notice specifically states that game props should not be confused with virtual currency and that the Ministry of Culture, jointly with other authorities, will issue separate rules to govern them.

On July 20, 2009, the Ministry of Culture 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.

Further clarifying virtual currency operations, the Ministry of Culture establishes in the Interim Measures for Online Game Administration that the issuance of virtual currency falls within the scope of “online game operations” and those operators shall thus be subject to relevant Online Culture Operating Permit requirements.

In addition, when applying for an Online Culture Operating Permit or for permission to issue virtual currency, a virtual currency issuer must file detailed information about its currency with the Ministry of Culture, including form, extent of circulation, unit purchase price, and how the virtual currency will be refunded upon termination of services. Issuers are prohibited from altering the unit purchase price of the virtual currency after filing, and must complete filing procedures with the Ministry of Culture or its local counterparts before issuing new types of virtual currency.

Each of Qianxiang Wangjing and Qianxiang Changda possess Online Culture Operating Permits with a business scope encompassing the “issuance of virtual currency.” In connection with the corporate restructuring relating to our online games business, Renren Games obtained an Online Culture Operating Permit with a business scope encompassing the “issuance of virtual currency” on December 28, 2012.  Each of Qianxiang Wangjing, Qianxiang Changda and Renren Games must also make certain filings with the Ministry of Culture prior to the issuance of virtual currency and conduct their respective businesses in compliance with PRC law.

Regulations on Advertisements

The PRC government regulates advertising, including online advertising, principally through the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, although there is no PRC law or regulation at the national level that specifically regulates the online advertising business. Prior to November 30, 2004, in order to conduct any advertising business, an enterprise was required to hold an operating license for advertising in addition to a relevant business license. On November 30, 2004, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce issued the Administrative Rules for Advertising Operation Licenses, effective as of January 1, 2005, granting a general exemption to this requirement for most enterprises (other than radio stations, television stations, newspapers and magazines, non-corporate entities and entities specified in other regulations). Because Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianxiang Wangjing and Beijing Nuomi qualify for the exemption noted above, they are not required to hold an advertising operation license.

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Under the Rules for Administration of Foreign Invested Advertising Enterprises, which were jointly promulgated by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Commerce on March 2, 2004 and amended on August 22, 2008, certain foreign investors are permitted to hold direct equity interests in PRC advertising companies. A foreign investor in a Chinese advertising company is required to have previously had direct advertising operations as its main business outside of China for two years if the Chinese advertising company is a joint venture, or three years if the Chinese advertising company is a wholly foreign-owned enterprise. In practice, the foreign investor is deemed compliant with the “main business” requirement if it derives more than 50% of its revenues from advertising business within the past two or three years, as applicable. Since we have not been involved in the advertising industry outside of China for the required number of years, we are not permitted to hold direct equity interests in PRC companies engaging in the advertising business. Therefore, we conduct our advertising business through consolidated affiliated entities in China, namely Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianxiang Wangjing, Beijing Nuomi and Qianjun Technology.

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, the 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. Violation 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. In circumstances involving serious violations, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce or its local branches may order the violator to terminate its advertising operation 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. To comply with these laws and regulations, we include clauses in all of our advertising contracts requiring that all advertising content provided by advertisers must comply with relevant laws and regulations. Under PRC law, the advertising agencies are liable for all damages to us caused by their breach of such representations. Prior to website posting, our account execution personnel are required to review all advertising materials, including video commercials, flashes and pictures to ensure there is no violent, pornographic or any other improper content, and will request the advertiser to provide government approval if the advertisement is subject to special government review.

On July 8, 2004, the State Food and Drug Administration promulgated the Administration Measures on Internet Drug Information Services, which require that internet operators providing drug information services obtain approval from the competent food and drug administration and that drug advertisements be examined and approved by the competent food and drug administration as well. Each of Qianxiang Wangjing, Beijing Nuomi and Qianjun Technology holds an Internet Drug Information Service Permit.

Regulation on Social Commerce

On March 12, 2012, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce issued the Opinions on Strengthening the Administration of Online Social Commerce Operations, or the Social Commerce Operation Opinions. The Social Commerce Operation Opinions stipulate the qualification requirements for operators of social commerce websites, and certain other obligations, such as an examination of the licenses/authorizations of the providers of the relevant products/services offered on the social commerce website, the social commerce website operator’s contracts with such suppliers and customers, data protection for consumers, and after sale services, among other items.

