Company: CHNR
Filing Date: 2025-05-15
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001079973-25-000827
Chunk: 27

Company: CHINA NATURAL RESOURCES INC
Filing Date: 2025-05-15
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 3
Chunk 27
---
 that we make in the future. If our shareholders who are PRC residents fail to make the required SAFE registration or to update a previously filed registration, our PRC subsidiaries may be prohibited from distributing their profits or the proceeds from any capital reduction, share transfer or liquidation to us, and we may also be prohibited from making additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries.
 In February 2015, SAFE promulgated a Notice on Further Simplifying and Improving Foreign Exchange Administration Policy on Direct Investment (“SAFE Notice 13”) effective June 2015. Under SAFE Notice 13, applications for foreign exchange registration of inbound foreign direct investments and outbound overseas direct investments, including those required under SAFE Circular 37, shall be filed with qualified banks instead of SAFE. The qualified banks directly examine the applications and accept registrations under the supervision of SAFE. To date, no registration has been filed with SAFE regarding us, and accordingly, SAFE may prohibit distributions from our PRC subsidiaries, which would prevent us from paying dividends and may adversely affect our financial condition and potentially expose us to liability under PRC law.
The PCAOB had historically been unable to inspect our auditor and former auditor in relation to their audit work performed for our financial statements and the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections in the past has deprived our investors with the benefits of such inspections.
 Our former auditor, Ernst & Young Hua Ming LLP (“EY”), the independent registered public accounting firm that issued the audit report for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2022 and 2023, which is included 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 such firms’ compliance with the applicable professional standards. On April 8, 2025, we engaged ARK Pro CPA &Co (“ARK”) as our independent registered public accounting firm that issues the audit report in our SEC filings, 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. For more details, see “Item 16F. Changes in Registrant’s Certifying Accountant.”
 Since our former auditor is located in China, and our auditor is located in Hong Kong, both are jurisdictions where the PCAOB had been previously unable to conduct inspections without the