CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
Table of Contents

 
 
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 20-F
(Mark One)
     
o   REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
OR
     
þ   ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006
OR
     
o   TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
OR
     
o   SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of event requiring this shell company report
For the transition period from                      to                     .
Commission file number: 000-50975
CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
Not Applicable
(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)
Hong Kong
(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
9th Floor of Tower C, Corporate Square
NO. 35 Financial Street, Xicheng District
Beijing 100032, China

(Address of principal executive offices)
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act.
     
Title of each class
 
Name of each exchange on which registered
None
 
None
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act.
American Depositary Shares, each representing 5 ordinary shares,
par value HK$0.001 per share *
 
(Title of Class)
 
*   Not for trading, but only in connection with the listing on the Nasdaq Global Market of American Depository Shares each representing 5 ordinary shares pursuant to the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission
Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act.
None
Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report: 104,384,933 ordinary shares, par value HK$0.001 per share.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
oYes þ No
If this report is an annual or transaction report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
o Yes þ No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
þ Yes o No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer.
Large accelerated filer o     Accelerated filer o      Non-accelerated filer þ
If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
oYes þ No
Indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow:
      o Item 17 þ Item 18
 
 

 


 

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
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 EX-4.1 2004 INCENTIVE STOCK OPTION PLAN
 EX-4.7 FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT ON EXERCISING PURCHASE OPTION
 EX-4.8 SHARE TRANSFER CONTRACT
 EX-4.9 LOAN AGREEMENT DATED NOVEMBER 20, 2006
 EX-4.10 PURCHASE OPTION AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT
 EX-4.11 SHARE PLEDGE AGREEMENT
 EX-4.15 SHANGHAI STOCK EXCHANGE LEVEL-II QUOTATIONS LICENSE AGREEMENT
 EX-4.16 SHENZHEN STOCK EXCHANGE PROPRIETARY INFOMATION LICENSE AGREEMENT
 EX-4.17 DOMAIN NAME TRANSFER AGREEMENT
 EX-4.18 DOMAIN NAME TRANSFER AGREEMENT
 EX-4.22 LEASE CONTRACT FOR HOUSING UNIT
 EX-4.23 LEASE CONTRACT FOR HOUSING UNIT
 EX-4.25 LABOUR CONTRACT OF JEFF WANG DATED MAY 24, 2006
 EX-4.30 SHARE TRANSFER AGREEMENT
 EX-4.31 SHARE TRANSFER AGREEMENT
 EX-8.1 LIST OF SUBSIDIARIES
 EX-10.1 CONSENT OF DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU CPA LTD.
 EX-12.1 CEO CERTIFICATION
 EX-12.2 CFO CERTIFICATION
 EX-13.1 CEO CERTIFICATION - SECTION 906
 EX-13.2 CFO CERTIFICATION - SECTION 906

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INTRODUCTION
Except where the context otherwise requires and for purposes of this annual report only:
    “we,” “us,” “our company” and “our” refer to China Finance Online Co. Limited, or CFO Hong Kong, its subsidiaries, China Finance Online (Beijing) Co., Ltd., or CFO Beijing, Fortune Software (Beijing) Co., Ltd., or CFO Software, Stockstar Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., or CFO Stockstar, Shenzhen Genius Information Technology Co., Ltd., or CFO Genius, Jujin Software (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. or Jujin, Zhengning Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., or Zhengning and, in the context of describing our operations, also include our PRC-incorporated affiliate, Fuhua Innovation Technology Development Co., Ltd., or Fuhua, and Shanghai Meining Computer Software Co., Ltd., or CFO Meining, Fuhua’s wholly owned subsidiary;
 
    “shares” and “ordinary shares” refer to our ordinary shares, “preferred shares” refers to our preferred shares, all of which were converted into our ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial public offering on October 20, 2004, “ADSs” refers to our American depositary shares, each of which represents five ordinary shares, and “ADRs” refers to the American depositary receipts which evidence our ADSs;
 
    “China” or “PRC” refers to the People’s Republic of China, excluding Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau;
 
    “Hong Kong” refers to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China; and
 
    all references to “Renminbi,” “RMB” or “yuan” are to the legal currency of China, all references to “U.S. dollars,” “dollars,” “$” or “US$” are to the legal currency of the United States and all references to “Hong Kong dollars” or “HK$” are to the legal currency of Hong Kong. Any discrepancies in any table between totals and sums of the amounts listed are due to rounding.
We and certain selling shareholders of our company completed the initial public offering of 6,200,000 American Depositary Shares, each representing five of our ordinary shares, par value HK$0.001 per share on October 20, 2004. On October 15, 2004, we listed our ADSs on the Nasdaq Global Market (known as the Nasdaq National Market prior to July 1, 2006), or Nasdaq, under the symbol “JRJC.”
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This annual report on Form 20-F contains forward-looking statements that are based on our current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about us and our industry. All statements other than statements of historical fact in this annual report are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “plan,” “believe,” “is /are likely to” or other and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements included in this annual report relate to, among others:
    our goals and strategies, including how we effect our goals and strategies;
 
    our future business developments, business prospects, financial condition and results of operations;
 
    our future pricing strategies or policies;

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    our plans to expand our service offerings;
 
    our plans to use acquisitions and strategic investments as part of our corporate strategy;
 
    competition in the PRC financial data and information services industry;
 
    performance of China’s securities markets;
 
    growth in our subscriber base;
 
    PRC governmental policies relating to taxes and how they will impact our business;
 
    PRC governmental policies relating to the Internet and Internet content providers;
 
    PRC governmental policies relating to the distribution of content, especially the distribution of financial content over the Internet; and
 
    PRC governmental policies relating to mobile value-added services.
These forward-looking statements involve various risks, assumptions and uncertainties. Although we believe that our expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that our expectations will turn out to be correct. Our actual results could be materially different from and worse than our expectations. Important risks and factors that could cause our actual results to be materially different from our expectations are generally set forth in Item 3.D of this annual report, “Key information — Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this annual report.
This annual report on Form 20-F also contains data related to the online financial data and information services market and the Internet. This market data includes projections that are based on a number of assumptions. The online financial data and information services market may not grow at the rates projected by market data, or at all. The failure of these markets to grow at the projected rates may have a material adverse effect on our business and the market price of our ADSs. In addition, the relatively new and rapidly changing nature of the online financial data and information services industry subjects any projections or estimates relating to the growth prospects or future condition of our markets to significant uncertainties. Furthermore, if any one or more of the assumptions underlying the market data turns out to be incorrect, actual results may differ from the projections based on these assumptions.
The forward-looking statements made in this annual report relate only to events or information as of the date on which the statements are made in this annual report. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and you should read these statements in conjunction with the risk factors disclosed in Item 3.D of this annual report, “Key Information — Risk Factors.” We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
PART I
ITEM 1. IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS
Not Applicable.
ITEM 2. OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE
Not Applicable.

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ITEM 3. KEY INFORMATION
A. Selected financial data.
The selected consolidated financial data presented below have been derived from our consolidated financial statements. This data may not be indicative of our future condition or results of operations and should be read in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes.
                                         
    For the year ended December 31,
(in thousands of U.S. dollars, except per share or per ADS data)(1)   2002   2003   2004   2005   2006 (4)
Consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income (loss) data:
                                       
Net revenues
    1,050       2,271       6,016       7,482       7,128  
Cost of revenues
    (254 )     (298 )     (394 )     (482 )     (1,468 )
     
Gross profit
    796       1,973       5,622       7,000       5,660  
Operating expenses:
                                       
General and administrative
    (253 )     (400 )     (727 )     (1,740 )     (2,956 )
Product development
    (157 )     (149 )     (173 )     (236 )     (742 )
Sales and marketing
    (275 )     (284 )     (801 )     (1,795 )     (2,666 )
     
Total operating expenses
    (685 )     (833 )     (1,701 )     (3,771 )     (6,364 )
     
Income (loss) from operations
    111       1,140       3,921       3,229       (704 )
Interest income
    95       51       294       1,486       1,003  
Other income (expense)
    (4 )     (1 )     (2 )           115  
Exchange gain (net)
                      366       267  
Loss from impairment of cost method investment
                                    (1,322 )
Income (loss) before income taxes
    203       1,190       4,213       5,081       (641 )
Income tax benefit (provision)
                384       (457 )     41  
Net income (loss)
  $ 203     $ 1,190     $ 4,597     $ 4,624     $ (600 )
Dividends on preference shares
          (352 )                  
Income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders
  $ 203     $ 838     $ 4,597     $ 4,624     $ (600 )
Income (loss) per share-basic
  $ 0.01     $ 0.04     $ 0.12     $ 0.05     $ (0.01 )
Income (loss) per share-diluted
  $ 0     $ 0.01     $ 0.05     $ 0.04     $ (0.01 )
Income per ADS equivalent-basic(2)
  $ 0.06     $ 0.21     $ 0.59     $ 0.25     $ (0.03 )
Income per ADS equivalent-diluted(2)
  $ 0.01     $ 0.06     $ 0.26     $ 0.22     $ (0.03 )
Dividends declared per ordinary share or preference shares
        $ 0.01                    
                                         
    For the year ended December 31,
(in thousands of U.S. dollars)(1)   2002   2003   2004   2005   2006
Consolidated balance sheet data:
                                       
Cash and cash equivalents
  $ 4,451     $ 5,806     $ 70,596     $ 46,168     $ 44,956  
Current working capital(3)
    3,565       4,306       67,590       45,227       38,011  
Total assets
    4,929       6,606       71,861       63,113       71,119  
Deferred revenue
    934       1,278       3,487       1,859       6,419  
Total current liabilities
    982       1,875       3,773       2,282       8,521  
Total shareholders’ equity
  $ 3,947     $ 4,731     $ 68,088     $ 60,831     $ 62,453  

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(1)   For the results of operations for a specified period, all translations from Renminbi to U.S. dollars were calculated at the average exchange rate for that period, calculated by using the average of the exchange rates on the last day of each month during the period. All translations from Renminbi to U.S. dollars were calculated for the periods listed below at the corresponding rates:
         
For the years ended December 31,   RMB per US$1.00
2002
    8.2770  
2003
    8.2770  
2004
    8.2768  
2005
    8.1472  
2006
    7.9693  
    For consolidated balance sheet data, all translations from Renminbi to U.S. dollars were calculated at the exchange rate at the end of that year. The exchange rates were as set forth below as of the corresponding dates:
         
As at December 31,   RMB per US$1.00
2002
    8.2800  
2003
    8.2769  
2004
    8.2765  
2005
    8.0702  
2006
    7.8087  
(2)   Each ADS represents five ordinary shares.
 
(3)   Current working capital is the difference between total current assets and total current liabilities.
 
(4)   In 2006, the Company changed its method of accounting for stock-based compensation to conform to Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 123 (revised 2004), “Share-Based Payment”, effective on January 1, 2006.

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Exchange Rate Information
We have published our financial statements in U.S. dollars. Our business is primarily conducted in China and denominated in Renminbi. Periodic reports will be made to shareholders and will be expressed in U.S. dollars using the then-current exchange rates. The conversion of Renminbi into U.S. dollars in this annual report is based on the noon buying rate in The City of New York for cable transfers of Renminbi as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from Renminbi to U.S. dollars in this annual report were made at $1.00 to RMB7.8087, which was the prevailing rate on December 31, 2006. The prevailing rate on March 31, 2007 was $1.00 to RMB7.7342. We make no representation that any Renminbi or U.S. dollar amounts could have been, or could be, converted into U.S. dollars or Renminbi, as the case may be, at any particular rate, the rates stated below, or at all. The PRC government imposes controls over its foreign currency reserves in part through direct regulation of the conversion of Renminbi into foreign exchange and through restrictions on foreign trade.
The People’s Bank of China sets and publishes daily a base exchange rate. Until July 21, 2005, the People’s Bank of China set this rate with reference primarily to the supply and demand of Renminbi against the U.S. dollar in the market during the prior day. Beginning on July 21, 2005, the People’s Bank of China has set this rate with reference primarily to the supply and demand of Renminbi against a basket of currencies in the market during the prior day. The People’s Bank of China also takes into account other factors such as the general conditions existing in the international foreign exchange markets. Although governmental policies were introduced in the PRC in 1996 to reduce restrictions on the convertibility of Renminbi into foreign currency for current account items, conversion of Renminbi into foreign exchange for capital items, such as foreign direct investment, loans or security, requires the approval of the State Administration for Foreign Exchange and other relevant authorities.
The following table sets forth various information concerning exchange rates between the Renminbi and the U.S. dollar for the periods indicated. These rates are provided solely for your convenience and are not necessarily the exchange rates that we used in this annual report or will use in the preparation of our periodic reports or any other information to be provided to you. The source of these rates is the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
                                 
    Average(1)   High   Low   Period-end
    (RMB per U.S.$1.00)
2002
    8.2770       8.2800       8.2669       8.2800  
2003
    8.2770       8.2800       8.2765       8.2769  
2004
    8.2768       8.2774       8.2764       8.2765  
2005
    8.1472       8.2765       8.0702       8.0702  
2006
    7.9693       8.0705       7.8051       7.8087  
2007 (through May 15, 2007)
    7.7450       7.8135       7.6739       7.6948  
 
(1)   Averages are calculated from month-end rates.
B. Capitalization and indebtedness.
Not Applicable.
C. Reasons for the offer and use of proceeds.
Not Applicable.

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D. Risk factors.
Risks relating to our business
Our business is substantially dependent on the level of trading activity in China’s securities markets, which is dependent on factors outside of our control such as stock market volatility, tax and regulatory changes, inflation, interest rate and other factors that could dampen investors’ interest in investing in China’s securities markets and materially and adversely affect our revenue and profitability.
Our business is substantially dependent on user demand for market intelligence on China’s securities markets. Such demand has fluctuated with the level of trading activity in China’s securities markets. During the past several years, China’s securities markets have experienced significant volatility and decrease in value. The Shanghai Stock Exchange A-Share Index and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange A-Share Index declined 44.80% and 39.14%, respectively, from January 2, 2001 to December 30, 2005, and then increased 130.43% and 132.12%, respectively in 2006. On February 27, 2007, both the Shanghai Stock Exchange A-Share Index and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange A-Share Index each declined by approximately 9% on a single trading day, which was attributed in the financial press to rumors that the Chinese government would institute a capital gains tax and of increasing vigilance over bank loans to finance stock market activities. Any factors that lead to weakness or volatility in China’s securities markets in the future may diminish investors’ interest in China’s securities markets, and our business could be materially and adversely affected.
China’s securities market is further limited by a lack of hedging instruments that would assist investors in hedging against market volatility. For example, investors are not permitted to sell short in China’s securities markets. Because our business is dependent on investors’ interest in China’s securities markets, our business could be materially and adversely affected if market volatility and the lack of hedging instruments continue to affect China’s securities markets and dampen investors’ interest in China’s securities markets.
In response to the increased inflation rate during 2004, the Chinese government announced measures to restrict lending and investment in China in order to reduce inflationary pressure on China’s economy. In 2006, the People’s Bank of China announced a series of basic interest rate increases and other measures to reduce inflationary pressure. If China experiences increased inflation in future, the Chinese government may introduce further measures intended to reduce the inflation rate in China. Any such measures adopted by the Chinese central bank may have an adverse effect on China’s securities markets, which would adversely impact our business.
Our revenues and profits could decline if we fail to attract sufficient numbers of subscribers to our more comprehensive service packages or if we fail to retain our existing subscribers.
We depend on the sale of our more comprehensive service packages such as Value Engine and Grand Reference for a significant portion of our total revenues. In the fourth quarter of 2006, a significant portion of our recent revenue growth can be attributed to strong subscriber growth in our Value Engine series. For the year ended December 31, 2006, subscription revenues generated from sales of Value Engine and Grand Reference series were $4.2 million, representing 83% of our total subscription revenues during the same period. As our service packages become more comprehensive and higher priced, we expect that our future revenues and revenue growth will increasingly depend on sales of our more comprehensive service packages to a much greater extent than sales of our other service packages. If we fail to attract a sufficient number of subscribers to our more comprehensive service packages, our revenues and profits could decline. Moreover, our financial success depends on our ability to retain our subscribers and migrate them to newer, more comprehensive and higher priced service packages. If we are unsuccessful at developing new service packages that are attractive to our users, or if

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our users elect to renew existing service packages rather than purchase newer or more comprehensive service offerings, our revenues and profits could decline.
Our business could be materially and adversely affected if we fail to develop or introduce new features and new research tools or if these new features and research tools are not accepted by users.
We currently offer to our subscribers a small number of service packages with different features and functionalities. If we introduce a new feature or a new research tool that is not favorably received, our current subscribers may not continue to use our service as frequently as before. New subscribers could also choose a competitive or different service offering over ours. We may also experience difficulties that could delay or prevent us from introducing new research tools or features. Furthermore, these research tools or features may contain errors that are discovered after the services are introduced. We may need to significantly modify the design of these research tools or features to correct these errors. Our business could be materially and adversely affected if we experience difficulties or delays in introducing new features and research tools or if these new features and research tools are not accepted by users.
Our business could be materially and adversely affected if our service package Value Engine could not generate sustainable growth.
In late August 2006 we launched Value Engine, a new series of service packages we developed to target investors who primarily use fundamental analysis in selecting stocks or who use fundamental analysis to supplement technical analysis. While there was a strong growth in the sales of Value Engine in the fourth quarter of 2006, we cannot assure you that we can maintain such growth. If other service offerings not offered by us are preferred by our target customers over Value Engine, or if we experience difficulties that could delay or prevent us from introducing new versions of Value Engine, we may not be able to grow our business in the financial data and information services market as we have projected and our business could be materially and adversely affected.
We have a limited operating history, which may make it difficult for you to evaluate our business.
Our business was incorporated in November 1998, and our current operations were established in April 2000. Our service offerings have only been commercially available since April 2001. Our senior management and employees have worked together at our company for only a relatively short period of time. Furthermore, the acquisition of CFO Genius, a financial information database provider mainly serving Chinese domestic institutional customers, in September 2006 and our October 2006 acquisition of CFO Stockstar, a leading finance and securities website in China, have altered the overall composition of company. Accordingly, we have a limited operating history upon which you can evaluate our business and prospects.
We may not be able to successfully implement our growth strategies, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are pursuing a number of growth strategies, which will require us to expand our data and information content and service offerings through internal development efforts and through partnerships, joint ventures and acquisitions. Some of these strategies relate to new service offerings for which there are no established markets in China, or relate to service offerings in which we lack experience and expertise. We cannot assure you that we will be able to deliver new service offerings on a commercially viable basis or in a timely manner, or at all.
In addition, online advertising business strategies may be developed in addition to our subscription-based service offerings. However, since we regard subscription-based services as

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our current core business and allocate a significant portion of the advertising inventories of our websites, namely, www.jrj.com and www.stockstar.com, to promote our subscription-based service offerings, our current online advertising business has been limited and, to date, we do not have significant experience with selling Internet-based advertising. We cannot assure you that we will be able to efficiently or effectively implement and grow our online advertising business, or that online advertising on our websites will not detract from our users’ experience and thereby adversely affect our brand name or our subscription-based service offerings.
If we are unable to successfully implement our growth strategies, our revenue and profitability will not grow as we expect, if at all, and our competitiveness may be materially and adversely affected.
We face significant competition which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The online financial data and information services market in China is relatively new, has few substantial barriers to entry and is competitive and rapidly changing. More broadly, the number of financial news and information sources competing for consumers’ attention and spending has increased since we commenced operations and we expect that competition will continue to intensify. We currently compete, directly and indirectly, for paying subscribers and viewers with companies in the business of providing financial data and information services, including publishers and distributors of traditional media, Internet portals providing information on business, finance and investing, dedicated financial information websites, personal stock research software vendors and stock brokerage companies, especially stock brokerage companies with online trading capabilities. Some of the sponsors with whom we currently maintain sponsorship arrangements could also become our competitors in the future.
Many of our existing competitors, as well as a number of potential new competitors, have longer operating histories, greater name recognition, larger customer bases and significantly greater financial, technical and marketing resources than we do. This may allow them to adopt our business model and devote greater resources than we can to the development and promotion of service offerings similar to or more advanced than our own. These competitors may also engage in more extensive research and development, undertake more far-reaching marketing campaigns, adopt more aggressive pricing policies and offer products and services that achieve greater market acceptance than ours. They may also undercut us by making more attractive offers to our existing and potential employees, content providers and sponsors. New and increased competition could result in price reductions for our research tools, reduced margin or loss of market share, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
In addition to us, many companies in China offer stock quotes, economic and company-specific news, historical stock performance statistics, online chatting regarding individual securities and other features for free over the Internet. If users determine that the information available for free over the Internet is sufficient for their investing needs, they would be unlikely to pay for subscription to our services, thus reducing our revenues and net income and forcing us to develop a new business model. Furthermore, the amount and quality of information available for free over the Internet may expand in the future, reducing the attractiveness of our services and forcing us to spend additional money to develop more sophisticated services in order to compete. There can be no assurance that we would be successful in developing a new business model or more advanced services in response to either of the above challenges. Failure to do so would lead to significant declines in our number of subscribers, revenues and net income.
Our business could be materially and adversely affected if the stock exchanges from which we receive data and information fail to deliver us reliable data and price quotes or other trading

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related information on a real-time basis, or if we cannot maintain our current business relationships with our historical data providers on commercially reasonable terms.
We depend on two securities data providers associated with the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges to provide us with real-time stock, bond and mutual fund quotes and other trading related information. We primarily rely on contractual arrangements with Shanghai Stock Exchange Information Network Co., Ltd., which is associated with the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and with Shenzhen Securities Information Co., Ltd., which is associated with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, pursuant to which we pay fixed service fees in exchange for receiving real-time price quotes and other trading related information through satellite communication. While our agreement with Shanghai Stock Exchange Information Network Co., Ltd. whereby we are certified to develop service packages based on Level II quotes (which provide insight into stock price movements and provide faster and more comprehensive trading data) and upgrade the features and functions of our current products is contemplated to continue through July 31, 2009, our contract with Shenzhen Securities Information Co., Ltd. will expire on March 1, 2008. Any disruption in our ability to secure data, price quotes or other trading related information on timely basis either through technical issues or through our inability to maintain and renew our contracts with the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges will have a material adverse effect on our business.
We have also recently transitioned the primary source of historical data and information on listed companies, bonds and mutual funds to Shenzhen Genius Information Technology Co. Ltd., or CFO Genius, which we acquired in September 2006. Starting from May 2007, CFO Genius has provided us with historical data and information, thereby mitigating our reliance on third-party backup providers of such historical data and information. Though we maintain raw data provision contracts with Financial China Information & Technology Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Gildata Service Co., Ltd. as alternative sources of historical data and information, any problems arising in or any disruption to the transition to CFO Genius as the primary provider of historical data and information will have a material adverse effect on our business.
We cannot assure you that we will be able to enter into business arrangements with either of the two securities data providers associated with the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, after our current contracts expire. We cannot assure you that the two securities data providers will not charge us service fees substantially higher than the service fees we are currently paying. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected if either of our two securities data providers imposes on us service fees substantially higher than the service fees we are currently paying. Even if we are able to maintain our current business arrangements for data on commercially reasonable terms, either of the two securities data providers may fail to deliver us reliable price quotes or other trading related information on a real-time basis. In either case, it would be difficult for us to receive reliable real-time price quotes and other trading related information from a different source, which could materially and adversely affect our business.
Additionally, we cannot assure you that we will be able to enter into or maintain our business arrangements with our current data providers on commercially reasonable terms or at all. In this case, it could take time for us to locate alternative providers of comprehensive historical data and information on commercially reasonable terms, which could cause disruptions to our operations and adversely affect our business. Even if we are able to find alternative data providers, they may fail to deliver to us reliable and comprehensive data and information in accordance with our specifications and requirements, which could materially and adversely affect our business.
Our business would be adversely affected if we do not continue to expand and maintain an effective customer support force.

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We market our service offerings through our websites, as well as through our customer service centers in Beijing and Shanghai, which as of March 31, 2007 had 146 full-time and trained customer support personnel. In addition to sales and marketing functions, we depend on our customer support force to explain our service offerings to our existing and potential subscribers and resolve our subscribers’ technical problems. Many of our customer support personnel have only worked for us for a short period of time, and some of them may not have received sufficient training or gained sufficient experience to effectively serve our customers. In addition, we will need to further increase the size of our customer support force as our business continues to grow. We may not be able to hire, retain, integrate or motivate additional customer support personnel without any short-term disruptions of our operations. As a result, our business could be adversely affected if we do not continue to expand and maintain an effective customer support force.
Acquisitions present many risks, and we may not realize the financial and strategic goals that were contemplated at the time of any transaction.
An active acquisition program is an important element of our corporate strategy. For example, we acquired CFO Genius, a financial information database provider mainly serving Chinese domestic institutional customers, in September 2006. In October 2006, we also acquired CFO Stockstar, a leading finance and securities website in China. We may not be able to achieve all of the benefits of the business combination or to successfully integrate CFO Stockstar’s and CFO Genius’s operations into ours. While CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius contributed positive operating cash flows on a collective basis in the fourth quarter of 2006, we can assure you that they will continue to do so. Moreover, we expect to continue to acquire companies, products, services and technologies. Risks we may encounter in acquisitions include:
    the acquisition may not further our business strategy, or we may pay more than it is worth;
 
    we may not realize the anticipated increase in our revenues if we are unable to sell the acquired company’s products to our customer base, or the acquired contract models of acquired contract models companies;
 
    we may have difficulty identifying suitable acquisition opportunities and integrating acquired companies with our existing operations or their products and services with our existing products and services;
 
    we may have higher than anticipated costs in continuing support and development of acquired products;
 
    we may have multiple and overlapping product lines that are offered, priced and supported differently, which could cause customer confusion and delays;
 
    our due diligence process may fail to identify problems, such as issues with unlicensed use of intellectual property;
 
    we may have legal and tax exposures or lose anticipated tax benefits as a result of unforeseen difficulties in our legal entity integration activities;
 
    we may face contingencies related to intellectual property, financial disclosures and accounting practices or internal controls;
 
    our ongoing business may be disrupted and our management’s attention may be diverted by transition or integration issues; and

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    to the extent that we issue a significant amount of equity securities in connection with future acquisitions, existing ADS holders and shareholders may be diluted and earnings per share may decrease.
These factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows, particularly in the case of a larger acquisition or multiple concurrent acquisitions.
Our plan to make strategic investments may negatively affect our business due to the poor financial condition and operating performance of those companies we invest in and other risks.
As part of our business strategy, we may also make strategic investments intended to facilitate the introduction of new service offerings as well as to add capabilities that we do not currently have. For example, we invested in Moloon International, Inc., or Moloon, a Chinese wireless technology and service provider, in December 2005. However, the financial condition and operating results of companies we invest in such as Moloon could negatively affect our business and financial condition. Moreover, our cooperation with Moloon and potentially other companies may not generate meaningful revenue or any at all. Government regulations may adversely affect the business of companies we invest in, which could have a material and adverse impact on our business. For example, during the second half of 2006, China Mobile Communication Corporation announced policy changes in accordance with directives from China’s Ministry of Information Industry which, among others, required mobile value-added service, or MVAS, providers such as Moloon to extend free trial periods for customers prior to subscriptions and to send reminders to customers confirming new and existing subscriptions. These policy changes had a substantial negative impact on all MVAS providers including on Moloon’s MVAS business. Consequently, following an independent valuation of our cost method investment in Moloon based on its MVAS business, it is determined that a decline in value had occurred and we recorded non-cash asset impairment of $1.32 million in total, reducing the carrying balance of such investment from $13.93 million to $12.61 million. In the future, we may also consider further strategic investments and partnerships with companies that specialize in non-exchange traded financial products in order to acquire their expertise in that area which we believe are difficult to obtain otherwise.
Our ability to successfully make strategic investments will depend on the availability of suitable candidates at an acceptable cost, our ability to compete effectively to attract and reach agreement with strategic partners on commercially reasonable terms, the availability of financing to complete larger acquisitions or joint ventures, as well as our ability to obtain any required governmental approvals. In addition, the benefits of a partnership or joint venture transaction may take considerable time to develop, and we cannot assure you that any particular partnership or joint venture will produce the intended benefits. For example, we may experience difficulties in integrating acquisitions with our existing operations and personnel. The identification and completion of these transactions may require significant management time and resources. Moreover, the partnership and joint venture strategies we pursue could also cause earnings or ownership dilution to our shareholders’ interests, which could result in losses to investors.
Our business could be materially and adversely affected if increased usage strains our server systems or if we suffer from other system malfunctions.
In the past, our websites have experienced significant increases in traffic when there are significant business developments, financial news and activities, or stock market trading activities. In addition, the number of our users has continued to increase over time and we are seeking to further increase our user base. Therefore, our website must accommodate a high volume of traffic to meet peak user demand and deliver frequently updated information. Our

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websites have in the past experienced and may in the future experience slower response time or login delays for a variety of reasons. It is essential to our success that our websites are able to accommodate our users in an efficient manner so that our users’ experience with us is viewed favorably and without frequent delays.
We also depend on other Internet content providers, such as other financial information websites, to provide data and information to our website on a timely basis. Our website could experience disruptions or interruptions in service due to the failure or delay in the transmission or receipt of this information. In addition, our users depend on Internet service providers, online service providers and other website operators for access to our website. Each of them has experienced significant outages in the past, and could experience outages, delays and other difficulties due to system failures unrelated to our systems. These types of occurrences could cause users to perceive our website as not functioning properly and therefore cause them to use other methods to obtain the financial data and information services they need. For example, on December 27, 2006, earthquakes in Taiwan caused widespread Internet and telecommunications disruptions in the PRC lasting for a week or more in certain areas, which affected the ability of Internet content providers to transmit data and information to our website and also affected the ability of Internet service providers and other website operators to access our website. Such disruptions may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
If we are not able to respond successfully to technological or industry developments, our business may be materially and adversely affected.
The online financial data and information services market is characterized by rapid advancements in technology, evolving industry standards and changes in customer needs. New services or technologies may render our existing services or technologies less competitive or obsolete. Responding and adapting to technological developments and standard changes in our industry, the integration of new technologies or industry standards or the upgrading of our networks may require substantial time, effort and capital investment. In the event that we are unable to respond successfully to technological industry developments, this may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and competitiveness.
We may be subject to, and may expend significant resources in defending against claims based on the content and services we provide through our website and our research tools.
Due to the manner in which we obtain, collect, categorize and integrate content for our website, and because our services, including our online bulletin boards and discussion forums, may be used for the distribution of information and expression of opinions, claims may be filed against us for defamation, subversion, negligence, copyright or trademark infringement or other violations due to the nature and content of such information. For example, our bulletin boards and online forums reflect the statements and views of persons we do not control and we cannot be assured that such information is true and correct and is not misleading. These persons may also have conflicts of interest in relation to their statements or views regarding securities or other financial matters. Liability insurance for these types of claims is not currently available in the PRC. While we do not take responsibility for statements or views presented on our website, we may incur significant costs investigating and defending these types of claims even if they do not result in liability. Any such claim may also damage our reputation if our users and subscribers do not view this content as reliable or accurate, which could adversely affect our business.
We may be subject to intellectual property infringement claims, which may force us to incur substantial legal expenses and, if determined adversely against us, may materially disrupt our business.

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We cannot be certain that our website content, online services and our research tools do not or will not infringe upon patents, valid copyrights or other intellectual property rights held by third parties. We may become subject to legal proceedings and claims from time to time relating to the intellectual property of others in the ordinary course of our business. If we are found to have violated the intellectual property rights of others, we may be enjoined from using such intellectual property, and we may incur licensing fees or be forced to develop alternatives. In addition, we may incur substantial expenses in defending against these third party infringement claims, regardless of their merit. Successful infringement or licensing claims against us may result in substantial monetary liabilities, which may materially and adversely affect our business.
Unauthorized use of our intellectual property by third parties, and the expenses incurred in protecting our intellectual property rights, may adversely affect our business.
We regard our copyrights, trademarks, trade secret and other intellectual property as critical to our success. Unauthorized use of the intellectual property used in our business may adversely affect our business and reputation. We rely on trademark and copyright law, trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements with our employees, customers, business partners and others to protect our intellectual property rights. Despite our precautions, it may be possible for third parties to obtain and use our intellectual property without authorization. The validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property in Internet-related industries are uncertain and still evolving. In particular, the laws and enforcement procedures in the PRC do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws and enforcement procedures in the United States. Moreover, litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights. Future litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources, and could disrupt our business, as well as have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
We depend on our key personnel and our business and growth prospects may be severely disrupted if we lose their services.
Our future success is dependent upon the continued service of our key executives and employees. We rely on their expertise in our business operations. If one or more of our key executives were unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, or if they joined a competitor or formed a competing company in violation of their employment agreements, we may not be able to replace them easily. As a result, our business may be significantly disrupted and our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
Furthermore, since our industry is characterized by high demand and intense competition for talent, we may need to offer higher compensation and other benefits in order to attract and retain key personnel in the future. Our employees are required to enter into one-year employment agreements with us. We seek to enter into employment and non-competition agreements with our senior executives for longer terms. We cannot assure you that we will be able to attract or retain the key personnel that we will need to achieve our business objectives. We do not maintain key-man life insurance for any of our key personnel.
Undetected programming errors or defects in our research tools could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our research tools may contain programming errors or other defects that our internal testing did not detect, which are commonly referred to as programming bugs. The occurrence of undetected errors or defects in our research tools could disrupt our operations, damage our reputation and detract from the experience of our users. As a result, such errors and defects could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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The discontinuation of any of the preferential tax treatments currently available to us in the PRC could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our PRC wholly owned subsidiaries, CFO Beijing, CFO Software, CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius, enjoy preferential tax treatments, including reduced tax rates, tax holidays or tax refunds, provided by either the PRC government or its local agencies or bureaus. For example, as a foreign invested software development company, CFO Beijing was granted by the Beijing branch of the PRC tax bureau three tax incentives that have the effect of:
    Exempting the company from enterprise income tax for 2003 and 2004; and
 
    Providing the company a preferential enterprise income tax rate of 12% from 2005 to 2007, the rate currently applicable to wholly foreign-owned enterprises based in Beijing and not subject to other tax holidays.
Similarly, in December 2004, we established our subsidiary CFO Software in Beijing that was classified by the Beijing local government as a foreign invested high-technology company. With the classification of a foreign invested high-technology company, CFO Software expects to receive tax incentives provided to such companies from the Beijing branch of the PRC tax bureau that have the effect of:
    Exempting the company from enterprise income tax from 2005 to 2007; and
 
    Providing the company a preferential enterprise income tax rate of 7.5% from 2008 to 2010, and 15% for taxable years thereafter, the rate currently applicable to companies classified as high-technology companies based in Beijing and not subject to other tax holidays.
In the absence of these incentives, CFO Beijing and CFO Software would be subject to the enterprise income tax rate of 33% applicable to domestic PRC companies generally. If CFO Beijing and CFO Software had not received these preferential tax treatments and were required to pay enterprise income tax at the same rate as domestic PRC companies, our business would be adversely affected.
Furthermore, CFO Stockstar, established in Shanghai in June 2000 and CFO Genius, established in Shenzhen in March 1996, each enjoys a preferential enterprise income tax rate of 15% rather than the enterprise income tax rate of 33% applicable to domestic PRC companies generally and is not subject to other tax holidays.
On March 16, 2007, the National People’s Congress of China approved the new income tax law, which will come into effect on January 1, 2008. The detailed implementation rules of the new income tax law have not been promulgated yet. The tax rate applicable to CFO Beijing will change to 25%, and we believe that under the new income tax law, the preferential tax treatment enjoyed by CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius will be grandfathered. However, if the qualifications for classification as a foreign invested high-technology company are changed, certain of the preferential tax treatments to certain of our subsidiaries may be revoked. If this or any other preferential tax policies are revoked or amended, our business may be adversely affected.
In addition, with respect to revenue generated from the sale of certain online subscription , including our service packages, CFO Beijing and CFO Software both obtain value-added-tax, or VAT, refunds that reduce their effective VAT rates from 17% to 3%. We cannot assure you that we will continue to enjoy any of these preferential tax treatments in the future. The

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discontinuation of any of these preferential tax treatments could materially and adversely affect our financial condition.
We may become a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, which could result in adverse U.S. tax consequences to U.S. investors.
Depending upon the value of our shares and ADSs and the nature of our assets and income over time, we could be classified as a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, by the United States Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If we are classified as a “PFIC” in any taxable year in which you hold our ADSs and you are a U.S. investor, you would generally be taxed at higher ordinary income, rather than lower capital gain rates, if you dispose of ADSs at a gain in a later year, even if we are not a PFIC in that year. In addition, a portion of the tax imposed on your gain would be increased by an interest charge. Moreover, if we were classified as a PFIC in any taxable year, you would not be able to benefit from any preferential tax rate with respect to any dividend distribution that you may receive from us in that year or in the following year. Finally, you would also be subject to special U.S. tax reporting requirements.
We believe that we were not a PFIC for the taxable year 2006. However, there can be no assurance that we will not be a PFIC for the taxable year 2007 and/or later taxable years, as PFIC status is re-tested each year and depends on the facts in such year. For example, we would be a PFIC for the taxable year 2007 if the sum of our average market capitalization, which is our share price multiplied by the total amount of our outstanding shares, and our liabilities over that taxable year is not more than twice the value of our cash, cash equivalents, and other assets that are readily converted into cash. In particular, the value of our ADSs has declined to a low of $3.95 per ADS during the fourth quarter of 2006 from a high achieved on the date of our initial public offering of $15.99 per ADS. If the value of our outstanding stock were to continue to decrease for an extended period of time in which we hold substantial cash and cash equivalents, we would likely become a PFIC. We could also be a PFIC for any taxable year if the gross income that we and our subsidiaries earn from investing the portion of the cash raised in our initial public offering in 2004 that exceeds the immediate capital needs of our active business is substantial in comparison with the gross income from our business operations.
While we will continue to examine our results under the PFIC tests, we cannot assure you that we will not be a PFIC for any future taxable year. For more information on the U.S. tax consequences to you that would result from our classification as a PFIC please see “Taxation — United States federal income taxation — U.S. Holders — Passive Foreign Investment Company.”
Because there is limited business insurance coverage in China, any business disruption or litigation we experience might result in our incurring substantial costs and the diversion of resources.
The insurance industry in China is still at an early stage of development. Insurance companies in China offer limited business insurance products and do not, to our knowledge, offer business liability insurance. While business disruption insurance is available to a limited extent in China, we have determined that the risks of disruption, cost of such insurance and the difficulties associated with acquiring such insurance make having such insurance impractical for us.
Risks relating to our industry
The Internet infrastructure in China, which is not as well developed as in the United States or other more developed countries, may limit our growth.