Pursuant to the Social Commerce Operation Opinions, operators of social commerce websites must complete all relevant registrations, obtain a relevant business license and disclose or link to the business license information in a prominent place on the homepage of the website. Social commerce websites without business licenses are prohibited. Social commerce website with business licenses but engaged in business operations in violation of the relevant PRC laws and regulations will be punished or may have their business licenses revoked.

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The Social Commerce Operation Opinions require operators of social commerce websites to offer for sale only services and products from entities and individuals with a relevant business license and the necessary regulatory authorizations and that such operators must examine such licenses/authorizations, maintain records of all of their suppliers and update such records in a timely fashion. In addition, the descriptions of any goods and services must be accurate and complete.

The Social Commerce Operation Opinions also stipulate certain requirements for the contracts that the operators of social commerce websites may enter into with suppliers and customers.  Supplier contracts must be detailed and specify adequate quality assurances and consumer protection.  Contracts with customers must comply with relevant laws and regulations and may not exempt the operator from any material obligations.  The key provisions must also be highlighted for customers.

The Social Commerce Operation Opinions require the social commerce website operators to establish data protection systems and not to knowingly disclose any confidential information relating to their suppliers or customers.

Under the Social Commerce Operation Opinions, operators of social commerce websites must (i) establish a comprehensive after-sales service system, consumer dispute settlement system and professional customer service team, (ii) ensure that their complaint and customer support channels are smooth, and (iii) provide customers with troubleshooting assistance and feedback in a timely manner.

In addition, under the Social Commerce Operation Opinions, operators of social commerce websites must observe the refund requirements of the Consumer Protection Law. Specifically, social commerce website operators may not impose no-refund restrictions or restrict refunds to website credit.

Social commerce website operators must also preserve all relevant data for a period of two years following their cessation of operations. In undertaking promotions, operators of social commerce websites must obey the Anti-unfair Competition Law and the Certain Regulations on Prohibiting Unfair Competition in Prize-attached Sales.

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. This document, among other things, reiterates 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 this document will regulate music videos.

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. 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.

With respect to the above, we have obtained relevant licenses from third parties and provide online music to our users through our SNS website. Qianxiang Wangjing has been granted an Online Culture Operating Permit, the scope of which covers online games and online music operations. If any music provided through our website is found to be in violation of the filings and/or approvals required, we could be requested to cease providing such music or be subject to penalties from the Ministry of Culture or its local branches.

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Regulations on Broadcasting Audio/Video Programs through the Internet

On July 6, 2004, the SARFT promulgated the Rules for the Administration of Broadcasting of Audio/Video Programs through the Internet and Other Information Networks, or the A/V Broadcasting Rules. These rules apply to the launch, broadcasting, aggregation, transmission or download of audio/video programs via televisions, mobile phones and the internet and other information networks. Anyone who wishes to engage in internet broadcasting activities must first obtain an audio/video program transmission license, with a term of two years, issued by the SARFT and operate pursuant to the scope as provided in such license. Foreign invested enterprises are not allowed to engage in the above business.

On April 13, 2005, the State Council announced Several Decisions on Investment by Non-state-owned Companies in Culture-related Business in China. These decisions encourage and support non-state-owned companies to enter certain culture-related business in China, subject to restrictions and prohibitions for investment in audio/video broadcasting, website news and certain other businesses by non-state-owned companies. These decisions authorize the SARFT, the Ministry of Culture and the General Administration of Press and Publication to adopt detailed implementation rules according to these decisions.

On December 20, 2007, the SARFT 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. Circular 56 reiterates the requirement set forth in the A/V Broadcasting Rules that online audio/video service providers must obtain a license from the SARFT. Furthermore, Circular 56 requires all online audio/video service providers to be either wholly state-owned or state-controlled. According to relevant official answers to press questions published on the SARFT’s website dated February 3, 2008, officials from the SARFT 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. Such policies have been reflected in the Application Procedure for Audio/Video Program Transmission License.

