Company: ZHIHF
Filing Date: 2025-04-15
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001410578-25-000729
Chunk: 58

Company: Zhihu Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-15
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 3
Chunk 58
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 licenses or permits necessary for our business operations, update information (such as website, apps, or legal representative) on file, or renew any of them when their current term expires.

Table of Contents

In addition, considerable uncertainties exist in relation to the interpretation and implementation of existing and future laws and regulations governing our business activities. We could be found not in compliance with any future laws and regulations or of the laws and regulations currently in effect due to changes in the authorities’ interpretation of these laws and regulations. If we fail to complete, obtain, or maintain any of the required licenses or approvals or make the necessary filings, we may be subject to various penalties, such as confiscation of unlawful gains, the imposition of fines, revocation of licenses, and the discontinuation or restriction of our operations. Any such penalties or changes in policies, regulations, or enforcement by government authorities, may disrupt our operations and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The PCAOB had historically been unable to inspect our auditor in relation to their audit work performed for our financial statements and the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of our auditor in the past had deprived our investors with the benefits of such inspections.

Our auditor, the independent registered public accounting firm that issues the audit report included elsewhere in this annual report, as an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the PCAOB, is subject to laws in the United States pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess its compliance with the applicable professional standards. The auditor is located in mainland China, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB had historically been unable to conduct inspections and investigations completely before 2022. As a result, we and investors in the ADSs were deprived of the benefits of such PCAOB inspections. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of auditors in China in the past made it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our independent registered public accounting firm’s audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of China that are subject to the PCAOB inspections. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB issued a report that vacated its December 16, 2021 determination and removed mainland China and Hong Kong from the list of jurisdictions where it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms. However, if the PCAOB determines in the future that it no longer has full access to inspect and investigate completely accounting firms in mainland China and Hong Kong, and we use an accounting firm