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The Internet infrastructure in China is not as well developed as in the United States or other more developed countries. In particular, we depend significantly on the PRC government and fixed line telecommunications operators in China to establish and maintain a reliable Internet infrastructure to reach a growing base of Internet users in China. We cannot assure you that the Internet infrastructure in China will support the demands associated with the continued growth of the Internet industry in China. If the necessary infrastructure standards or protocols, or complementary products, services or facilities are not developed in China on a timely basis or at all by these enterprises, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
The limited use of personal computers in China and the relatively high cost of Internet access with respect to per capita gross domestic product may limit the development of the Internet in China and impede our growth.
Although the use of personal computers in China has increased in recent years, the penetration rate for personal computers in China is much lower than in the United States. In addition, despite a decrease in the cost of Internet access in China due to a decrease in the cost of personal computers and the introduction and expansion of broadband access, the cost of Internet access remains relatively high in comparison to the average per capita income in China. The limited use of personal computers in China and the relatively high cost of Internet access may limit the growth of our business. Furthermore, any Internet access or telecommunications fee increase could reduce the number of users that use our online services. Any fee or tariff increase could further decrease our user traffic and our ability to derive revenues from transactions over the Internet, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We depend largely on the infrastructure of the telecommunications operators in China, and any interruption of their network infrastructure may result in severe disruptions to our business.
Although private Internet service providers exist in China, substantially all access to the Internet in China is maintained through the telecommunications operators, under the administrative control and regulatory supervision of the Ministry of Information Industry, or MII. In addition, local networks connect to the Internet through a government-owned international gateway. We rely on this infrastructure and to a lesser extent, certain other Internet data centers in China to provide data communications capacity primarily through local telecommunications lines. In the event of a large-scale infrastructure disruption or failure, we may not have access to alternative networks and services, on a timely basis or at all.
We may not be able to lease additional bandwidth from the telecommunications operators in China on acceptable terms, on a timely basis or at all. In addition, we may not have means of getting access to alternative networks and services on a timely basis or at all in the event of any disruption or failure of the network.
Unexpected network interruptions, security breaches or computer virus attacks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We have limited backup systems and have previously experienced system failures, which have disrupted our operations. Any failure to maintain the satisfactory performance, reliability, security and availability of our network infrastructure may cause significant harm to our reputation and our ability to attract and maintain users. Major risks involved in such network infrastructure include:
    Any break-downs or system failures resulting in a sustained shutdown of all or a material portion of our servers, including failures which may be attributable to sustained

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      power shutdowns, or efforts to gain unauthorized access to our systems causing loss or corruption of data or malfunctions of software or hardware; and
    Any disruption or failure in the national backbone network, which would prevent our users from logging on to our website or accessing our services.
Our network systems are also vulnerable to damage from fire, flood, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer virus, hackings and similar events. Any network interruption or inadequacy that causes interruptions in the availability of our services or deterioration in the quality of access to our services could reduce our user satisfaction and competitiveness. In addition, any security breach caused by hackings, which involve efforts to gain unauthorized access to information or systems, or to cause intentional malfunctions or loss or corruption of data, software, hardware or other computer equipment, and the inadvertent transmission of computer viruses could cause our users to question the safety or reliability of our website and our services and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, unauthorized access by third parties to our network could result in theft of personal user information, which could have an adverse effect on our reputation.
Concerns about the security and confidentiality of information on the Internet may increase our costs, reduce the use of our website and impede our growth.
A significant barrier to confidential communications over the Internet has been the need for security. To date, there have been several well-publicized compromises of security as a result of global virus outbreaks. We may incur significant costs to protect against the threat of security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by these breaches. If unauthorized persons are able to penetrate our network security, they could misappropriate proprietary information, including personal information regarding our subscribers, or cause interruptions in our services. As a result, we may be required to incur substantial costs and divert our other resources to protect against or to alleviate these problems. Security breaches could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks relating to regulation of our business and to our structure
We rely on contractual arrangements with Fuhua, our PRC-incorporated affiliate, and its shareholders for our China operations, which may not be as effective in providing operational control as direct ownership. If Fuhua fails to perform its obligations under these contractual arrangements or PRC laws impair the enforceability of these contracts, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
Because PRC regulations restrict our ability to provide Internet content directly in China, we rely on contractual arrangements with Fuhua, our PRC-incorporated affiliate over which we have no direct ownership, and its shareholders for operating our website and conducting our advertising business. These contractual arrangements may not be as effective in providing us with control over Fuhua as direct ownership.
If we had direct ownership of Fuhua, we would be able to exercise our rights as shareholders to effect changes in the board of directors, which in turn could effect changes, subject to any applicable fiduciary obligations, at the management level. However, under the current contractual arrangements, as a legal matter, if Fuhua fails to perform its obligations under these contractual arrangements, we may have to (i) incur substantial costs and resources to enforce such arrangements, and (ii) rely on legal remedies under PRC law, which we cannot be sure would be effective. In addition, we cannot be certain that the individual equity owners of Fuhua will always act in the best interests of China Finance Online, especially if they leave the company.

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These contractual arrangements are governed by PRC law and provide for the resolution of disputes through either arbitration or litigation in the PRC. Accordingly, these contracts would be interpreted in accordance with PRC law and any disputes would be resolved in accordance with PRC legal procedures. If Fuhua fails to perform its obligations under these contractual arrangements, we may have to rely on legal remedies under PRC law, including seeking specific performance or injunctive relief, and claiming damages, which we cannot be sure would be effective. In addition, the legal environment in the PRC is not as developed as in other jurisdictions, such as the United States. As a result, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. In the event that we are unable to enforce these contractual arrangements, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
If the PRC government finds that the financial data and information services we provide do not comply with Chinese laws and regulations relating to the provision of securities investment advisory services, we may suffer severe disruption to our business operations and lose substantially all of our revenue.
PRC laws require entities providing securities investment advisory services to the public to obtain a securities advisory business permit from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, or the CSRC. On May 30, 2002, we received a notice from the CSRC requesting that we stop promotional activities of our service offerings involving investment advisory content and alter the relevant content of our website and offerings so that we are no longer deemed to be providing investment advisory related offerings. Promptly after receipt of such notice, we entered into a business cooperation agreement with a securities advisory company licensed to provide securities advisory services, pursuant to which we receive modeling advice and data processing advice for the development of all of our research tools. We subsequently filed a written report with the CSRC on July 18, 2002, explaining our business arrangements with the securities advisory company. Since that time, we have entered into similar business cooperation agreements with five other licensed securities advisory companies. We have not received any further notices from the CSRC since the filing and have been providing financial data and information services under this business framework since that time. We cannot assure you that the CSRC will not revisit this issue and take a position contrary to our interests.
If we, CFO Beijing, CFO Software, Fuhua or CFO Stockstar are found to be in violation of Chinese laws and regulations relating to the provision of securities investment advisory services, the relevant PRC regulatory authorities would have broad discretion in dealing with such violations, including imposing monetary penalties on us, ordering us to shut down our website or forcing us to pursue alternative business objectives other than offering financial data and information services. We may alternatively seek to apply for a securities advisory permit, but we cannot be sure that we will be able to secure one. As a result of the possible penalties imposed on us, if the CSRC were to conclude that we provide securities investment advisory services, we could suffer severe disruption to our business operations and lose substantially all of our revenue.
If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating our China business do not comply with PRC government restrictions on foreign investment in the online financial data and information service industry, we could be subject to severe penalties.
PRC regulations currently limit foreign ownership of companies that provide Internet content services, which include operating financial data and information services through the Internet, to be no more than 50%. Accordingly, foreign and wholly foreign-owned enterprises are currently not able to apply for the required licenses for operating such services in China. We are a Hong Kong company. We conducted our operations in China solely through CFO Beijing, our wholly owned subsidiary from April 2000 to December 2004. In December 2004, we established CFO Software as a foreign invested high-technology company, and currently conduct our operations

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in China through CFO Beijing and CFO Software, as well as CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius, both of which we acquired in 2006. We are a foreign enterprise and each of our subsidiaries, CFO Beijing, CFO Software, CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius, is a wholly foreign-owned enterprise under PRC law, and accordingly, neither we, CFO Beijing, CFO Software, CFO Stockstar nor CFO Genius is eligible to apply for licenses to operate our website. In order to comply with foreign ownership restrictions, we operate our website in China through Fuhua and its wholly owned subsidiary CFO Meining, both of which hold the licenses required to be an Internet information content provider under the relevant PRC laws. Wu Chen, a financial manager at International Data Group China, Ltd., a PRC company affiliated with IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc. and IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP, two of our principal shareholders, and Zhiwei Zhao, our chief executive officer, hold 55% and 45% of the equity interests in Fuhua, respectively. We have been and are expected to continue to be dependent on Fuhua and its wholly owned subsidiary CFO Meining to host our websites, www.jrj.com and www.stockstar.com. We have entered into contractual arrangements with Fuhua, pursuant to which we provide operational support to Fuhua. In addition, we have entered into agreements with Fuhua and Wu Chen and Jun Ning, the shareholders of Fuhua, which provide us with the substantial ability to control Fuhua. Jun Ning transferred his holdings in Fuhua to Zhiwei Zhao, our current chief executive officer and a member of our board of directors, in November 2006. As a result, Zhiwei Zhao replaced Jun Ning as a party to all of the agreements we have entered into with Jun Ning in connection with his holdings in Fuhua and the operation of Fuhua.
There are, however, substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current or future PRC laws and regulations. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that the PRC regulatory authorities will not ultimately take a view that our arrangements with Fuhua comply with PRC law.
If we, CFO Beijing, CFO Software, Fuhua, CFO Stockstar or CFO Genius are found to be in violation of any existing or future PRC laws or regulations or fail to obtain or maintain any of the required permits or approvals, the relevant PRC regulatory authorities would have broad discretion in dealing with such violations, including:
    Revoking business and operating licenses of CFO Beijing, CFO Software, Fuhua, CFO Stockstar or CFO Genius;
 
    Discontinuing or restricting our operations or those of CFO Beijing, CFO Software, Fuhua, CFO Stockstar or CFO Genius;
 
    Imposing conditions or requirements with which we, CFO Beijing, CFO Software, Fuhua, CFO Stockstar or CFO Genius may not be able to comply;
 
    Requiring us, CFO Beijing, CFO Software, Fuhua, CFO Stockstar or CFO Genius to restructure the relevant ownership structure or operations;
 
    Restricting or prohibiting our use of the proceeds of our initial public offering in 2004 to finance our business and operations in China; or
 
    Taking other regulatory or enforcement actions, including levying fines that could be harmful to our business.
Any of these actions could cause our business, financial condition and results of operations to suffer and the price of our ADSs to decline.

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Our contractual arrangements with Fuhua may be subject to scrutiny by the PRC tax authorities and create a potential double layer of taxation for our revenue-generating services conducted by Fuhua.
We could face material and adverse tax consequences if the PRC tax authorities determine that the contracts between CFO Beijing and Fuhua were not entered into based on arm’s-length negotiations. Although we based these contractual arrangements on those of similar businesses, if the PRC tax authorities determine that these contracts were not entered into on an arm’s-length basis, they may adjust our income and expenses for PRC tax purposes in the form of a transfer pricing adjustment. A transfer pricing adjustment could, among other things, result in a reduction, for PRC tax purposes, of expense deductions recorded by CFO Beijing or CFO Stockstar, which could adversely affect us by increasing the tax liabilities of CFO Beijing or CFO Stockstar without reducing the tax liabilities of Fuhua, because Fuhua currently does not operate profitably. These increased tax liabilities could further result in late payment fees and other penalties to CFO Beijing and Fuhua for under-paid taxes.
We rely principally on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our wholly owned operating subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have.
We are a holding company, and we rely principally on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by CFO Beijing, CFO Software, CFO Stockstar or CFO Genius for our cash requirements, including the funds necessary to service any debt we may incur. If any of CFO Beijing, CFO Software, CFO Stockstar or CFO Genius incurs debt on its own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict such entity’s ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to us. In addition, PRC tax authorities may require us to amend the contractual arrangements CFO Beijing currently has in place with Fuhua in a manner that would materially and adversely affect CFO Beijing’s ability to pay dividends and other distributions to us. Furthermore, PRC legal restrictions permit payments of dividends by CFO Beijing, CFO Software, CFO Stockstar or CFO Genius only out of their net income, if any, determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. Under PRC law, CFO Beijing, CFO Software, CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius are also required to set aside a portion of their net income each year to fund specified reserve funds. These reserves are not distributable as cash dividends. Any limitation on the ability of CFO Beijing, CFO Software, CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius to make dividends to us could materially and adversely limit our ability to grow, make investments or acquisitions that could be beneficial to our businesses, pay dividends, or otherwise fund and conduct our business.
The PRC government may prevent us from distributing, and we may be subject to liability for, content that it believes is inappropriate.
China has enacted laws and regulations governing Internet access and the distribution of news, information or other content, as well as products and services, through the Internet. In the past, the PRC government has stopped the distribution of information through the Internet that it believes violates PRC law. The Ministry of Information Industry, or MII, the State Press and Publication Administration and the Ministry of Culture has promulgated regulations which prohibit information from being distributed through the Internet if it contains content that is found to, among other things, propagate obscenity, gambling or violence, instigate crimes, undermine public morality or the cultural traditions of the PRC, or compromise State security or secrets.
In addition, the MII has published regulations that subject website operators to potential liability for content included on their websites and the actions of users and others using their systems, including liability for violations of PRC laws prohibiting the distribution of content deemed to be socially destabilizing. The PRC’s Ministry of Public Security has the authority to order any local Internet service provider, or ISP, to block any Internet website maintained outside China at

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its sole discretion. Periodically, the Ministry of Public Security has stopped the distribution over the Internet of information which it believes to be socially destabilizing. The PRC’s State Secrecy Bureau, which is directly responsible for the protection of State secrets of the PRC government, is authorized to block any website it deems to be leaking State secrets or failing to meet the relevant regulations relating to the protection of State secrets in the distribution of online information.
Under applicable PRC regulation, we may be held liable for any content we offer or will offer through our website, including information posted on bulletin boards and online forums which we host and maintain on our website. Furthermore, we are required to delete any content we transmit through our website if such content clearly violates PRC laws and regulations. Where any content is considered suspicious, we are required to report such content to PRC governmental authorities.
It may be difficult to determine the type of content that may result in liability for us. If any financial data and information services we offer or will offer through our website were deemed to have violated any of such content restrictions, we would not be able to continue such offerings and could be subject to penalties, including confiscation of income, fines, suspension of business and revocation of licenses for operating online financial data and information services, which would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, if any information posted on our bulletin boards or online forums were deemed to have violated any of the content restrictions, we could be subject to similar penalties that materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks relating to the People’s Republic of China
Substantially all of our assets are located in China and substantially all of our revenues are derived from our operations in China. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects are subject, to a significant extent, to economic, political and legal developments in China.
The PRC’s economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, could affect the financial markets in China and our business.
The PRC economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including the amount of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources. While the PRC economy has experienced significant growth in the past twenty years, growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. The PRC government has implemented various measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures benefit the overall PRC economy, but may also have a negative effect on us. For example, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations that are applicable to us.
The PRC economy has been transitioning from a planned economy to a more market-oriented economy. Although the PRC government has implemented measures since the late 1970s emphasizing the utilization of market forces for economic reform, the reduction of state ownership of productive assets and the establishment of improved corporate governance in business enterprises, a substantial portion of productive assets in China is still owned by the PRC government. In addition, the PRC government continues to play a significant role in regulating industry development by imposing industrial policies. The PRC government also exercises significant control over China’s economic growth through the allocation of resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy and

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providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies. These actions, as well as future actions and policies of the PRC government, could materially affect the financial markets in China and our business and operations.
The PRC legal system embodies uncertainties which could limit the legal protections available to you and us.
The PRC legal system is a civil law system based on written statutes. Unlike common law systems, it is a system in which decided legal cases have little precedential value. In 1979, the PRC government began to promulgate a comprehensive system of laws and regulations governing economic matters in general. The overall effect of legislation over the past 26 years has significantly enhanced the protections afforded to various forms of foreign investment in China. Our PRC operating subsidiaries, CFO Beijing, CFO Software, CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius respectively, are wholly foreign-owned enterprises, which are enterprises incorporated in China and wholly owned by foreign investors. CFO Beijing, CFO Software, CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius are subject to laws and regulations applicable to foreign investment in China in general and laws and regulations applicable to wholly foreign-owned enterprises in particular. However, these laws, regulations and legal requirements are constantly changing, and their interpretation and enforcement involve uncertainties. These uncertainties could limit the legal protections available to us and other foreign investors, including you. In addition, we cannot predict the effect of future developments in the PRC legal system, particularly with regard to the Internet, including the promulgation of new laws, changes to existing laws or the interpretation or enforcement thereof, or the preemption of local regulations by national laws.
Restrictions on currency exchange may limit our ability to utilize our revenues effectively.
Substantially all of our revenues and operating expenses are denominated in Renminbi. Renminbi is currently convertible under the “current account,” which includes dividends, trade and service related foreign exchange transactions, but not under the “capital account,” which includes foreign direct investment and loans. Currently, CFO Beijing, CFO Software, CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius, may purchase foreign exchange for settlement of “current account transactions,” including payment of dividends to us and payment of license fees and service fees to foreign licensors and service providers, without the approval of the State Administration for Foreign Exchange. CFO Beijing, CFO Software, CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius may also retain foreign exchange in their current accounts to satisfy foreign exchange liabilities or to pay dividends. However, we cannot assure you that the relevant PRC governmental authorities will not limit or eliminate our ability to purchase and retain foreign currencies in the future. Since a significant amount of our future revenues will be in the form of Renminbi, the existing and any future restrictions on currency exchange may limit our ability to utilize revenues generated in Renminbi to fund our business activities outside China, if any, or expenditures denominated in foreign currencies.
Fluctuations in exchange rates could result in foreign currency exchange losses.
Because our earnings and cash from operations are denominated in Renminbi, fluctuations in exchange rates between U.S. dollars and Renminbi will affect our balance sheet and earnings per share in U.S. dollars. In addition, appreciation or depreciation in the value of the Renminbi relative to the U.S. dollar would affect our financial results reported in U.S. dollar terms without giving effect to any underlying change in our business or results of operations. The People’s Bank of China sets and publishes daily a base exchange rate. Until July 21, 2005, the People’s Bank of China allowed this rate to fluctuate within a narrow and managed band with reference primarily to the supply and demand of Renminbi against the U.S. dollar in the market during the prior day; beginning on July 21, 2005, the People’s Bank of China has allowed this rate to fluctuate within a narrow and managed band with reference primarily to the supply and demand of Renminbi against a basket of currencies in the market during the prior day, and the People’s

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Bank of China also takes into account other factors such as the general conditions existing in the international foreign exchange markets. As a result of this policy change, Renminbi appreciated approximately 2.5% and 3.4% against the U.S. dollar in 2005 and 2006, respectively. It is possible that the Chinese government could adopt a more flexible currency policy, which could result in more significant fluctuation of Chinese Renminbi against the U.S. dollar. We can offer no assurance that Renminbi will be stable against the U.S. dollar or any other foreign currency.
Our statements of operations of our international operations are translated into U.S. dollars at the average exchange rates in each applicable period. To the extent the U.S. dollar strengthens against foreign currencies, the translation of these foreign currencies denominated transactions results in reduced revenues, operating expenses and net income for our international operations. Similarly, to the extent the U.S. dollar weakens against foreign currencies, the translation of these foreign currency denominated transactions results in increased revenues, operating expenses and net income for our international operations. We are also exposed to foreign exchange rate fluctuations as we convert the financial statements of our operations into U.S. dollars. Very limited hedging transactions are available in China to reduce our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations. To date, we have not entered into any hedging transactions in an effort to reduce our exposure to foreign currency exchange risk. While we may decide to enter into hedging transactions in the future, the availability and effectiveness of these hedges may be limited and we may not be able to successfully hedge our exposure at all. In addition, our currency exchange losses may be magnified by PRC exchange control regulations that restrict our ability to convert Renminbi into foreign currency.
Risks relating to our shares and ADSs
Stock prices of Internet-related companies, particularly companies with business operations primarily in China, have fluctuated widely in recent years, and the trading prices of our ADSs are likely to be volatile, which could result in substantial losses to investors.
The trading prices of our ADSs have been volatile and could fluctuate widely in response to factors beyond our control. Since the completion of our initial public offering in October 2004, the trading prices of our ADSs have ranged between a high of $15.99 per ADS to a low of $3.95 per ADS. The market prices of the securities of Internet-related companies have generally been especially volatile.
In particular, the performance and fluctuation of the market prices of other technology companies with business operations mainly in China that have listed their securities in the U.S. may affect the volatility in the price of and trading volumes for our ADSs. Recently, a number of PRC companies have listed their securities, or are in the process of preparing for listing their securities, on U.S. stock markets. Some of these companies have experienced significant volatility, including significant price declines in connection with their initial public offerings. The trading performances of these Chinese companies’ securities at the time of or after their offerings may affect the overall investor sentiment towards PRC companies listed in the U.S. and consequently may impact the trading performance of our ADSs. These broad market and industry factors may significantly affect the market price and volatility of our ADSs, regardless of our actual operating performance.
In addition to market and industry factors, the price and trading volume for our ADSs may be highly volatile for business specific reasons. Factors such as variations in our revenue, earnings and cash flow, announcements of new investments, cooperation arrangements or acquisitions, and fluctuations in market prices for our services could cause the market price for our ADSs to change substantially. Any of these factors may result in large and sudden changes in the volume

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and price at which our ADSs will trade. We cannot give any assurance that these factors will not occur in the future.
If we grant employee share options and other share-based compensation in the future, our net income could be materially and adversely affected.
We adopted the 2004 Stock Incentive Plan, or the Plan, in January 2004, and amended the Plan in September 2004 and August 2006. As of March 31, 2007, we had granted options under the Plan with the right to purchase a total of 14,666,488 ordinary shares, of which 1,274,640 unvested options had been returned to the pool of our ungranted options as a result of resignation from employment by a few former employees. We had also granted share options to purchase up to 6,829,500 ordinary shares in January 2004, under option agreements that were independent of the Plan, to other consultants and business advisors of the company. Until December 31, 2005 we accounted for options granted to our directors and employees in accordance with Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 25, “Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees,” or APB 25, and its related interpretations, which require us to recognize compensation expenses for share options we grant where the exercise price is less than the deemed fair value of our ordinary shares on the date of the grant. However, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or the FASB, has issued Statement No. 123 (Revised 2004), “Share-Based Payments,” or SFAS 123(R), which requires all companies to recognize, as an expense, the fair value of share options and other share-based compensation to employees at the beginning of the first annual or interim period after June 15, 2005. As a result, beginning on January 1, 2006, we account for compensation costs for all share options including share options granted to our directors and employees using a fair-value based method and recognize expenses in our consolidated statement of operations in accordance with the relevant rules under U.S. GAAP, which may have a material and adverse effect on our reported earnings. Moreover, the additional expenses associated with share-based compensation may reduce the attractiveness of such incentive plan to us. However, if we reduce the scope of the Plan, we may not be able to attract and retain key personnel, as share options are an important employee recruitment and retention tool. If we grant employee share options or other share-based compensation in the future, our net income could be adversely affected.
The sale or availability for sale of substantial amounts of our ADSs could adversely affect their market price.
Sales of substantial amounts of our ADSs in the public market in the future, or the perception that these sales could occur, could adversely affect the market price of our ADSs and could materially impair our future ability to raise capital through offerings of our ADSs.
There were 105,584,933 of our ordinary shares including 15,416,231 ADSs (representing 77,081,155 of those ordinary shares) outstanding as of March 31, 2007. In addition, there are outstanding options to purchase an additional 11,140,148 ordinary shares, including options to purchase 5,550,388 ordinary shares that are vested and immediately exercisable. Their ordinary shares, once issued, are exchangeable for our ADSs for trading in the public market. The 82,837,921 ordinary shares that were outstanding prior to our initial public offering are “restricted securities” as defined in Rule 144 and may not be sold in the absence of registration other than in accordance with Rule 144 under the Securities Act or another exemption from registration. These “restricted securities” are available for sale subject to volume and other restrictions as applicable under Rule 144 of the Securities Act. To the extent ordinary shares are sold to the market, the market price of our ADSs could decline.
A significant percentage of our outstanding ordinary shares is held by a small number of our shareholders, and these shareholders may have significantly greater influence on us and our corporate actions by nature of the size of their shareholdings relative to our public shareholders.

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As of March 31, 2007, five of our existing shareholders, including IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP, IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc., Vertex Technology Fund (III) Ltd., Ling Zhang and Jianping Lu, beneficially owned, collectively, approximately 54.64% of our outstanding ordinary shares. As of March 31, 2007, IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP and IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc. together have one board representative on our five-director board, and beneficially own, collectively, approximately 25.86% of our outstanding ordinary shares. Accordingly, these shareholders have had, and may continue to have, significant influence in determining the outcome of any corporate transaction or other matter submitted to the shareholders for approval, including mergers, consolidations and the sale of all or substantially all of our assets, election of directors and other significant corporate actions. In addition, without the consent of these shareholders, we could be prevented from entering into transactions that could be beneficial to us.
Provisions in our charter documents and Hong Kong law, and change in control agreements we have entered into with each of our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, may discourage our acquisition by a third party, which could limit your opportunity to sell your shares at a premium.
Our constituent documents and Hong Kong law include provisions that could limit the ability of others to acquire control of us, modify our structure or cause us to engage in change in control transactions, including, among other things, the following:
    Our articles of association provide for a staggered board, which means that our directors, excluding our chief executive officer, are divided into two classes, with half of our board, excluding our chief executive officer, standing for election every two years. Our chief executive officer will at all times serve as a director, and will not retire as a director, so long as he remains our chief executive officer. This means that, with our staggered board, at least two annual shareholders’ meetings, instead of one, are generally required in order to effect a change in a majority of our directors. Our staggered board can discourage proxy contests for the election of our directors and purchases of substantial blocks of our shares by making it more difficult for a potential acquirer to take control of our board in a relatively short period of time.
 
    Hong Kong law permits shareholders of a company to remove directors by a shareholders’ resolution. Our articles of association require any shareholder who wishes to remove a director in this way to give us at least 120 days’ notice of the resolution, making it more difficult and time consuming for a potential acquirer who has accumulated a substantial voting position to obtain control of our board by removing opposing directors.
 
    Our articles of association provide that our board can have no less than five and no more than nine directors. Our board currently has five directors. Any increase in the maximum number of directors on our board beyond nine directors can only be accomplished by amending our articles of association, which under Hong Kong law requires a shareholders’ supermajority vote of 75% and at least 21 days’ notice. These restrictions can make it more difficult for a potential acquirer who has accumulated a majority of our shares to take control of us by promptly increasing the size of our board and appointing new directors that are its nominees.
 
    Hong Kong does not have merger laws that permit Hong Kong companies to merge in the same way as U.S. companies could in the U.S. However, the Hong Kong Companies Ordinance has provisions that facilitate arrangements for the reconstruction and amalgamation of companies. The arrangement must be approved by a majority in number of each class of shareholders and creditors with whom the arrangement is to be made, representing three-fourths in value of each such class of shareholders or creditors

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      that are present and voting either in person or by proxy at meetings convened by the High Court of Hong Kong. The arrangements must be sanctioned by the High Court of Hong Kong after shareholders or creditors approve it at the court-convened meeting.
 
    Our shareholders have authorized our board of directors, without any further action by shareholders, to issue additional shares. Under Hong Kong law, the authority granted by our shareholders will remain valid until the conclusion of our next annual general meeting, or the time when our next annual general meeting is required to be held. For as long as this approval remains effective, or is renewed, our board of directors will have the power to issue additional ordinary shares (including ordinary shares represented by ADSs) and preference shares without any further action by shareholders.
We are a Hong Kong company and because the legal and procedural protections afforded minority shareholders under Hong Kong law differ from those under U.S. law, you may have difficulty protecting your interests as our shareholder relative to shareholders of corporations organized in the U.S.
We are a Hong Kong company and are subject to the laws of Hong Kong. The fiduciary responsibilities of our directors, and the ability of minority shareholders to take successful legal action in Hong Kong against us or our directors, are governed by the laws and court procedures of Hong Kong. Shareholders of a Hong Kong company would not be able to bring class action lawsuits against that company or its directors in a Hong Kong court in the same way that shareholders of a U.S. corporation might be able to bring such lawsuits in a U.S. court. In addition, professional conduct rules applicable to Hong Kong lawyers generally prohibit Hong Kong lawyers from accepting contingency fee arrangements, where a lawyer representing the plaintiffs is paid a fee only if the lawsuit is successful. Without contingency fee arrangements or the ability to bring class action lawsuits, our shareholders may find it more costly and difficult to take legal action against us or our directors in the Hong Kong courts. The Hong Kong courts are also unlikely:
    to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States based on the civil liability provisions of U.S. securities laws; or
 
    to allow original actions brought in Hong Kong, based on the civil liability provisions of U.S. securities laws that are penal in nature.
In addition, there is no automatic statutory recognition in Hong Kong of judgments obtained in the United States. Moreover, Hong Kong companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholder derivative action in a federal court of the United States.
As a result of all of the above, minority public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, directors or controlling shareholders than they would as minority public shareholders of a U.S. corporation. Moreover, substantially all of our assets are located outside of the United States and all of our current operations are conducted in the PRC. In addition, most of our directors and officers are nationals and residents of countries other than the United States. All or a substantial portion of the assets of these persons are located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult for you to effect service of process within the United States upon these persons.
The voting rights of holders of ADSs must be exercised in accordance with the terms of the deposit agreement, the American depositary receipts, and the procedures established by the depositary. The process of voting through the depositary may involve delays that limit the time available to you to consider proposed shareholders’ actions and also may restrict your ability to subsequently revise your voting instructions.