Qianjun Technology, the operator of our 56.com online video website, holds an Audio/Video Program Transmission License.  In addition, through 56.com and other video websites, users of renren.com can upload, view and share videos, which can be shown on a user’s page on renren.com. No online video-related PRC regulations have clearly specified whether this type of practice would be subject to any licensing or permit requirements. If so, we may need to apply for a permit or license in the future. In addition, there is a risk that third parties may initiate intellectual property infringement claims for the videos shared on our platform.

Through 56.com, our user generated content online video sharing website, our users can upload, view and share videos. No online video-related PRC regulations have clearly specified whether this type of practice would be subject to any licensing or permit requirements. If so, we may need to apply for a permit or license in the future. In addition, there is a risk that third parties may initiate intellectual property infringement claims for the videos shared on our platform.

Regulations on Internet Mapping Services

According to the Administrative Rules of Surveying Qualification Certificates and the amended Standard for Internet Map Services issued by the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation, or NASMG, in March 2009 and May 2010, respectively, the provision of internet mapping services by any non-surveying and mapping enterprise is subject to the approval of the NASMG and requires a surveying and mapping qualification certificate. According to these rules, certain conditions and requirements, such as a minimum number of technical and map security verification personnel, security facilities, and approval from relevant provincial or national governments of the service provider’s security, qualification management and filing management systems, must be complied with by an enterprise applying for a Surveying and Mapping Qualification Certificate. Pursuant to the Notice on Further Strengthening the Administration of Internet Map Services Qualifications issued by the NASMG in December 2011, any entity that has not yet applied for a surveying qualification certificate for internet mapping services is prohibited from providing any internet mapping services. Qianxiang Wangjing holds a Surveying and Mapping Qualification Certificate for internet mapping.

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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 National People’s Congress adopted the Patent Law in 1984, and amended it 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 often 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 obtained one patent granted by the State Intellectual Property Office.

Copyright. The National People’s Congress adopted the Copyright Law in 1990 and amended it in 2001 and 2010, respectively. 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.

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 Internet on April 29, 2005. This measure became effective on May 30, 2005.

This measure applies to situations where an ICP operator (i) allows another person to post or store any works, recordings or audio or video programs on the websites operated by such ICP operator, or (ii) provides links to, or search results for, the works, recordings or audio or video programs posted or transmitted by such person, without editing, revising or selecting the content of such material. Upon receipt of an infringement notice from a legitimate copyright holder, an ICP operator must take remedial actions immediately by removing or disabling access to the infringing content. If an ICP operator knowingly transmits infringing content or fails to take remedial actions after receipt of a notice of infringement harming public interest, the ICP operator could be subject to administrative penalties, including: cessation of infringement activities; confiscation by the authorities of all income derived from the infringing activities; and payment of a fine of up to three times the unlawful income or, in cases where the amount of unlawful income cannot be determined, a fine of up to RMB100,000. An ICP operator is also required to retain all infringement notices for a minimum of six months and to record the content, display time and IP addresses or the domain names related to the infringement for a minimum of 60 days. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in an administrative warning and a fine of up to RMB30,000.

On May 18, 2006, the State Council promulgated the Protection of the Right of Communication through Information Networks, which became effective on July 1, 2006. 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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An internet service provider that provides information storage space to users through which users may provide works, performance or audio or video recordings to the public will be exempted from liability for compensation to rights owners where the following conditions apply (i) the internet service provider has clearly indicated that the information storage space is provided to users, and published the name, contact person and IP address of the network service provider; (ii) it has not altered the works or recordings provided by users; (iii) it did not know, or could not reasonably have been expected to know, that the content provided by users infringed other’s rights; (iv) it has not received any direct financial gain from the users’ provision of the content; and (v) it deletes the allegedly infringing content upon receiving written notice from the rights owners. An internet service provider that provides users with search or link services will be exempted from liability for compensation to rights owners if the internet service provider promptly disconnects the link to the infringing content after receiving the rights owner’s notice. This exemption is not valid however if the internet service provider knew or should know that the linked content infringed another’s rights; in that case, it will be jointly liable with the user who provided the content.

