Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd 20-F/A, filed Sep 22, 2023
Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. (XINRY)
About this 20-F/A
Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd filed this 20-F/A on September 22, 2023, covering the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022.
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM
(Amendment No. 2)
(Mark One)
| REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |
| OR | |
| ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |
| For The Fiscal Year Ended | |
| OR | |
| TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |
| OR | |
| 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
Commission file number:
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
N/A
(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)
(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
People’s Republic of
(Address of principal executive offices)
People’s Republic of
Tel: (
Fax: (86-10) 8588-9300
Email:
(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of Each Class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered | ||
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
(Title of Class)
Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act:
None
(Title of Class)
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. common shares, par value US$0.0001 per share, as of December 31, 2022.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
¨
Yes x
If this report is an annual or transition 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.
¨
Yes x
Note - Checking the box above will not relieve any registrant required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 from their obligations under those Sections.
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.
x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).
x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer ¨ | Accelerated filer ¨ | |
| Emerging growth company |
If an emerging growth company
that prepares its financial statements in accordance with
The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.
Indicate by check mark whether
the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control
over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting
firm that prepared or issued its audit report.
Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:
| International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ¨ | Other ¨ |
If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow.
¨ Item 17 ¨ Item 18
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).
(APPLICABLE ONLY TO ISSUERS INVOLVED IN BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed all documents and reports required to be filed by Sections 12, 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 subsequent to the distribution of securities under a plan confirmed by a court.
¨ Yes ¨ No
| Auditor Name: | Auditor Location: | Auditor Firm ID: |
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The purpose of this Amendment No. 2 to the Annual Report of Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. (the “Company”) on Form 20-F for the period ended December 31, 2022, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 30, 2023 (the “Original Filing”) as amended on August 22, 2023, is to address certain comments raised by the Staff and to provide certain disclosures required by Item 16I. The amended and restated Item 16I is included in this Amendment No.2.
This Amendment No. 2 is being filed solely to address the Staff’s comments as set out above. This Amendment No. 2 speaks as of the date of the Original Filing, or May 30, 2023. No attempt has been made in this Amendment No. 2 to modify or update in any way the financial statements or any other items or disclosures in the Original Filing. Except as specifically noted herein, this Amendment No. 2 does not amend, update or restate any of the information previously included in the Original Filing, nor does this Amendment No. 2 reflect any event that has occurred after the date of the Original Filing. Accordingly, this Amendment No. 2 should be read in conjunction with the Original Filing, as amended and the Company’s other filings with the SEC subsequent to May 30, 2023.
As required by Rule 12b-15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Company is filing or furnishing the certifications required under Section 302 and Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 as exhibits to this Amendment No. 2.
| Item 16I. | Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections |
On August 29, 2022, we were conclusively identified by the SEC as a Commission-Identified Issuer pursuant to the HFCAA because we filed an annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2021 with the SEC on July 29, 2022 with an audit report issued by Union Power HK CPA Limited, a registered public accounting firm retained by the Company at that time, for the preparation of the audit report on our financial statements included therein. Union Power HK CPA Limited is a registered public accounting firm headquartered in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, a jurisdiction where the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (the "PCAOB") determined that it had been unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered there until December 2022 when the PCAOB vacated its previous determination.
The Company is controlled by Mr. Yong Zhang, who holds 29.54% of its outstanding shares as of May 30, 2023. In response to Item 16I(a) of Form 20-F, based on the above and the following information, the Company believes it is not owned or controlled by a governmental entity in mainland China or Hong Kong.
Based on an examination of the Company's register of members, to the Company's knowledge, no shareholder other than Juicy Seasons Limited and Spectacular Stage Limited owns more than 5% of the Company's outstanding shares. Juicy Seasons Limited is a private company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands wholly owned and controlled by Mr. Yong Zhang. Juicy Seasons Limited beneficially owns 26.3% of the Company's total outstanding shares as of May 30, 2023. Spectacular Stage Limited is a private company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands wholly owned and controlled by Ms. Yuyan Yang. Spectacular Stage Limited beneficially owns 26.3% of the Company's total outstanding shares as of May 30, 2023. Please refer to "Item 6.E. Directors, Senior Management and Employees-Share Ownership" of in this Annual Report on Form 20-F for more details.
In addition, the Company is not aware of any governmental entity in mainland China or Hong Kong that is in possession of the power, direct or indirect, to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of the Company, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract, or otherwise.