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A holder of ADSs may exercise its voting rights with respect to the underlying ordinary shares only in accordance with the provisions of the deposit agreement and the American depositary receipts. We do not recognize holders of ADSs representing our ordinary shares as our shareholders, and instead we recognize the ADS depositary as our shareholder.
When the depositary receives from us notice of any shareholders meeting, it will distribute the information in the meeting notice and any proxy solicitation materials to you. The depositary will determine the record date for distributing these materials, and only ADS holders registered with the depositary on that record data will, subject to applicable laws, be entitled to instruct the depositary to vote the underlying ordinary shares. The depositary will also determine and inform you of the manner for you to give your voting instructions, including instructions to give discretionary proxies to a person designated by us. Upon receipt of voting instructions of a holder of ADSs, the depositary will endeavor to vote the underlying ordinary shares in accordance with these instructions. Although Hong Kong law requires us to call annual shareholders’ meetings by not less than 21 days’ notice in writing, and all other shareholders’ meeting by not less than 14 days’ notice in writing, these minimum notice requirements can be shortened or completely waived by the consent of all holders of our ordinary shares entitled to attend and vote (in the case of annual shareholders’ meetings) or a majority in number of the holders of our ordinary shares representing at least 95% in nominal value of the shares giving the right to attend and vote (in the case of all other shareholders’ meetings). If the minimum notice periods are shortened or waived, you may not receive sufficient notice of a shareholders’ meeting for you to withdraw your ordinary shares and cast your vote with respect to any proposed resolution, as a holder of our ordinary shares. In addition, the depositary and its agents may not be able to send materials relating to the meeting and voting instruction forms to you, or to carry out your voting instructions, in a timely manner. We cannot assure you that you will receive the voting materials in time to ensure that you can instruct the depositary to vote your shares. The additional time required for the depositary to receive from us and distribute to you meeting notices and materials, and for you to give voting instructions to the depositary with respect to the underlying ordinary shares, will result in your having less time to consider meeting notices and materials than holders of ordinary shares who receive such notices and materials directly from us and who vote their ordinary shares directly. If you have given your voting instructions to the depositary and subsequently decide to change those instructions, you may not be able to do so in time for the depositary to vote in accordance with your revised instructions.
Furthermore, the depositary has deemed any holders who do not send in voting instructions at all or in time as having instructed the depository to give a discretionary voting proxy to the person(s) designated by us to receive voting proxies, with full power to exercise such holder’s (or holders’) voting rights under the ADSs’ underlying ordinary shares in the manner as the proxy holder deems fit. Accordingly, matters that favor the incumbent board of directors and management will have a higher likelihood of passing than would otherwise be the case.
The depositary and its agents will not be responsible for any failure to carry out any instructions to vote, for the manner in which any vote is cast or for the effect of any such vote.
You may not receive distributions on our ordinary shares or any value for them if such distribution is illegal or if any required government approval cannot be obtained in order to make such distribution available to you.
The depositary of our ADSs has agreed to pay to you the cash dividends or other distributions (which may include securities or rights distributions) it or the custodian for our ADSs receives on our ordinary shares or other deposited securities after deducting its fees and expenses. You will receive these distributions in proportion to the number of our ordinary shares your ADSs represent. However, the depositary is not responsible to make a distribution available to any holders of ADSs if it decides that it is unlawful to make such distribution. For example, it would

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be unlawful to make a distribution to holder of ADSs if it consisted of securities that required registration under the Securities Act but that were not properly registered or distributed pursuant to an applicable exemption from registration. The depositary is not responsible for making a distribution available to any holders of ADSs if any government approval or registration required for such distribution cannot be obtained after reasonable efforts made by the depositary. We have no obligation to take any other action to permit the distribution of our ADSs, ordinary shares, rights or anything else to holders of our ADSs. This means that you may not receive the distributions we make on our ordinary shares or any value for them if it is unlawful or unreasonable from a regulatory perspective for us to make them available to you. These restrictions may have a material adverse effect on the value of your ADSs.
You may be subject to limitations on transfer of your ADSs.
Your ADSs represented by American Depositary Receipts are transferable on the books of the depositary. However, the depositary may close its books at any time or from time to time when it deems expedient in connection with the performance of its duties. The depositary may close its books from time to time for a number of reasons, including in connection with corporate events such as a rights offering, during which time the depositary needs to maintain an exact number of ADS holders on its books for a specified period. The depositary may also close its books in emergencies, and on weekends and public holidays. The depositary may refuse to deliver, transfer or register transfers of our ADSs generally when the books of the depositary are closed, or at any time if we or the depositary thinks it is advisable to do so because of any requirement of law or any government or governmental body, or under any provision of the deposit agreement, or for any other reason.
Your right as a holder of ADSs to participate in any future rights offerings may be limited, which may cause dilution to your holdings.
We may from time to time distribute rights to our shareholders, including rights to acquire our securities. However, we cannot make rights available to our ADS holders in the United States unless we register the rights and the securities to which the rights relate under the Securities Act or an exemption from the registration requirements is available. In addition, the deposit agreement provides that the depositary bank will not make rights available to you unless the distribution to ADS holders of both the rights and any related securities are either registered under the Securities Act or exempted from registration under the Securities Act. We are under no obligation to file a registration statement with respect to any such rights or securities or to endeavor to cause such a registration statement to be declared effective. Moreover, we may not be able to establish an exemption from registration under the Securities Act. Accordingly, ADS holders may be unable to participate in our rights offerings and may experience dilution in their holdings.
In addition, if the depositary is unable to sell rights that are not exercised or not distributed or if the sale is not lawful or reasonably practicable, it will allow the rights to lapse, in which case you will receive no value for these rights.
ITEM 4. INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY
A. History and development of the company.
China Finance Online Co., Ltd. was incorporated in Hong Kong in November 1998. Prior to April 2000, we did not conduct any business operations. In April 2000, we purchased all of the equity interests of Fortune Software (Beijing) Limited and renamed it China Finance Online (Beijing) Co., Ltd., or CFO Beijing, whereby we acquired our website, www.jrj.com.cn, and commenced our online financial and listed company data and information operations. In October 2004, we purchased another domain name, www.jrj.com, and commenced operating our

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business under this domain name in March 2005. We maintain the same content under both domain names.
Since we commercially launched our service offerings in April 2001, we have conducted substantially all of our operations in China through our wholly owned subsidiary, CFO Beijing until December 2004. In December 2004, we incorporated a new wholly foreign-owned enterprise, Fortune Software (Beijing) Co., Ltd., or CFO Software. Since then, we have conducted substantially all of our operations in China through those two wholly owned subsidiaries. As wholly foreign-owned enterprises, CFO Beijing and CFO Software are not permitted under PRC law to provide Internet information content, which requires special licenses from the Ministry of Information Industry or its local branches. In order to comply with foreign ownership restrictions, we operate our website in China through Beijing Fuhua Innovation Technology Development Co., Ltd., or Fuhua, which holds the licenses required to be an Internet information content provider under the relevant PRC laws. Wu Chen, a financial manager of International Data Group China, Ltd., a PRC limited liability company affiliated with IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc. and IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP, two of our principal shareholders, and Zhiwei Zhao, our chief executive officer, hold 55% and 45% of the equity interests in Fuhua, respectively.
In October 2004, we completed the initial public offering of our ADSs, each of which represents five of our ordinary shares, and listed our ADSs on Nasdaq.
On September 21, 2006 China Finance Online entered into an agreement to acquire all the equity interest in CFO Genius, CFO Genius engages in the business of constructing and maintaining financial information databases and providing networked information solution. It was the first company of its kind in China to build databases and to provide electronic information networks for domestic securities and investment firms at the time of its establishment in 1994. The acquisition is expected to strengthen the Company’s position in the industry and provide future opportunities to develop database products. CFO Genius is a financial information database provider primarily serving domestic securities and investment firms, for a total cash consideration of $1,040,081, including $40,081 in transaction costs.
In October 2006, we closed the acquisition of CFO Stockstar and CFO Meining, a related company of CFO Stockstar that operates www.stockstar.com. Under the definitive agreements, we and one of our affiliates paid US$6.5 million and RMB12 million, respectively, for an aggregate consideration of approximately US$8 million, in exchange for 100% of the equity of CFO Stockstar and 100% of the equity of CFO Meining. Established in 1996, www.stockstar.com is one of the leading finance and securities websites in China.
Our principal executive office are currently located at 9th Floor of Tower C, Corporate Square, No. 35 Financial Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100032, People’s Republic of China and our telephone number is (8610) 5832-5288.
B. Business overview.
We are one of the leading companies that specialize in providing online financial and listed company data and information in China. We offer subscription-based services on a single information platform that integrates data and information from multiple sources with features and functions such as data and information search, retrieval, delivery, storage and analysis. We deliver these features and functions using software tools that we have developed, which we refer to as research tools. Our research tools combine:
    financial analysis tools that permit users to calculate and analyze quantitatively financial data;

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    current and historical financial data and information for China’s listed company stocks, bonds and mutual funds;
 
    categorized news and research reports; and
 
    online forums and bulletin boards.
With our screen layout and menu options, we display our research tools in a manner designed for ease of use. The content and technology comprising our integrated information platform is also designed to be adaptable so that as we develop new research tools and adopt new content and features, these new research tools, content and features can be easily integrated with our existing platform.
Our service offerings permit users to subscribe to several of the service packages that we offer. These offerings are broadly divided into three categories: Securities Market Information, Technical Analysis, and Fundamental Analysis. Each service package contains one or more research tools. Our research tools include a number of features and functions that, we believe, are innovative and are not widely available in the Chinese financial markets. Our service offerings can be accessed using our research tools and through our websites at www.jrj.com or www.stockstar.com. “JRJ” is the abbreviation of “Jin Rong Jie”, which means financial industry in Chinese. As of December 31, 2006, with the acquisition of CFO Stockstar, we had a total of approximately 6.05 million registered user accounts, and approximately 28,316 fee-based active subscribers. Our registered users are Internet users who maintain a registered account with either www.jrj.com or www.stockstar.com. Fee-based active subscribers refer to registered user who subscribe to a fee to one of our subscription-based services offered by either www.jrj.com or www.stockstar.com by download or through the Internet.
Our service offerings to users are used by and targeted at a broad range of investors in China, including individual investors managing their own money, professional investors such as institutional investors managing large sums of money on behalf of their clients and high net worth individuals, other financial professionals such as investment bankers, stock analysts and financial reporters, and middle class individuals. In late August 2006, we formally launched the high-end version of Value Engine, which is specially designed for investors who primarily use fundamental analysis in selecting stocks or who use fundamental analysis to supplement technical analysis. In September 2006, we rolled out lower-end versions of Value Engine to capitalize on investors’ demand for fundamental analysis tools. Most, if not all, all of our research tools are designed for and tailored toward investors in China, allowing them to make informed investment decisions with respect to all of China’s listed company stocks, bonds and mutual funds according to specifications and analyses determined by them.
Our website users are not charged for visiting our websites and obtaining basic financial information such as real-time quotes and historical financial information for all of China’s listed company stocks, bonds and mutual funds, and financial news. Our integrated information platform, which allows users to select from a range of downloadable and web-based research tools, is available only through subscription. We categorize, process and, through our subscription-based research tools and our website content, present data and research results to our subscribers, allowing them to make informed investment decisions. Our service offerings are designed to enhance our users’ and subscribers’ experience due to the following characteristics:
Comprehensive.
We offer a broad range of data and information regarding China’s listed company stocks, bonds and mutual funds. We offer more than basic financial data such as price and trading information and provide our subscribers with breaking economic and financial news, detailed historical data

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and information, financial analysis tools, market coverage and listed company analysis and online forums that facilitate our subscribers’ own investment analysis efforts. We believe we have built a comprehensive database of historical financial data and information on China’s listed companies, bonds and mutual funds with data and information dating back to December 1990, when the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges first opened for trading.
Integrated.
Our information platform integrates data and information from multiple sources with features and functions such as data and information search, retrieval, delivery, storage and analysis. Our platform integrates all of the research tools, data and other information we have developed or gathered and, together with our screen layout and menu options, displays them in a manner designed for ease of use. The content and technology comprising our integrated information platform is also designed to be adaptable so that as we develop new research tools, content and features, these new research tools, content and features can be easily integrated with our existing platform. Depending on the service package chosen by the subscriber, a subscriber can have different levels of access privileges to financial analysis tools, real-time and historical data, news, research reports and online forums.
Interactive.
We have established online bulletin boards and discussion forums where users can share with each other views on stocks and trends in the financial markets in China. In addition, we have introduced stock alert services that send messages to our users’ mobile phones alerting them of changes in stock prices and other trading related information of their interest, according to their pre-set query parameters, allowing them to extend their experience with our services beyond the Internet.
Timely.
We provide our subscribers and users access to real-time stock quotes, breaking news and updated research reports to allow them to stay current with the latest market developments. We receive real-time stock, bond and mutual fund quotes and other trading related information directly from the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges. During an average trading day, we update our web pages within five seconds of receipt of new data and information from the stock exchanges. We also receive current news headlines from financial news websites and publishers and distributors of traditional media. We also have provided our subscribers and users with up-to-date personal finance news and wealth management products that we received from banks, trust companies, insurance companies and other financial institutions.
Unbiased.
Our website presents third-party content, analysis and commentary, and computer generated quantitative analysis to provide our subscribers and users with a broad view of the financial markets in China. We do not formulate or publish views on this content, analysis or commentary. Because we are not motivated to convince them to buy or sell any securities or to invest in any specific investments, we believe our subscribers and users view us as an unbiased provider of financial information.
Easy to use.
Our research tools and our website are designed with a screen layout, menu options and displays that we believe any user familiar with a computer will find easy to use. From our basic web page, our users can choose a variety of financial data and information topics that interest them. Through our research tools, our subscribers have access to a large pool of historical financial

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data and information, which they can categorize and analyze as they determine. We have a product development team directed at working closely with our customer support personnel to update and develop information and presentation formats that our subscribers view as enhancing ease of use and increasing the informative power of our research tools and our website. Our website is also designed to accommodate low bandwidth access to the Internet.
To assist us in the delivery of comprehensive, timely and easy to use service offerings, we have developed a technology platform that utilizes the capabilities of the Internet. Our technology platform allows us to retrieve real-time stock quotes from both the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, historical financial data and information on listed companies, bonds and mutual funds from data providers, research reports from securities advisory companies, futures companies and securities brokerage companies licensed to provide securities advisory services, commentaries from licensed individual securities advisors and news feeds from news publishers and media companies.
A substantial portion of our revenue is derived from annual subscription fees for our service offerings. We receive subscription fees at the beginning of the subscribers’ subscription periods. Revenues from the subscription fees are deferred and recognized ratably over the service period.
Growth Strategy
Our goal is to become the leading provider of comprehensive financial data and information relating to securities and other financial instruments traded on China’s securities exchanges. We intend to:
    increase our subscriber base by expanding distribution channels such as banks, mutual funds and brokerage firms;
 
    upgrade our existing service offerings and expand our present service offerings to include data and information relating to other financial instruments such as mutual funds, currencies, futures and commodities; and
 
    continue to encourage our subscribers to migrate to newer, more comprehensive and higher priced service offerings.
Our Services
We collect, process and, through our research tools and our website content, provide to our subscribers financial analysis tools, real-time and historical data, news, research reports and online forums in one integrated information platform, allowing them to make informed investment decisions with respect to all of China’s listed company stocks, bonds and mutual funds according to specifications and analyses determined by them. In late August 2006, we launched a new subscription service offering, Value Engine, which is specially designed for investors who primarily use fundamental analysis in selecting stocks or who use fundamental analysis to supplement technical analysis. This new subscription package aggregates research reports, live financial news, market commentaries, up-to-date Chinese listed companies’ financial information and database.
Our features
Through our integrated information platform, our subscribers have access to and can make use of each of our main content features: financial analysis tools, real-time and historical data, news, research reports and online forums.
Financial analysis tools.

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Our financial analysis tools are research tools that provide subscribers with the ability to quantitatively calculate and analyze financial data, which include:
    fundamental analysis tools, which are designed to enable investors to analyze data based on company fundamentals; and
 
    technical analysis tools, which are designed to enable investors to analyze data based on trends formulated by historical trading data.
These tools allow our subscribers to perform fundamental and technical analysis on companies, bonds and mutual funds listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, based on current and historical financial data and information, trading volumes and other user specifications.
Real-time and historical data.
Our integrated information platform offers subscribers interactive charts, quotes, reports and indicators on over 2,000 securities, including company stocks, bonds, warrants and mutual funds, listed on China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges. Users can search by company name or ticker symbol for real-time stock quotes of these securities. Trading data is provided to us on a real-time basis by each of the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges. We collect, categorize, organize and index trading data provided to us to allow searches, sorting and analysis by user specification and allow our subscribers to access and analyze the data, using our financial analysis tools and other research tools.
We also offer our subscribers detailed historical data and information on listed companies, mutual funds and bonds. This information is available for our subscribers to download from our website and is available on compact diskettes but are not accessible to general viewers. We collect historical data and information, process this information and, through our research tools, allow our subscribers to retrieve critical data and information they select.
News.
Our news feature allows users to search and view breaking economic and financial news and information from China and around the world. We do not report news ourselves. We have a team of editorial staff who compile on daily basis economic and financial news and information reported by other public sources that are relevant to China’s financial markets. Our editorial staff further indexes them according to topics and categories for the convenience of our users. Through our research tools and website content, our subscribers can access timely and customized financial information and reports, categorized and integrated into topics and sub-topics that they select, based on their investment and analysis needs. The financial data and information presented on our website or through our research tools is gathered from other financial information content providers and intermediaries with whom we have contractual arrangements.
Research reports.
Through our integrated information platform, our users can view financial news letters and analytical reports from a number of China’s prominent securities professionals. We draw market research reports and commentaries from securities advisory companies, futures companies and securities brokerage companies licensed to provide securities advisory services, commentaries from licensed individual securities advisors. For our subscribers, we categorize these reports and commentaries based on topics, industry sector and other customary categorizations.
Online forums.

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We host several online bulletin boards on our website by which Chinese licensed securities advisors offer their views on a variety of topics ranging from macroeconomic conditions to performance of individual stocks, bonds and mutual funds. We do not support, comment on or advocate any views presented by any such securities advisors. We also maintain several online forums on our website, enabling our users to participate in the discussions on specific financial topics we believe will be of interest to them. The online forums are moderated by third party moderators approved by us. We believe the online bulletin boards and discussion forums enhance our users’ experience and, through our active monitoring, allow us to better understand our users’ behavior and needs.
Our websites
Our website content and our research tools are the key components of our information platform. Our websites have four primary functions:
    to attract visitors and market our subscription based service offerings;
 
    to store content and serve as an integral part of our information platform;
 
    to serve as download platforms for our service offerings; and
 
    to display online advertisements.
In order to attract visitors to our websites, we offer a significant portion of our website content free of charge. This free content includes real-time stock quotes, trading volumes, pricing indicators for listed companies in China and market news from the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges. Through our websites, users can also participate in online forum discussions and bulletin boards. Our websites also have an important marketing function for our subscription based service offerings. We provide examples to our visitors on our websites of the various premium content and features they can access and receive by becoming a subscriber to our service offerings.
Our premium content and features are accessible through our research tools, some of which are web-based and others are computer-based. Subscribers to our web-based research tools are required to register and maintain personal accounts with our websites. These subscribers can store important information they viewed and analytical results they obtained in their personal accounts maintained at our websites, and later review that information and results using the same screen layouts and menu options our websites provide.
Subscribers to computer-based research tools can download from our website the packages they selected to their computers.
We believe our websites are designed for ease of use and accommodate low bandwidth access to the Internet. In addition, we have also historically derived some revenue from online advertising.
Our research tools
Subscribers to our service can elect to use a number of different research tools we have developed to access and utilize our premium content and features. We currently offer different service packages incorporating some or all of our research tools to our users. Our service packages provide research tools focused around three main categories: Securities Market Information, Technical Analysis and Fundamental Analysis.

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Through our research tools, our subscribers can access and analyze our content, including our real-time and historical data, news and research reports, in one integrated platform, allowing our subscribers to make informed investment decisions with respect to all of China’s listed company stocks, bonds and mutual funds according to specifications and analyses determined by them. Some of our research tools are web-based and others require download from our website and are computer-based. Our subscribers pay us a subscription fee for the use of our subscription services for a one-year period.
We offer subscribers a variety of research tools designed to provide information and analysis, including financial analysis, as well as the ability to search and sort out data and information, based on subscribers’ needs and preferences. For example, we make available services that permit subscribers to analyze our content using some or all of the following research tools:
    Categorized macro information. This feature allows subscribers to search and sort up-to-date and comprehensive news and information relating to the broader financial markets or a specific financial topic or industry sector. We have a dedicated team of professional editors who collect, organize, categorize and index macro-economic and financial market information on a daily basis, according to user feedback and classification methods that we believe are accepted practice in securities markets in China.
 
    Industry sector analysis. Many investors in China seek to distinguish between listed companies with investment potential and those prone to financial trouble by analyzing listed companies’ financial data published in their financial statements and comparing such data among companies within the same industry sector. We collect and process listed company financial data and information according to classification methods set by relevant PRC regulatory authorities, and allow subscribers to view the relative standings of listed companies in the same industry sector or geographical locations based on market accepted performance parameters such as price-to-earnings ratios and profit margins.
 
    Fundamental analysis. Historical and real-time financial information are important to investors because they provide insight into company fundamentals. This research tool integrates the historical and real-time trading information we maintain in our database, as well as fundamental financial information such as earnings-per-share, shareholdings and other related data and information. Our subscribers can receive fundamental financial and trading information organized by their specifications and display these results on a graphical interface that we designed to be easy to visualize and navigate.
 
    Mutual fund analysis. Our mutual fund research tool focuses on categorizing information relating to the portfolio holdings of mutual funds. This feature allows subscribers to study the collective effect of large market players on individual stocks. This feature also offers information relating to the performance of individual mutual funds, allowing subscribers to assess the risks and rewards of investing in mutual funds.
 
    Technical analysis. This feature allows investors interested in trends formulated by historical trading data to perform technical analysis on listed companies. With over 60 markets accepted technical indicators and a complete database of historical data and information on all of China’s listed company stocks, our subscribers can perform extensive chart analysis and pattern recognition on any stock listed on China’s stock exchanges.
In August 2006, we launched a new subscription-based service package which is specially designed for investors who primarily use fundamental analysis in selecting stocks or who use fundamental analysis to supplement technical analysis. We expect to provide additional research

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tools as our services expand. We expect that as we introduce data and information on commodities, we would include a separate research tool for that purpose. We view the migration of existing subscribers and the attraction of new subscribers to our service offerings with more comprehensive research tools as one of our most important growth strategies.
Our securities service packages. Our service packages are categorized into the following three main areas:
      Securities Market Information. Our Securities Market Information service packages, called Mega Trend series, are developed on the basis of Level II quotes. On June 15, 2006, we entered into an agreement with Shanghai Stock Exchange Information Network Co., Ltd., which is associated with the Shanghai Stock Exchange, or SSE. Under the definitive agreement, China Finance Online is certified by SSE to develop service packages based on Level II quotes, and upgrade the features and functions of our current products. The definitive agreement is contemplated to continue through April 30, 2009.
SSE through its affiliate officially published its Level II quotes on July 18, 2006. On the same day, China Finance Online activated the accounts for the first group of its Level II customers. Level II quotes give investors unique insight into a stock’s price movement, which, we believe, is of great value to Chinese investors. In addition, Level II quotes provide faster and more comprehensive trading data and statistical information on market transactions.
      Technical Analysis. Technical Analysis involves researching historical price and volume data, patterns and trends to predict the performance of a given stock. This type of analysis focuses on chart formations and formulas to identify major and minor trends to recognize buying opportunities and exit points. The Grand Reference series is the primary product featuring our technical analysis service offerings.
      Fundamental Analysis. Fundamental Analysis involves examining the company’s financials and operations, especially sales, earnings, growth potential, assets, debt, management, products, and competition. Fundamental Analysis takes into consideration only those variables that are directly related to the company itself, rather than the overall state of the market or technical analysis data. In late August 2006, we formally launched the high-end version of Value Engine, which is specially designed for investors who primarily use fundamental analysis in selecting stocks or who use fundamental analysis to supplement technical analysis. In September 2006, we formally rolled out lower-end versions of Value Engine to capitalize on investors’ demand for fundamental analysis tools.
Pricing policy
We price our service packages based on the research tools included and their level of comprehensiveness, as well as on market demand. For example, Value Engine has multiple versions ranging from low end to high end with different levels of, comprehensiveness in terms of features and functionality which target various levels of customer demand for fundamental analysis. Therefore, we focus on enhancing and upgrading the available features and functions of our research tools and continue to introduce updated versions of our service packages. We encourage all of our users to upgrade to newer versions of our service packages or more comprehensive service packages.
We may, from time to time, offer discounts or promotions, depending on our perceived need in accordance with our pricing policy. Any of such discounts or promotions could apply to new or repeat subscribers as we may determine.
Our new service features

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We place significant emphasis on refining and upgrading our information platform, and on creating new and innovative features to meet the changing needs of our customers and utilizing the latest in technology and innovation. We believe that we are one of the few online financial information service providers in China that have solid in-house software development capabilities. Our ability to develop software internally allows us to broaden our service offerings and enhance our competitiveness, while keeping development costs at a minimum.
Customer support
Our customer support center provides our subscribers real-time and personal support and is staffed by a team of 146 trained full-time customer support personnel. Our customer support center currently operates from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on weekdays and 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on weekends and holidays. Our customer support personnel, in addition to their sales and marketing functions, help our existing and prospective subscribers to resolve any technical problems they may have. We have an in-house training program for our customer support personnel, which includes training courses on China’s securities markets, our service features and functionalities, technical problem solving skills in respect of our research tools and general customer service guidelines.
Our content providers
We draw content from the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, which provide us with real-time stock, bond and mutual fund pricing and other information, and our data providers, which provide us with historical financial data and information on listed companies, bonds and mutual funds, according to our parameters, specifications and requirements. We also draw content from securities advisory companies, futures companies and securities brokerage companies licensed to provide securities advisory services, licensed individual securities advisors, and news publishers and media companies, as well as financial institutions, such as banks, trust companies and insurance companies.
Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges
We receive real-time stock, bond and mutual fund quotes and other trading related information directly from the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges. We have entered into an information service agreement with each of the stock exchanges pursuant to which we pay the stock exchanges fixed service fees in exchange for receiving real-time price quotes and other trading related information through satellite communication. We also have cable links to both exchanges to serve as back-ups to satellite communication data feeds. During an average trading day, we update our web pages within five seconds of receipt of new data and information from the stock exchanges.
Our agreement with Shanghai Stock Exchange Information Network Co., Ltd., which is associated with the Shanghai Stock Exchange, allows us to develop service packages based on Level II quotes and upgrade the features and functions of our current products. This agreement is contemplated to continue through July 31, 2009. Level II quotes give investors unique insight into a stock price’s movement and provide faster and more comprehensive trading data. Our agreement with Shenzhen Securities Information Co., Ltd., associated with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, will expire in March 1, 2008. Under these agreements, we may distribute the financial data and information we receive to our users, but not to other vendors or distributors. Each of these two data providers can terminate its respective agreement with us if we breach the terms of the relevant agreement, such as fail to pay or delay our payment of fees to these providers.
Data providers

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We acquired CFO Genius in September 2006. Starting in May 2007, CFO Genius has provided us with historical data and information on listed companies, bonds and mutual funds for input into our information platform. We are able to obtain information in accordance with designated parameters, specifications and requirements. This information includes historical financial information for listed companies, significant corporate events such as mergers and acquisitions and significant changes in the shareholdings of listed companies, information concerning major shareholders of listed companies, biographical information for directors and management of listed companies, as well as financial news and other data and information. The updates provided by CFO Genius range from several times a day to once a month depending on the type of information. In addition, we have raw data provision contracts with Financial China Information & Technology Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Gildata Service Co., Ltd as alternative sources of historical data and information.
Financial Institutions, securities advisors and stock brokerages
We have entered into cooperation contracts with various financial institutions, including banks, insurance and trust companies. According to these contracts, they will provide the personal finance information and product updates directly to us. We have also entered into cooperation arrangements with securities advisory companies, futures companies and securities brokerage companies, each licensed to provide securities advisory services. Under these arrangements, we have the right to extract market commentary and research notes taken from their websites, and to store, reproduce, market and deliver such information to our customers by means of our information platforms. We upload financial content from these websites on a regular basis. In addition, we have entered into cooperation arrangements with licensed individual securities advisors to receive through email and other means their published articles and commentaries covering a range of topics from macroeconomic conditions to performance of individual stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Many of these individual securities advisors have dedicated columns or bulletin boards maintained on our website for which they are responsible for maintenance.
News and media conglomerates
We also draw content in the form of breaking headlines and other news information from publishers and distributors of traditional media.
Chinese news publishers and media companies
We are permitted under these arrangements to extract financial news, reports and information taken from their print publication channels, and to store, reproduce, market and deliver such information to our users through our website. We rely on our editorial staff to compile, for publication on our website, publicly available financial news, reports and information received from these sources that are relevant to China’s financial markets.
Sales and marketing
We market our service offerings through our websites, as well as through 146 customer support personnel at our customer service centers. Our websites provide detailed descriptions of our service offerings while our customer support personnel are available to explain to callers the various features of our offerings and to resolve our subscribers’ technical problems. We also market our service offerings through banks, mutual funds and stock brokerage firms.
We charge our subscribers a subscription fee for the use of our service packages over an agree-upon service period, typically one year. Our subscribers either pay us by cash, by money order via post, by online bank transfer or by direct wiring of cash. Upon receipt of cash payment, we promptly activate our subscribers’ accounts with us. Since we accept cash as the only payment

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method, we do not take any credit risk of our subscribers. We have a refund policy, and refunds in 2006 represented approximately 1% of cash revenues received from individual subscribers.
Online advertisement
Our websites www.jrj.com and www.stockstar.com are among the most popular financial websites in China. Although we believe our Internet community is an attractive demographic target for advertisers because it represents an affluent, educated and technically sophisticated market, in 2006, we allocated most of our advertising inventory to promote our subscription-based software offerings. Online advertising was not considered a core service line of our business in 2006 nor do we expect it to be in 2007. As a result, our online advertising revenue and other related revenues decreased from $1.7 million in 2005 to $1.3 million in 2006, and will likely continue to decline as a percentage of our revenues.
Product development
Our product development team of 89 personnel is responsible for the design and enhancement of features contained in our service packages. Our product development team works as an integral part of our overall service offering efforts. For example, we require our product development team to conduct frequent meetings with our sales and marketing team to discuss the feasibility of new service offerings and the progress of existing product development efforts. Our product development team works closely with our customer support team to develop features and content that are based on feedback we received from our subscribers and users.
We expect product development to remain an important part of our business as the online financial data and information services industry in China becomes increasingly sophisticated. In order to remain competitive, we expect to continue to expand our product development efforts:
    to increase the breadth of our service offerings through the addition of new features and functions to our service packages;
 
    to enhance our subscribers’ experience by improving the quality of our research tools and website;
 
    to develop additional research tools, features and content specifically targeting the high-end subscribers; and
 
    to design and build new financial instrument service products that fit our strategies.
As an example of our recent product development efforts that we believe will broaden our customer base, in August 2006 we launched our new service package, Value Engine, which is specially designed for investors who primarily use fundamental analysis in selecting stocks or who use fundamental analysis to supplement technical analysis. Furthermore, we continue to develop and add new features to our existing service packages.
Technology and infrastructure
Our internally developed technology infrastructure is designed to maximize the number of concurrent users we can serve, while minimizing information retrieval time for our users. We deliver electronically real-time and historical financial data and analysis tools to our users through our internally developed technology platform, which is designed specifically for our web-based and computer-based software services. Our technology platform, which consists of web server technology, database technology and a data aggregation engine, enables us to enhance performance, reliability and scalability in handling bursts of high-volume data requests during peak time, allowing users to quickly retrieve the information that they search for even

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during periods of high concurrent use. We own all of our servers. Our servers are capable of accommodating three times the number of peak-hour concurrent users and four times our required bandwidth as measured during peak hours for the twelve months ended December 31, 2006.
Web server technology.
Our web server technology enables us to quickly develop and deploy information services dynamically. Our web server technology includes features that are designed to optimize the performance of our online services. For example, we developed a special feature that maximizes the time during which client-server connections are kept open, based on current server load, thereby increasing user navigation and website access speed.
Database technology.
We have developed database technology to address the specific requirements of our information services. Our database design and search techniques allow for efficient data retrieval within the unique operating parameters of the Internet. For example, our dynamic index traversal technology utilizes users’ inputted search parameters to determine the appropriate database index (from among multiple indices) in parallel, thereby efficiently locating the data requested. Further, we use an index compression mechanism to achieve an efficient balance between disk space and compression/decompression for various database activities.
Remote data aggregation engine.
Our remote data aggregation engine allows us to retrieve, process and present data as a single virtual database result from a variety of sources, either in real-time or at predetermined intervals. We developed a template-driven profiling system that catalogs the data on each source site. We also store data results internally in order to reduce network traffic and deliver the results to our users as quickly as possible.
Competition
The online financial data and information service market in China is relatively new, has few substantial barriers to entry and is competitive and rapidly changing. The number of online financial news and information sources competing for users’ attention and spending has increased since we commenced operations and we expect that competition will continue to intensify. More broadly, we also compete, directly and indirectly, for users and subscribers with companies in the business of providing financial data and information services, including:
    publishers and distributors of traditional media, including print, radio and television, such as China Securities News, Shanghai Securities News, International Financial Times, 21st Century Economic Reports, as well as radio and television programs and news focused on financial news and information;
 
    internet portals providing information on business, finance and investing, such as sina.com.cn and sohu.com;
 
    financial information web pages offered by websites such as hexun.com;
 
    personal stock research software vendors, such as Shanghai Qian Long High Tech Corporation, that develop and market stock research software through stock brokerage companies; and

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    stock brokerage companies, especially stock brokerage companies with online trading capabilities, such as Haitong Securities.
Our ability to compete depends on many factors, including the comprehensiveness, timeliness and trustworthiness of our content, the market acceptance, pricing and sophistication of our analytical tools, the ease of use of our information platform and the effectiveness of our sales and marketing efforts.
Many of our existing competitors, as well as a number of potential new competitors, have longer operating histories, greater name recognition, larger customer bases and significantly greater financial, technical and marketing resources than we do. This may allow them to adopt our business model and devote greater resources than we can to the development and promotion of products and services similar to or better than our own. These competitors may also engage in more extensive research and development, undertake more far-reaching marketing campaigns, adopt more aggressive pricing policies and offer products and services that achieve greater market acceptance than ours. They may also undercut us by making more attractive offers to our existing and potential employees, content providers and sponsors. New and increased competition could result in price reductions for our service packages, reduced margin or loss of market share, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Intellectual property
Our intellectual property is an essential element of our business operations. We rely on copyright, trademark, trade secret and other intellectual property law, as well as non-competition, confidentiality and license agreements with our employees, suppliers, business partners and others to protect our intellectual property rights. Our employees are generally required to sign agreements to acknowledge that all inventions, trade secrets, works of authorship, developments and other processes generated by them on our behalf are our property, and to assign to us any ownership rights that they may claim in those works. Despite our precautions, it may be possible for third parties to obtain and use intellectual property that we own or license without consent.
Our PRC subsidiaries, CFO Beijing, CFO Software, CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius, are the registered owners of 26 software copyrights, each of which has been registered with the State Copyright Bureau of the PRC.
We have registered two domain names relating to our websites, www.jrj.com and www.stockstar.com, with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, an internationally organized, non-profit corporation. We have also registered one domain name relating to our website, www.jrj.com.cn, with the China Internet Network Information Center, a domain name registration service in the PRC. We currently have 8 trademarks registered with the China Trademark Office, owned by CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius. Our applications for trademark registration of “Financial Street Fuhua” in Chinese and three other Chinese variations of “Financial Street Fuhua” with the Trademark Bureau of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of China are still in the approval process.
Regulation
We operate our business in China under a legal regime that consists of the State Council, which is the highest authority of the executive branch of the PRC central government, and several ministries and agencies under its leadership, including:
    the Ministry of Information Industry;

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    the China Securities Regulatory Commission;
 
    the Ministry of Culture;
 
    the State Press and Publications Administration;
 
    the State Copyright Bureau;
 
    the State Administration of Industry and Commerce;
 
    the Ministry of Public Security; and
 
    the Ministry of Commerce.
The State Council and these ministries and agencies have issued a series of rules that regulate a number of different substantive areas of our business, which are discussed below.
Foreign ownership restriction on Internet content provision businesses
PRC regulations currently limit foreign ownership of companies that provide Internet content services, including our business of providing financial information and data to Internet users, to 50%. In order to comply with this foreign ownership restriction, we operate our website in China through Fuhua, which is wholly owned by Wu Chen, a financial manager at International Data Group China, Ltd., a PRC company affiliated with IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc. and IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP, two of our principal shareholders, and Jun Ning, our former chairman and chief executive officer, who are both PRC citizens. Jun Ning transferred his holdings in Fuhua to Zhiwei Zhao, our current chief executive officer and a member of our board of directors, in 2006. Under PRC law, we cannot hold the licenses and approvals necessary to operate our website because those licenses and approvals can not be held by foreign entities or majority foreign-owned entities. We, as a company incorporated in Hong Kong, SAR, are a foreign entity for this purpose. CFO Beijing and CFO Software cannot hold such licenses and approvals because they are wholly foreign-owned enterprises.
There are, however, substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current or future PRC laws and regulations. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that the PRC regulatory authorities will not ultimately take a view that is contrary to the opinion of our PRC legal counsel. If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure of our operations in China do not comply with PRC government restrictions on foreign investment in our industry, we could be subject to severe penalties.
Licenses and permits
There are a number of aspects of our business which require us to obtain licenses from a variety of PRC regulatory authorities.
In order to host our website, Fuhua is required to hold an Internet content provider, or ICP, license issued by the Ministry of Information Industry or its local offices. Fuhua currently holds an ICP license issued by Beijing Communications Administration, a local office of the Ministry of Information Industry.
Each ICP license holder that engages in supply of analysis and research information relating to stocks and other securities must obtain a securities advisory permit from China Securities Regulatory Commission, or the CSRC. We currently do not hold a securities advisory permit. We receive securities analysis and research information from licensed securities advisors that

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hold securities advisory permits, and we have clearly stated on our websites and in our software the source of such information as required by the CSRC.
A recent regulation issued by the Ministry of Information Industry requires short message, or SMS, content providers to obtain an SMS license from the Ministry of Information Industry or its local offices. We have obtained the required SMS license for the delivery of our financial short message content.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Information Industry has promulgated rules requiring ICP license holders that provide online bulletin board services to register with, or obtain an approval from, the relevant telecommunications authorities. Fuhua has obtained such approval from Beijing Communications Administration, the government agency in charge of this matter in Beijing.
Regulation of Internet content
The PRC government has promulgated measures relating to Internet content through a number of ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Information Industry, the Ministry of Culture and the State Press and Publications Administration. These measures specifically prohibit Internet activities, which include provision of financial information through the Internet, that result in the publication of any content which is found to, among other things, propagate obscenity, gambling or violence, instigate crimes, undermine public morality or the cultural traditions of the PRC, or compromise State security or secrets. If an ICP license holder violates these measures, the PRC government may revoke its ICP license and shut down its websites.
Fuhua’s ICP licenses expressly states that, in relation to their Internet content provision and among other things, they are not allowed to publish general news on politics, society or culture, or establish a “news column,” of provide such information under express heading of “news”. Specifically, the Press Office of Beijing People’s Government, the government authority regulating news publication, confirmed with us that so long as we do not provide general news, we are not required to obtain a license to publish financial or economic related news content. However, on September 25, 2005, the Press Office of the State Council and the Ministry of Information Industry jointly promulgated the Provisions for the Administration of Internet News Information Services, in which the authorities provided an applicable definition of internet news information services and require that internet content providers that provide internet news information services within such definition must apply for a license. Fuhua is planning to procure such a license.
Regulation of information security
Internet content in China is also regulated and restricted by the PRC government to protect State security. The National People’s Congress, China’s national legislative body, has enacted a law that may subject to criminal punishment in China any effort to: (1) gain improper entry into a computer or system of strategic importance; (2) disseminate politically disruptive information; (3) leak State secrets; (4) spread false commercial information; or (5) infringe intellectual property rights.
The Ministry of Public Security has promulgated measures that prohibit use of the Internet in ways which, among other things, result in a leakage of State secrets or a spread of socially destabilizing content. The Ministry of Public Security has supervision and inspection rights in this regard, and we may be subject to the jurisdiction of the local security bureaus. If an ICP license holder violates these measures, the PRC government may revoke its ICP license and shut down its websites.
Intellectual property rights

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The State Council and the State Copyright Bureau have promulgated various regulations and rules relating to protection of software in China. Under these regulations and rules, software owners, licensees and transferees should register their rights in software with the State Copyright Bureau or its local offices and obtain software copyright registration certificates. Although such registration is not mandatory under PRC law, software owners, licensees and transferees are encouraged to go through the registration process and registered software rights may receive better protections. We have registered all of our self-developed software with the State Copyright Bureau.
PRC law requires owners of Internet domain names to register their domain names with qualified domain name registration agencies approved by the Ministry of Information Industry and obtain a registration certificate from such registration agencies. A registered domain name owner has an exclusive use right over its domain name.
Unregistered domain names may not receive proper legal protections and may be misappropriated by unauthorized third parties. We have registered our domain names, www.jrj.com and www.stockstar.com, with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, and obtained a certificate for this domain name. ICANN is an internationally organized, non-profit corporation that has responsibility for Internet Protocol (IP) address space allocation, protocol identifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) Top-Level Domain name system management, and root server system management functions.
Website name
A PRC law published in September 2000 requires entities and individuals operating commercial websites to register their website names with the Beijing Municipal Administration of Industry and Commerce, or Beijing AIC, which is authorized by the State Administration of Industry and Commerce, or the SAIC, as the only official registration authority in China during trial period. If any entity or individual operates a commercial website without obtaining such certificate, it may be charged a fine or imposed other penalties by the Beijing AIC. We have registered our website name, “JRJ Investment and Finance Network” and “Stockstar” with, and received commercial website name registration certificates from Beijing AIC.
Privacy protection
PRC law does not prohibit Internet content providers from collecting and analyzing personal information from their users. We require our users to accept a user agreement whereby they agree to provide certain personal information to us. PRC law prohibits Internet content providers from disclosing to any third parties any information transmitted by users through their networks unless otherwise permitted by law. If an Internet content provider violates these regulations, the Ministry of Information Industry or its local offices may impose penalties and the Internet content provider may be liable for damages caused to its users.
Advertising regulation
PRC law requires entities conducting advertising activities to obtain an advertising permit from the SAIC’s local offices. Entities conducting advertising activities without such permit may be charged a fine or imposed other penalties by the SAIC’s local offices. We hold our advertising permits through Fuhua, a PRC domestic company wholly owned by Wu Chen and Zhiwei Zhao, and CFO Meining, a subsidiary wholly owned by Fuhua.
C. Organizational structure.