Since 2005, the National Copyright Administration and certain other PRC governmental authorities have jointly launched annual campaigns specifically aimed to crack down on internet copyright infringement and piracy in China, which normally last for three to four months every year. According to the Notice of 2010 Campaign to Crack Down on Internet Infringement and Piracy promulgated by the National Copyright Administration, the Ministry of Public Security and the MIIT on July 19, 2010, one of the main targets, among others, of the 2010 campaign is internet audio and video programs. Since the 2010 campaign commenced in late July, the local branches of the National Copyright Administration have been focusing on popular movies and television series, newly published books, online games and animation, music and software and illegal uploading or transmission of a third party’s works without proper license or permission, sales of pirated audio/video and software through e-commerce platforms, providing search links, information storage, web hosting or internet access services for third parties engaging in copyright infringement or piracy and the infringement by use of mobile media. In serious cases, the operating permits of the websites engaging in illegal activities may be revoked, and such websites may be ordered to shut down.

We have adopted measures to mitigate copyright infringement risks. For example, our policy is to remove links to web pages if we know these web pages contain materials that infringe third-party rights or if we are notified by the legitimate copyright holder of the infringement with proper evidence.

On December 26, 2009, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress adopted the Torts Liability Law, which became effective on July 1, 2010. Under this new law, 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 promulgated 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. These provisions provide 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. These provisions provide 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.  These provisions also hold 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 any network user infringement of network information transmission rights.

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On October 27, 2000, the MIIT issued the Administrative Measures on Software Products to strengthen the regulation of software products and to encourage the development of the PRC software industry. The MIIT later issued amended measures effective April 10, 2009. These measures provide a registration and filing system with respect to software products made in or imported into China. These software products may be registered with the competent local authorities in charge of software industry administration. Registered software products may enjoy preferential treatment status granted by relevant software industry regulations. Software products can be registered for five years, and the registration is renewable upon expiration.

In order to further implement the Computer Software Protection Regulations promulgated by the State Council on December 20, 2001, 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 80 computer software copyrights.

Trademark. The PRC Trademark Law, adopted in 1982 and revised in 1993 and 2001, protects registered trademarks. The Trademark Office under the State Administration for Industry and Commerce handles trademark registrations and grants a term often years for registered trademarks. Trademark license agreements must be filed with the Trademark Office for record. “人人renren” is a registered trademark in China. We have also registered additional trademarks and logos, including a new version of “人人 renren”, “糯米”, “56.com我乐网”, “我乐”, “车问”, “经纬” and “轻停”, with the Trademark Office.

Domain Names. In September 2002, the CNNIC issued the Implementing Rules for Domain Name Registration setting forth detailed rules for registration of domain names. On November 5, 2004, the MIIT promulgated the Measures for Administration of Domain Names for the Chinese Internet, or the Domain Name Measures. These measures regulate the registration of domain names, such as the first tier domain name “.cn”. In February 2006, the CNNIC issued the Measures on Domain Name Dispute Resolution and its implementing rules, pursuant to which the CNNIC can authorize a domain name dispute resolution institution to decide disputes. We have registered domain names including renren.com, nuomi.com, xiaonei.com, jingwei.com, chewen.com, 98un.com, jiexi.com and 56.com.

Regulations on Foreign Exchange

Foreign exchange activities in China are primarily governed by the following regulations:

·                  the Foreign Currency Administration Rules (2008); and

·                  the Administration Rules for the Settlement, Sale and Payment of Foreign Exchange (1996).

Under the 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 counterpart.

Under the Administration Rules for 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 counterpart. Capital investments by PRC entities outside of China, after obtaining the required approvals of 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 counterpart.

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In utilizing the proceeds we received from our initial public offering in May 2011 in the manner described in the “Use of Proceeds” section of the prospectus in our Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-173548), as an offshore holding company with a PRC subsidiary, we may (i) make additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries, (ii) establish new PRC subsidiaries and make capital contributions to these new PRC subsidiaries, (iii) make loans to our PRC subsidiaries or consolidated affiliated entities, or (iv) acquire offshore entities with business operations in China in offshore transactions. However, most of these uses are subject to PRC regulations and approvals. For example:

·                  capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries, whether existing or newly established ones, must be approved by the Ministry of Commerce or its local counterparts;

·                  loans by us to our PRC subsidiaries, each of which is a foreign-invested enterprise, to finance their activities cannot exceed statutory limits and must be registered with SAFE or its local branches; and

·                  loans by us to our consolidated affiliated entities, which are domestic PRC entities, must be approved by the National Development and Reform Commission and must also be registered with SAFE or its local branches.

