Company: GDHLF
Filing Date: 2025-04-28
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001410578-25-000935
Chunk: 183

Company: GDS Holdings Ltd
Filing Date: 2025-04-28
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 4
Chunk 183
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ional VATS licenses shall be approved and issued by the MIIT with five-year terms. On July 3, 2017, the MIIT issued the Telecom License Measures, which took effect on September 1, 2017 and replaced the original Telecom License Measures. The changes mainly include among others, (i) the establishment of a telecommunications business integrated management online platform; (ii) provisions allowing the holder of a telecommunications business license (including the IDC license) to authorize a company, of which such license holder holds at least 51% of the equity interests indirectly, to engage in the relevant telecommunications business; and (iii) the cancellation of the requirement of an annual inspection of telecommunications business licenses, instead, requiring license holders to complete an annual report.

On November 30, 2012, the MIIT issued the Circular of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China on Further Standardizing the Market Access-related Work for Businesses Concerning Internet Data Centers and Internet Service Providerswhich clarifies the application requirements and verification procedures for the licensing of IDC and internet service provider, or ISP, businesses and states that entities intending to engage in the IDC or ISP business could apply for a license since December 1, 2012.

On May 6, 2013, the Q& A was published on the website of China Academy of Information and Communications Technology. The Q& A, although not an official law or regulation, is deemed by the market as a guideline in practice which reflected the attitude of MIIT as to the application for VATS licenses, especially as to IDC services.

Table of Contents

To comply with the above restrictions and requirements, among others, GDS Beijing has obtained a cross-regional value-added telecommunications license which permits it to provide data center services, including internet resources collaboration services, across 14 cities in China: Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Zhangjiakou, Langfang, Tianjin, Huizhou, Wulanchabu, Nantong, Wuhan and Chongqing. GDS Shanghai has obtained a cross-regional value-added telecommunications license which permits it to provide data center services across five cities in China: Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Suzhou, and GDS Suzhou has obtained a cross-regional value-added telecommunications license which permits it to provide data center services across 44 cities in China which can be divided into three categories: (i) data center services (including internet resources collaboration