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We conduct substantially all of our business through our wholly owned subsidiaries in China, CFO Beijing, CFO Software, CFO Stockstar, CFO Genius, Zhengning, and Jujin,. In addition, we are dependent on Fuhua and CFO Meining, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuhua, to host our websites.
The following table sets forth the details of our subsidiaries:
         
        Percentage of
    Country of   Beneficial Ownership
Name   Incorporation   Interest
Fortune Software (Beijing) Co., Ltd
  China   100
China Finance Online (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
  China   100
Beijing Fuhua Innovation Technology Development Co., Ltd.
  China   100
Stockstar Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd
  China   100
Shanghai Meining Computer Software Co., Ltd.
  China   100
Zhengning Information & Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
  China   100
Shenzhen Genius Information Technology Co., Ltd.
  China   100
Jujin software (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.
  China   100
 
*   Denotes variable interest entity

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The following diagram illustrates our corporate and share ownership structure:
(FLOW CHART)

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PRC regulations currently limit foreign ownership of companies that provide Internet content provider services, or ICP services, which include our business of providing financial information and data to Internet users, to 50%. We are a Hong Kong company and we conduct our operations solely in China through our wholly owned subsidiaries. We are a foreign enterprise and CFO Beijing and CFO Software are foreign invested enterprises under PRC law and accordingly, neither we, CFO Beijing or CFO Software is eligible for a license to operate ICP services or provide online advertising services. In order to comply with foreign ownership restrictions, in December 2000, we formed our affiliated Chinese entity, Fuhua, with Wu Chen and Xinzheng Wang, who later transferred his holdings in Fuhua to Jun Ning, our former chairman and chief executive officer. Both Wu Chen and Jun Ning are PRC citizens and own 55% and 45% of the equity interests in Fuhua, respectively. Jun Ning has resigned from his positions with us and transferred his holdings in Fuhua to Zhiwei Zhao, our current chief executive officer and a member of our board of directors in November 2006. Fuhua holds the licenses and approvals that are required to operate our www.jrj.com.cn and www.jrj.com websites and our www.jrj.com.cn and www.jrj.com domain names. Fuhua also holds the licenses and approvals required to operate our online advertising business. We and CFO Beijing have entered into a series of contractual arrangements with Fuhua and its shareholders, and Zhiwei Zhao replaced Jun Ning as a party to these contractual arrangements when he received Jun Ning’s holdings in Fuhua in November 2006. As a result of these contractual arrangements, we are considered the primary beneficiary of Fuhua and accordingly, we consolidate Fuhua’s results of operations in our financial statements.
Pursuant to our contractual arrangements with Fuhua, we provide equipment and services to Fuhua in exchange for fees. The principal equipment lease and services agreements that we have entered into with Fuhua include:
    an equipment leasing agreement, pursuant to which Fuhua leases a substantial majority of its operating assets from CFO Beijing;
 
    a technical support agreement, pursuant to which CFO Beijing provides technical support for Fuhua’s operations; and
 
    an amended and restated strategic consulting agreement, pursuant to which CFO Beijing provides strategic consulting services to Fuhua, including consulting services in relation to Fuhua’s online advertising business.
We made a loan to each of the shareholders of Fuhua, Wu Chen and Jun Ning, solely for the purposes of capitalizing Fuhua. Pursuant to the loan agreements, Wu Chen and Jun Ning can only repay the loans by transferring all of their interests in Fuhua to us or a third party designated by us. Zhiwei Zhao replaced Jun Ning as a party to the loan agreements when he received Jun Ning’s holdings in Fuhua in November 2006. While Hong Kong law limits the maximum interest payment chargeable under a loan to 60% of the total principal amount per annum, we do not believe this limitation will have a material adverse effect on our business and operations, or will result in a material amount being paid to the shareholders of Fuhua if and when they are permitted to transfer their interests in Fuhua to us. In addition, we have entered into agreements with Fuhua and its shareholders that provide us with the substantial ability to control Fuhua. Pursuant to these contractual arrangements:

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    the shareholders of Fuhua have granted us or individuals designated by us an irrevocable proxy to exercise all their voting rights as shareholders of Fuhua, including the right to appoint directors, the general manager and other senior management of Fuhua;
 
    Fuhua will not enter into any transaction that may materially affect its assets, liabilities, equity or operations without our prior written consent;
 
    Fuhua will not distribute any dividends;
 
    we may purchase the entire equity interest in, or all the assets of, Fuhua when and if such purchase is permitted by PRC law or the current shareholders of Fuhua cease to be directors or employees of Fuhua;
 
    the shareholders of Fuhua have pledged their equity interest in Fuhua to CFO Beijing to secure the payment obligations of Fuhua under the equipment leasing agreement, the technical support agreement and the amended and restated strategic consulting agreement between CFO Beijing and Fuhua; and
 
    the shareholders of Fuhua will not transfer, sell, pledge, dispose of or create any encumbrance on their equity interest in Fuhua without the prior written consent of CFO Beijing.
Each of the contractual arrangement with Fuhua and its shareholders can only be amended with the approval of our audit committee or another independent body of our board of directors. The shareholders of Fuhua are not deriving any material personal benefits from these arrangements and are not expected to receive any consideration, other than cancellation of the existing loans, upon future transfer of their entire equity interests in, or all of the assets of, Fuhua to us.
D. Property and equipment.
Our principal executive offices, customer service center and principal sales, marketing and development facilities are currently located in Beijing, where our subsidiaries, CFO Beijing and CFO Software, as well as Fuhua, lease 2,500 square meters. CFO Stockstar, CFO Meining and Zhengning are located in Shanghai, leasing approximately 1,400 square meters. CFO Genius and Jujin both are located in Shenzhen, leasing approximately 900 square meters We intend to seek additional office space as required for our operations as needed on commercially reasonable terms. We believe that we will be able to obtain adequate facilities, principally through the leasing of appropriate properties, to accommodate our future expansion plans.
ITEM 5. OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS
The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations is based upon and should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and their related notes included in this annual report on Form 20-F. This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including, without limitation, statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions or future strategies that are signified by the words “expect”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “believe”, or similar language. All forward-looking statements included in this annual report are based on information available to us on the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward — looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward — looking statements. In evaluating our business, you should carefully consider the information provided under the caption “Risk Factors” in this annual report on Form 20-F. We caution you that our businesses and financial performance are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties.

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A. Operating Results
We are one of the leading companies that specialize in providing online financial and listed company data and information in China. We offer subscription-based services based on a single integrated information platform that combines financial analysis tools, real-time and historical data, news, research reports and online forums. Our service offerings can be accessed using our research tools and through our website at www.jrj.com. Our service offerings are used by and targeted at a broad range of investors in China, including individual investors managing their own money, professional investors such as institutional investors managing large sums of money on behalf of their clients and high net worth individuals, other financial professionals such as investment bankers, stock analysts and financial reporters, and middle class individuals.
Our net revenues decreased by 4.7% to $7.1 million in 2006 from $7.5 million in 2005. Our net income decreased by 113% from $4.6 million in 2005 to $601,000 in loss in 2006. We receive subscription fees at the beginning of the subscribers’ subscription periods. Revenues from the subscription fees are deferred and recognized ratably over the twelve month period. Our deferred revenues were $6.4 million as of December 31, 2006, representing a 245% increase from our deferred revenues of $1.9 million as of December 31, 2005.
Our principal capital expenditures for 2004, 2005 and 2006 consisted of primarily purchases of servers, workstations, computers, computer software, and other items related to our network infrastructure for a total of approximately $200,000, $235,000 and $1.0 million, respectively.
We spent approximately $57,000 from January 1, 2007 to March 31, 2007, principally on work stations and computers. For the remainder of 2007, we plan to spend approximately $1.2 million primarily on workstations, servers and computers, as well as on expenses associated with furnishing and outfitting our expanded principal executive office. Capital expenditures planned for in 2007 will be funded through operating cash flows.
Key factors affecting our operating results and financial condition
Some of the key factors affecting our operating results and financial condition include the following:
    performance of China’s securities markets, and user demand for market intelligence on China’s securities markets, as well as the overall performance of China’s economy;
 
    contribution of alternative revenue resources such as revenues from online advertising;
 
    seasonality associated with the level of activity of our users and subscribers and the trading activities of China’s securities markets;
 
    tax refund from the PRC tax authorities for value-added-taxes we are required to pay on the sale of subscriptions to our service packages;
 
    other tax incentives we receive from PRC tax authorities resulting from CFO Beijing being a foreign invested software development company and CFO Software being a foreign invested high-technology company;
 
    our cost structure, including, in particular, our cost for raw data;
 
    the desirability of our service packages relative to other products and offerings available in the market;

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    our ability to benefit from the acquisition of CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius; and
 
    PRC telecommunication and regulatory policies.
We derive revenues primarily from annual subscription fees from subscribers to our financial data and information services. Our subscription service is substantially dependent on user demand for market intelligence on China’s securities markets. Such demand has fluctuated with the level of trading activity in China’s securities markets. During the past several years, China’s securities markets have experienced volatility and decrease in value.
To a lesser extent, we also derive revenues through advertisement sales on our website, which contributed $1.3 million in 2006, representing a 17% decrease from the $1.7 million contributed in 2005. Revenues from advertising accounted for 18% of our gross revenues in 2006. We allocated most of our advertising inventories to promote our subscription-based software offerings, and hence online advertising is not considered a core service line of our business in 2006 and the foreseeable future.
Our gross revenues also include the benefit of a refund from the PRC tax authorities for value-added-taxes, or VAT, we are required to pay on the sale of subscriptions to our service packages. We receive these refunds from the PRC tax authorities as part of the PRC government’s policy of encouraging software development in the PRC. There is generally a one-month lapse between the time we complete a sale and pay the VAT on that sale and the time we receive the refund. We recognized approximately $517,000 in revenue for VAT refunds in 2006.
Gross revenues
We generate subscription fee revenues mostly from the sales of the service packages we currently offer, which are comprised of downloadable and web-based research tools. A subscription permits the subscriber to use the selected service package for a one-year period.
The most significant factors that affect our subscription revenues are:
    the number of registered user accounts on our websites;
 
    the number of fee-based active subscribers; and
 
    the service packages selected by our subscribers.
Although users of our website are not charged for visiting our website and obtaining basic financial information, such as real-time stock quotes and historical financial information for all of China’s listed company stocks, bonds and mutual funds, financial news and research reports, these users are our primary source of existing and potential subscribers. As users frequent our website and rely on our offerings, we expect that a number of them will opt to purchase our subscription services. A substantial portion of our revenues are currently derived from our subscription services. Registered user accounts refer to user accounts registered by individuals with either www.jrj.com or www.stockstar.com. Fee-based active subscribers refer to registered users who subscribe for a fee to one of our subscription-based services offered by either www.jrj.com or www.stockstar.com by download or through the Internet. We view increase in the number of fee-based active subscribers as a measure of market acceptance and customer loyalty to our service offerings.
We generally encourage our subscribers to migrate to newer, more comprehensive and higher priced service offerings. We price our service packages based on the research tools included and their level of comprehensiveness, as well as on market demand. From time to time, we may

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offer discounts to and promotional rates for our service packages, which may be offered to new subscribers or repeat subscribers.
Net revenues
Our net revenues reflect a deduction from our gross revenues for business taxes and related surcharges incurred in connection with our China operations. Because CFO Beijing, CFO Software, Fuhua, CFO Stockstar, CFO Meining and CFO Genius operate in China, their gross revenues from sales that are not subject to VAT are subject to a business tax at a rate of 5%. We expect to pay business tax in the PRC on online advertising revenues we expect to generate in the future.
Revenue recognition
We charge our subscribers a subscription fee for the right to use our service packages for a one-year period. Since we accept cash as the only payment method, our subscription fee is paid in full prior to the delivery of our service packages. Therefore, we do not take any credit risk with respect to our subscribers. Upon receipt of payment in full, we activate our subscriber’s account, marking the start of the one-year subscription period, and promptly provide the subscriber with an account access code. We begin to recognize subscription fees as revenue upon activation of the subscriber’s account and then ratably over the twelve-month period corresponding with the subscriber’s subscription period. Subscription fees that have been paid but not yet recognized are accounted for as deferred revenue on our balance sheets. Deferred revenue is reduced proportionately as revenue is recognized ratably over the twelve-month service period.
We derive advertising fees from advertising sales on our website principally for fixed periods of time, which are generally less than one year. We recognize advertising fees ratably over the periods during which the advertisements are displayed on our website.
Cost of revenues
Our cost of revenues consists of expenses directly related to the offering of our software subscription services. Our cost of revenues primarily consists of cost of data, cost of bandwidth, salary and compensation, depreciation and rent. Cost of revenues accounted for 7%, 6% and 21% of our net revenues in 2004, 2005 and 2006, respectively. We believe our relatively low ratio of cost of revenues to net revenues in 2004 and 2005 was primarily due to competitive labor expenses in China and, to a less extent, the efficiency of our web content and database personnel. The increase in the ratio of cost of revenues to net revenues in 2006 is due to increase in cost of data, cost of bandwidth, salary and compensation, etc. We expect our cost of revenues will increase in absolute amount of our net revenues in 2007. We believe this increase will partly be attributable to contribution from increase in cost of bandwidth, cost of raw data, and stock-based compensation incurred in 2007 as a result of our adoption of SFAS 123(R), which requires us to recognize all share-based payments to employees including grants of employee stock options based on the grant-date fair values commencing January 1, 2006.
Cost of data. Our cost of data consists of bandwidth fees, which we pay to Internet Data Center (IDC) and fees we pay to the stock exchanges and our other data providers pursuant to our commercial agreements with those parties. These contracts are typically for a fixed rate, without regard to the level of use, for a term, typically between one and three years, depending on the provider. Our cost of data is the largest component of our cost of revenues, constituting 47 % of our cost of revenues in 2006, and is likely to be our most variable element of cost of revenues. Our cost of data is expected to increase:
    if we enter into additional commercial agreements for purchasing data from new sources or if we obtain different or additional data from existing sources or

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    due to rate increases we may experience in the future upon renewal of our existing agreements.
Salary and compensation. Salary and compensation expenses include wages, bonuses and other benefits, including welfare benefits. Salary and compensation included in our cost of revenues relate to our web content and database personnel. We expect that our salary and compensation expenses will increase in the future as we intend to increase our customer service performance as our business further grows and expands.
Rent. Rent attributable to cost of revenues reflects that portion of our rent expense that we believe is directly used in the provision of our web content and database services. We allocate rent to cost of revenues to the extent the space is occupied by our web content and database personnel.
Depreciation. Depreciation consists of depreciation of property and equipment, primarily our network and servers. We include depreciation within cost of revenues when the relevant assets are directly related to the provision of our web content and database services.
Operating expenses
Our operating expenses consist of general and administrative expenses, product development expenses, and sales and marketing expenses. Stock-based compensation expenses are reported within each of the cost of revenue and operating expense financial statement line items, as appropriate. Our operating expenses have increased as a percentage of net revenues for 2006 due to the expansion of our advertising business and the increase in the cost of professional services and other related costs associated with our being publicly listed in the U.S. The most significant factors affecting our operating expenses are:
    advertising expenses relating to our sponsorship arrangements with portals, search engines and other websites;
 
    salary and benefits for our employees, particularly our sales and marketing personnel and our management team;
 
    professional services and other related costs associated with being publicly listed in the U.S.; and
 
    expansion in operating scale associated with the acquisition of CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius.
We expect our operating expenses will continue to increase for the foreseeable future, but the rate of such increase will depend primarily on our personnel needs, our advertising needs and our computer, network and server capacity, including efforts we may undertake to expand our online advertising business.
General and administrative expenses. General and administrative expenses primarily consist of salary and compensation for our general management, finance and administrative personnel, rent, professional expenses and other expenses, including travel and other general business expenses, office supplies and depreciation for general office furniture and equipment. We expect our general and administrative expenses to increase in 2007 and for the foreseeable future as we adopt SFAS 123(R) to recognize all share-based payments to employees including grants of employee stock options in our statements of operations based on the grant-date fair values commencing January 1, 2006. Among some of the general administrative expenses we expect to incur are expenses incurred in connection with our compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

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Product development expenses. Our product development expenses primarily consist of salary and compensation expenses of personnel engaged in the research, development and implementation of our new service offerings, rent and depreciation of equipment attributable to our product development efforts. We expect that our product development expenditures will increase for the next twelve months.
Sales and marketing expenses. Our sales and marketing expenses primarily consist of salary and compensation for our sales and marketing personnel and advertising expenses that we pay to portals, search engines and other websites that we view as important for attracting users for our services. Growth in our sales and marketing expenses will depend on the ability of our advertising department to reach agreements with additional portals and websites and the rate such third parties will charge us to advertise on their websites. We expect to continue to increase our sales and marketing efforts in the foreseeable future.
Stock option plan and option agreements
We adopted the 2004 Stock Incentive Plan, or the Plan, in January 2004, under which we could issue share options with the right to purchase up to 5,688,488 ordinary shares to our directors, officers, employees, individual consultants and advisors. We amended the Plan in 2004 to permit the issuance of options to purchase up to an additional 5,000,000 ordinary shares. We granted options under the Plan with the right to purchase a total of 5,688,488 ordinary shares (including 90,000 options to eligible individual consultants and advisors) in 2004. As of March 31, 2007, 495,000 of these options granted in 2004 but terminated options were returned to the pool of our ungranted options as a result of resignation from employment by a few former employees. In 2005, we granted additional options under the Plan with the right to purchase a total of 5,003,000 ordinary shares to selected directors, officers, employees, individual consultants and advisors. As of March 31, 2007, 779,640 of these options granted in 2005 but terminated options were returned to the pool of our ungranted options as a result of resignation from employment by a few former employees. As a result, we may in the future grant options to purchase up to an additional 2,299,640 ordinary shares under the Plan. We also granted share options to purchase up to 6,829,500 ordinary shares in January 2004, under option agreements that were independent of the Plan, to other consultants and business advisors of the company.
In August 2006, our shareholders approved the amendment of the Plan to increase the number of shares available under the Plan by 5,000,000 ordinary shares. A total of 15,688,488 ordinary shares have been reserved for issuance pursuant to the Plan. In January 2007, we granted additional options under the Plan with the right to purchase a total of 3,272,000 ordinary shares to selected directors, officers, employees, individual consultants and advisors. We had a total number of 5,550,388 options that are vested and immediately exercisable for ordinary shares as of March 31, 2007. All of the options we granted in January 2004 have an exercise price of $0.16 per share and expire on March 5, 2009, the options we granted in June 2004 have an exercise price of $1.04 per share and expire on March 5, 2009, the options we granted in February 2005 have an exercise price of $1.31 per share and expire on February 18, 2015, the 400,000 and 200,000 options we granted in November 2005 have per share exercise prices of $1.12 and $1.16, respectively, the 700,000 options we granted in July 2006 have per share exercise prices of $1.07 and expire on July 4, 2016 and they expire on November 15, 2015. and the options we granted in January 2007 have an exercise price of $0.96 per share and expire on January 17, 2017. All of the options granted under the Plan to our directors and managers have a vesting period of one to four years, while options granted under the Plan to our other employees vest over a period of three to five years. The options we granted to consultants and advisers vested immediately upon grant or from two to three years after grant. Under the graded vesting method that we use, a specified portion of the shares subject to each option vests at the end of the first year and the balance vests each month thereafter.

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Critical accounting policies
We prepare our financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP, which requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities on the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the financial reporting period. We continually evaluate these estimates and assumptions based on the most recently available information, our own historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Since the use of estimates is an integral component of the financial reporting process, actual results could differ from those estimates. Some of our accounting policies require higher degrees of judgment than others in their application. We consider the policies discussed below to be critical to an understanding of our financial statements as their application places the most significant demands on our management’s judgment.
Income taxes. Deferred income taxes are recognized for temporary differences between the tax basis of assets and liabilities and their reported amounts in the financial statements, net operating loss carry forwards and credits by applying enacted statutory tax rates applicable to future years. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance when, in the opinion of management, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Current income taxes are provided for in accordance with the laws of the relevant taxing authorities.
Stock-based compensation. Effective January 1, 2006, we adopted the fair value recognition provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (“SFAS”) No. 123 (revised 2004), “Share-Based Payment” (“SFAS 123(R)”), using the modified prospective transition method. Under this method, stock-based compensation expense recognized beginning January 1, 2006 includes: (a) compensation expense for all stock-based compensation awards granted prior to, but not yet vested as of January 1, 2006 based on the fair market value as of the grant date, measured in accordance with SFAS 123, and (b) compensation expense for all stock-based compensation awards granted on or subsequent to January 1, 2006, based on grant-date fair vale estimated in accordance with the provisions of SFAS 123(R). We recognize stock-based compensation costs on a graded-vesting attribution method over the requisite service period which is generally the vesting period.
For options vested prior to January 1, 2006, we accounted for share-based compensation plans in accordance with Accounting Principles Board (“APB”) Opinion No. 25, “Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees”, as amended (“APB 25”). Accordingly, we recognized compensation expense only when options were granted with a discounted exercise price. The compensation expense was recognized ratably over the requisite service period, which was generally the vesting period of the options.
Cost method investment. For investments in an investee over which we do not have significant influence, we carry the investment at cost and recognizes income as any dividends received from distribution of investee’s earnings. we review the cost investments for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may no longer be recoverable. An impairment loss is recognized in earnings equal to the difference between the investment’s cost and its fair value at the balance sheet date of the reporting period for which the assessment is made. The fair value of the investment would then become the new cost basis of the investment. We recorded an impairment charge totaling $1,322,000 during the year ended December 31, 2006. No impairment charges were recorded during the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2005.
Results of operations
The following table sets forth certain information relating to our results of operations, and our consolidated statements of operations as a percentage of net revenues, for the periods indicated:

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    For the year ended December 31,
(in thousands of U.S. dollars, except as % of net revenues)(1)   2004   2005   2006
Consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income (loss) data:
                                               
Gross revenues(2)
  $ 6,064       100.8 %   $ 7,627       101.9 %   $ 7,337       102.9 %
Business tax
    (48 )     (0.8 )     (145 )     (1.9 )     (209 )     (2.9 )
     
Net revenues
    6,016       100 %     7,482       100 %     7,128       100 %
Cost of revenues
    (394 )     (6.5 )     (482 )     (6.4 )     (1,468 )     (20.6 )
     
Gross profit
    5,622       93.5       7,000       93.6       5,660       79.4  
Operating expenses:
                                               
General and administrative
    (727 )     (12.1 )     (1,740 )     (23.3 )     (2,956 )     (41.5 )
Product development
    (173 )     (2.9 )     (236 )     (3.2 )     (742 )     (10.4 )
Sales and marketing
    (801 )     (13.3 )     (1,795 )     (24.0 )     (2,666 )     (37.4 )
     
Total operating expenses
    (1,701 )     (28.3 )     (3,771 )     (50.5 )     (6,364 )     (89.3 )
Income from operations
    3,921       65.2       3,229       43.2       (704 )     (9.9 )
Interest income
    294       4.9       1,486       19.9       1,003       14.1  
Other expense, net
    (2 )                       115       1.6  
Exchange gain (net)
                366       4.9       267       3.7  
Loss from impairment of cost method investment
                            (1,322 )     (18.5 )
Income before income taxes benefit (provision)
    4,213       70.1       5,081       67.9       (641 )     (9.0 )
Income tax benefit (provision)
    384       6.4       (457 )     (6.1 )     41       0.58  
     
Net income (loss)
  $ 4,597       76.4 %   $ 4,624       61.8 %   $ (600 )     (8.4 %)
 
(1)   For the results of operations for a specified period, all translations from Renminbi to U.S. dollars were calculated at the average exchange rate for that period. For the years ended December 31, 2004, 2005 and 2006, all translations from Renminbi to U.S. dollars were calculated at RMB8.2768, RMB8.1472 and RMB7.9693 per US$1.00, respectively.
 
(2)   We receive subscription fees at the beginning of the subscribers’ subscription periods. Revenues from the subscription fees are deferred and recognized ratably over the twelve month subscription period.
Year ended December 31, 2006 compared to year ended December 31, 2005
Revenues
Our gross revenues decreased by 3.9% from $7.6 million in 2005 to $7.3 million in 2006. The slight decrease is because more revenue was deferred in 2006 than that in 2005, which results in slightly less revenue recognized in 2006 than that of 2005. A large part of net operating cash will be realized as revenue in 2007. For our subscription business, individual customers pay the entire subscription fee upfront in cash for services to be received over a specified period of time, typically 12 months. Under U.S. GAAP, such subscription fees are recognized as net revenues ratably over the service period, and those that have not been rendered at the end of a reporting period are recorded as deferred revenue in the balance sheet. Deferred revenue at the end of 2006 is $6.4 million, an increase of 245% compared $1.9 million of 2005, The significant increase in deferred revenue as of 31 December 2006 is due to our strong performance in the subscription business and such increase in deferred revenue will be recorded as net revenues over the next several quarters.
Our revenues derived from online advertising sales decreased to $1.3 million in 2006 from $1.7 million in 2005. This decrease primarily resulted from the fact that online advertising was no longer a core service line in 2006 nor will it be in the foreseeable future. In 2006 we allocated

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most of our advertising space on our websites to promote our own subscription-based online service offerings.
Our business taxes attributable to our gross revenues increased from $145,000 in 2005 to $209,000 in 2006, primarily due to increase in business taxes associated with our increase in advertising and related businesses. After taking into account business taxes attributable to our gross revenues, our net revenues decreased by 5% to $7.1 million in 2006 from $7.5 million in 2005.
Cost of revenues
Our cost of revenues in 2006 increased by 204.6% to $1.5 million from $482,000 in 2005 primarily because our cost of data increased by 177% to $694,000 in 2006 from $251,000 in 2005, as we increased the number of our content and data providers to increase the amount of data and information available to our subscribers and users.
Gross profit
As a result of the foregoing, our gross profit decreased by 19% to $5.7 million in 2006 from $7.0 million in 2005.
Operating expenses
Our operating expenses increased by 68.4% to $6.4 million in 2006 from $3.8 million in 2005. The increase in our operating expenses was primarily the result of expansion in operating scale associated with the acquisitions of CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius, as well as increase in compensation expenses as a result of increased sales force and product development headcounts in the fourth quarter of 2006. Operating expenses as a percentage of net revenues increased to 89.3% in 2006 from 50.4% in 2005 because our operating expenses grew at a faster rate than the rate of increase in our net revenues.
General and administrative. Our general and administrative expenses increased by 74.1% to $3.0 million in 2006 from $1.7 million in 2005 due primarily to an increase in our employee headcount, which resulted in an increase in salary and compensation expenses of $242,000, an increase in professional service expenses of $351,000, an increase in stock-based compensation of $461,000 as the result of adopting SFAS 123(R), as well as an increase in bank charges for online payments made by some of our subscribers in the amount of $49,000, other office expenses decreased $59,000, partially offset by reductions in other general office expenses. Our general and administrative expenses as a percentage of net revenues increased to 41.5% in 2006 from 23.3% in 2005.
Product development. Our product development expenses increased by 214.8% to $743,000 in 2006 from $236,000 in 2005 due primarily to increase in employee salaries. Our product development expenses increased as a percentage of net revenues to 10.4% in 2006 from 3.2% in 2005.
Sales and marketing. Our sales and marketing expenses increased by 50% to $2.7 million in 2006 from $1.8 million in 2005. This increase is largely attributable to an increase in our advertising expenditures and an increase in our customer service and sales personnel to address increased subscription demand. Our marketing fee increased substantially to $101,000 in 2006 from Nil in 2005, primarily reflecting increases in our sponsorship arrangements with portals, search engines and other websites and, to a lesser extent, an increase in the advertising fee we pay to one of our sponsors. Salary and compensation expenses attributable to our sales and marketing personnel increased by 375% to $1.1 million in 2006 from $240,000 in 2005 reflecting an increase in headcount. Our sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of net

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revenues increased to 37.4% in 2006 from 24.0% in 2005. This increased cost is primarily due to higher sales and marketing expenses associated with our expanded advertising efforts, the increase of customer support headcount, and decreases in the number of new subscribers from 2005 to 2006.
Income (loss) from operations
As a result of the foregoing, we suffered losses from operations of $704,000 in 2006, a decrease by 122% compared to income from operations of $3.2 million in 2005, and our operating margin decreased to -9.9% in 2006 from 43.2% in 2005.
Interest income
Our interest income decreased by 33.3% to $1.0 million in 2006 from $1.5 million in 2005 due to a significant decrease in our cash balances derived primarily from the acquisition of CFO Stockstar and CFO Genius in 2006.
Loss from impairment of cost method investment
In December 2005, the Company purchased 9,800,000 Series B preferred shares in Moloon International Inc. (“Moloon”) for $15,000,000, which represents a 25% interest in Moloon on an if-converted basis. The Company does not exert significant influence over the operating and financial activities of Moloon, and accordingly, the investment has been recorded as a cost method investment.
 Moloon is a Chinese wireless technology and service provider. During the second half of 2006, China Mobile Communication Corporation announced policy changes which, among others, required mobile value added service, or MVAS, providers to extend free trial periods for customers prior to subscriptions and to send reminders to customers confirming new and existing subscriptions. These policy changes had a substantial negative impact on Moloon’s MVAS business. Consequently, following an independent valuation, the Company determined that its investment in Moloon was impaired and recorded an impairment loss of $1,322,000 in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations for 2006.
Income tax benefit
Our wholly owned subsidiary, CFO Beijing, enjoys preferential tax treatments in China, including exemption from enterprise income tax for 2003 and 2004 and a preferential enterprise income tax rate of 12% from 2005 to 2007. CFO Software, enjoys preferential tax treatments in China, including exemption from enterprise income tax for 2005 and 2007 and a preferential enterprise income tax rate of 7.5% from 2008 to 2010. CFO Meining and CFO Stockstar enjoy preferential tax treatment, preferential enterprise income tax rate of 15%. CFO Genius enjoys preferential tax treatment and a preferential enterprise income tax rate of 15%. Accordingly we recognized an income tax benefit of $41,000 for 2006.
Net income (loss)
As a result of the foregoing, our net income decreased by 113% to $600,000 in net loss in 2006 from $4.6 million in 2005. Our net margin decreased to -8.4% in 2006 from 61.8% in 2005.
Year ended December 31, 2005 compared to year ended December 31, 2004
Revenues

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Our gross revenues increased by 25.8% from $6.1 million in 2004 to $7.6 million in 2005. Our new subscribers decreased by 66% to 9,100 new subscribers for the twelve months ended December 31, 2005 from 26,800 new subscribers during the same period in 2004, and our average subscription fee per subscriber, or ASF, for new subscribers increased by 3% to $182 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2005 from $177 for the same period in 2004. Our repeat subscribers decreased by 24% to 9,400 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2005 from 12,400 for the same period in 2004, and our ASF for repeat subscribers increased by 11% to $270 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2005 from $243 for the same period in 2004. We believe the decrease in our new subscribers and our repeat subscribers was primarily due to the significant volatility and the decline in value experienced by Chinese stock markets during the twelve months ended December 31, 2005, which have dampened the individual investors’ interest in investing in the Chinese stock markets, resulting in reduced user demand for stock market intelligence services including our service offerings. The increase in our ASF for both new and repeat subscribers reflects price increases associated with our continued efforts to provide more comprehensive and higher priced service offerings. The increase in our ASF for repeat subscribers reflects the successful migration of a number of repeat subscribers to our more comprehensive and higher priced service offerings.
Our revenues derived from online advertising sales increased to $1.7 million in 2005 from $540,000 in 2004. This increase is primarily due to our increased efforts in 2005 to market our advertising services to online advertisers.
Our business taxes attributable to our gross revenues increased from $48,000 in 2004 to $145,000 in 2005, primarily due to increase in business taxes associated with our increase in advertising and related businesses. After taking into account business taxes attributable to our gross revenues, our net revenues increased by 24.4% to $7.5 million in 2005 from $6.0 million in 2004.
Cost of revenues
Our cost of revenues in 2005 increased by 22.4% to $482,000 from $394,000 in 2004 primarily because our cost of data increased by 32.1% to $251,000 in 2005 from $190,000 in 2004, as we increased the number of our content and data providers to increase the amount of data and information available to our subscribers and users.
Gross profit
As a result of the foregoing, our gross profit increased by 24.5% to $7.0 million in 2005 from $5.6 million in 2004.
Operating expenses
Our operating expenses increased by 121.6% to $3.8 million in 2005 from $1.7 million in 2004. The increase in our operating expenses was primarily the result of an increase in our sales and marketing expenses, an increase in our general and administrative expenses and, to a lesser extent, increases in our product development expenses. Operating expenses as a percentage of net revenues increased to 50.4% in 2005 from 28.3% in 2004 because our operating expenses grew at a faster rate than the rate of increase in our net revenues.
General and administrative. Our general and administrative expenses increased by 139.2% to $1.7 million in 2005 from $727,000 in 2004 due primarily to an increase in our employee headcount, which resulted in an increase in salary expenses of $161,000, an increase in professional service expenses of $492,000, an increase in stock-based compensation of $80,000, as well as an increase in bank charges for online payments made by some of our subscribers in the amount of $15,000, other