On August 29, 2008, SAFE issued the Circular on the Relevant Operating Issues Concerning the Improvement of the Administration of the Payment and Settlement of Foreign Currency Capital of Foreign-Invested Enterprises, or SAFE Circular 142. Pursuant to SAFE Circular 142, RMB resulting from the settlement of foreign currency capital of a foreign-invested enterprise must be used within the business scope as approved by the applicable government authority and cannot be used for domestic equity investment, unless it is otherwise approved. Documents certifying the purposes of the settlement of foreign currency capital into RMB, including a business contract, must also be submitted for the settlement of the foreign currency. In addition, SAFE strengthened its oversight of the flow and use of RMB capital converted from foreign currency registered capital of a foreign-invested company. The use of such RMB capital may not be altered without SAFE’s approval, and such RMB capital may not be used to repay RMB loans if such loans have not been used. Violations of SAFE Circular 142 could result in severe monetary fines or penalties. We expect that after the conversion of the net proceeds from our initial public offering in May 2011 into RMB pursuant to SAFE Circular 142, our use of RMB funds have been, and will be, within the approved business scope of our PRC subsidiaries. Such business scope includes “technical services” which we believe permits our PRC subsidiary to purchase or lease servers and other equipment and to provide operational support to our consolidated affiliated entities.  However, we may not be able to use such RMB funds to make equity investments in the PRC through our PRC subsidiaries. There are no costs associated with applying for registration or approval of loans or capital contributions with or from relevant PRC governmental authorities, other than nominal processing charges. Under PRC laws and regulations, the PRC governmental authorities are required to process such approvals or registrations or deny our application within a prescribed time period, which is usually less than 90 days. The actual time taken, however, may be longer due to administrative delays. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain these government registrations or approvals on a timely basis, if at all, with respect to our future plans to use the U.S. dollar proceeds we received from our initial public offering in 2011 for our expansion and operations in China. If we fail to receive such registrations or approvals, our ability to use the proceeds from our initial public offering and to capitalize our PRC operations may be negatively affected, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and ability to fund and expand our business. See “Item 3.D—Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure and the Regulation of Our Business— PRC regulation of loans to, and direct investment in, PRC entities by offshore holding companies and governmental control of currency conversion may restrict or prevent us from using the proceeds of our initial public offering to make loans to our PRC subsidiaries and consolidated affiliated entities or to make additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries, which may materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.”

Regulations on Dividend Distribution

The principal regulations governing dividend distributions of wholly foreign-owned enterprises include:

·                  the Companies Law (2005);

·                  the Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise Law (2000); and

·                  the Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise Law Implementing Rules (2001).

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Under these regulations, wholly foreign-owned enterprises in the PRC may pay dividends only out of their accumulated profits as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. In addition, these wholly foreign-owned enterprises are required to set aside at least 10% of their respective accumulated profits each year, if any, to fund certain reserve funds, until the aggregate amount of such fund reaches 50% of its registered capital. At the discretion of these wholly foreign-owned enterprises, they may allocate a portion of their after-tax profits based on PRC accounting standards to staff welfare and bonus funds. These reserve funds and staff welfare and bonus funds are not distributable as cash dividends.

As of December 31, 2012, the registered capital of our wholly foreign-owned subsidiary Qianxiang Shiji was US$100.0 million. Qianxiang Shiji has not made any profits to date, and thus are not subject to the statutory reserve fund requirement. Qianxiang Shiji has not and will not be able to pay dividends to our offshore entities until they generate accumulated profits and meet the requirements for statutory reserve funds. As of December 31, 2012, our PRC subsidiaries Qianxiang Shiji and Wole Technology had accumulated deficits of approximately US$36.3 million and US$20.9 million, respectively, in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations.  The registered capital for Renren Network is US$20.0 million, with paid-in capital of US$10.0 million.