The Company’s auditor for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, Assentsure PAC, is PCAOB registered and based in Singapore. Under the HFCAA, the PCAOB is permitted to inspect our independent public accounting firm. There is no guarantee that future audit reports will be prepared by auditors that are completely inspected by the PCAOB, and, as such, future investors may be deprived of such inspections, which could result in limitations or restrictions to our access of the U.S. capital markets. While the audit reports of Assentsure PAC incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 20-F are prepared by auditors based in Singapore who are subject to inspection and investigation by the PCAOB, there can be no assurance that our auditor or we will be able to comply with these and other requirements imposed by U.S. regulators in the future.
As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 20-F, (i) to our knowledge, no governmental entities in the Cayman Islands, China or Hong Kong own shares of the Company or its operating entities, including the VIEs, (ii) to our knowledge, neither the governmental entities in China nor Hong Kong do not have a controlling financial interest in the Company or its operating entities, including the VIEs, (iii) to our knowledge, none of the members of the board of directors of the Company or its operating entities, including the VIEs, is an official of the Chinese Communist Party, and (iv) none of the currently effective memorandum and articles of association (or equivalent organizing document) of the Company or its operating entities, including the VIEs contains any charter of the Chinese Communist Party.
Exhibit Index
| Exhibit Number | Description | |
| 12.1 | CEO Certification Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 | |
| 12.2 | CFO Certification Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 | |
| 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 | |
| 104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document) |
SIGNATURES
The registrant hereby certifies that it meets all of the requirements for filing this Amendment No. 2 to Form 20-F and that it has duly caused and authorized the undersigned to sign this Annual Report on its behalf.
| Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. | ||
| By: | /s/ Yong Zhang | |
| Name: | Yong Zhang | |
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer | |
Date: September 22, 2023
EXHIBIT 12.1
CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER PURSUANT TO
SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, Yong Zhang, certify that:
1. I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 20-F of Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd., as amended by this Amendment No. 2 on Form 20-F/A;
2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the company as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4. The company’s other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the company and have:
(a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
(b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
(c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the company’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
(d) Disclosed in this report any change in the company’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by the annual report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the company’s internal control over financial reporting; and
5. The company’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the company’s auditors and the audit committee of the company’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
(a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
(b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the company’s internal control over financial reporting.
| Date: September 22, 2023 | |
| /s/ Yong Zhang | |
| Yong Zhang | |
| Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | |
| (Principal Executive Officer) |
EXHIBIT 12.2
CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER PURSUANT TO
SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, Cheng Li, certify that:
1. I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 20-F of Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd., as amended by this Amendment No. 2 on Form 20-F/A;
2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the company as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4. The company’s other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the company and have:
(a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
(b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
(c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the company’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
(d) Disclosed in this report any change in the company’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by the annual report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the company’s internal control over financial reporting; and
5. The company’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the company’s auditors and the audit committee of the company’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
(a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
(b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the company’s internal control over financial reporting.
| Date: September 22, 2023 | |
| /s/ Cheng Li | |
| Cheng Li | |
| Chief Financial Officer | |
| (Principal Financial Officer) |
EXHIBIT 13.1
CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
PURSUANT TO SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and 18 U.S.C. § 1350, the undersigned officer of Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. (the “Company”), hereby certifies that the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2022, as amended by this Amendment No. 2 on Form 20-F/A (the “Report”) complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d), as applicable, of the Exchange Act and that the information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company.
| /s/ Yong Zhang | |
| Yong Zhang | |
| Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | |
| (Principal Executive Officer) | |
| September 22, 2023 |
The foregoing certification is being furnished solely pursuant to Rule 13a-14(b) under the Exchange Act and 18 U.S.C § 1350 and will not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liability of that section.
EXHIBIT 13.2
CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
PURSUANT TO SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and 18 U.S.C. § 1350, the undersigned officer of Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. (the “Company”), hereby certifies that the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2022, as amended by this Amendment No. 2 on Form 20-F/A (the “Report”) complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d), as applicable, of the Exchange Act and that the information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company.
| /s/ Cheng Li | |
| Cheng Li | |
| Chief Financial Officer | |
| (Principal Financial Officer) | |
| September 22, 2023 |
The foregoing certification is being furnished solely pursuant to Rule 13a-14(b) under the Exchange Act and 18 U.S.C § 1350 and will not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liability of that section.