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office expenses increased $196,000, partially offset by reductions in other general office expenses. Our general and administrative expenses as a percentage of net revenues increased to 23.3% in 2005 from 12.1% in 2004.
Product development. Our product development expenses increased by 36.7% to $236,000 in 2005 from $173,000 in 2004 due primarily to increase in employee salaries. Our product development expenses increased as a percentage of net revenues to 3.2% in 2005 from 2.9% in 2004.
Sales and marketing. Our sales and marketing expenses increased by 123.9% to $1.8 million in 2005 from $801,000 in 2004. This increase is largely attributable to an increase in our advertising expenditures and an increase in our customer service and sales personnel to address increased subscription demand. Our advertising expenditures increased substantially to $1.4 million in 2005 from $415,000 in 2004, primarily reflecting increases in our sponsorship arrangements with portals, search engines and other websites and, to a lesser extent, an increase in the advertising fee we pay to one of our sponsors. Salary and compensation expenses attributable to our sales and marketing personnel increased by 13.7% to $240,000 in 2005 from $211,000 in 2004 reflecting an increase in headcount. Our sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of net revenues increased to 24.0% in 2005 from 13.3% in 2004. Our acquisition cost per new subscriber increased by 562.1% to $197.29 in 2005 from $29.8 in 2004. This increased cost is primarily due to higher sales and marketing expenses associated with our expanded advertising efforts and decreases in the number of new subscribers from 2004 to 2005.
Income from operations
As a result of the foregoing, we had income from operations of $3.2 million in 2005, decreased by 17.6% compared to income from operations of $3.9 million in 2004, and our operating margin decreased to 43.2% in 2005 from 65.2% in 2004.
Interest income
Our interest income increased by 405.8% to $1.5 million in 2005 from $294,000 in 2004, due to a significant increase in our cash balances derived primarily from net proceeds of our initial public offering in October 2004 which amounted to $58.5 million.
Income tax provision
Our wholly owned subsidiary, CFO Beijing, enjoys preferential tax treatments in China, including exemption from enterprise income tax for 2003 and 2004 and a preferential enterprise income tax rate of 12% from 2005 to 2007. We did not record deferred tax assets in 2003 because such deferred tax assets were expected to reverse in full during the exemption period. Since our full exemption period ended on December 31, 2004 and we were subject to a preferential enterprise income tax rate of 12% in 2005, we recognized an income tax expense of $457,000 for 2005
Net income
As a result of the foregoing, our net income increased slightly by 0.6% to $4.62 million in 2005 from $4.60 million in 2004. Our net margin decreased to 61.8% in 2005 from 76.4% in 2004.
B. Liquidity and capital resources.
Cash flows and working capital

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As of December 31, 2006, we had approximately $45.0 million in cash and cash equivalents. As of the same date, we did not have any outstanding debt. Our cash and cash equivalents primarily consist of cash on hand and liquid investments with remaining maturities of three months or less when purchased that are deposited with banks and other financial institutions. We generally deposit our excess cash in interest bearing bank accounts.
The following table shows our cash flows with respect to operating activities, investing activities and financing activities in 2004, 2005 and 2006:
                         
    For the year ended December 31,
(in thousands of U.S. dollars)   2004   2005   2006
Net cash provided by operating activities
  $ 7,023     $ 3,059     $ 5,892  
Net cash used in investing activities
    (200 )     (15,235 )     (8,202 )
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities
    57,968       (12,923 )     76  
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
    64,791       (24,428 )     (1,213 )
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year
    5,806       70,596       46,168  
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year
  $ 70,596     $ 46,168     $ 44,956  
Net cash provided by operating activities was $5.9 million in 2006 compared to $3.1 million in 2005. This increase was primarily due to significant increase in cash revenues generated from sales of Value Engine series in the fourth quarter of 2006. Net cash provided by operating activities was $3.1 million in 2005 compared to $7.0 million for 2004.
Net cash used in investing activities, acquisition for CFO Genius and CFO Stockstar, was $8.2 million in 2006, compared to net cash used in investing activities of $15.2 million in 2005. Net cash provided in financing activities was $76,000 in 2006, mainly due to proceeds from stock option exercises. We had net cash used in financing activities of $12.9 million in 2005, mainly due to the implementation of our stock repurchase program. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings for use in the operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our ordinary shares, or indirectly on our ADSs, for the foreseeable future.
Capital resources
Our principal capital expenditures for 2004, 2005 and 2006 consisted of primarily purchases of servers, workstations, computers, computer software, and other items related to our network infrastructure for a total of approximately $200,000, $235,000 and $1.0 million, respectively.
Our capital expenditure plans for 2007 have not yet been determined, but we expect to spend approximately $1.2 million in total primarily in connection with the purchasing of workstations, servers, equipment and technology, as well as in connection with the furnishing and outfitting of our expanded principal executive offices. Capital expenditures in 2005 and 2006 have been, and our 2007 capital expenditures are expected to continue to be, funded through operating cash flows and through our existing capital resources. We believe that our current cash and cash equivalents, and cash flow from operations will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash needs, including for our working capital and capital expenditure needs, for the foreseeable future. We may, however, require additional cash resources due to changes in business conditions or other

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future developments. If these sources are insufficient to satisfy our cash requirements, we may seek to sell debt securities or additional equity securities or obtain a credit facility. The sale of convertible debt securities or additional equity securities could result in additional dilution to our shareholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in debt service obligations and could result in operating and financial covenants that would restrict our operations. We cannot assure you that financing will be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all.
In the event that CFO Beijing, CFO Software, Fuhua, CFO Stockstar or CFO Genius require additional capital to fund their operations or to acquire additional businesses or assets, we may need to make loans or additional capital contributions to CFO Beijing, CFO Software, Fuhua, CFO Stockstar or CFO Genius. Any loans to CFO Beijing, CFO Software, Fuhua, CFO Stockstar or CFO Genius are subject to PRC regulations and approvals. For example:
    aggregate loans by us to CFO Beijing, a foreign invested enterprise, to finance its activities, cannot in the aggregate exceed the difference between CFO Beijing’s currently approved total investment amount and its currently approved registered capital amount, and must be registered with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange for the loans to be effective. The maximum amount we may loan to CFO Beijing, given CFO Beijing’s currently approved registered capital and total investment amounts, is $18.0 million;
 
    aggregate loans by us to CFO Software, a foreign invested enterprise, to finance its activities, cannot in the aggregate exceed the difference between CFO Software’s currently approved total investment amount and its currently approved registered capital amount, and must be registered with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange for the loans to be effective. The maximum amount we may loan to CFO Software, given CFO Software’s currently approved registered capital and total investment amounts, is $18.0 million; and
 
    loans by us to Fuhua, which is a domestic PRC enterprise, must be approved by the relevant government authority and must also be registered with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, although in practice we could make loans to CFO Beijing or CFO Software, and CFO Beijing or CFO Software could in separate transactions make loans to Fuhua through financial or CFO Software, intermediaries, without approval from any PRC governmental agencies.
We may also determine to finance CFO Beijing or CFO Software by means of additional capital contributions. These additional capital contributions must be approved by the PRC Ministry of Commerce. Because Fuhua is a domestic PRC enterprise, we are not likely to finance its activities by means of a capital contribution due to regulatory issues relating to foreign investment in domestic PRC enterprises, as well as the licensing and other regulatory issues. We cannot assure you that we can obtain these government registrations or approvals on a timely basis, if at all, with respect to future loans or capital contributions by us to CFO Beijing, CFO Software or Fuhua.
From time to time, we also evaluate possible investments, acquisitions or divestments and may, if a suitable opportunity arises, make an investment or acquisition or conduct a divestment.
Restricted net assets
Relevant PRC laws and regulations permit payments of dividends by our PRC subsidiary and affiliate only out of their retained earnings, if any, as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. In addition, the statutory general reserve fund, which requires annual appropriations of 10% of net after-tax income should be set aside prior to payment of any dividends. As a result of these and other restrictions under PRC laws and

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regulations, our PRC subsidiary and affiliate are restricted in their ability to transfer a portion of their net assets to us either in the form of dividends, loans or advances, restricted portion amounted to approximately $46.0 million, or 73.6%, of our total consolidated net assets as of December 31, 2006.
Even though we currently do not require any such dividends, loans or advances from our PRC subsidiary and affiliate, we may in the future require additional cash resources from our PRC subsidiary and affiliate due to changes in business conditions, to fund future acquisitions or developments, or merely to declare and pay dividends or distributions to our shareholders, although we currently have no intention to do so.
C. Research and development.
Our research and development efforts consist of continuing to:
    increase the breadth of our service offerings through the addition of new features and functions to our service packages;
 
    enhance our subscribers’ experience by improving the quality of our research tools and website; and
 
    develop additional research tools, features and content specifically targeting the high-end subscribers.
For example, in August, 2006, we formally launched Value Engine, which is specially designed for investors who primarily use fundamental analysis in selecting stocks or who use fundamental analysis to supplement technical analysis. This package aggregates research reports, live financial news, market commentaries, up-to-date Chinese listed companies’ financial information and database.
D. Trend information.
Other than as disclosed elsewhere in this annual report, we are not aware of any trends, uncertainties, demands, commitments or events for the period from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2006 that are reasonably likely to have a material effect on our net revenues, income, profitability, liquidity or capital resources, or that caused the disclosed financial information to be not necessarily indicative of future operating results or financial conditions.
E. Off-balance sheet arrangements.
We do not have any outstanding derivative financial instruments, off-balance sheet guarantees, interest rate swap transactions or foreign currency forward contracts. We do not engage in trading activities involving non-exchange traded contracts.
F. Tabular disclosure of contractual obligations.
We have entered into leasing arrangements relating to office premises and data purchase agreement, which are classified as operating leases. The following sets forth our known contractual obligations as of December 31, 2006 and as of the types that are specified below:

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    Office Premises   Data premises   Total
    (in U.S. dollars)
Less than 1 year
    709,818       70,819       780,637  
1 - 3 years
    1,696,184       3,437       1,699,621  
3 - 5 years
    53,753             53,753  
More than 5 years
                 
Apart from such premises, as of December 31, 2006, we did not have any long-term debt obligations, capital (finance) lease obligations, purchase obligations or any other long-term liabilities reflected on our balance sheets with durations to maturity as are set forth in the chart directly above.
G. Quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risk.
Interest rate risk
Our exposure to market rate risk for changes in interest rates relates primarily to the interest income generated by excess cash invested in short term money market accounts and certificates of deposit. We have not used derivative financial instruments in our investment portfolio. Interest earning instruments carry a degree of interest rate risk. We have not been exposed nor do we anticipate being exposed to material risks due to changes in interest rates. However, our future interest income may fall short of expectations due to changes in interest rates.
Foreign currency risk
Substantially all our revenues and expenses are denominated in Renminbi and a substantial portion of our cash is kept in Renminbi, but as noted above, a portion of our cash is also kept in U.S. dollars. Although we believe that, in general, our exposure to foreign exchange risks should be limited, the value of our American Depositary Shares, or ADSs, will be affected by the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollars and Renminbi. For example, to the extent that we need to convert U.S. dollars into Renminbi for our operational needs and the Renminbi appreciates against the U.S. dollar at that time, our financial position and the price of our ADSs may be adversely affected. Conversely, if we decide to convert our Renminbi into U.S. dollars for the purpose of declaring dividends on our ADSs or otherwise and the U.S. dollar appreciates against the Renminbi, the U.S. dollar equivalent of our earnings from our subsidiaries and controlled entities in China would be reduced.
We have recorded foreign exchange gains of $267,000 in net income in year 2006, due to the recent revaluation of RMB against the U.S. dollar by Chinese government. On July 21, 2005, the Chinese government changed its policy of pegging the value of the Renminbi to that of U.S. dollar. Under the new policy, the Renminbi has fluctuated within a narrow and managed band against a basket of certain foreign currencies. As a result, the Renminbi appreciated approximately 2.5% and 3.4% against the U.S. dollar in 2005 and 2006, respectively and may appreciate or depreciate significantly in value against the US dollar or other foreign currencies in the long term. Since we have not engaged in any hedging activities, we may experience economic loss as a result of any foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. We have considered the historical trends in currency exchange rates and determined that it is reasonably unlikely that an adverse change in the Renminbi exchange rate of 10-20% could be experienced in the near term.
H. Recent accounting standards.
In December 2004, the FASB issued SFAS No. 153, "Exchanges of Nonmonetary Assets — an amendment of APB Opinion No. 29," which amends Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 29, "Accounting for Nonmonetary Transactions," to eliminate the exception for nonmonetary exchanges of similar productive assets and replaces it with a general exception for exchanges of nonmonetary assets that do not have commercial substance. We adopted SFAS No. 153 on January 1, 2006 and the adoption of SFAS No. 153 did not have a material effect on our consolidated financial position or results of operations.
In May 2005, the FASB issued SFAS No. 154, "Accounting Changes and Error Corrections", which replaces Accounting Principles Board Opinions No. 20 "Accounting Changes" and SFAS No. 3, "Reporting Accounting Changes in Interim Financial Statements — An Amendment of APB Opinion No. 28." SFAS No. 154 provides guidance on the accounting for and reporting of accounting changes and error corrections. It establishes retrospective application, or the latest practicable date, as the required method for reporting a change in accounting principle and the reporting of a correction of an error. We adopted SFAS No. 154 on January 1, 2006 and the adoption of SFAS No. 154 did not have a material effect on our consolidated financial position or results of operations.
In September 2006, the FASB issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 157, “Fair Value Measurements” (“SFAS No. 157”), which provides enhanced guidance for using fair value to measure assets and liabilities. SFAS No. 157 also responds to investors’ requests for expanded information about the extent to which companies measure assets and liabilities at fair value, the information used to measure fair value, and the effect of fair value measurements on earnings. SFAS No. 157 applies whenever other standards require (or permit) assets or liabilities to be measured at fair value. SFAS No. 157 does not expand the use of fair value in any new circumstances. SFAS No. 157 is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after November 12, 2007, and interim periods within those fiscal years. We are currently evaluating whether the adoption of SFAS No. 157 will have a material effect on our consolidated results of operations and financial position.
In February 2007, the FASB issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, Including an amendment of FASB Statement No. 115” (SFAS No. 159). SFAS No. 159 provides companies with an option to report selected financial assets and liabilities at fair value. SFAS No. 159 requires companies to provide additional information that will help investors and other users of financial statements to more easily understand the effect of the company’s choice to use fair value on its earnings. It also requires entities to display the fair value of those assets and liabilities for which we have chosen to use fair value on the face of the balance sheet. SFAS No. 159 is effective as of the beginning of an entity’s first fiscal year beginning after November 15, 2007. We are currently evaluating whether the adoption of SFAS No. 159 will have a material effect on our consolidated results of operations and financial position.
In September 2006, the SEC issued SAB 108, “Considering the Effects of Prior Year Misstatements when Quantifying Misstatements in Current Year Financial Statements” (“SAB 108”). SAB 108 provides guidance on the consideration of the effects of prior year misstatements in quantifying current year misstatements for the purpose of a materiality assessment. SAB 108 establishes an approach that requires quantification of financial statement errors based on the effects of each on a company’s balance sheet and statement of operations and the related financial statement disclosures. We adopted SAB 108 on November 15, 2006. The adoption of SAB 108 did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
In July 2006, the FASB issued Interpretation No. 48, “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes — an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109” (“FIN 48”). FIN 48 clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in an entity’s financial statements in accordance with SFAS No. 109, “Accounting for Income Taxes”, and prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for financial statement disclosure of tax positions taken or expected to be taken on a tax return. Additionally, FIN 48 provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure and transition. FIN 48 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2006. We are in the process of implementing FIN 48 and have not yet determined the effect, if any, on our consolidated financial statements as a result of adopting FIN 48.

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ITEM 6. DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES
A. Directors and senior management.
The following table sets forth the name, age and position of each director and executive officer of our company as of March 31, 2007.
             
Name   Age   Position
Zhiwei Zhao
    44     Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors
Hugo Shong
    51     Chairman of the Board of Directors
Kheng Nam Lee(1)
    59     Director
Ling Wang(1)(2)(3)
    44     Director
Fansheng Guo(1)(2)(3)
    51     Director
Jun (Jeff) Wang
    36     Chief Financial Officer
 
(1)   Member, audit committee
 
(2)   Member, compensation committee
 
(3)   Member, nominations committee
The address of each of our executive officers and directors is 9th Floor of Tower C, Corporate Square, No. 35 Financial Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, China 100032. Sam Qian, our prior president & chief Financial officer, resigned from his position and Jeff Wang was appointed as chief financial officer to replace him with effect from August 15, 2006.
Biographical Information
Hugo Shong has served as our director since May 2004. He was elected as the Chairman of our Board of Directors as of July 25, 2005 and has been in that position since then. Mr. Shong has been a senior vice president of International Data Group, Inc., or IDG, since 2001, the president of IDG Asia since 1995, a director of IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc., or IDGVC, since 1994, and a member of IDG Technology Venture Investments, LLC, the general partner of IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP, since 2000. Mr. Shong has headed a number of operations for IDG including in information technology, publishing, market research and tradeshows in the Asia Pacific region. Mr. Shong graduated from Hunan University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, followed by a Master of Science degree from the Boston University College of Communications.
Zhiwei Zhao has served as our Chief Executive Officer since June 21, 2005 and our director since July 25, 2005. Mr. Zhao was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Abitcool Inc before joining us. Abitcool is a company that provides broadband internet services in China. It boasts the largest private Internet Data Center in China. From 1998 to 2005, he served as the General Manager of Huatong International Development Limited in Hong Kong. Mr. Zhao

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graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
Kheng Nam Lee has served as our director since May 2004. Mr. Lee was the president of Vertex Management Pte Ltd, a management company for a venture capital fund, from March 1995 to February 2004 and was also a director of Vertex Venture Holdings Ltd., both of which are affiliates of Vertex Technology Fund (III) Ltd. Mr. Lee is a director of Creative Technology Ltd and United Test and Assembly Centre Ltd, and has served as a director of ActivCard Corp, Centillium Communications Inc., Creative Lab Inc., GRIC Communications Inc., Gemplus International SA and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation. Mr. Lee holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering, with first class honors, from Queen’s University, Canada and a Master of Science degree in operations research and systems analysis from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.
Ling Wang has served as our director since May 2004. Mr. Wang is the chairman and chief executive officer of GCTech Company Limited, a company that provides systems integration and software development services to the telecommunications industry, which he founded in 1994. Since 2003, he has been a director of Tiantian Online Co., Ltd., a provider of broadband Internet audio-visual programs (or Internet TV) in the PRC. Mr. Wang graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Science and Technology of China, and also has a Master of Science degree in automation control from the Beijing Institute of Information Control.
Fansheng Guo has served as our director since May 2004. Mr. Guo is the chairman, chief executive officer and president of HC International, Inc., a Hong Kong listed company that provides business information services in the PRC, which he founded in 1990. Mr. Guo obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Industrial Economics from Renmin University of China.
Jun (Jeff) Wang has served as our Chief Financial Officer since August 15, 2006, and joined our company as Vice President of Finance in May 2006. Mr. Wang was a Senior Manager in the Tax and Business Advisory Services at Deloitte Beijing Office before joining us. From 2002 to 2005 Jun Wang was founder and president of Miracle Professional Services Inc., a company that provided training and consulting services to finance professionals. Prior to that Mr. Wang worked in Deloitte’s Beijing, London and New York offices, providing tax and business advisory and management consulting services. Mr. Wang obtained his Master of Business Administration from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business, his Master of Economics in accounting from Beijing Technology and Business University and his B.A. degree from Shandong University. Mr. Wang is a charterholder of Chartered Financial Analyst, and a Certified Management Accountant.
B. Compensation of directors and executive officers.
In 2006, we did not pay any compensation to our non-executive directors.
In 2006, we paid aggregate cash compensation of approximately $1,340,000 to our directors and executive officers as a group, including Sam Qian who departed in August 2006. In 2006, we granted to selected directors, officers, employees and individual consultants and advisors options to acquire an aggregate of 700,000 ordinary shares. Unvested options to purchase 633,800 ordinary shares were returned to the pool of our ungranted options upon resignation of the employees holding such options in 2006. We have no service contracts with any of our directors or executive officers that provide benefits to them upon termination, except for change in control agreements we entered into with each of our chief executive officer and chief financial officer. The change in control agreements provide that if after a change-of-control of our company has occurred, the executive is terminated without cause or resigns for good reason, we are obligated to provide severance benefits to that executive.

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All of our current directors and executive officers have entered into indemnification agreements in which we agree to indemnify, to the fullest extent allowed by Hong Kong law, our charter documents or other applicable law, our directors and executive officers from any liability or expenses, unless the liability or expense arises from the director or executive officer’s own willful negligence, intentional malfeasance, bad faith act, or other transactions from which the director or executive officer may not be relieved of liability under applicable law. The indemnification agreements also specify the procedures to be followed with respect to indemnification.
Directors’ and officers’ liability insurance
We have renewed directors’ and officers’ liability insurance on behalf of our directors and officers that will expire in January 2008.
Employee’s stock option plan
We adopted the 2004 Stock Incentive Plan, or the Plan, in January 2004. The Plan is intended to promote our success and to increase shareholder value by providing an additional means to attract, motivate, retain and reward selected directors, officers, employees and other eligible persons. An aggregate of 5,688,488 ordinary shares were reserved for issuance under the Plan in January 2004. We amended the Plan in September 2004 to increase the total number of ordinary shares issuable under the Plan to 10,688,488 or 10.5% of our issued share capital at that time. We amended the Plan again in September 2006 to increase the total number of ordinary shares issuable under the Plan to 15,688,488 or 15.30% of our issued share capital at that time.
We have issued options under the Plan to purchase a total of 14,663,488 ordinary shares to selected directors, officers, employees and individual consultants and advisors. The exercise price for the 700,000 stock options granted in July 2006 under the Plan is $1.07 per share, the exercise price for the 3,272,000 options granted in January 2007 is $0.96 per share, the exercise price for the 4,353,000 options granted in February 2005 is $1.31 per share, the exercise price for the 50,000 options granted in June 2005 is $1.32 and the exercise price for the 400,000 and 200,000 options granted in November 2005 are $1.12 and $1.16, respectively. Terminated options to purchase 1,274,640 ordinary shares were returned to the pool of our ungranted options upon resignation of the employees holding such options as of March 31, 2007. With the exception of the options granted to our directors and our management, which vest over a period of one to four years, our options granted to employees generally vest over a period of three to five years. Under the Plan, as of March 31, 2007, we have a total number of 5,550,388 options that are currently vested and exercisable for ordinary shares.
Options granted under the Plan generally do not vest unless the grantee remains under our employment or in service with us on the given vesting date. However, in circumstances where there is a death or disability of the grantee, or a change in the control of our company, the vesting of options will be accelerated to permit immediate exercise of all options granted to a grantee. Generally, to the extent an outstanding option granted under the Plan has not vested by the date the grantee’s employment or service with us terminates, the option will terminate and become unexercisable. Our board of directors may amend, alter, suspend, or terminate the Plan at any time, provided, however, that our board of directors must first seek the approval of our shareholders and, if such amendment, alteration, suspension or termination would adversely affect the rights of an optionee under any option granted prior to that date, the approval of such optionee. Without further action by our board of directors, the Plan will terminate in January 2014.
The table below sets forth the option grants made to our directors and executive officers pursuant to the Plan:

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    Number of                
    ordinary Shares to                
    be issued upon     Exercise price per          
    exercise of options     ordinary share     Date of grant   Date of expiration
Zhiwei Zhao
    400,000     $ 1.120     November 15, 2005   November 15, 2015
 
    400,000     $ 1.070     July 5, 2006   July 5, 2016
 
    800,000     $ 0.960     January 18, 2007   January 17, 2017
Hugo Shong
    *     $ 0.160     January 5, 2004   March 5, 2009
 
    *     $ 1.040     June 15, 2004   March 5, 2009
 
    *     $ 1.314     February 18, 2005   February 18, 2015
 
    *     $ 0.960     January 18, 2007   January 17, 2017
Kheng Nam Lee
    *     $ 0.160     February 18, 2004   March 5, 2009
 
    *     $ 1.040     June 15, 2004   March 5, 2009
 
    *     $ 1.314     February 18, 2005   February 18, 2015
 
    *     $ 0.960     January 18, 2007   January 17, 2017
Fansheng Guo
    *     $ 0.160     January 5, 2004   March 5, 2009
 
    *     $ 1.040     June 15, 2004   March 5, 2009
 
    *     $ 1.314     February 18, 2005   February 18, 2015
 
    *     $ 0.960     January 18, 2007   January 17, 2017
Ling Wang
    *     $ 0.160     January 5, 2004   March 5, 2009
 
    *     $ 1.040     June 15, 2004   March 5, 2009
 
    *     $ 1.314     February 18, 2005   February 18, 2015
 
    *     $ 0.960     January 18, 2007   January 17, 2017
Jun (Jeff) Wang
    *     $ 1.070     July 5, 2006   July 5, 2016
 
    *     $ 0.960     January 18, 2007   January 17, 2017
Sam Qian
    *     $ 1.314     February 18, 2005   February 18, 2015
 
*   Upon exercise of all options granted, would beneficially own less than 1% of our outstanding ordinary shares.
C. Board practices.
In 2006, our directors met in person or passed resolutions by unanimous written consent eight times. No director attended fewer than 75% of all the meetings of our board and its committees on which he served after becoming a member of our board. No director is entitled to any severance benefits upon termination of his directorship with us. Our board of directors has also concluded that Mr. Kheng Nam Lee meets the criteria for an “audit committee financial expert” as established by the SEC.
Board committees
Our board of directors has established an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominations committee.
Audit committee. Our audit committee currently consists of Kheng Nam Lee, Ling Wang and Fansheng Guo. Our board of directors has determined that all of our audit committee members are “independent directors” within the meaning of Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 4200(a)(15) and meet the criteria for independence set forth in Section 10A(m)(3) of the U.S. Securities

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Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act. Our audit committee is responsible for, among other things:
    recommending to our shareholders, if appropriate, the annual re-appointment of our independent registered public accounting firm and pre-approving all auditing and non-auditing service fees permitted to be performed by the independent registered public accounting firm;
 
    annually reviewing an independent registered public accounting firm’s report describing the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures, any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality control review, or peer review, of the independent registered public accounting firm and all relationships between the independent registered public accounting firm and our company;
 
    setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered public accounting firm;
 
    reviewing with the independent registered public accounting firm any audit problems or difficulties and management’s response;
 
    reviewing and approving all proposed related-party transactions, as defined in Item 404 of Regulation S-K under the U.S. securities laws;
 
    discussing the annual audited financial statements with management and the independent registered public accounting firm;
 
    discussing with management and the independent registered public accounting firm major issues regarding accounting principles and financial statement presentations; reviewing reports prepared by management or the independent auditors relating to significant financial reporting issues and judgments;
 
    reviewing reports prepared by management or the independent registered public accounting firm relating to significant financial reporting issues and judgments;
 
    discussing earnings press releases, as well as financial information and earnings guidance provided to analysts and rating agencies;
 
    reviewing with management and the independent registered public accounting firm the effect of regulatory and accounting initiatives, as well as off-balance sheet structures on our financial statements;
 
    discussing policies with respect to risk assessment and risk management;
 
    reviewing major issues as to the adequacy of our internal controls and any special audit steps adopted in light of material control deficiencies;
 
    timely reviewing annual reports from the independent registered public accounting firm regarding all critical accounting policies and practices to be adopted by our company, all alternative treatments of financial information within U.S. GAAP that have been discussed with management and all other material written communications between the independent registered public accounting firm and management;
 
    establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received from our employees regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing

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      matters and the confidential, anonymous submission by our employees of concerns regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters;
 
    annually reviewing and reassessing the adequacy of our audit committee charter;
 
    such other matters that are specifically delegated to our audit committee by our board of directors from time to time;
 
    meeting separately, periodically, with management and the independent registered public accounting firm; and
 
    reporting regularly to the full board of directors.
Compensation committee. Our current compensation committee consists of Ling Wang and Fansheng Guo. Our board of directors has determined that all of our compensation committee members are “independent directors” within the meaning of Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 4200(a)(15). Our compensation committee is responsible for:
    determining and recommending the compensation of our Chief Executive Officer;
 
    reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors regarding our compensation policies and forms of compensation provided to our directors and officers;
 
    reviewing and determining bonuses for our officers and other employees;
 
    reviewing and determining stock-based compensation for our directors, officers, employees and consultants;
 
    administering our equity incentive plans in accordance with the terms thereof; and
 
    such other matters that are specifically delegated to the compensation committee by our board of directors from time to time.
Nominations committee. Our current nominations committee consists of Ling Wang and Fansheng Guo. Our board of directors has determined that all of our nominations committee members are “independent directors” within the meaning of Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 4200(a)(15). Our nominations committee is responsible for, among other things, selecting and recommending the appointment of new directors to our board of directors.
Corporate governance
Our board of directors has adopted a code of ethics, which is applicable to our senior executive and financial officers. In addition, our board of directors has adopted a code of conduct, which is applicable to all of our directors, officers and employees. Our code of ethics and our code of conduct are publicly available on our website.
In addition, our board of directors has adopted a set of corporate governance guidelines. The guidelines reflect certain guiding principles with respect to our board’s structure, procedures and committees. The guidelines are not intended to change or interpret any law, or our memorandum and articles of association.
Duties of directors
Under Hong Kong law, our directors have a duty of loyalty to act honestly in good faith with a view to our best interests. Our directors also have a duty to exercise the care, diligence and

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skills that a reasonable person with that director’s qualifications and experience would exercise in comparable circumstances. In fulfilling their duty of care to us, our directors must ensure compliance with our memorandum and articles of association.
The functions and powers of our board of directors include, among others:
    convening shareholders’ meetings and reporting its work to shareholders at such meetings;
 
    implementing shareholders’ resolutions;
 
    determining our business plans and investment proposals;
 
    formulating our profit distribution plans and loss recovery plans;
 
    determining our debt and finance policies and recommending proposals for the increase or decrease in our share capital and the issuance of debentures;
 
    formulating our major acquisition and disposition plans, and plans for consolidation, division or dissolution;
 
    proposing amendments to our articles of association; and
 
    exercising any other powers conferred at shareholders’ meetings or under our memorandum and articles of association.
Terms of directors and executive officers
We have a staggered board, which means our directors, excluding our chief executive officer, are divided into two classes, with half of our board, excluding our chief executive officer, standing for election every two years. Our chief executive officer will at all times be a director, and will not retire as a director, so long as he remains as the chief executive officer. Accordingly, our directors, excluding our chief executive officer, hold office until the second annual meeting of shareholders following their election, or until their successors have been duly elected and qualified. Our board has adopted a policy providing that no director may be nominated for re-election or re-appointment to our board after reaching 70 years of age, unless our board concludes that such person’s continued service as our director is in our best interest. Officers are elected by and serve at the discretion of the board of directors.
D. Employees. As of March 31, 2007 we had 421 full-time employees. We currently anticipate hiring an additional 50 employees in 2007, most of whom will be located in Beijing. Of our current employees as of March 31, 2007, 2 are executive officers, 24 are supporting staff, 194 are our sales, marketing and customer support staff, 63 are from our editorial department, 49 from website development department, and 89 are dedicated to our product development department. 197, 129 and 95 of these employees are located in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzen, respectively with the remainder in miscellaneous locations.
None of our employees is represented by a labor union. We believe we maintain a good working relationship with our employees.
E. Share ownership.
As of March 31, 2007, 105,584,933 of our ordinary shares were outstanding, excluding shares issuable upon exercise of outstanding options. On that date, a total of 15,416,231 of our ADSs were outstanding.

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The following table sets forth information with respect to the beneficial ownership, within the meaning of Section 13(d)(3) of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, of our ordinary shares by:
    each person known to us to own beneficially more than 5% of our ordinary shares; and
 
    each of our directors and executive officers who beneficially own any of our ordinary shares.
Beneficial ownership includes voting or investment power with respect to the securities. Except as indicated below, and subject to applicable community property laws, the persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all ordinary shares shown as beneficially owned by them. Percentage of beneficial ownership is based on 105,584,933 ordinary shares outstanding.
                 
Number of Shares Beneficially Owned
Name   Number   Percent
5% Shareholder
               
IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc.(1)
    20,580,652       19.49 %
IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP (2)
    6,723,115       6.37 %
Vertex Technology Fund (III) Ltd. (3)
    14,481,319       13.72 %
Jianping Lu (4)
    7,156,121       6.78 %
Ling Zhang (5)
    8,746,370       8.28 %
Directors and executive officers
               
Hugo Shong
    *       *  
Kheng Nam Lee
    *       *  
Ling Wang
    *       *  
Fansheng Guo
    *       *  
Zhiwei Zhao
    *       *  
Jeff Wang
    *       *  
Sam Qian
    1,056,800       1.00 %
All current directors and executive officers as a group (6 persons)
    1,854,400       1.74 %
 
*   Upon exercise of all options currently exercisable or vesting within 60 days of the date of this annual report, would beneficially own less than 1% of our ordinary shares.
 
(1)   Includes 20,580,652 ordinary shares held by IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc. IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc. is the limited partner of IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP and does not control IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP. IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc., a Massachusetts corporation, is wholly owned by International Data Group Inc., a Massachusetts corporation, which is controlled by Patrick McGovern, the majority shareholder, founder and chairman of International Data Group Inc. IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc. disclaims beneficial ownership of all of the ordinary shares owned by IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP. The registered address of IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc. is 5 Speen Street, Framingham, MA 01701, U.S.A.
 
(2)   Includes 6,723,115 ordinary shares held by IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP. The general partner of IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP is IDG Technology Venture

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    Investments, LLC. Messrs. Patrick McGovern and Quan Zhou are managing members of IDG Technology Venture Investments, LLC, both of whom disclaim beneficial ownership of our shares held by IDG Technology Venture Investments, LLC. IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc. is a limited partner of IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP, and does not control IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP. IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP disclaims beneficial ownership of all of the ordinary shares owned by IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc. The registered address of IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP is Corporation Service Company, 1013 Centre Road, Wilmington, County of New Castle, Delaware 19805-1297, U.S.A.
 
(3)   Includes 14,481,319 ordinary shares held by Vertex Technology Fund (III) Ltd. The majority shareholder of Vertex Technology Fund (III) Ltd is Vertex Venture Holdings Ltd, who may be deemed to have power to vote and dispose of the shares held of record by Vertex Technology Fund (III) Ltd. Vertex Management (II) Pte Ltd is the fund manager of Vertex Technology Fund (III) Ltd, and may be deemed to have power to vote and dispose of the shares held of record by Vertex Technology Fund (III) Ltd. The address of Vertex Technology Fund (III) Ltd is 51 Cuppage Road, #10-08 Starhub Centre, Singapore 229469.
 
(4)   Includes (i) 4,028,156 ordinary shares held by Cast Technology, Inc.; and (ii) 3,127,965 ordinary shares held by Fanasia Capital Limited. Both Cast Technology, Inc. and Fanasia Capital Limited are held 45% and 55% by Jianping Lu and Ling Zhang, respectively.
 