Regulations on Offshore Investment by PRC Residents

Pursuant to the SAFE Notice on Relevant Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Administration for PRC Residents to Engage in Financing and Inbound Investment via Overseas Special Purpose Vehicles, generally known in China as SAFE Circular 75, issued on October 21, 2005: (i) a PRC citizen residing in the PRC or non-PRC citizen primarily residing in the PRC due to his or her economic ties to the PRC, who is referred to as a PRC resident in SAFE Circular 75, shall register with the local branch of SAFE before it establishes or controls an overseas special purpose company, for the purpose of overseas equity financing; (ii) when a PRC resident contributes the assets of, or its equity interests in, a domestic enterprise into an overseas special purpose company, or engages in overseas financing after contributing assets or equity interests into an special purpose company, such PRC resident shall register his or her interest in the special purpose company and the change thereof with the local branch of SAFE; and (iii) when the special purpose company undergoes a material event outside of China not involving inbound investments, such as change in share capital, creation of any security interests on its assets or a merger or division, the PRC resident shall, within 30 days from the occurrence of such event, register such change with the local branch of SAFE. PRC residents who are shareholders of special purpose companies established before November 1, 2005 were required to register with the local branch of SAFE before March 31, 2006. To further clarify and simplify the implementation of SAFE Circular 75, SAFE issued the Implementing Rules Relating to the Administration of Foreign Exchange in Fund-Raising and Round-trip Investment Activities of the Domestic Residents Conducted via Offshore Special Purpose Companies, or SAFE Circular 19 on May 20, 2011, which came into effect on July 1, 2011.

Both Mr. Sheng Liang and Ms. Juan Zhou have obtained registration under SAFE Circular 75. We have made due inquiries with the competent local branch of SAFE regarding the applicability of the above foreign exchange registration requirements to our founder and our PRC resident shareholders. However, as these foreign exchange regulations are still relatively new and their interpretation and implementation has been constantly evolving, it is unclear how these regulations, and any future regulation concerning offshore or cross border transactions, will be interpreted, amended or implemented by the relevant government authorities. We cannot predict how these regulations will affect our business operations or future strategy. See “Item 3.D—Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—PRC regulations relating to the establishment of offshore holding companies by PRC residents may subject our PRC resident beneficial owners or our PRC subsidiary to liability or penalties, limit our ability to inject capital into our PRC subsidiary, limit our PRC subsidiary’s ability to increase its registered capital or distribute profits to us, or may otherwise adversely affect us.”

Regulations on Employee Stock Options Plans

In December 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 or non-PRC citizens) under either the current account or the capital account. In January 2007, SAFE issued implementing rules for the Administrative Measures of Foreign Exchange Matters for Individuals, which, among other things, 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. On March 28, 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, or the Stock Option Rules. In February 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, or the Stock Option Notice. This Stock Option Notice replaced the previous Stock Option Rules. The Stock Option Notice simplifies the requirements and procedures for the registration of stock incentive plan participants, especially in respect of the required application documents and the absence of strict requirements on offshore and onshore custodian banks, as were stipulated in the previous Stock Option Rules. The purpose of the Stock Option Notice is to regulate the foreign exchange administration of PRC resident individuals who participate in employee stock holding plans and share option plans of overseas listed companies.

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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 share option exercises, as PRC residents may not directly use oversea funds to purchase shares or exercise share options. In addition, within three months after any substantial changes to any such stock incentive plan, including 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 in respect of depositing the 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 Stock Option Rules require further interpretation. As our company has become an overseas listed company following the listing of our ADSs on the NYSE in May 2011, we and our PRC employees who have participated in an employee stock ownership plan or share option plan are subject to the Stock Option Rules. If we or our PRC employees fail to comply with the Stock Option Rules, we and our PRC employees may face sanctions imposed by the PRC foreign exchange authority or any other PRC government authorities, including restriction on foreign currency conversions and additional capital contribution to our PRC subsidiaries.

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 tax. Our PRC subsidiaries have obligations to file documents related to employee share options with relevant tax authorities and withhold the individual income taxes of employees who exercise their share options. If our employees fail to pay and we fail to withhold their income taxes, we may face sanctions imposed by tax authorities or any other PRC government authorities. See “Item 3.D—Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Failure to comply with PRC regulations regarding the registration requirements for employee share ownership plans or share option plans may subject the 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.

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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

In August 2006, six PRC regulatory agencies jointly adopted the Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors, or the M&A Rule, as amended on June 22, 2009. The M&A Rule established additional procedures and requirements that could make merger and acquisition activities by foreign investors more time-consuming and complex. These 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 are triggered.

