Company: TME
Filing Date: 2025-04-23
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000950170-25-056949
Chunk: 77

Company: Tencent Music Entertainment Group
Filing Date: 2025-04-23
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 3
Chunk 77
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. The Foreign Investment Law of the PRC embodies an expected PRC regulatory trend to rationalize its foreign investment regulatory regime in line with prevailing international practice and the legislative efforts to unify the corporate legal requirements for both foreign and domestic investments. However, uncertainties still exist in relation to its interpretation and implementation. For example, the Foreign Investment Law of the PRC adds a catch-all clause to the definition of “foreign investment” so that foreign investment, by its definition, includes “investments made by foreign investors in China through other means defined by other laws or administrative regulations or provisions promulgated by the State Council” without further elaboration on the meaning of “other means.” The Implementing Regulation of the Foreign Investment Law Regulations, or the FIL Interpretations, adopted by the State Council on December 12, 2019 also did not provide further clarification for such “other means.” In accordance with the FIL Interpretations, where a party concerned claims an investment agreement to be invalid on the basis that it is for investment in prohibited industries under the negative list or it is for investment in restricted industries under the negative list and violates the restrictions set out therein, the courts should support such claim. It leaves leeway for future legislations to be promulgated by competent PRC legislative institutions to provide for contractual arrangements as a form of foreign investment. If we fail to take appropriate and timely measures to comply with any of these or similar regulatory compliance requirements, our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business operations, as well as our ability to consolidate the VIEs’ results in our consolidated financial statements, could be materially and adversely affected.
The Guideline No.2 on the Application of Regulatory Rules on Overseas Securities Offerings and Listings, or the Guideline No.2, as one of the supporting guidelines for the Trial Measures, provides that the filing documents submitted to the CSRC shall specify, among other things: (i) whether the issuer’s business, licenses or qualifications are not allowed to be controlled by way of contractual arrangements by PRC laws, administrative regulations or relevant provisions; and (ii) whether the domestic operating entities controlled by way of contractual arrangements are subject to any restricted or prohibited industries for foreign investments. The officials from the CSRC clarified at the press conference held for the Trial Measures on February 17, 2023 that, the CSRC will solicit opinions from relevant regulatory authorities and complete the filing of the overseas listing of companies with VIE structure which meet the compliance requirements. Uncertainty still remains on how such rules will be interpreted