(5)   Includes (i)4,923,302 ordinary shares held by Cast Technology, Inc.; and (ii) 3,823,068 ordinary shares held by Fanasia Capital Limited. Both Cast Technology, Inc. and Fanasia Capital Limited are held 45% and 55% by Jianping Lu and Ling Zhang, respectively.
None of our existing shareholders has voting rights that differ from the voting rights of other shareholders. We are not aware of any arrangement that may, at a subsequent date, result in a change in control of our company.
ITEM 7. MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
A. Major shareholders.
Please refer to Item 6. “Directors, Senior Management and Employees — Share Ownership”
B. Related party transactions.
CFO Beijing/Fuhua arrangements
In order to comply with PRC regulations, we operate our online business in China through Fuhua, a company wholly owned by Wu Chen, a financial manager at International Data Group China, Ltd., a PRC company affiliated with IDG Technology Venture Investment Inc., and IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP, two of our principal shareholders, and Jun Ning, our former chairman and Chief Executive Officer, who are both PRC citizens. Jun Ning transferred his holdings in Fuhua to Zhiwei Zhao, a PRC citizen and our current Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors, in November 30, 2006. We have entered into a series of contractual arrangements with Fuhua and its shareholders, including contracts relating to the leasing of equipment, the provision of services and certain shareholder rights and corporate governance matters. Upon his receipt of Jun Ning’s holdings in Fuhua, Zhiwei Zhao replaced Jun Ning as a party to each of the contractual arrangements we have entered into with Jun Ning with respect to his holdings in Fuhua and the operation of Fuhua.

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Each of our contractual arrangements with Fuhua and its shareholders may only be amended with the approval of our audit committee or another independent body of our board of directors. The following is a summary of the material provisions of these agreements.
Leasing of equipment
Equipment Leasing Agreement, dated May 27, 2004, between CFO Beijing and Fuhua.
CFO Beijing leases to Fuhua equipment necessary for Fuhua’s operation and requested by Fuhua from time to time for a monthly lease payment calculated based on the actual value of the leased equipment. Without CFO Beijing’s written consent, Fuhua may not lease any equipment from any other parties. The term of the lease is ten years, which will be automatically renewed for another one year term upon the expiration of each term unless CFO Beijing notifies Fuhua of its intention not to renew 30 days before the relevant term expires.
Provision of services
Technical Support Agreement, dated May 27, 2004, between CFO Beijing and Fuhua.
CFO Beijing provides Fuhua with exclusive technical support services for the maintenance of Fuhua’s servers, networks and other equipment, software and systems. Fuhua pays a quarterly service fee to CFO Beijing which is based on the actual labor cost of CFO Beijing during the relevant period. In addition, Fuhua reimburses CFO Beijing for out of pocket costs CFO Beijing incurs in connection with providing the services under this agreement. The term of this agreement is ten years, which will be automatically renewed for another one year term upon the expiration of each term unless CFO Beijing notifies Fuhua of its intention not to renew 30 days before the relevant term expires.
Amended and Restated Strategic Consulting Service Agreement, dated May 27, 2004, between CFO Beijing and Fuhua.
CFO Beijing provides Fuhua with strategic consulting and related services for Fuhua’s business, including (1) valuation of new products; (2) industry investigation and survey; (3) marketing and promotion strategies; and (4) other services relating to Fuhua’s business, including its online advertising business. The fee for these services will be calculated quarterly based on the actual time of services provided by CFO Beijing. The term of this agreement is 20 years, which will be automatically renewed for another one year term upon the expiration of each term unless CFO Beijing notifies Fuhua of its intention not to renew 30 days before the relevant term expires.
Loans to Zhiwei Zhao and Wu Chen
We entered into a loan agreement with each of Jun Ning and Wu Chen, the shareholders of Fuhua, on May 27, 2004 to extend each of Jun Ning and Wu Chen a loan with the amount of $163,000 and $199,000, respectively, for the sole purpose of investing in Fuhua as Fuhua’s registered capital. Upon his receipt of Jun Ning’s holdings in Fuhua in November 2006, Zhiwei Zhao replaced Jun Ning as a party to the loan agreement we entered into with Jun Ning. The initial term of these loans in each case is 10 years which may be extended upon the parties’ agreement. Jun Ning and Wu Chen can only repay the loans by transferring all of their interest in Fuhua to us or a third party designated by us. When Jun Ning and Wu Chen transfer their interest in Fuhua to us or our designee, if the actual transfer price is higher than the principal amount of the loans, the amount exceeding the principal amount of the loans will be deemed as interest accrued on such loans and repaid by Jun Ning and Wu Chen to us. While Hong Kong law limits the maximum interest payment chargeable under a loan to 60% of the outstanding principal amount per annum, this limitation would only be relevant if, at the time of a future

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transfer to us of the interests in Fuhua held by Jun Ning and Wu Chen, the actual value of Fuhua were to have increased at an average annual rate greater than 60%. Fuhua’s assets currently consist primarily of registered capital and licenses to provide Internet content and advertising related services, and its operations are primarily limited to operating our free website and providing advertising related services on behalf of CFO Beijing. In addition, we do not expect Fuhua to continue to provide advertising related services once CFO Beijing obtains necessary permits to do so.. Accordingly, we do not believe this limitation will have a material effect on our business and operations, or will result in a material amount being paid to the shareholders of Fuhua if and when they are permitted to transfer their interests in Fuhua to us.
As Zhiwei Zhao was appointed to replace Jun Ning as a shareholder of Fuhua, accordingly the loans to Jun Ning as described above were transferred to Zhiwei Zhao by contractual arrangements on the same terms.
In May 2004, we repaid $60,000 to Jun Ning and Wu Chen for funds advanced by Jun Ning and Wu Chen, on our behalf, to capitalize Fuhua when Fuhua was initially incorporated in December 2000.
Loans to CFO Beijing and CFO Software
In March 2005, we have made additional capital contributions of $9 million and $11.5 million to CFO Beijing and CFO Software, respectively. In April 2005, we further made shareholder loans of $16.8 million and $18.0 million to CFO Beijing and CFO Software, respectively. We made these additional capital contributions and shareholder loans solely for purposes of capitalizing CFO Beijing and CFO Software. Funding for these additional capital contributions and shareholder loans came from net proceeds of our initial public offering in October 2004. In August, October and December 2005, CFO Software repaid $5.0 million, $5.0 million, $5.0 million respectively. In July 2006, CFO Software paid off the remaining $3.0 million. In July 2006, CFO Beijing re-paid $7.0 million.
Shareholder rights and corporate governance
Transfer of ownership when permitted by law
Pursuant to a purchase option and cooperation agreement, or the purchase option agreement, entered into among us, CFO Beijing, Jun Ning, Wu Chen and Fuhua on May 27, 2004 and subsequent amendments on November 20, 2006 upon the transfer of shares by Jun Ning to Zhiwei Zhao, Zhiwei Zhao and Wu Chen jointly granted us an exclusive option to purchase all of their equity interest in Fuhua, and Fuhua granted us an exclusive option to purchase all of its assets if and when (1) such purchase is permitted under applicable PRC law, or (2) to the extent permitted by law, with respect to Zhiwei Zhao’s or Wu Chen’s individual interest, as the case may be, when Jun Ning ceases to be a director or employee of Fuhua, Wu Chen ceases to be affiliated with IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc. or IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP or neither entity continues to be our shareholder, or either Zhiwei Zhao or Wu Chen desires to transfer his equity interest in Fuhua to a third party. We may purchase such interest or assets ourselves or designate another party to purchase such interest or assets.
The exercise price of the option will equal the total principal amount of the loan lent by us to Zhiwei Zhao and Wu Chen under their loan agreements to purchase their respective equity interest in Fuhua, or the price required by relevant PRC law or government approval authority if such required price is higher than the total principal amount of the loans lent by us to Zhiwei Zhao and Wu Chen. We may choose to pay the purchase price payable to Zhiwei Zhao and Wu Chen by canceling our loans to Zhiwei Zhao and Wu Chen.

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Following any exercise of the option, the parties will enter into a definitive share or asset purchase agreement and other related transfer documents within 30 days after written notice of exercise is delivered by us. Pursuant to the purchase option agreement, at all times before we or any party designated by us acquire 100% of Fuhua’s shares or assets, Fuhua may not (1) sell, transfer, assign, dispose of in any manner or create any encumbrance in any form on any of its assets unless such sale, transfer, assignment, disposal or encumbrance is related to the daily operation of Fuhua or has been disclosed to and consented to in writing by us; (2) enter into any transaction which may have a material effect on Fuhua’s assets, liabilities, operations, equity or other legal interests unless such transaction relates to the daily operation of Fuhua or has been disclosed to and consented to in writing by us; or (3) distribute any dividends to its shareholders in any manner, and Zhiwei Zhao and Wu Chen may not cause Fuhua to amend its articles of association to the extent such amendment may have a material effect on Fuhua’s assets, liabilities, operations, equity or other legal interests except for pro rata increases of registered capital required by law.
Voting arrangement
Pursuant to two proxies executed and delivered by Jun Ning and Wu Chen to Ling Hai Ma and Jian Feng, respectively, each an employee of CFO Beijing, on May 27, 2004, Jun Ning and Wu Chen have granted Ling Hai Ma and Jian Feng the power to exercise all their voting rights as shareholders of Fuhua, including the right to appoint directors, the general manager and other senior managers of Fuhua. The term of the proxies is 20 years which will be automatically renewed for another one year term upon the expiration of each term unless we notify Jun Ning and Wu Chen of our intention not to renew 30 days before the relevant term expires. Under the purchase option agreement, Jun Ning and Wu Chen have agreed that (1) they will only revoke the proxies granted to Ling Hai Ma and Jian Feng when either Ling Hai Ma or Jian Feng ceases to be an employee of CFO Beijing or we deliver a written notice to Jun Ning and Wu Chen requesting such revocation, and (2) they, or either of them, as the case may be, will execute and deliver another proxy in the same format as the one dated May 27, 2004 to any other individuals as instructed by us. Upon his receipt of Jun Ning’s holdings in Fuhua on November 20, 2006, Zhiwei Zhao executed and delivered a proxy substantially identical to the proxy executed by Jun Ning with respect to his voting rights as a shareholder of Fuhua.
Share Pledge Agreement
Pursuant to a share pledge agreement, dated May 27, 2004, Jun Ning and Wu Chen have pledged all of their equity interest in Fuhua to CFO Beijing to secure the payment obligations of Fuhua under the equipment leasing agreement, the technical support agreement and the amended and restated strategic consulting agreement between CFO Beijing and Fuhua. Upon his receipt of Jun Ning’s holdings in Fuhua on November 20, 2006, Zhiwei Zhao replaced Jun Ning as a party to the share pledge agreement. Under this agreement as amended, Zhiwei Zhao and Wu Chen have agreed not to transfer, assign, pledge or in any other manner dispose of their interests in Fuhua or create any other encumbrance on their interest in Fuhua which may have a material effect on CFO Beijing’s interest without the written consent of CFO Beijing, except the transfer of their interest in Fuhua to us or the third party assignee designated by us according to the purchase option agreement.
Financing support
Pursuant to the purchase option agreement, we have agreed to provide or designate one of our affiliates to provide financing to Fuhua in a way permitted by relevant laws in case Fuhua needs such financing. If Fuhua is unable to repay the financing due to its losses, we agree to waive or cause other relevant parties to waive all recourse against Fuhua with respect to the financing.
Indemnifications

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Pursuant to the purchase option agreement, CFO Beijing has agreed to provide necessary support to and to indemnify Zhiwei Zhao and Wu Chen to the extent that they are subject to any legal or economic liabilities as a result of performing their obligations pursuant to their agreements with us or CFO Beijing.
Other related party transactions
Shareholders Agreement
Our investors under the shareholders agreement are IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc. and Vertex Technology Fund (III) Ltd. Investors to the shareholders agreement or their permitted assignees that hold at least 15% of our registrable securities may require us to effect a registration statement on Form F-3 (or any successor form or any comparable form for a registration in a jurisdiction other than the United States) for a public offering of registrable securities so long as the reasonably anticipated aggregate price to the public (net of selling expenses) would be at least $1 million and we are entitled to use Form F-3 (or a comparable form) for such offering.
Holders of registrable securities may demand a registration on Form F-3 on unlimited occasions, although we are not obligated to affect more than two such registration in any twelve month period. Holders of registrable securities are also entitled to ‘‘piggyback’’ registration rights, which may require us to register all or any part of the registrable securities then held by such holders when we register any of our ordinary shares.
Registrable securities are ordinary shares not previously sold to the public and issued or issuable to IDG Technology Venture Investment, Inc. and Vertex Technology Fund (III) Ltd., who are holders of our preference shares, including (1) ordinary shares issued upon conversion of our preferred shares, (2) ordinary shares issued or issuable upon exercise of their options or warrants to purchase ordinary shares, and (3) ordinary shares issued pursuant to stock splits, stock dividends and similar distributions to holders of our preference shares. Under certain circumstances, such demand registration may also include ordinary shares other than registrable securities.
If any of the offerings involves an underwriting, the managing underwriter of any such offering has certain rights to limit the number of shares included in such registration. However, the number of registrable securities included in an underwritten public offering subsequent to our initial public offering pursuant to “piggyback” registration rights may not be reduced to less than 10% of the aggregate securities included in such offering without the consent of a majority of the holders of registrable securities who have requested their shares to be included in the registration and underwriting. We are generally required to bear all of the registration expenses incurred in connection with one demand registration on a form other than Form F-3, and unlimited Form F-3 and piggyback registrations. The foregoing demand, Form F-3 and piggyback registration rights will terminate, with respect to any holder of registrable securities, on the earliest of:
    the fifth anniversary of the consummation of our initial public offering;
 
    upon such holder holding less than 1% of our outstanding ordinary shares after our initial public offering; and
 
    upon such holder becoming eligible to sell all of such holder’s registrable securities pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act within any three-month period without volume limitations, under Rule 144(k), or under any comparable securities law of a jurisdiction other than the United States for sale of registrable securities in such jurisdiction.

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C. Interests of experts and counsel.
Not applicable
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
A. Consolidated financial statements and other financial information.
We have appended consolidated financial statements filed as part of this annual report.
Legal Proceedings
None.
Dividend Policy
We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings for use in the operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our ordinary shares, or indirectly on our ADSs, for the foreseeable future. Investors seeking cash dividends should not purchase our ADSs. Future cash dividends, if any, will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon our future operations and earnings, capital requirements and surplus, general financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, we can pay dividends only out of our profit or other distributable reserves. Any dividend we declare will be paid to the holders of ADSs, subject to the terms of the deposit agreement, to the same extent as holders of our ordinary shares, less the fees and expenses payable under the deposit agreement. Other distributions, if any, will be paid by the depositary to holders of our ADSs in any means it deems legal, fair and practical. Any dividend will be distributed by the depositary, in the form of cash or additional ADSs, to the holders of our ADSs. Cash dividends on our ADSs, if any, will be paid in U.S. dollars.
B. Significant changes since December 31, 2006.
None.
ITEM 9. THE OFFER AND LISTING
A. Offering and listing details.
Our ADSs, each representing five of our ordinary shares, have been listed on the Nasdaq Global Market (known as the Nasdaq National Market prior to July 1, 2006) since October 15, 2004. Our ADSs trade under the symbol “JRJC.”
The following table provides the high and low trading prices for our ADSs on Nasdaq for (1) the years 2004, 2005 and 2006, (2) each of the quarters since the first quarter in 2005 and (3) each of the months since November 2006.
                 
    Sales Price
    High   Low
Yearly highs and lows
               
Year 2004 (from October 15, 2004)
    15.99       8.30  
Year 2005
    11.14       5.22  
Year 2006
    9.68       3.95  

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    Sales Price
    High   Low
Quarterly highs and lows
               
First Quarter 2005
    11.14       5.80  
Second Quarter 2005
    7.17       5.22  
Third Quarter 2005
    6.52       5.50  
Fourth Quarter 2005
    6.90       5.52  
First Quarter 2006
    9.68       5.66  
Second Quarter 2006
    7.37       4.74  
Third Quarter 2006
    6.60       4.95  
Fourth Quarter 2006
    5.60       3.95  
First Quarter 2007
    7.27       4.53  
Second Quarter 2007 (through May 23, 2007)
    9.60       6.04  
Monthly highs and lows
               
November 2006
    5.60       3.95  
December 2006
    4.61       4.20  
January 2007
    5.74       4.53  
February 2007
    7.27       5.00  
March 2007
    6.45       5.80  
April 2007
    7.03       6.04  
May 2007 (through May 23, 2007)
    9.60       6.51  
B. Plan of distribution.
Not applicable
C. Markets.
See Item 9.A. above.
D. Selling shareholders.
Not applicable
E. Dilution.
Not applicable
F. Expenses of the issue.
Not applicable
ITEM 10. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
A. Share capital.
Not applicable.
B. Memorandum and articles of association.
We incorporate by reference into this Annual Report the description of our amended and restated memorandum of association contained in our registration statement on Form F-1 (File

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No. 333-119166) filed with the Commission on October 14, 2004. Our shareholders adopted our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association at an extraordinary shareholder meeting on October 14, 2004.
C. Material contracts.
We have not entered into any material contracts other than in the ordinary course of business and other than those described in Item 4, “Information on the Company” or elsewhere in this annual report on Form 20-F.
D. Exchange controls.
China’s government imposes control over the convertibility of RMB into foreign currencies. Under the current unified floating exchange rate system, the People’s Bank of China publishes a daily exchange rate for RMB, or the PBOC Exchange Rate, based on the previous day’s dealings in the inter-bank foreign exchange market. Financial institutions authorized to deal in foreign currency may enter into foreign exchange transactions at exchange rates within an authorized range above or below the PBOC Exchange Rate according to market conditions.
Pursuant to the Foreign Exchange Control Regulations issued by the State Council on January 29, 1996 and effective as of April 1, 1996 (and amended on January 14, 1997) and the Administration of Settlement, Sale and Payment of Foreign Exchange Regulations which came into effect on July 1, 1996 regarding foreign exchange control, or the Regulations, conversion of Renminbi into foreign exchange by foreign investment enterprises for current account items, including the distribution of dividends and profits to foreign investors of joint ventures, is permissible upon the proper production of qualified commercial vouchers or legal documents as required by the Regulations. Foreign investment enterprises are permitted to remit foreign exchange from their foreign exchange bank account in China upon the proper production of, inter alia, the board resolutions declaring the distribution of the dividend and payment of profits. Conversion of RMB into foreign currencies and remittance of foreign currencies for capital account items, including direct investment, loans, security investment, is still subject to the approval of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, in each such transaction. On January 14, 1997, the State Council amended the Foreign Exchange Control Regulations and added, among other things, an important provision, as Article 5 provides that the State shall not impose restrictions on recurring international payments and transfers under current accounts.
Under the Regulations, foreign investment enterprises are required to open and maintain separate foreign exchange accounts for capital account items (but not for other items). In addition, foreign investment enterprises may only buy, sell and/or remit foreign currencies at those banks authorized to conduct foreign exchange business upon the production of valid commercial documents and, in the case of capital account item transactions, document approval from SAFE.
Currently, foreign investment enterprises are required to apply to SAFE for “foreign exchange registration certificates for foreign investment enterprises.” With such foreign exchange registration certificates (which are granted to foreign investment enterprises, upon fulfilling specified conditions and which are subject to review and renewal by SAFE on an annual basis) or with the foreign exchange sales notices from the SAFE (which are obtained on a transaction-by-transaction basis), foreign-invested enterprises may open foreign exchange bank accounts and enter into foreign exchange transactions at banks authorized to conduct foreign exchange business to obtain foreign exchange for their needs.
E. Taxation.
Hong Kong taxation

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Profits tax. No tax is imposed in Hong Kong in respect of capital gains from the sale of property, such as the ordinary shares underlying our ADSs. However, trading gains from the sale of property by persons carrying on a trade, profession or business in Hong Kong where such gains are derived from or arise in Hong Kong from such trade, profession or business will be chargeable to Hong Kong profit tax. Liability for Hong Kong profits tax would therefore arise in respect of trading gains from the sale of ADSs or the underlying ordinary shares realized by persons in the course of carrying on a business of trading or dealing in securities in Hong Kong. For the current year of assessment 2005/2006, the charging rate for profits tax is 17.5% for corporations and 16% for unincorporated businesses.
In addition, Hong Kong does not impose withholding tax on gains derived from the sale of stock in Hong Kong companies and does not impose withholding tax on dividends paid outside of Hong Kong by Hong Kong companies. Accordingly, investors will not be subject to Hong Kong withholding tax with respect to a disposition of their ADSs or with respect to the receipt of dividends on their ADSs, if any. No income tax treaty relevant to the acquiring, withholding or dealing in the ADSs or the ordinary shares underlying our ADSs exists between Hong Kong and the U.S.
Estate duty. Estate duties are imposed upon the value of properties situated or deemed to be situated in Hong Kong that pass to a person’s estate upon his or her death. Our ordinary shares are Hong Kong property under Hong Kong law, and accordingly may be subject to estate duty on the death of the beneficial owner of such ordinary shares, regardless of the place of the owner’s residence, citizenship or domicile. We cannot assure you that the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department will not treat the ADSs as Hong Kong property that may be subject to estate duty on the death of the beneficial owner of the ADSs, notwithstanding that the ADRs representing such ADSs may be situated outside Hong Kong at the date of such death. Hong Kong estate duty is currently imposed on a progressive scale from 5% to 15%, which rate and threshold has been adjusted on a fairly regular basis in the past. No estate duty is payable when the aggregate value of the dutiable estate does not exceed HK$7.5 million, and the maximum rate of 15% applies when the aggregate value of the dutiable estate exceeds HK$10.5 million. The Hong Kong Financial Secretary proposed in his 2005/2006 Budget to abolish estate duty, but the necessary legislative changes have not yet been made as at the date of this document.
Stamp duty. Hong Kong stamp duty is generally payable on the transfer of shares in companies incorporated in Hong Kong. The stamp duty is payable both by the purchaser on every purchase and by the seller on every sale of such shares at the ad valorem rate of HK$1.00 per HK$1,000 or part thereof, on the higher of the consideration for or the value of the shares transferred. In addition, a fixed duty, currently of HK$5, is payable on an instrument of transfer of such shares. Where one party to the sale is a non-resident of Hong Kong and does not pay the required stamp duty, the stamp duty not paid will be assessed on the instrument of transfer of such shares (if any), and the purchaser will be liable for payment of such stamp duty. A withdrawal of ordinary shares upon the surrender of ADSs, and the issuance of ADSs upon the deposit of ordinary shares, will also require payment of Hong Kong stamp duty at the rate described above for sale and purchase transactions, unless such withdrawal or deposit does not result in a change in the beneficial ownership of shares under Hong Kong law. The issuance of the ADSs upon the deposit of ordinary shares issued directly to the depositary or for the account of the depositary does not require payment of stamp duty. In addition, no Hong Kong stamp duty is payable upon the transfer of ADSs effected outside Hong Kong.
United States federal income taxation
This discussion describes the material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the purchase, ownership and disposition of our ADSs. This discussion does not address any aspect of U.S. federal gift or estate tax, or the state, local or foreign tax consequences of an investment in our ADSs. This discussion applies to you only if you hold and beneficially own our ADSs as capital

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assets for tax purposes. This discussion does not apply to you if you are a member of a class of holders subject to special rules, such as:
    dealers in securities or currencies;
 
    traders in securities that elect to use a mark-to-market method of accounting for securities holdings;
 
    banks or other financial institutions;
 
    insurance companies;
 
    tax-exempt organizations;
 
    partnerships and other entities treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes or persons holding ADSs through any such entities;
 
    persons that hold ADSs as part of a hedge, straddle, constructive sale, conversion transaction or other integrated investment;
 
    U.S. Holders (as defined below) whose functional currency for tax purposes is not the U.S. dollar;
 
    persons liable for alternative minimum tax; or
 
    persons who actually or constructively own 10% or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of our shares (including ADSs) entitled to vote.
This discussion is based on the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, which we refer to in this discussion as the Code, its legislative history, existing and proposed regulations promulgated thereunder, published rulings and court decisions, all as currently in effect. These laws are subject to change, possibly on a retroactive basis. In addition, this discussion relies on our assumptions regarding the value of our shares and the nature of our business over time. Finally, this discussion is based in part upon the representations of the depositary and the assumption that each obligation in the deposit agreement and any related agreement will be performed in accordance with its terms. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, as a holder of ADSs, you are treated as the owner of the underlying ordinary shares represented by such ADSs.
You should consult your own tax advisor concerning the particular U.S. federal income tax consequences to you of the purchase, ownership and disposition of our ADSs, as well as the consequences to you arising under the laws of any other taxing jurisdiction.
For purposes of the U.S. federal income tax discussion below, you are a “U.S. Holder” if you beneficially own ADSs and are:
    a citizen or resident of the United States for U.S. federal income tax purposes;
 
    a corporation, or other entity taxable as a corporation, that was created or organized in or under the laws of the United States or any political subdivision thereof;
 
    an estate the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income tax regardless of its source; or
 
    a trust if (a) a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over its administration and one or more U.S. persons have the authority to control all

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      substantial decisions of the trust, or (b) the trust has a valid election in effect to be treated as a U.S. person.
If you are not a U.S. person, please refer to the discussion below under “Non-U.S. Holders.”
For U.S. federal income tax purposes, income earned through a foreign or domestic partnership or other flow-through entity is attributed to its owners. Accordingly, if a partnership or other flow-through entity holds ADSs, the tax treatment of the holder will generally depend on the status of the partner or other owner and the activities of the partnership or other flow-through entity.
U.S. Holders
Dividends on ADSs
We do not anticipate paying dividends on our ordinary shares or indirectly on our ADSs, in the foreseeable future. See “Dividend policy.”
Subject to the “Passive Foreign Investment Company” discussion below, if we do make distributions and you are a U.S. Holder, the gross amount of any distributions you receive on your ADSs will generally be treated as dividend income if the distributions are made from our current or accumulated earnings and profits, calculated according to U.S. federal income tax principles. Dividends will generally be subject to U.S. federal income tax as ordinary income on the day you actually or constructively receive such income. However, if you are an individual and have held your ADSs for a sufficient period of time, dividend distributions on our ADSs will generally constitute qualified dividend income taxed at a preferential rate (generally 15% for dividend distributions before January 1, 2009) as long as our ADSs continue to be readily tradable on Nasdaq and certain other conditions apply. You should consult your own tax adviser as to the rate of tax that will apply to you with respect to dividend distributions, if any, you receive from us.
We do not intend to calculate our earnings and profits according to U.S. tax accounting principles. Accordingly, distributions on our ADSs, if any, will generally be taxed to you as dividend distributions for U.S. tax purposes. Even if you are a corporation, you will not be entitled to claim a dividends-received deduction with respect to distributions you receive from us. Dividends generally will constitute foreign source passive income for U.S. foreign tax credit limitation purposes.
Sales and other dispositions of ADSs
Subject to the “Passive Foreign Investment Company” discussion below, when you sell or otherwise dispose of ADSs, you will generally recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the amount realized on the sale or other disposition and your adjusted tax basis in the ADSs, both as determined in U.S. dollars. Your adjusted tax basis will generally equal the amount you paid for the ADSs. Any gain or loss you recognize will be long-term capital gain or loss if your holding period in our ADSs is more than one year at the time of disposition. If you are an individual, any such long-term capital gain will be taxed at preferential rates. Your ability to deduct capital losses will be subject to various limitations.
Passive Foreign Investment Company
If we were a Passive Foreign Investment Company or “PFIC” in any taxable year in which you hold our ADSs, as a U.S. Holder, you would generally be subject to adverse U.S. tax consequences, in the form of increased tax liabilities and special U.S. tax reporting requirements.

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We will be classified as a PFIC in any taxable year if either: (1) the average percentage value of our gross assets during the taxable year that produce passive income or are held for the production of passive income is at least 50% of the value of our total gross assets or (2) 75% or more of our gross income for the taxable year is passive income (such as certain dividends, interest or royalties). For purposes of the first test: (1) any cash, cash equivalents, and cash invested in short-term, interest bearing, debt instruments, or bank deposits that is readily convertible into cash, will generally count as producing passive income or held for the production of passive income and (2) the average value of our gross assets is calculated based on our market capitalization.
We believe that we were not a PFIC for the taxable year 2005. However, there can be no assurance that we will not be a PFIC for the taxable year 2005 and/or later taxable years, as PFIC status is re-tested each year and depends on the facts in such year. For example, we would be a PFIC for the taxable year 2006 if the sum of our average market capitalization, which is our share price multiplied by the total amount of our outstanding shares, and our liabilities over that taxable year is not more than twice the value of our cash, cash equivalents, and other assets that are readily converted into cash. In particular, we currently deposit a substantial portion of our net proceeds from our initial public offering in interest bearing bank accounts, which we book as cash and cash equivalents, but the value of our ADSs have declined to a low of $3.95 per ADS on November 30, 2006 from a high achieved on the date of our initial public offering of $15.99 per ADS. If the value of our outstanding stock were to continue to decrease for an extended period of time in which we hold substantial cash and cash equivalents, we would likely become a PFIC. We could also be a PFIC for any taxable year if the gross income that we and our subsidiaries earn from investing the portion of the cash raised in our initial public offering in 2004 that exceeds the immediate capital needs of our active online business is substantial in comparison with the gross income from our business operations.
If we were a PFIC, you would generally be subject to additional taxes and interest charges on certain “excess” distributions we make and on any gain realized on the disposition or deemed disposition of your ADSs, regardless of whether we continue to be a PFIC in the year in which you receive an “excess” distribution or dispose of or are deemed to dispose of your ADSs. Distributions in respect of your ADSs during a taxable year would generally constitute “excess” distributions if, in the aggregate, they exceed 125% of the average amount of distributions in respect of your ADSs over the three preceding taxable years or, if shorter, the portion of your holding period before such taxable year.
To compute the tax on “excess” distributions or any gain, (1) the “excess” distribution or the gain would be allocated ratably to each day in your holding period, (2) the amount allocated to the current year and any tax year before we became a PFIC would be taxed as ordinary income in the current year, (3) the amount allocated to other taxable years would be taxable at the highest applicable marginal rate in effect for that year, and (4) an interest charge at the rate for underpayment of taxes for any period described under (3) above would be imposed with respect to any portion of the “excess” distribution or gain that is allocated to such period. In addition, if we were a PFIC, no distribution that you receive from us would qualify for taxation at the preferential rate discussed in the “Dividends on ADSs” section above.
If we were a PFIC in any year, as a U.S. Holder, you would be required to make an annual return on IRS Form 8621 regarding your ADSs. However, we do not intend to generate, or share with you, information that you might need to properly complete IRS Form 8621. You should consult with your own tax adviser regarding reporting requirements with regard to your ADSs.
If we were a PFIC in any year, you would generally be able to avoid the “excess” distribution rules described above by making a timely so-called “mark-to-market” election with respect to your ADSs provided our ADSs are “marketable”. Our ADSs will be “marketable” as long as they remain regularly traded on a national securities exchange, such as Nasdaq. If you made this

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election in a timely fashion, you would generally recognize as ordinary income or ordinary loss the difference between the fair market value of your ADSs on the first day of any taxable year and their value on the last day of that taxable year. Any ordinary income resulting from this election would generally be taxed at ordinary income rates and would not be eligible for the reduced rate of tax applicable to qualified dividend income. Any ordinary losses would be limited to the extent of the net amount of previously included income as a result of the mark-to-market election, if any. Your basis in the ADSs would be adjusted to reflect any such income or loss. You should consult with your own tax adviser regarding potential advantages and disadvantages to you of making a “mark-to-market” election with respect to your ADSs. Separately, if we were a PFIC in any year, you would be able to avoid the “excess” distribution rules by making a timely election to treat us as a so-called “Qualified Electing Fund” or “QEF.” You would then generally be required to include in gross income for any taxable year (1) as ordinary income, your pro rata share of our ordinary earnings for the taxable year, and (2) as long-term capital gain, your pro rata share of our net capital gain for the taxable year. However, we do not intend to provide you with the information you would need to make or maintain a “QEF” election and you will, therefore, not be able to make or maintain such an election with respect to your ADSs.
Non-U.S. Holders
If you beneficially own ADSs and are not a U.S. Holder for U.S. federal income tax purposes (a “Non-U.S. Holder”), you generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax or withholding on dividends received from us with respect to ADSs unless that income is considered effectively connected with your conduct of a U.S. trade or business and, if an applicable income tax treaty so requires as a condition for you to be subject to U.S. federal income tax with respect to income from your ADSs, such dividends are attributable to a permanent establishment that you maintain in the United States. You generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax, including withholding tax, on any gain realized upon the sale or exchange of ADSs, unless:
    that gain is effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business and, if an applicable income tax treaty so requires as a condition for you to be subject to U.S. federal income tax with respect to income from your ADSs, such gain is attributable to a permanent establishment that you maintain in the United States; or
 
    you are a nonresident alien individual and are present in the United States for at least 183 days in the taxable year of the sale or other disposition and either (1) your gain is attributable to an office or other fixed place of business that you maintain in the United States or (2) you have a tax home in the United States.
If you are engaged in a U.S. trade or business, unless an applicable tax treaty provides otherwise, the income from your ADSs, including dividends and the gain from the disposition of ADSs, that is effectively connected with the conduct of that trade or business will generally be subject to the rules applicable to U.S. Holders discussed above. In addition, if you are a corporation, you may be subject to an additional branch profits tax at a rate of 30% or any lower rate under an applicable tax treaty.
U.S. information reporting and backup withholding rules
In general, dividend payments with respect to the ADSs and the proceeds received on the sale or other disposition of those ADSs may be subject to information reporting to the IRS and to backup withholding (currently imposed at a rate of 28%). Backup withholding will not apply, however, if you (1) are a corporation or come within certain other exempt categories and, when required, can demonstrate that fact or (2) provide a taxpayer identification number, certify as to no loss of exemption from backup withholding and otherwise comply with the applicable backup withholding rules. To establish your status as an exempt person, you will generally be

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required to provide certification on IRS Form W-9, W-8BEN or W-8ECI, as applicable. Any amounts withheld from payments to you under the backup withholding rules will be allowed as a refund or a credit against your U.S. federal income tax liability, provide that you furnish the required information to the IRS.
HOLDERS OF OUR ADSS SHOULD CONSULT WITH THEIR OWN TAX ADVISORS REGARDING THE APPLICATION OF THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX LAWS TO THEIR PARTICULAR SITUATIONS AS WELL AS ANY TAX CONSEQUENCES RESULTING FROM PURCHASING, HOLDING OR DISPOSING OF THE ADSS, INCLUDING THE APPLICABILITY AND EFFECT OF THE TAX LAWS OF ANY STATE, LOCAL OR FOREIGN JURISDICTION AND INCLUDING ESTATE, GIFT, AND INHERITANCE LAWS.
F. Dividends and paying agents.
Not applicable.
G. Statement by experts.
Not applicable.
H. Documents on display.
We have previously filed with the Commission our registration statement on Form F-1, as amended, and our prospectus under the Securities Act of 1933, with respect to our ordinary shares.
We are subject to the periodic reporting and other informational requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. Under the Exchange Act, we are required to file reports and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Specifically, we are required to file annually a Form 20-F no later than six months after the close of each fiscal year, which is December 31. Copies of reports and other information, when so filed, may be inspected without charge and may be obtained at prescribed rates at the public reference facilities maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission at Judiciary Plaza, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549, and at the regional office of the Securities and Exchange Commission located at Citicorp Center, 500 West Madison Street, Suite 1400, Chicago, Illinois 60661. The public may obtain information regarding the Washington, D.C. Public Reference Room by calling the Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC also maintains a Web site at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding registrants that make electronic filings with the SEC using its EDGAR system. As a foreign private issuer, we are exempt from the rules under the Exchange Act prescribing the furnishing and content of quarterly reports and proxy statements, and officers, directors and principal shareholders are exempt from the reporting and short-swing profit recovery provisions contained in Section 16 of the Exchange Act.
Our financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
We will furnish our shareholders with annual reports, which will include a review of operations and annual audited consolidated financial statements prepared in conformity with U.S. GAAP.
I. Subsidiaries information.
Not Applicable.

