Company: GDHLF
Filing Date: 2025-04-28
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001410578-25-000935
Chunk: 50

Company: GDS Holdings Ltd
Filing Date: 2025-04-28
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 3
Chunk 50
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 in turn, could possibly lead to the modification or cancellation of our existing customer contracts, all of which would harm our business. Furthermore, our association with customers or business partners that are or become subject to U. S. regulatory scrutiny, export restrictions or sanctions could subject us to actual or perceived reputational harm among current or prospective investors, suppliers or customers, customers of our customers, other parties doing business with us, or the general public. Any such reputational harm could result in the loss of investors, suppliers or customers, which could harm our business, financial conditions or prospects.

Additionally, given the important role played by China-based companies in our business, these developments may materially and adversely affect certain of our suppliers’ and customers’ abilities to acquire technologies, systems, devices or components that may be critical to their technology infrastructure, service offerings and business operations, and further cause a turmoil to their industries including telecommunications, information technology infrastructure and consumer electronics, which may, in turn, materially and adversely affect their demand for our services and affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. There can be no assurance that we will not be affected by current or future export controls or economic and trade sanctions regulations.

Geopolitical tensions have led to adverse trends in the areas of trade, technology and finance between China and the United States and these adverse trends may continue, which could negatively affect our business operations and results of operations.

In recent years, the bilateral relationship between China and the United States has been marked by intense conflicts between the two countries in trade, technology and other areas, and this has led to greater uncertainties in the geopolitical situations in other parts of the world affecting China and Chinese companies. Uncertainty about the future relationship between China and the United States has increased in recent years due to, among other things, export controls, economic and trade sanctions which have been imposed and/or threatened by the U. S. government on a number of Chinese technology companies, some of which are existing or potential customers and/or suppliers to us. These have raised concerns that there may be increasing regulatory challenges or enhanced restrictions against China and other Chinese technology companies, including us, in a wide range of areas such as data security, emerging technologies, semiconductor manufacturing, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, outbound investment, “dual-use” commercial technologies and applications that could be deployed for surveillance or military purposes, import/export of technology or other business activities.

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For instance, in August 2022, the U. S. enacted the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semicon