Complying with these requirements could affect our ability to expand our business or maintain our market share. See “Item 3.D—Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Certain regulations in the PRC may make it more difficult for us to pursue growth through acquisitions.”

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C.                                    Organizational Structure

The following diagram illustrates our principal subsidiaries and consolidated affiliated entities as of the date of this annual report:

(1)         Qianxiang Tiancheng is 99% owned by Ms. Jing Yang, who is the wife of Mr. Joseph Chen, our founder, chairman and chief executive officer, and 1% owned by Mr. James Jian Liu, our director and chief operating officer. Qianjun Technology is 20% owned by Ms. Juan Zhou and 80% owned by Mr. Sheng Liang, both of whom are employees of our company. Renren Games is 70% owned by Mr. Chuan He, our senior vice president for games, and 30% owned by Mr. James Jian Liu. We effectively control Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianjun Technology and Renren Games and their respective subsidiaries through contractual arrangements.  See “Item 4.C Organizational Structure—Contractual Arrangements with Our Consolidated Affiliated Entities—Agreements that Provide us Effective Control Over Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianjun Technology and Renren Games” for more information.

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Contractual Arrangements with Our Consolidated Affiliated Entities

Applicable PRC laws and regulations currently restrict foreign ownership of companies that provide value-added telecommunications services. To comply with these foreign ownership restrictions, our wholly owned subsidiary Qianxiang Shiji has entered into a series of contractual arrangements with Qianxiang Tiancheng and its shareholders, our wholly owned subsidiary Wole Technology has entered into a series of contractual arrangements with Qianjun Technology and its shareholders, and our wholly owned subsidiary Renren Network has entered into a series of contractual arrangements with Renren Games and its shareholders, which enable us to:

·                  exercise effective control over Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianjun Technology and Renren Games and their respective subsidiaries through powers of attorney and a business operations agreement;

·                  receive substantially all of the economic benefits of Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianjun Technology and Renren Games and their respective subsidiaries in the form of service and license fees in consideration for the technical services provided, and the intellectual property rights licensed, by Qianxiang Shiji, Wole Technology and Renren Network, respectively; and

·                  have an exclusive option to purchase all of the equity interests in Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianjun Technology and Renren Games when and to the extent permitted under PRC laws, regulations and legal procedures.

We have been, and are expected to continue to be, dependent on our contractual arrangements with Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianjun Technology, Renren Games and their respective shareholders to operate substantially all of our business in China as long as PRC law does not allow us to directly operate such business in China. We rely on our consolidated affiliated entities, namely Qianxiang Tiancheng, Qianjun Technology, Renren Games and their respective subsidiaries, to maintain or renew their respective qualifications, licenses or permits necessary for our business in China. We believe that under our contractual arrangements, we have substantial control over our consolidated affiliated entities and their respective shareholders to renew, revise or enter into new contractual arrangements prior to the expiration of the current arrangements on terms that would enable us to continue to operate our business in China after the expiration of the current arrangements, or pursuant to certain amendments and changes of the current applicable PRC laws, regulations and rules on terms that would enable us to continue to operate our business in China legally. For a detailed description of the regulatory environment that necessitates the adoption of our corporate structure, see “Item 4.B—Business Overview—Regulation.” For a detailed description of the risks associated with our corporate structure and the contractual arrangements that support our corporate structure, see “Item 3.D—Key Information—Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure and the Regulation of our Business.”

The business operation of Qianxiang Shiji is within the approved business scope as set forth in its business license, which includes research and development of computer software, communication software and system integration; sale of self-produced products; provision of after-sale technical consulting and services. Qianxiang Tiancheng is a limited liability companies established in China. Its approved business scope includes the provision of internet information, internet advertising and advertising agency services, and it holds an internet content provision license, or ICP license. Qianxiang Tiancheng is 99% owned by Ms. Jing Yang, who is the wife of Mr. Joseph Chen, our founder, chairman and chief executive officer, and 1% owned by Mr. James Jian Liu, our executive director and chief operating officer. Both Ms. Yang and Mr. Liu are PRC citizens.

Qianxiang Wangjing, Qianxiang Changda and Beijing Nuomi are wholly owned subsidiaries of Qianxiang Tiancheng.  Qianxiang Wangjing is the operator of our renren.com website and holds the licenses and permits necessary to conduct our real name social networking services, online advertising and online game business in China. Beijing Nuomi is the operator of our nuomi.com website and holds the licenses and permits necessary to conduct our social commerce business in China. Qianxiang Changda holds the licenses and permits necessary to conduct our social networking services and online games business.