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ITEM 11. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Please refer to Item 5, “Operating and Financial Review and Prospects; Quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risk.”
ITEM 12. DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES OTHER THAN EQUITY SECURITIES
Not Applicable.
PART II
ITEM 13. DEFAULTS, DIVIDEND ARREARAGES AND DELINQUENCIES
Not Applicable.
ITEM 14. MATERIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE RIGHTS OF SECURITY HOLDERS AND USE OF PROCEEDS
We received net proceeds of approximately US$58.5 million from our initial public offering and have previously disclosed the application of all the offering proceeds.
ITEM 15. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Our management, with the participation of Zhiwei Zhao, our chief executive officer, and Jeff Wang, our chief financial officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or Exchange Act, as of the end of the fiscal year covered by this report. Based on such evaluation, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer have concluded that, as of the end of the fiscal year covered by this report, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective in recording, processing, summarizing and reporting, on a timely basis, information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act.
There have not been any change in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the fiscal year covered by this report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
ITEM 16A. AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT
See Item 6.C. of this annual report, “Directors, Senior Management and Employees — Board Practices.”
Our board of directors has concluded that Mr. Kheng Nam Lee, a member of our audit committee, meets the criteria for an “audit committee financial expert” as established by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Mr. Kheng Nam Lee will not be deemed an “expert” for any purpose, including, without limitation, for purposes of section 11 of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, as a result of being designated or identified as an audit committee financial expert. The designation or identification of Mr. Kheng Nam Lee as an audit committee financial expert does not impose on him any duties, obligations or liability that are greater than the duties, obligations and liability imposed on him as a member of the audit committee and board of directors in the absence of such designation or identification. The designation or identification of Mr. Kheng Nam Lee as

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an audit committee financial expert does not affect the duties, obligations or liability of any other member of the audit committee or board of directors.
ITEM 16B. CODE OF ETHICS
See Item 6.C. of this annual report, “Directors, Senior Management and Employees — Board Practices.”
Our board of directors has adopted a code of ethics, which is applicable to our senior executive and financial officers and any other persons who perform similar functions for us. We have posted the text of our code of ethics on our Internet website at www.chinafinanceonline.com/investor/governance.asp.
ITEM 16C. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES
The following table sets forth the aggregate fees by category specified below in connection with certain professional services rendered by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu CPA Ltd., our independent registered public accounting firm, for the periods indicated. We did not pay any other fees to our independent registered public accounting firm during the periods indicated below.
                 
    For the Year Ended December 31,
    2006   2005
Audit fees(1)
  US$ 257,000     US$ 192,500  
 
(1)   “Audit fees” means the aggregate fees billed in each of the fiscal years listed for professional services rendered by our principal auditors for the audit of our annual financial statements, review of interim financial statements and attestation services that are provided in connection with statutory and regulatory filings or engagements.
ITEM 16D. EXEMPTION FROM THE LISTING STANDARD FOR AUDIT COMMITTEES
Not Applicable.
ITEM 16E. PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY THE ISSUER AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS
NONE
PART III
ITEM 17. FINANCIAL STATEMENT
We have elected to provide financial statements pursuant to Item 18.
ITEM 18. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The consolidated financial statements for China Finance Online Co., Limited and its subsidiaries are included at the end of this annual report.
ITEM 19. EXHIBITS

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Index to exhibits
         
Exhibit        
Number       Description
1.1
      Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association of China Finance Online Co. Limited (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 from our Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-119166) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 4, 2004)
 
       
2.1
      Specimen ordinary share certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 from our Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-119166) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 21, 2004)
 
       
2.2
      Specimen American depositary receipt of China Finance Online Co. Limited (Incorporated by reference to the Registration Statement on Form F-6 (File No. 333-119530) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission with respect to American depositary shares representing ordinary shares on October 5, 2004.
 
       
2.3
      Shareholders Agreement of China Finance Online Co. Limited dated June 2000 among China Finance Online Co., Ltd. and certain of its shareholders (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 from our Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-119166) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 21, 2004)
 
       
4.1
*
    2004 Incentive Stock Option Plan and form of option agreement
 
       
4.2
      Form of Option Agreement with outside consultants and strategic advisors (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 from our Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-119166) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 21, 2004)
 
       
4.3
      Purchase Option and Cooperation Agreement dated May 27, 2004 among China Finance Online Co. Limited, Jun Ning, Wu Chen and Fuhua Innovation Technology Development Co., Ltd. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 from our Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-119166) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 21, 2004)
 
       
4.4
      Share Pledge Agreement dated May 27, 2004 among Jun Ning, Wu Chen and China Finance Online (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 from our Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-119166) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 21, 2004)
 
       
4.5
 
    [Intentionally Omitted]
 
       
4.6
      Proxy from Wu Chen to Jian Feng dated May 27, 2004 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 from our Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-119166) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 21, 2004)
 
       
4.7
*
    Framework Agreement on Exercising Purchase Option dated November 20, 2006 by and among Jun Ning, Wu Chen, Zhiwei Zhao, Fuhua Innovation Technology Development Co., Ltd. and Finance Online (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
 
       
4.8
*
    Share Transfer Contract (related to shares of Beijing Fuhua Innovation Technology Development Co., Ltd.) dated November 20, 2006 by and between Jun Ning and Zhiwei Zhao

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Exhibit        
Number       Description
4.9
*
    Loan Agreement dated November 20, 2006 by and between China Finance Online Co., Limited by and Zhiwei Zhao
 
       
4.10
*
    Purchase Option and Cooperation Agreement dated November 20, 2006 among China Finance Online Co. Limited, Zhiwei Zhao, Wu Chen, Fuhua Innovation Technology Development Co., Ltd. and China Finance Online (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
 
       
4.11
*
    Share Pledge Agreement dated November 20, 2006 among Zhiwei Zhao, Wu Chen, Fuhua Innovation Technology Development Co., Ltd. and China Finance Online (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
 
       
4.12
      Equipment Lease Agreement between China Finance Online (Beijing) Co., Ltd. and Fuhua Innovative Technology Development Co., Ltd. dated May 27, 2004 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.7 from our Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-119166) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 21, 2004)
 
       
4.13
      Technical Support Agreement between China Finance Online (Beijing) Co., Ltd. and Fuhua Innovative Technology Development Co., Ltd. dated May 27, 2004 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.8 from our Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-119166) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 21, 2004)
 
       
4.14
      Amended and Restated Strategic Consulting Agreement between China Finance Online (Beijing) Co., Ltd. and Fuhua Innovative Technology Development Co., Ltd. dated May 27, 2004 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.9 from our Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-119166) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 21, 2004)
 
       
4.15
*†
    Shanghai Stock Exchange Level-II Quotations License Agreement dated June 15, 2006 between SSE Infonet Ltd. and Fortune Software (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
 
       
4.16
*†
      Shenzhen Stock Exchange Proprietary Information License Agreement dated March 20, 2007 between Fortune Software (Beijing) Co., Ltd. and Shenzhen Securities Information Co., Ltd.
 
       
4.17
*
    Domain Name Transfer Agreement dated October 30, 2006 by and among China Finance Online Co., Ltd., China Finance Online (Beijing) Co., Ltd. and Being Fuhua Innovation Technology Development Co., Ltd.
 
       
4.18
*
    Domain Name Transfer Agreement dated October 30, 2006 between Stockstar Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Meining Computer Software Company Limited
 
       
4.19
      Lease Contract for Housing Unit of Corporate Square dated January 19, 2006 between Fortune Software (Beijing) Co. Ltd. and China Galaxy Securities Company Limited (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.20 from our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 23, 2006)

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Exhibit        
Number       Description
4.20
      Lease Contract for Housing Unit of Corporate Square dated January 19, 2006 between Beijing Fuhua Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. and China Galaxy Securities Company Limited (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.20 from our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 23, 2006)
 
       
4.21
      Lease Contract for Housing Unit of Corporate Square dated January 19, 2006 between China Finance Online Co., Ltd. and China Galaxy Securities Company Limited (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.20 from our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 23, 2006)
 
       
4.22
*
    Lease Contract for Housing Unit of Corporate Square dated December 29, 2006 between Beijing Fuhua Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. and China Galaxy Securities Company Limited
 
       
4.23
*
    Lease Contract for Housing Unit of Corporate Square dated December 29, 2006 between Fortune Software (Beijing) Co. Ltd. and China Galaxy Securities Company Limited
 
       
4.24
      Form of indemnification agreement for directors and officers (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.18 from our Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-119166) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 21, 2004)
 
       
4.25
*
    Labor Contract of Jeff (Jun) Wang dated May 24, 2006
 
       
4.26
      Labor Contract of Zhao Zhiwei dated June 21, 2005 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.26 from our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 23, 2006)
 
       
4.27
 
    [Intentionally Omitted]
 
       
4.28
 
    [Intentionally Omitted]
 
       
4.29
      Form of Change in Control Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 from our Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-119166) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 4, 2004)
 
       
4.30
*
    Shanghai Meining Computer Software Company Limited Share Transfer Agreement dated August 15, 2006 among Shanghai Kemei Taidi Telecommunication Equipment Co., Ltd., Beijing Fuhua Innovation Technology Development Co., Ltd., China Finance Online (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
 
       
4.31
*
    Stockstar Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Share Transfer Agreement dated August 15, 2006 by and among Stockstar.com, Inc. and China Finance Online Co., Ltd.
 
       
8.1
*
    List of subsidiaries
 
       
10.1
*
    Consent of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu CPA Ltd

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Exhibit        
Number       Description
12.1
*
    CEO Certification Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) (17 CFR 240.13a-14(a)) (17 CFR 240.13a-14(a)) or Rule 15d-1(a) (17 CFR 240.15d-14(a))
 
       
12.2
*
    CFO Certification Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) (17 CFR 240.13a-14(a)) or Rule 15d-1(a) (17 CFR 240.15d-14(a))
 
       
13.1
*
    CEO Certification Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
 
       
13.2
*
    CFO Certification Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

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CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
SIGNATURE
The registrant hereby certifies that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form 20-F and that it has duly caused and authorized the undersigned to sign this annual report on its behalf.
         
Date: May 29, 2007
  CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED    
 
       
 
  /s/ Jeff Wang

 
Name: Jeff Wang
   
 
 
  Title: Chief Financial Officer    

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CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
         
CONTENTS   PAGE
    F - 2  
    F - 3  
    F - 4  
    F - 5  
    F - 6  
    F - 7  
    F - 31  

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS OF
CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of China Finance Online Co. Limited and its subsidiaries and its variable interest entity (collectively the “Company”) as of December 31, 2005 and 2006 and the related consolidated statements of operations, shareholders’ equity and comprehensive income, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2006, and related financial statement schedule included in Schedule 1. These financial statements and related financial statement schedule are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements and related financial statement schedule based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. Our audit includes consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, such consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2005 and 2006 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2006 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also, in our opinion, the related financial statement schedule, when considered in relation to the basic consolidated financial statements taken as a whole, presents fairly, in all material respects, the information set forth therein.
As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, in 2006 the Company changed its method of accounting for stock-based compensation to conform to Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 123 (revised 2004), “Share-Based Payment”, effective on January 1, 2006.
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu CPA Ltd.
Beijing, China
May 25, 2007

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CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In U.S. dollars, except share-related data)
                 
    December 31,  
    2005     2006  
Assets
               
 
               
Current assets:
               
Cash and cash equivalents
  $ 46,168,385     $ 44,955,553  
Accounts receivable
    144,694       477,778  
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
    1,131,515       927,697  
Deferred tax assets
    64,036       170,478  
 
           
 
Total current assets
    47,508,630       46,531,506  
 
           
 
Cost method investment
    15,000,000       12,606,571  
Property and equipment, net
    512,179       1,697,481  
Rental deposits
    41,393       86,216  
Acquired intangible assets, net
          2,045,224  
Goodwill
    50,534       8,151,851  
 
           
 
Total assets
  $ 63,112,736     $ 71,118,849  
 
           
 
               
Liabilities and shareholders’ equity
               
 
               
Current liabilities:
               
Deferred revenue
  $ 1,859,321     $ 6,418,502  
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
    381,693       2,096,552  
Income taxes payable
    40,762       5,483  
 
           
 
Total current liabilities
    2,281,776       8,520,537  
 
           
 
Deferred tax liabilities
          145,533  
 
           
 
               
Commitments (Note 15)
               
 
               
Shareholders’ equity:
               
Ordinary shares ($0.00013 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized; shares issued and outstanding 101,329,933 in 2005 and 104,384,933 in 2006)
    13,077       13,474  
Additional paid-in capital
    64,564,534       65,756,313  
Treasury shares, at cost (10,708,030 shares in 2005 and 2006)
    (13,200,394 )     (13,200,394 )
Deferred stock-based compensation
    (67,129 )      
Accumulated other comprehensive income
    671,122       1,634,269  
Retained earnings
    8,849,750       8,249,117  
 
           
 
Total shareholders’ equity
    60,830,960       62,452,779  
 
           
 
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity
  $ 63,112,736     $ 71,118,849  
 
           
See notes to consolidated financial statements.

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CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(In U.S. dollars, except share-related data)
                         
    Years ended December 31,  
    2004     2005     2006  
Net revenues
  $ 6,016,449     $ 7,482,166     $ 7,128,078  
Cost of revenues (including stock-based compensation of $825, $740 and $111,612, respectively)
    393,841       482,068       1,467,745  
 
                 
 
Gross profit
    5,622,608       7,000,098       5,660,333  
 
                 
 
                       
Operating expenses:
                       
General and administrative (including stock-based compensation of $286,089, $365,949 and $833,685, respectively)
    727,349       1,740,117       2,955,948  
Product development (including stock-based compensation of $920, $1,610 and $131,134, respectively)
    172,997       236,438       742,728  
Sales and marketing (including stock-based compensation of $1,500, $2,482 and $107,231, respectively)
    801,481       1,794,569       2,665,847  
 
                 
 
Total operating expenses
    1,701,827       3,771,124       6,364,523  
 
                 
 
Income (loss) from operations
    3,920,781       3,228,974       (704,190 )
Interest income
    293,862       1,486,276       1,002,975  
Other (expense) income, net
    (1,579 )     365,965       381,875  
Loss from impairment of cost method investment
                (1,322,000 )
 
                 
 
Income (loss) before income tax benefit (provision)
    4,213,064       5,081,215       (641,340 )
Income tax benefit (provision)
    384,277       (457,028 )     40,707  
 
                 
 
Net income (loss)
  $ 4,597,341     $ 4,624,187     $ (600,633 )
 
                 
 
                       
Income (loss) per share
                       
Basic
  $ 0.12     $ 0.05     $ (0.01 )
 
                 
 
Diluted
  $ 0.05     $ 0.04     $ (0.01 )
 
                 
Weighted average shares used in calculating net income (loss) per share
                       
Basic
    38,912,491       94,341,061       93,650,653  
 
                 
 
Diluted
    90,092,668       104,781,492       101,961,727  
 
                 
See notes to consolidated financial statements.

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CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
(In U.S. dollars, except share-related data)
                                                                                                         
                                                                            Accumulated                    
                                                                            other     Retained              
    Series A convertible     Series B convertible                     Additional             Deferred     comprehensive     earnings     Total        
    preference shares     preference shares     Ordinary shares     paid-in             stock-based     income     (accumulated     shareholders’     Comprehensive  
    Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     capital     Treasury shares     compensation     (loss)     deficit)     equity     income  
Balance as of January 1, 2004
    30,643,000     $ 3,954       20,833,333     $ 2,688       22,123,600     $ 2,852     $ 5,093,384$           $     $ 186     $ (371,778 )   $ 4,731,286          
Issuance of ordinary shares to an employee
                            730,000       94                                     94          
Stock options issued to non-employees
                                        72,764                               72,764          
Deferred stock-based compensation
                                        541,791             (541,791 )                          
Amortization of deferred stock-based compensation
                                                    216,570                   216,570          
Issuance of ordinary shares upon the initial public offering (net of offering costs of $6,469,282)
                            25,000,000       3,226       58,527,492                               58,530,718          
Conversion of preference shares to ordinary shares upon initial public offering
    (30,643,000 )     (3,954 )     (20,833,333 )     (2,688 )     51,476,333       6,642                                              
Distribution to the shareholders of Fuhua
                                        (60,299 )                             (60,299 )        
Foreign currency translation adjustment
                                                          (197 )           (197 )   $ (197 )
Net income
                                                                4,597,341       4,597,341       4,597,341  
 
                                                                             
 
                                                                                                       
Balances as of December 31, 2004
                            99,329,933       12,814       64,175,132             (325,221 )     (11 )     4,225,563       68,088,277     $ 4,597,144  
 
                                                                                                     
 
                                                                                                       
Repurchase of ordinary shares as treasury shares
                                              (13,200,394 )                       (13,200,394 )        
Issuance of ordinary shares to employees
                            2,000,000       263       276,713                               276,976          
Stock options issued to non-employees
                                        112,689                               112,689          
Amortization of deferred stock-based compensation
                                                    258,092                   258,092          
Foreign currency translation adjustment
                                                          671,133             671,133     $ 671,133  
Net income
                                                                4,624,187       4,624,187       4,624,187  
 
                                                                             
 
                                                                                                       
Balance as of December 31, 2005
                            101,329,933       13,077       64,564,534       (13,200,394 )     (67,129 )     671,122       8,849,750       60,830,960     $ 5,295,320  
 
                                                                                                     
Amortization of deferred stock-based compensation
                                        (67,129 )             67,129                            
Issuance of ordinary shares for exercise of stock option by employees
                            3,000,000       390       66,453                                 66,843          
Exercise of stock options by non-employees
                            55,000       7       8,793                               8,800          
Stock-based compensation
                                        1,183,662                               1,183,662          
Foreign currency translation adjustment
                                                          963,147             963,147     $ 963,147  
Net loss
                                                                (600,633 )     (600,633 )     (600,633 )
 
                                                                             
 
                                                                                                       
Balance as of December 31, 2006
        $           $       104,384,933     $ 13,474     $ 65,756,313     $ (13,200,394)     $     $ 1,634,269     $ 8,249,117     $ 62,452,779     $ 362,514  
 
                                                                             
See notes to consolidated financial statements.

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CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(In U.S. dollars)
                         
    Years ended December 31,  
    2004     2005     2006  
Operating activities:
                       
Net income (loss)
  $ 4,597,341     $ 4,624,187     $ (600,633 )
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:
                       
Stock-based compensation
    289,334       370,781       1,183,662  
Depreciation and amortization
    133,208       129,833       301,941  
Deferred taxes
    (386,325 )     322,289       (40,081 )
Loss on disposal of property and equipment
    463       9,686        
Loss from impairment of cost method investment
                1,322,000  
Gain from disposal of cost method investment
                (116,071 )
Changes in assets and liabilities:
                       
Accounts receivable
    (33,921 )     (110,773 )     122,363  
Income taxes recoverable
    268,711       14,573        
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
    (239,513 )     (799,572 )     334,687  
Rental deposits
    (7,161 )     (10,657 )     (31,955 )
Deferred revenue
    2,209,155       (1,627,937 )     3,840,892  
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
    191,328       95,997       (388,662 )
Income taxes payable
          40,762       (36,041 )
 
                 
 
Net cash provided by operating activities
    7,022,620       3,059,169       5,892,102  
 
                 
 
                       
Investing activities:
                       
Acquisition of businesses (net of cash acquired of $828,494, for the year ended December 31, 2006)
                (8,346,856 )
Proceeds from partial sale of cost method investment
                1,187,500  
Purchase of property and equipment
    (199,857 )     (234,696 )     (1,042,423 )
Acquisition of cost investment
          (15,000,000 )      
 
                 
 
Net cash used in investing activities
    (199,857 )     (15,234,696 )     (8,201,779 )
 
                 
 
                       
Financing activities:
                       
Proceeds from stock options exercised by employees
    94       276,976       66,843  
Proceeds from exercise of options granted to non-employee
                8,800  
Repurchase of treasury shares
          (13,200,394 )      
Proceeds from initial public offering, net of offering costs of $6,469,282
    58,530,718              
Dividend paid
    (502,552 )            
Distribution to the shareholders of Fuhua
    (60,299 )            
 
                 
 
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities
    57,967,961       (12,923,418 )     75,643  
 
                 
 
Effect of exchange rate changes
    (197 )     671,133       1,021,202  
 
                 
 
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
    64,790,527       (24,427,812 )     (1,212,832 )
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year
    5,805,670       70,596,197       46,168,385  
 
                 
 
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year
  $ 70,596,197     $ 46,168,385       44,955,553  
 
                 
 
                       
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information
                       
Income taxes paid
  $ 16,621     $ 93,977     $ 36,089  
 
                 
 
                       
Supplemental disclosures of non-cash financing activities:
                       
Conversion of Series A and Series B convertible preference shares into ordinary shares
  $ 6,642     $     $  
 
                 
See notes to consolidated financial statements.

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CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
1.   ORGANIZATION AND PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES
 
    China Finance Online Co. Limited (“China Finance Online”) was incorporated in Hong Kong on November 2, 1998. China Finance Online and its subsidiaries including its variable interest entity (collectively, the “Company”) are principally engaged in the sale of online financial services analyzing financial and listed company information in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”). The services are provided through downloadable proprietary software research tools on their website www.jrj.com.
 
    Details of China Finance Online’s subsidiaries and variable interest entity as of December 31, 2006 were as follows:
                 
            Beneficial
    Place of   ownership
Company name   incorporation   interest
China Finance Online (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (“CFO Beijing”)
  Beijing, PRC     100 %
 
               
Fortune Software (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (“CFO Software”)
  Beijing, PRC     100 %
 
               
Beijing Fuhua Innovation Technology Investment Co., Ltd. *
  Beijing, PRC     100 %
 
               
Shenzhen Genius Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“CFO Genius”) (Note 3)
  Shenzhen, PRC     100 %
 
               
Shanghai Meining Computer Software Co., Ltd. (“CFO Meining”) (Note 3)
  Shanghai, PRC     100 %
 
               
Stockstar Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (“CFO Stockstar”) (Note 3)
  Shanghai, PRC     100 %
 
*   Represents a variable interest entity
    PRC regulations prohibit direct foreign ownership of business entities providing internet content, or ICP, services in the PRC such as the Company’s business of providing financial information and data to Internet users as certain licenses are required for the provision of such services. China Finance Online and CFO Beijing are foreign or foreign invested enterprises under PRC law and accordingly are ineligible for a license to operate ICP services. In order to comply with these regulations, in December 2000, China Finance Online established Beijing Fuhua Innovation Technology Investment Co., Ltd. (“Fuhua”), a variable interest entity, (“VIE”) as defined by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Interpretation No. 46 (revised) (“FIN 46(R)”) through two designated equity owners who are PRC citizens and legally own Fuhua.

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
1.   ORGANIZATION AND PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES — continued
 
    In 2004 China Finance Online signed a series of agreements with Fuhua and its shareholders that provide the Company with the substantial ability to control Fuhua. Pursuant to these contractual arrangements with Fuhua, China Finance Online provides equipment, services and a domain name license to Fuhua in exchange for fees. The principal equipment lease, services and domain name license agreements that China Finance Online has entered into with Fuhua include:
    Ÿ an equipment leasing agreement, pursuant to which Fuhua leases a substantial majority of its operating assets from CFO Beijing;
    Ÿ a technical support agreement, pursuant to which CFO Beijing provides technical support for Fuhua’s operations;
    Ÿ an amended and restated strategic consulting agreement, pursuant to which CFO Beijing provides strategic consulting services to Fuhua, including consulting services in relation to Fuhua’s online advertising business; and
    Ÿ a domain name licensing agreement, pursuant to which CFO Beijing licenses to Fuhua its domain name, www.jrj.com.cn.
As a result of a Ministry of Information Industry circular issued in 2006 regulating among other things the ownership of domain names by foreign invested value-added telcommunications businesses (including Internet and wireless content providers), China Finance Online and CFO Beijing transferred ownership of the domain names, www.jrj.com and www.jrj.com.cn, to Fuhua and terminated its licensing arrangements regarding www.jrj.com.cn.
China Finance Online has the right to determine the amount of these fees and they are intended to transfer substantially all of the economic benefits of Fuhua to the Company.
In addition, China Finance Online has entered into agreements with Fuhua and its shareholders that provide the Company with the substantial ability to control Fuhua. Pursuant to these contractual arrangements:
    Ÿ the shareholders of Fuhua have granted China Finance Online or individuals designated by China Finance Online an irrevocable proxy to exercise all their voting rights as shareholders of Fuhua, including the right to appoint directors, the general manager and other senior management of Fuhua;
 
    Ÿ Fuhua will not enter into any transaction that may materially affect its assets, liabilities, equity or operations without China Finance Online’s prior written consent;
 
    Ÿ Fuhua will not distribute any dividends;
 
    Ÿ China Finance Online may purchase the entire equity interest in, or all the assets of, Fuhua when and if such purchase is permitted by PRC law or the current shareholders of Fuhua cease to be directors or employees of Fuhua;
 
    Ÿ the shareholders of Fuhua have pledged their equity interest in Fuhua to CFO Beijing to secure the payment obligations of Fuhua under the equipment leasing agreement, the technical support agreement and the amended and restated strategic consulting agreement between CFO Beijing and Fuhua; and
 
    Ÿ the shareholders of Fuhua will not transfer, sell, pledge, dispose of or create any encumbrance on their equity interest in Fuhua without the prior written consent of CFO Beijing.
Each of the contractual arrangement with Fuhua and its shareholders can only be amended with the approval of our audit committee or another independent body of China Finance Online’s board of directors.
China Finance Online made a loan to each of two shareholders of Fuhua solely for the purposes of capitalizing Fuhua. Pursuant to the loan agreements, these loans can only be repaid by transferring all of their interests in Fuhua to China Finance Online or a third party designated by China Finance Online. While Hong Kong law limits the maximum interest payment chargeable under a loan to 60% of the outstanding principal amount per annum, China Finance Online does not believe this limitation will have a material adverse effect on its business and operations, or will result in a material amount being paid to the shareholders of Fuhua if and when they are permitted to transfer their interests in Fuhua to China Finance Online. China Finance Online does not regard the shareholders of Fuhua as having any interest in Fuhua.
China Finance Online made a loan to Fuhua in 2006 to finance its acquisition of RMB12,000,000.
The following financial statement amounts and balances of Fuhua were included in the accompanying consolidated financial statements as of and for years ended December 31, 2004, 2005 and 2006:
                 
    December 31,  
    2005     2006  
Total assets
    816,882       3,294,204  
Total liabilities
    445,079       2,915,166  
 
           
                         
    Years ended December 31,  
    2004     2005     2006  
Total revenue
    125,090       1,222,747       1,286,614  
Total net income (loss)
    1,391       435       (4,999 )
 
                 
2.   SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
 
    Basis of presentation
 
    The consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”).
 
    Basis of consolidation
 
    The consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of China Finance Online, its subsidiaries and a variable interest entity. All inter-company transactions and balances have been eliminated upon consolidation.
 
    Cash and cash equivalents
 
    Cash and cash equivalents consist of cash on hand and highly liquid investments which are unrestricted as to withdrawal or use, and which have remaining maturities of three months or less when purchased.
 
    Use of estimates
 
    The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and revenue and expenses in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Significant accounting estimates reflected in the Company’s financial statements include valuation allowance for deferred tax assets, stock-based compensation expense, and impairment of cost method investment. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
2.   SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES — continued
 
    Property and equipment, net
 
    Property and equipment, net are carried at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is calculated on a straight-line basis over the following estimated useful lives:
     
Technology infrastructure
  5 years
Computer equipment
  5 years
Furniture, fixtures and equipment
  5 years
Motor vehicle
  5 years
Leasehold improvements
  Shorter of the lease term or 5 years
    Acquired intangible assets, net
 
    Acquired intangible assets consists of intangible assets acquired through various acquisitions as described in note 3 and are amortized on a straight-line basis over their expected useful economic lives.
 
    If an intangible asset is determined to have an indefinite useful life, it should not be amortized until its useful life is determined to be no longer indefinite. The Company reviews intangible assets’ remaining useful lives in each reporting period. If such an asset is later determined to have a finite useful life, the asset will be tested for impairment. That asset will then be amortized prospectively over its estimated remaining useful life and accounted for in the same way as intangible assets subject to amortization. An intangible asset that is not subject to amortization is tested for impairment at least annually.
 
    Impairment of long-lived assets
 
    The Company reviews its long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may no longer be recoverable. When these events occur, the Company measures impairment by comparing the carrying value of the long-lived assets to the estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to result from the use of the assets and their eventual disposition. If the sum of the expected undiscounted cash flow is less than the carrying amount of the assets, the Company would recognize an impairment loss based on the fair value of the assets.

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
2.   SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES — continued
 
    Goodwill
 
    The excess of the purchase price over the fair value of net assets acquired is recorded on the consolidated balance sheet as goodwill.
 
    The Company tests goodwill annually following a two-step process. The first step compares the fair values of each reporting unit to its carrying amount, including goodwill. If the fair value of each reporting unit exceeds its carrying amount, goodwill is not considered to be impaired and the second step will not be required. If the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, the second step compares the implied fair value of goodwill to the carrying value of a reporting unit’s goodwill. The implied fair value of goodwill is determined in a manner similar to accounting for a business combination with the allocation of the assessed fair value determined in the first step to the assets and liabilities of the reporting unit. The excess of the fair value of the reporting unit over the amounts assigned to the assets and liabilities is the implied fair value of goodwill. An impairment loss is recognized for any excess in the carrying value of goodwill over the implied fair value of goodwill.
 
    The Company performs a goodwill impairment test annually on one reporting unit on December 31 and another two reporting units on October 1 by comparing the book value to the fair value of each reporting unit. Based on the Company’s assessment, there was no impairment of goodwill for the years ended December 31, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
 
    Revenue recognition
 
    The Company generates revenue primarily from annual subscription fees from subscribers to their financial data and information services including their downloadable proprietary software research tools. The Company recognizes revenue under the provisions of Statement of Position No 97-2 (“SOP 97-2”) entitled “Software Revenue Recognition” (as amended by SOP 98-9). Accordingly, the Company recognizes revenues when all of the following criteria are met: (1) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (2) delivery has occurred, (3) the fee is fixed or determinable and (4) collectibility is probable. Upon receipt of the upfront cash payments from the subscriber, the Company will activate the subscribers account and provide the subscriber the access code. This will commence the one-year subscription period and the full payment will be deferred and recognized ratably over the one-year subscription period. Since the Company does not have sufficient vendor specific objective evidence to allocate revenue to the various elements of the arrangement, the Company recognizes revenue ratably over the life of the arrangement.

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
2.   SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES — continued
 
    Revenue recognition — continued
 
    The Company provides short messaging services ("SMS") which are delivered primarily through intermediary companies licensed to provide SMS services on behalf of mobile phone service providers. The Company evaluates the criteria outlined in EITF No. 99-19, "Reporting Revenue Gross as Principal Versus Net as an Agent," in determining whether it is appropriate to record the gross amount of revenues and related costs or the net amount earned after deducting service and network fees paid to the mobile phone service providers. The Company records the net amount of revenue received from the intermediary company after deducting service and network fees when the Company is the agent in transactions primarily working through an intermediary of the mobile phone service provider, has little latitude in establishing prices, and is not involved in the determination of the service specification. The Company records the gross amounts billed to its customers when the Company is the primarily obligor in these transactions as it has latitude in establishing prices, is involved in the determination of the service specifications and has the right to select suppliers. When recording the gross revenue, the Company measures its revenues based on the total amount paid by its customers, for which the mobile phone service provider bills and collects on the Company’s behalf. Accordingly, the 15-35% service fee paid to the mobile phone service provider is included in the cost of revenues.
 
    The Company generally derives its advertising fees from advertising sales on their Website principally for a fixed period of time, generally less than one year. Revenues from advertising arrangements are recognized ratably over the period the advertising is displayed.
 
    Business taxes and value added taxes
 
    Revenue is recorded net of business taxes when incurred. The Company is subject to business taxes of approximately 5% on taxable services provided to its customers. During the years ended December 31, 2004, 2005, and 2006, business taxes totaled $47,914, $144,590, and $208,559, respectively.
 
    The Company’s PRC subsidiaries are subject to value added tax at a rate of 17% on subscription-based revenue. Value added tax payable on subscription-based revenue is computed net of value added tax paid on purchases. In respect of subscription-based revenue, however, if the net amount of value added tax payable exceeds 3% of subscription-based revenue, the excess portion of value added tax can be refunded immediately. The Company therefore is subject to an effective net value added tax burden of 3% from subscription-based revenue and records value added tax on a net basis. Net amount of value added tax is recorded either in the line item of other current liabilities or prepaid expenses and other current assets on the face of consolidated balance sheet.
 
    Subscription-based revenue includes the benefit of the rebate of value added taxes on sale of the downloadable software received from the Chinese tax authorities as part of the PRC government policy of encouraging software development in the PRC. In 2004, 2005 and 2006, the Company recognized $613,050, $708,613 and $516,773, respectively, in value added tax refunds.

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
2.   SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES — continued
 
    Deferred revenue
 
    Payments received in advance of service are recorded as deferred revenue until earned and when the relevant revenue recognition requirements have been met.
 
    Cost method investment
 
    For investments in an investee over which the Company does not have significant influence, the Company carries the investment at cost and recognizes income as any dividends received from distribution of investee’s earnings. The Company reviews the cost investments for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may no longer be recoverable. An impairment loss is recognized in earnings equal to the difference between the investment’s cost and its fair value at the balance sheet date of the reporting period for which the assessment is made. The fair value of the investment would then become the new cost basis of the investment. The Company recorded an impairment charge totaling $1,322,000 during the year ended December 31, 2006. No impairment charges were recorded during the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2005.
 
    Foreign currency translation
 
    The functional currency of China Finance Online’s subsidiaries and variable interest entity is Renminbi (“RMB”). Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in other currencies are translated into the applicable functional currencies at rates of exchange in effect at the balance sheet date. Nonmonetary assets and liabilities are remeasured into the applicable functional currencies at historical exchange rates and transactions denominated in other currencies are translated using the average rate for the year. Exchange gains and losses are recorded in the consolidated statement of operations.
 
    China Finance Online uses the U.S. dollar as its functional and reporting currency. Accordingly assets and liabilities are translated using the exchange rates in effect on the balance sheet date. Transactions in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are translated using the average exchange rate prevailing in the period when transactions occurred. Translation adjustments are reported as cumulative transition adjustments and are shown as a separate component of other comprehensive income (loss) in the accompanying consolidated statements of shareholders’ equity and comprehensive income (loss).

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
2.   SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES — continued
 
    Foreign currency risk
 
    The RMB is not a freely convertible currency. The State Administration for Foreign Exchange, under the authority of the People’s Bank of China, controls the conversion of Renminbi into foreign currencies. The value of the RMB is subject to changes in central government policies and to international economic and political developments affecting supply and demand in the China Foreign Exchange Trading System market. Cash and cash equivalents of the Company included aggregate amounts of $42,676,039 at December 31, 2005 and $39,197,490 at December 31, 2006 which were denominated in RMB.
 
    Cost of data
 
    Cost of data is expensed as incurred and is recorded in cost of revenues.
 
    Product development expenses
 
    Costs of product development, including database technology, are expensed as incurred until technological feasibility has been established, at which time any additional costs would be capitalized. To date, the Company has essentially completed its development concurrently with the establishment of technological feasibility, and, accordingly, no costs have been capitalized.
 
    Advertising costs
 
    The Company expenses advertising costs as incurred. Total advertising expenses were $414,907, $1,389,899 and $921,365 for the years ended December 31, 2004, 2005 and 2006, respectively, and have been included as part of sales and marketing expenses.
 
    Income taxes
 
    Deferred income taxes are recognized for temporary differences between the tax basis of assets and liabilities and their reported amounts in the financial statements, net operating loss carry forwards and credits by applying enacted statutory tax rates applicable to future years. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance when, in the opinion of management, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Current income taxes are provided for in accordance with the laws of the relevant taxing authorities.
 
    Comprehensive income
 
    Comprehensive income includes net income (loss) and foreign currency translation adjustments. Comprehensive income is reported as a component of the consolidated statements of shareholders’ equity and comprehensive income.
 
    Fair value of financial instruments
 
    Financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents and accounts receivable. The carrying values of cash and cash equivalents and accounts receivable approximate their fair value due to their short-term maturities.

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
2.   SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES — continued
 
    Concentrations of credit risk
 
    Financial instruments that potentially expose the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist principally of cash and cash equivalents and accounts receivable. The Company places its cash and cash equivalents with financial institutions with high-credit ratings and quality.
 