The business operations of Wole Technology are within the approved business scope as set forth in its business license, which includes research and development of computer software, sale of self-produced products, provision of technical consulting, management consulting and technical services. Qianjun Technology is a limited liability company established in China. Its approved business scope includes research and development of computer software, computer hardware, electronic products, webpage design, advertisement design, production, release and agency, internet information service and other services, and it holds an ICP license. Qianjun Technology is 80% owned by Mr. Sheng Liang and 20% owned by Ms. Juan Zhou. Both Mr. Liang and Ms. Zhou are PRC citizens and are employees of our company. Qianjun Technology owns 100% equity interest in Wole Shijie.  Wole Shijie is the operator of our quanquan.net website.

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The business operations of Renren Games are within the approved business scope as set forth in its business license, which includes the development and transfer of internet technology and provision of internet technical consultation and services, as well as the design, production, publishing of advertisements and acting as advertisement agent for domestic and overseas clients.  Renren Games is a limited liability company established in China. It holds an ICP license. Renren Games is 70% owned by Mr. Chuan He, our senior vice president for games, and 30% owned by Mr. James Jian Liu, our director and chief operating officer.  Both Mr. He and Mr. Liu are PRC citizens.  Renren Games owns 100% equity interest in Suzhou Sijifeng.  Suzhou Sijifeng is the developer and provider of designs and other games-related technologies for Renren Games.

The following is a summary of the currently effective contracts (i) among our subsidiary Qianxiang Shiji, our consolidated affiliated entity Qianxiang Tiancheng, and the shareholders of Qianxiang Tiancheng, (ii) among our subsidiary Wole Technology, our consolidated affiliated entity Qianjun Technology, and the shareholders of Qianjun Technology, and (iii) among our subsidiary Renren Network, our consolidated affiliated entity Renren Games, and the shareholders of Renren Games. These contracts provide us with the power to direct the activities that most significantly affect the economic performance of our consolidated affiliated entities and enable us to receive substantially all the economic benefits from them.

Business Operations Agreements. Pursuant to a business operations agreement among Qianxiang Shiji, Qianxiang Tiancheng and its shareholders, Qianxiang Tiancheng shall appoint the candidates designated by Qianxiang Shiji as the executive director or directors, general manager, chief financial officer and any other senior officers of Qianxiang Tiancheng. Qianxiang Tiancheng agrees to follow the proposal provided by Qianxiang Shiji from time to time relating to employment, daily operation and financial management. Without Qianxiang Shiji’s prior written consent, Qianxiang Tiancheng shall not conduct any transaction that may materially affect its assets, obligations, rights or operations, including but not limited to, (i) incurrence or assumption of any indebtedness, (ii) sale or purchase of any assets or rights, (iii) incurrence of any encumbrance on any of its assets or intellectual property rights in favor of a third party, or (iv) transfer of any rights or obligations under this agreements to a third party. The term of this agreement is ten years and will be extended automatically for another ten years unless Qianxiang Shiji provides a written notice requesting not to extend the term three months prior to the expiration date, which is December 23, 2020.  Qianxiang Shiji may terminate the agreement at any time by providing a 30-day advance written notice to Qianxiang Tiancheng and to each of its shareholders. Neither Qianxiang Tiancheng nor any of its shareholders may terminate this agreement during the term or the extension of the term, if applicable.

Wole Technology, Qianjun Technology and its shareholders have entered into a business operations agreement, and Renren Network, Renren Games and its shareholders have entered into a business operations agreement.  Each of these two business operations agreements contains substantially the same terms as the terms of the business operations agreement among Qianxiang Shiji, Qianxiang Tiancheng and its shareholders described above.  The expiration date of the business operations agreement among Wole Technology, Qianjun Technology and its shareholders is October 26, 2021, and the expiration date of the business operations agreement among Renren Network, Renren Games and its shareholders is November 30, 2022.  The term of each of these agreement is ten years and will be extended automatically for another ten years unless Wole Technology or Renren Network, as applicable, provides a written notice requesting not to extend the term three months prior to the expiration date.