    The Company conducts ongoing credit evaluations of its customers and generally does not require collateral or other security from its customers. The Company manages its credit risk by collecting up-front retainers from its customers and billing at regular intervals during the contract period. The Company assesses the adequacy of allowance for doubtful accounts primarily based upon the age of the receivables and factors surrounding the credit risk of specific customers.
 
    There were no customers with 10% or more of the Company’s revenues and accounts receivable during 2004, 2005, and 2006.
 
    Stock-based compensation
 
    Effective January 1, 2006, the Company adopted the fair value recognition provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (“SFAS”) No. 123 (revised 2004), “Share-Based Payment” (“SFAS 123(R)”), using the modified prospective transition method. Under this method, stock-based compensation expense recognized beginning January 1, 2006 includes: (a) compensation expense for all stock-based compensation awards granted prior to, but not yet vested as of January 1, 2006 based on the fair market value as of the grant date, measured in accordance with SFAS 123, and (b) compensation expense for all stock-based compensation awards granted on or subsequent to January 1, 2006, based on grant-date fair vale estimated in accordance with the provisions of SFAS 123(R). The Company recognizes stock-based compensation costs on a graded-vesting attribution method over the requisite service period which is generally the vesting period.
 
    For options vested prior to January 1, 2006, the Company accounted for share-based compensation plans in accordance with Accounting Principles Board (“APB”) Opinion No. 25, “Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees”, as amended (“APB 25”). Accordingly, the Company recognized compensation expense only when options were granted with a discounted exercise price. The compensation expense was recognized ratably over the requisite service period, which was generally the vesting period of the options.

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
2.   SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES — continued
 
    Income (loss) per share
 
    Basic income (loss) per share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. Diluted income (loss) per ordinary share reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue ordinary shares were exercised or converted into ordinary shares.
 
    Recent accounting standards
 
    In December 2004, the FASB issued SFAS No. 153, “Exchanges of Nonmonetary Assets — an amendment of APB Opinion No. 29,” which amends Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 29, “Accounting for Nonmonetary Transactions,” to eliminate the exception for nonmonetary exchanges of similar productive assets and replaces it with a general exception for exchanges of nonmonetary assets that do not have commercial substance. The Company adopted SFAS No. 153 on January 1, 2006 and the adoption of SFAS No. 153 did not have a material effect on its consolidated financial position or results of operations.
 
    In May 2005, the FASB issued SFAS No. 154, “Accounting Changes and Error Corrections”, which replaces Accounting Principles Board Opinions No. 20 “Accounting Changes” and SFAS No. 3, “Reporting Accounting Changes in Interim Financial Statements — An Amendment of APB Opinion No. 28.” SFAS No. 154 provides guidance on the accounting for and reporting of accounting changes and error corrections. It establishes retrospective application, or the latest practicable date, as the required method for reporting a change in accounting principle and the reporting of a correction of an error. The Company adopted SFAS No. 154 on January 1, 2006 and the adoption of SFAS No. 154 did not have a material effect on its consolidated financial position or results of operations.
 
    In September 2006, the FASB issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 157, “Fair Value Measurements” (“SFAS No. 157”), which provides enhanced guidance for using fair value to measure assets and liabilities. SFAS No. 157 also responds to investors’ requests for expanded information about the extent to which companies measure assets and liabilities at fair value, the information used to measure fair value, and the effect of fair value measurements on earnings. SFAS No. 157 applies whenever other standards require (or permit) assets or liabilities to be measured at fair value. SFAS No. 157 does not expand the use of fair value in any new circumstances. SFAS No. 157 is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after November 12, 2007, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently evaluating whether the adoption of SFAS No. 157 will have a material effect on its consolidated results of operations and financial position.

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
2.   SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES — continued
 
    Recent accounting standards — continued
 
    In February 2007, the FASB issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, Including an amendment of FASB Statement No. 115” (SFAS No. 159). SFAS No. 159 provides companies with an option to report selected financial assets and liabilities at fair value. SFAS No. 159 requires companies to provide additional information that will help investors and other users of financial statements to more easily understand the effect of the company’s choice to use fair value on its earnings. It also requires entities to display the fair value of those assets and liabilities for which the Company has chosen to use fair value on the face of the balance sheet. SFAS No. 159 is effective as of the beginning of an entity’s first fiscal year beginning after November 15, 2007. The Company is currently evaluating whether the adoption of SFAS No. 159 will have a material effect on its consolidated results of operations and financial position.
 
    In September 2006, the SEC issued SAB 108, “Considering the Effects of Prior Year Misstatements when Quantifying Misstatements in Current Year Financial Statements” (“SAB 108”). SAB 108 provides guidance on the consideration of the effects of prior year misstatements in quantifying current year misstatements for the purpose of a materiality assessment. SAB 108 establishes an approach that requires quantification of financial statement errors based on the effects of each on a company’s balance sheet and statement of operations and the related financial statement disclosures. The Company adopted SAB 108 on November 15, 2006 and the adoption of SAB 108 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
 
    In July 2006, the FASB issued Interpretation No. 48, “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes — an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109” (“FIN 48”). FIN 48 clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in an entity’s financial statements in accordance with SFAS No. 109, “Accounting for Income Taxes”, and prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for financial statement disclosure of tax positions taken or expected to be taken on a tax return. Additionally, FIN 48 provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure and transition. FIN 48 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2006. The Company is in the process of implementing FIN 48 and has not yet determined the effect, if any, on its consolidated financial statements as a result of adopting FIN 48.

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
3.   ACQUISITIONS
 
    To expand in markets in which the Company is not established or lacks experience and expertise, during 2006, China Finance Online made a number of acquisitions of businesses. Each acquisition has been recorded using the purchase method of accounting, and accordingly the acquired assets and liabilities were recorded at their fair values on the dates of acquisitions and the results of their operations have been included in the Company’s results of operations since the dates of their acquisitions. The fair values of the assets and liabilities acquired were estimated using a combination of valuation methods, such as “income approach”, “market approach” and “cost approach” method, considering, among other factors, forecasted financial performance of the acquired business, market performance, and market potential of the acquired business in China.
 
    Acquisition of CFO-Genius
 
    On September 21, 2006 China Finance Online entered into an agreement to acquire all the equity interest in CFO-Genius, CFO-Genius engages in the business of constructing and maintaining financial information databases and providing networked information solution. It was the first company of its kind in China to build databases and to provide electronic information networks for domestic securities and investment firms at the time of its establishment in 1994. The acquisition is expected to strengthen the Company’s position in the industry and provide future opportunities to develop database products. CFO-Genius is a financial information database provider primarily serving domestic securities and investment firms, for a total cash consideration of $1,040,081, including $40,081 in transaction costs.
                 
            Amortization  
            period  
Purchase price allocation (Preliminary):
               
Cash and cash equivalents
  $ 35,802          
Accounts receivable
    14,174          
Prepaid and other current assets
    14,023          
Property and equipment, net
    42,506     3-5 years
Acquired intangible assets:
               
Completed technology
    332,545     5.3 years
Trademark
    75,866     Indefinite
Customer relationships
    117,592     5.3 years
 
             
 
Total assets acquired
    632,508          
Deferred revenue
    (361,361 )        
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
    (231,904 )        
Deferred tax liabilities related to acquired intangible assets
    (67,520 )        
 
             
 
Total net liabilities
    (28,277 )        
Goodwill
    1,068,358          
 
             
 
Total
  $ 1,040,081          
 
             
CFO-Genius has been identified as a reporting unit for goodwill allocation purposes and the goodwill arising from this acquisition is fully allocated to this reporting unit.

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
3.   ACQUISITIONS — continued
 
    The following unaudited pro forma information summarizes the results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2005 and 2006 of China Finance Online as if the acquisition occurred on January 1, 2005 and January 1, 2006. The following pro forma financial information is not necessarily indicative of the results that would have occurred had the acquisition been completed at the beginning of the periods indicated, nor is it indicative of future operating results:
                 
    Years ended December 31,  
    2005     2006  
    (unaudited)     (unaudited)  
Pro forma revenue
    8,707,507       7,909,324  
Pro forma income from operations
    4,762,141       449,072  
Pro forma net income (loss)
    4,762,141       (832,221 )
Pro forma net income (loss) per share — basic and diluted
    0.05       (0.01 )
Weighted average shares used in calculation of pro forma net income (loss) per share:
               
- basic
    94,341,061       93,650,653  
- diluted
    104,781,492       101,961,727  
 
           
    Acquisition of CFO-Meining and CFO-Stockstar
 
    On October 1, 2006, China Finance Online acquired two companies to expand its business in China. The Company acquired all the equity interests of CFO-Stockstar and CFO-Meining. Stockstar is a leading finance and securities website in China, it will alter the China Finance Online’s overall composition. For the acquisition, total cash consideration was $8,135,269 including transaction costs of $117,953. The following table summarizes the estimated fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the date of acquisition.

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
3.   ACQUISITIONS — continued
 
    Aggregate purchase price allocation — CFO-Meining and CFO-Stockstar
                 
            Amortization  
            Period  
Purchase price allocation (Preliminary):
               
Cash and cash equivalents
  $ 792,692          
Accounts receivable
    432,753          
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
    78,298          
Property and equipment
    297,024          
Acquired intangible assets:
               
Trademark
    652,446     Indefinite  
Completed technology
    402,089     5.3 year  
Agreements with operators
    10,495     3 year  
Customer relationships
    475,426     4.3 year  
Value-added service license
    23,392     3.3 year  
 
             
Total assets acquired
    3,164,615          
Deferred revenue
    (222,868 )        
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
    (1,702,727 )        
Deferred tax liabilities related to acquired intangible assets
    (136,710 )        
 
             
Total net assets
    1,102,310          
Goodwill
    7,032,959          
 
             
 
Total
  $ 8,135,269          
 
             
    CFO-Meining and CFO-Stockstar are identified as a single reporting unit for goodwill allocation purposes and the goodwill arising from this acquisition is fully allocated to this reporting unit.
 
    The following unaudited pro forma information summarizes the results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2005 and 2006 of China Finance Online as if the acquisition occurred as of January 1, 2005 and January 1, 2006. The following pro forma financial information is not necessarily indicative of the results that would have occurred had the acquisition been completed at the beginning of the periods indicated, nor is it indicative of future operating results:
                 
    Year ended December 31,  
    2005     2006  
    (unaudited)     (unaudited)  
Pro forma revenue
    10,026,915       10,080,846  
Pro forma income from operations
    4,776,422       (365,203 )
Pro forma net income (loss)
    4,685,359       (1,264,639 )
Pro forma net income (loss) per share:
               
- basic
    0.05       (0.01 )
- diluted
    0.04       (0.01 )
Weighted average shares used in calculation of pro forma net income per share:
               
- basic
    94,341,061       93,650,653  
- diluted
    104,781,492       101,961,727  
 
           

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
4.   PREPAID EXPENSES AND OTHER CURRENT ASSETS
 
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets consisted of the following:
                 
    December 31,  
    2005     2006  
Interest receivable
  $ 562,673     $ 415,441  
Prepaid expenses
    470,926       167,655  
Other current assets
    75,612       330,343  
Advances to suppliers
    22,304       14,258  
 
           
 
  $ 1,131,515     $ 927,697  
 
           
    Interest receivable is interest earned from the Company’s bank deposits.
 
5.   COST METHOD INVESTMENT
 
    In December 2005, the Company purchased 9,800,000 Series B preferred shares in Moloon International Inc. (“Moloon”) for $15,000,000, which represents a 25% interest in Moloon on an if-converted basis. China Finance Online's investment in these preferred shares is not in-substance common stock, and accordingly, the investment has been recorded as a cost method investment.
 
    In April 2006, the Company sold part of its investment in Moloon to a third party for a cash consideration of $1,187,500, resulting in a gain of $116,071 which has been recorded as a non operating income in the consolidated statements of operations. As a result of this disposal, the Company’s investment in Moloon’s preferred shares decreases to 9,100,000 shares.
 
    Moloon is a Chinese wireless technology and service provider. During the second half of 2006, China Mobile Communication Corporation announced policy changes which, among others, required mobile value added service, or MVAS, providers to extend free trial periods for customers prior to subscriptions and to send reminders to customers confirming new and existing subscriptions. These policy changes had a substantial negative impact on Moloon’s MVAS business. Consequently, following an independent valuation, the Company determined that its investment in Moloon was impaired and recorded an impairment loss of $1,322,000 in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations for 2006.

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
6.   PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT, NET
 
    Property and equipment, net consisted of:
                 
    December 31,  
    2005     2006  
Technology infrastructure
  $ 626,188     $ 1,277,972  
Computer equipment
    113,569       255,246  
Furniture, fixtures and equipment
    88,580       354,488  
Motor vehicle
    62,288       64,374  
Leasehold improvements
          354,399  
 
           
 
    890,625       2,306,479  
Less: accumulated depreciation
    (378,446 )     (608,998 )
 
           
 
  $ 512,179     $ 1,697,481  
 
           
    Depreciation expense for the years ended December 31, 2004, 2005, and 2006 were $133,208, $129,833 and $230,552, respectively.
 
7.   ACQUIRED INTANGIBLE ASSETS, NET
 
    Acquired intangible assets, net arose from the acquisitions of Genius, CFO-Meining, and CFO-Stockstar during 2006 and consisted of the following:
         
    December 31, 2006
Completed technology
  $ 744,042  
Customer relationship
    600,612  
Agreement with operator
    10,629  
Value-added service license
    23,692  
Trademarks
    737,638  
 
     
 
    2,116,613  
Less: Accumulated amortization
    (71,389 )
 
     
 
  $ 2,045,224  
 
    
    Amortization expense for the years ended December 31, 2004, 2005, and 2006 was $71,389. Future amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets with determinable lives are $285,559 for 2007, $285,559 for 2008, $284,673 for 2009, $280,795 for 2010, and $167,157 for 2011.

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
8.   ACCRUED EXPENSES AND OTHER CURRENT LIABILITIES
 
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities consisted of:
                 
    December 31,  
    2005     2006  
Accrued expenses
  $ 262,889     $ 1,035,656  
Value added taxes payable
    51,612       386,806  
Other taxes payable
    40,303       56,811  
Accrued welfare benefits
    26,889       18,891  
Accrued bonus
          598,388  
 
           
 
  $ 381,693     $ 2,096,552  
 
           
9.   STOCK OPTIONS
 
    In January 2004, the Company adopted the 2004 stock incentive plan (the “Plan”) which allows the Company to offer a variety of incentive awards to employees, directors, officers and other eligible persons in the Company. Options to purchase 5,688,488 ordinary shares are authorized under the Plan. In September 2004 and December 2006, the Company increased the total number of ordinary shares available for issuance under the Plan by an additional 5,000,000 shares, respectively, resulting in a total of 15,688,488 options to purchase ordinary shares under the Plan. Options are generally granted at a price equal to the fair market value of the Company’s shares at the date of grant. Prior to the Company’s initial public offering the market value of the ordinary shares underlying the stock option was determined by the Board of Directors. As of December 31, 2006, options to purchase 14,843,688 shares of ordinary shares were outstanding. All of the options granted under the Plan to our directors and managers have vesting period of one to four years, while options granted under the Plan to our other employees vest over a period of three to five years. The options we granted to consultants and advisers vested immediately upon grant or from two to three years after grant. A specified portion of the shares subject to each option vests at the end of the first year and the balance vests each month thereafter. The amortization of options granted is based on the graded vesting schedule.
 
    Options to employees
 
    In February 2005, the Company granted 4,053,000 stock options to directors, officers and employees at an exercise price that equaled the trading price of the stock upon the stock option grant. In November 2005, the Company granted 400,000 stock options to the Company’s CEO and 200,000 stock options to the Company’s Vice President. The company accounted for these options under APB 25.
 
    In July 2006, the Company granted an additional 400,000 stock options to the company’s CEO and 300,000 stock options to the Chief Financial Officer. The exercise prices equaled the trading price of the stock at the grant date of the option. These options are vested over 2 years. China Finance Online recorded compensation expense of $158,760 in 2006, estimated on the basis of the Black-Scholes Option Pricing model with the following assumptions:
         
Average risk free rate of return
    5.24 %
Weighted average expected option life
  5.75 years
Volatility rate
    58.84 %
Dividend yield
     

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
9.   STOCK OPTIONS — continued
 
    Options to non-employees
 
    The Company granted stock options to purchase up to 6,829,500 ordinary shares outside of the stock option plan, which vested immediately and 90,000 options to purchase ordinary shares under the Plan to consultants and strategic advisors, which vested over 2 years in 2004. The Company also granted 350,000 options under the Plan to consultants and strategy advisors in 2005. The Company recorded a compensation expense of approximately $112,689 and $16,615 for the years ended December 31, 2005 and 2006, respectively, estimated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model as such method provided a more accurate estimate of the fair value of services provided by the consultants and strategic advisers. The fair value of the stock options is remeasured as of the end of each reporting period until the services of these non-employees are complete under the service contracts.
 
    The following assumptions were used in the option pricing model:
                         
    Years ended December 31,
    2004   2005   2006
Options to non-employees:
                       
Weighted average risk-free rate of return
    2 %     3.48 %     4.70 %
Weighted average expected option life
  2 years   2.14 years   5.76 years
Volatility
    73.78 %     56.96 %     73.33 %
Dividend yield
                 
Summary of stock options to employees and non-employees
A summary of the stock option activity is as follows:
                                                 
    Year ended December 31,
    2004   2005   2006
            Weighted           Weighted           Weighted
    Number   average   Number   average   Number   average
    of options   exercise price   of options   exercise price   of options   exercise price
Outstanding at beginning of year
                12,492,988     $ 0.18       15,250,488     $ 0.52  
Granted
    12,517,988     $ 0.18       5,003,000     $ 1.29       700,000     $ 1.07  
Exercised
                (1,731,500 )   $ 0.16       (473,000 )   $ 0.17  
Cancelled
    (25,000 )   $ 0.17       (514,000 )   $ 1.05       (633,800 )   $ 0.69  
 
                                               
 
Outstanding at end of year
    12,492,988     $ 0.18       15,250,488     $ 0.52       14,843,688     $ 0.56  
 
                                               
 
Shares exercisable at end of year
    8,482,988     $ 0.16       9,986,488     $ 0.29       11,705,508     $ 0.43  
 
                                               

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
9.   STOCK OPTIONS — continued
 
    The following table summarizes information with respect to stock options outstanding at December 31, 2006:
                                         
    Options outstanding   Options exercisable
            Weighted                
            average   Weighted           Weighted
            remaining   average           average
    Number   contractual   exercise   Number   exercise
    outstanding   life   price   exercisable   price
Ordinary shares $0.16
    9,512,488     2.18 years   $ 0.16       8,852,788     $ 0.16  
$1.04
    320,000     2.18 years   $ 1.04       320,000     $ 1.04  
$1.31
    3,661,200     8.14 years   $ 1.31       2,210,720     $ 1.31  
$1.32
    50,000     8.14 years   $ 1.32       22,000     $ 1.32  
$1.12
    400,000     8.88 years   $ 1.12       200,000     $ 1.12  
$1.16
    200,000     8.92 years   $ 1.16       100,000     $ 1.16  
$1.07
    700,000     9.52 years   $ 1.07              
 
                                       
 
    14,843,688     4.92 years             11,705,508     $ 0.43  
 
                                       
    As of December 31, 2006, options to purchase 5,469,800 ordinary shares were available for future grant.
 
    The effect on net income and earnings per share would have been as follows if the fair value method of recognizing stock compensation was adopted in 2004 and 2005:
                 
    Years ended December 31,  
    2004     2005  
Income attributable to ordinary shareholders as reported:
  $ 4,597,341       4,624,187  
Add: Stock-based compensation as reported
    33,192       13,589  
Less: Stock-based compensation determined using the fair value method
    (256,947 )     (1,935,649 )
 
           
 
               
Pro forma income attributable to ordinary shareholders
  $ 4,373,586       2,702,127  
 
           
 
               
Basic net income per share:
               
As reported
  $ 0.12     $ 0.05  
 
           
Pro forma
  $ 0.11     $ 0.04  
 
           
 
               
Diluted net income per share:
               
As reported
  $ 0.05     $ 0.04  
 
           
Pro forma
  $ 0.05     $ 0.03  
 
           

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
9.   STOCK OPTIONS — continued
 
    The fair value of each option and share granted is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following assumptions used for grants during the applicable period.
                 
    Years ended
    December 31,
    2004   2005
Option grants
               
 
               
Weighted average risk-free rate of return
    1.87 %     3.37 %
Weighted average expected option life
  2.41 years   2.94 years
Volatility
    73.78 %     65.08 %
Dividend yield
           
    The Company recognizes the compensation costs net of a forfeiture rate. The estimate of forfeitures will be adjusted over the requisite service period to the extent that actual forfeitures differ or are expected to differ, from such estimates. Changes in estimated forfeitures will be recognized through a cumulative catch-up adjustment in the period of change and will also impact the amount of stock compensation expense to be recognized in the future periods. There has been no change in estimated forfeitures in the year ended December 31, 2006.
 
    In January 2007, the Company granted additional options under the Plan with the right to purchase a total of 3,272,000 ordinary shares to employees.
 
10.   INCOME TAXES
 
    The Company has not recorded a tax provision for Hong Kong tax purposes as the Company does not have any assessable profit in Hong Kong.
 
    CFO Beijing, is subject to PRC income tax at a rate of 27% (24% PRC state income tax plus 3% PRC local income tax). In accordance with the approval by the tax authority in March 2004, CFO Beijing was exempted from PRC state income taxes for the years 2003 and 2004 and is entitled to a 50% tax relief commencing from 2005 through 2007; and is entitled to an exemption from PRC local income taxes from 2003 to 2007 and a 50% tax relief commencing from 2008 through 2012. Income taxes paid by CFO Beijing in 2003 before the notice of tax exemption were received were recorded as income taxes recoverable on the consolidated balance sheets. The amounts of the tax refunds were received during 2004 and 2005.
 
    CFO Software is subject to PRC income taxes at a rate of 15%. In accordance with the local tax law, CFO Software is exempted for three years from PRC state income taxes through 2007 and is entitled to a 50% tax relief commencing from 2008 and through 2010.
 
    CFO Genius is registered in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and enjoys a preferential tax rate 15%. CFO Meining and CFO Stockstar are registered and operate in the High and New Technology Industry Development Zone in Guangzhou, China, and are classified as “high and new technology enterprises”. The effective income tax rate, subject to the approval of the relevant tax authorities, for “high and new technology enterprises” registered in High and New Technology Industry Development Zones is 15%.
 
    Fuhua is subject to PRC income taxes at a rate of 33%. For the years ended December 31, 2004, 2005 and 2006, provision for income taxes for Fuhua were $2,048, nil and $416, respectively.

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
10.   INCOME TAXES — continued
 
    The principal components of deferred income taxes were as follows:
                 
    December 31,  
    2005     2006  
Current deferred tax assets:
               
Deferred revenue
  $ 64,036     $ 135,658  
Accrued expenses and other liability
          34,820  
 
           
 
Current deferred taxes
  $ 64,036     $ 170,478  
 
           
 
               
Non-current deferred tax assets (liabilities):
               
Net operating loss carry forwards
  $ 47,781     $ 802,010  
Intangible assets
          (204,043 )
 
           
 
    47,781       597,967  
Less: valuation allowance
    (47,781 )     (743,500 )
 
           
Non-current deferred tax liabilities, net
  $     $ (145,533 )
 
           
    A valuation allowance of $47,781 and $743,500 were established as of December 31, 2005 and 2006, respectively, for the entities that have incurred losses. As such, it is considered more likely than not that the related deferred tax assets will not be realized. The valuation allowance at December 31, 2006 increased from 2005 as some subsidiaries’ tax loss carryforwards will expire. At December 31, 2006, tax loss carryforwards amounting to approximately $4.2 million which will expire by 2011, and $1 million which will carry forward indefinitely.
 
    During the years ended December 31, 2004, 2005 and 2006, if the China Finance Online’s subsidiaries in the PRC were neither in the tax holiday period nor had they been specifically allowed special tax concessions, they would have recorded additional income tax expense of $1,230,873, $1,448,866 and $786,385 respectively, and basic and diluted income per share would have been decreased to $0.09, $0.03 and ($0.01) and $0.04,$0.03 and ($0.01) for the years ended December 31, 2004, 2005 and 2006, respectively.
 
    A reconciliation between the statutory PRC enterprise income tax rate of 33% and the effective tax rate is as follows:
                         
    Years ended December 31,
    2004   2005   2006
    %   %   %
Statutory tax rate in PRC
    33.0       33.0       (33.0 )
Effect of tax holiday
    (32.0 )     (18.0 )     (92.1 )
Non-deductible expenses
    4.1       3.6       139.9  
Non-taxable income
    (14.1 )     (10.3 )     (54.8 )
Change in valuation allowance
    (0.1 )     0.7       33.7  
 
                       
 
Effective tax rate
    (9.1 )     9.0       (6.3 )
 
                       

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CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
11.   SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
 
    In April 2004, the Company issued 730,000 ordinary shares at $0.00013 per share to the Company’s chief financial officer. The fair value of these shares was $0.67 per share at the time of the issuance. The Company recorded deferred stock compensation of approximately $489,006 and compensation expense of $183,378, $244,503 and $61,125 in 2004, 2005 and 2006, respectively.
 
    In October 2004, upon the Company’s initial public offering, the Company offered 5,000,000 American Depositary Shares (“ADS”), representing 25,000,000 ordinary shares, at $13 per ADS to the public investors. At about the same time, all of the outstanding Series A convertible preference shares and the Series B convertible preference shares were converted into an aggregate of 51,476,333 ordinary shares.
 
    In October 2005, the Company issued 2,000,000 ordinary shares to its American Depositary Receipt bank and in exchange received 400,000 ADSs for purposes of future exercise of share options by employees. As of December 31, 2006, all 400,000 ADSs had been issued to employees who exercised their options. In January 2006, the Company issued 3,000,000 ordinary shares to its American Depositary Receipt bank and in exchange received 600,000 ADSs for purposes of future exercise of share options by employees. As of December 31, 2006, 29,900 ADSs had been issued to employees and the remaining 570,100 ADSs continued to be held by the Company for future exercises. These 570,100 ADSs represent 2,850,500 ordinary shares of the Company, which are considered as issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2006.
 
    Treasury shares
 
    In 2005, the Company repurchased 10,708,030 ordinary shares at prices ranging from $1.13 to $1.41 per share, including brokerage commission, for a total consideration of $13,200,394. These shares are being held by the Company as treasury shares.
 
 
12.   OTHER EXPENSES (INCOME), NET
 
    Other expenses (income), net consisted of:
                         
    2004     2005     2006  
Exchange gain, net
  $     $ 365,965     $ 267,302  
Gain on partial disposal of an investment in Moloon (see Note 5)
                116,071  
Others
    (1,579 )           (1,498 )
 
                 
 
  $ (1,579 )   $ 365,965     $ 381,875  
 
                 
    Exchange gain is primarily derived from intercompany transactions and cash and cash equivalents in foreign currency.

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CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
13.   INCOME (LOSS) PER SHARE
 
    The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted income (loss) per share for the years indicated:
                         
    Years ended December 31,  
    2004     2005     2006  
Net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders, basic and diluted
  $ 4,597,341     $ 4,624,187     $ (600,633 )
 
                 
 
                       
Weighted average ordinary shares outstanding used in computing basic net income per share
    38,912,491       94,341,061       93,650,653  
Plus: Weighted average preferred shares
    40,505,966              
Incremental shares from assumed conversions of stock options
    10,674,211       10,440,431       8,311,074  
 
                 
 
                       
Weighted average ordinary shares outstanding used in computing diluted net income per share
    90,092,668       104,781,492       101,961,727  
 
                 
 
                       
Net income (loss) per share-basic
  $ 0.12     $ 0.05     $ (0.01 )
 
                 
 
                       
Net income (loss) per share-diluted
  $ 0.05     $ 0.04     $ (0.01 )
 
                 
    Ordinary share equivalents are calculated using the treasury stock method.
 
14.   MAINLAND CHINA CONTRIBUTION PLAN AND PROFIT APPROPRIATION
 
    Full time employees of the Company in the PRC participate in a government-mandated multi-employer defined contribution plan pursuant to which certain pension benefits, medical care, unemployment insurance, employee housing fund and other welfare benefits are provided to employees. Chinese labor regulations require the Company to accrue for these benefits based on certain percentages of the employees’ salaries. The total provisions for such employee benefits were $53,660, $107,552 and $270,576 for the years ended December 31, 2004, 2005 and 2006 respectively.

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
15.   COMMITMENTS
 
    The Company leases certain office premises and purchases data under non-cancelable leases. The office lease expires in 2011. Rent expense under operating leases for 2004, 2005 and 2006 were $191,789, $242,765 and $520,590, respectively.
 
    Future minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating leases agreements were as follows:
         
Year ending        
2007
  $ 780,637  
2008
    670,919  
2009
    667,482  
2010
    361,220  
2011
    53,753  
 
     
 
Total
  $ 2,534,011  
 
     
16.   SEGMENT AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
 
    The Company has one operating segment as of and for the years ended December 31, 2004, 2005 and 2006. The Company’s chief operating decision maker has been identified as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, who reviews consolidated results when making decisions about allocating resources and assessing performance of the Company. The Company operates primarily in the PRC and all of the Company’s long-lived assets are located in the PRC.
 
    The Company derives revenue from external customers for each of the following services during the years presented:
                         
    Years ended December 31,  
    2004     2005     2006  
Subscription fees
  $ 5,476,400     $ 5,811,395     $ 5,075,830  
Advertising revenue
    115,500       996,311       1,337,630  
Others
    424,549       674,460       714,618  
 
                 
 
  $ 6,016,449     $ 7,482,166     $ 7,128,078  
 
                 

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS — continued
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004, 2005 AND 2006
(In U.S. dollars)
17.   RESTRICTED NET ASSETS
 
    PRC legal restrictions permit payments of dividends by China Finance Online’s PRC subsidiaries only out of their retained earnings, if any, determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. The general reserve (Note 14), which requires annual appropriations of 10% of after-tax profit should be set aside prior to the payment of dividends. As a result of these PRC laws and regulations, the Company’s PRC subsidiary and variable interest entity are restricted in their abilities to transfer a portion of their net assets to the Company. As of December 31, 2006, the amount of restricted net assets was approximately $45,958,914.
 
    Pursuant to the laws applicable to the PRC’s Foreign Investment Enterprises, the Company’s subsidiary in the PRC must make appropriations from after-tax profit to non-distributable reserves as determined by the Board of Directors of the Company. These reserves include a (i) general reserve, (ii) enterprise expansion reserve, and (iii) staff bonus and welfare reserve. Subject to certain cumulative limits, the general reserve requires annual appropriations of 10% of after-tax profit (as determined under PRC GAAP at each year-end); amounts to be appropriated for the other two reserves are determined at the Board of Directors’ discretion. These reserves can only be used for specific purposes and are not distributable as cash dividends. Appropriations to the staff welfare and bonus reserve are charged to general and administrative expenses and amounted to $24,165 and $26,889 in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Appropriation to the general reserve amounted to $674,205 and $268,891 in 2004 and 2005, respectively. There were no appropriations to the staff welfare and bonus reserve or the general reserve during 2006.

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CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
Schedule 1
CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
Condensed Financial information of Parent Company
Balance sheets
                 
    December 31,  
(in U.S. dollars)   2005     2006  
Assets
               
 
               
Current assets:
               
Cash and cash equivalents
  $ 2,782,027     $ 5,758,063  
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
    37,026       93,618  
Amounts due from subsidiaries
          64,172  
Dividends receivable
          2,473,269  
 
           
 
Total current assets
    2,819,053       8,389,122  
Investments in subsidiaries
    29,111,000       37,615,158  
Cost-method investment
    15,000,000       12,606,571  
Loans receivable from subsidiaries
    13,990,000       4,000,000  
Goodwill
    50,534       50,534  
 
           
 
Total assets
  $ 60,970,587       62,661,385  
 
           
 
               
Liabilities and shareholders’ equity
               
Current liabilities:
               
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
  $ 121,040       148,072  
Amounts due to a subsidiary
    18,587       60,534  
 
           
 
Total current liabilities
  $ 139,627       208,606  
 
           
 
               
Shareholders’ equity
               
Ordinary shares ($0.00013 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized; shares issued and outstanding 101,329,933 in 2005 and 104,384,933 in 2006)
    13,077       13,474  
Additional paid-in capital
    64,564,534       65,756,313  
Treasury shares (10,708,030 shares in 2005 and 2006)
    (13,200,394 )     (13,200,394 )
Deferred stock-based compensation
    (67,129 )      
Accumulated other comprehensive income
    671,122       1,634,269  
Retained earnings
    8,849,750       8,249,117  
 
           
 
Total shareholders’ equity
    60,830,960       62,452,779  
 
           
 
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity
  $ 60,970,587       62,661,385  
 
           

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Table of Contents

CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
Condensed Financial information of Parent Company
Statements of operations
                         
    December 31,  
(in U.S. dollars)   2004     2005     2006  
Operating expenses:
                       
General and administrative
  $ 60,094     $ 692,453     $ 873,496  
Stock-based compensation
    289,334       370,781       1,183,662  
 
                 
 
Total operating expenses
    349,428       1,063,234       2,057,158  
 
                 
 
Interest income
    184,836       560,772       202,484  
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries
    4,761,933       5,126,649       2,395,622  
Other income
                180,419  
Loss from impairment of cost method investment
                (1,322,000 )
 
                 
 
Net income (loss)
  $ 4,597,341     $ 4,624,187     $ (600,633 )
 
                 

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CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LIMITED
Condensed Financial information of Parent Company
Statements of cash flows
                         
    December 31,  
(in U.S. dollars)   2004     2005     2006  
Operating activities:
                       
Net income (loss)
    4,597,341       4,624,187       (600,633 )
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash (used in) provided by operating activities:
                       
Stock-based compensation
    289,334       370,781       1,183,662  
Loss from impairment of cost method investment
                1,322,000  
Gain from disposal of cost method investment
                (116,071 )
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries
    (4,761,933 )     (5,126,649 )     (2,467,062 )
Changes in assets and liabilities:
                       
Dividend receivable
                (2,473,269 )
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
    (76,040 )     42,226       (56,221 )
Amounts due from subsidiaries
    271,953             (64,543 )
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
    128,160       (27,234 )     27,032  
Amounts due to subsidiaries
    496,428       (477,841 )     41,947  
 
                 
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
    945,243       (594,530 )     (3,203,158 )
 
                 
Investing activities:
                       
Net increase in loans to subsidiaries
          (13,990,000 )     9,990,000  
Proceeds from long term investment
                    1,187,500  
Acquisition of businesses
                (6,095,151 )
Investments in subsidiaries
    (500,000 )     (20,500,000 )      
Cost investment
          (15,000,000 )      
 
                 
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities
    (500,000 )     (49,490,000 )     5,082,349  
 
                 
Financing activities:
                       
Proceeds from stock options exercised by employees
    94       276,976       66,843  
Proceeds from exercise of options granted to non-employee
                8,800  
Repurchase of ordinary shares as treasury shares
          (13,200,394 )      
Dividend from a subsidiary
          5,373,182        
Proceeds from initial public offering, net of offering cost of $6,469,282
    58,530,718                
Dividend paid
    (502,552 )            
Distribution to the shareholders of Fuhua
    (60,299 )            
 
                 
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities
    57,967,961       (7,550,236 )     75,643  
 
                 
Effect of exchange rate changes
    (197 )     671,133       1,021,202  
 
                 
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
    58,413,007       (56,963,633 )     2,976,036  
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of the year
    1,332,653       59,745,660       2,782,027  
 
                 
Cash and cash equivalents, end of the year
  $ 59,745,660     $ 2,782,027     $ 5,758,063  
 
                 
 
                       
Supplemental disclosures of non-cash financing activities:
                       
Conversion of Series A and Series B convertible preference shares into ordinary shares
  $ 6,642     $     $  
 
                 

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Table of Contents

Note:
Basis for preparation
The parent-company only Condensed Financial Information of China Finance Online only has been prepared using the same accounting policies as set out in the Company’s consolidated financial statements except that China Finance Online has used equity method to account for its investments in its subsidiaries and variable interest entity.

F-34