Wetouch Technology (WETH) Risk Analysis

On April 21, 2020, the SEC Chairman and PCAOB Chairman, along with other senior SEC staff, released a joint statement highlighting the risks associated with investing in companies based in or have substantial operations in emerging markets including China. The joint statement emphasized the risks associated with lack of access for the PCAOB to inspect auditors and audit work papers in China and higher risks of fraud in emerging markets. On May 18, 2020, Nasdaq filed three proposals with the SEC to (1) apply minimum offering size requirement for companies primarily operating in "Restrictive Market," (2) adopt a new requirement relating to the qualification of management or board of director for Restrictive Market companies, and (3) apply additional and more stringent criteria to an applicant or listed company based on the qualifications of the company's auditor. On June 4, 2020, the U.S. President issued a memorandum ordering the President's working group on financial markets to submit a report to the President within 60 days of the date of the memorandum that should include recommendations for actions that can be taken by the executive branch and by the SEC or PCAOB to enforce U.S. regulatory requirements on Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges and their audit firms. However, it remains unclear what further actions, if any, the U.S. executive branch, the SEC, and PCAOB will take to address the problem. On August 6, 2020, the President's working group released a report recommending that the SEC take steps to implement the five recommendations outlined in the report. In particular, to address companies from jurisdictions that do not provide the PCAOB with sufficient access to fulfill its statutory mandate, the President's working group recommended enhanced listing standards on U.S. stock exchanges. This would require, as a condition to initial and continued exchange listing, PCAOB access to work papers of the principal audit firm for the audit of the listed company. Companies unable to satisfy this standard as a result of governmental restrictions on access to audit work papers and practices in their jurisdiction may satisfy this standard by providing a co-audit from an audit firm with comparable resources and experience where the PCAOB determines it has sufficient access to audit work papers and practices to conduct an appropriate inspection of the co-audit firm. The report permits the new listing standards to provide for a transition period until January 1, 2022 for listed companies, but would apply immediately to new listings once the necessary rulemakings and/or standard-setting are effective. On August 10, 2020, the SEC announced that the SEC Chairman had directed the SEC staff to prepare proposals in response to the report of the President's working group, and that the SEC was soliciting public comments and information with respect to the development of these proposals. On May 20, 2020, the U.S. Senate passed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the Act. The Act was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on December 2, 2020. On December 18, 2020, the Act was signed into public law by the President of the United States. In essence, the Act requires the SEC to prohibit foreign companies from listing securities on U.S. securities exchanges if a company retains a foreign accounting firm that cannot be inspected by the PCAOB for three consecutive years, beginning in 2021. On March 24, 2021, the SEC announced that it had adopted interim final amendments to implement congressionally mandated submission and disclosure requirements of the Act. The interim final amendments will apply to registrants that the SEC identifies as having filed an annual report on Forms 10-K, 20-F, 40-F or N-CSR with an audit report issued by a registered public accounting firm that is located in a foreign jurisdiction and that the PCAOB has determined it is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a position taken by an authority in that jurisdiction. On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act and on December 29, 2022 the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act was enacted, which amended the HFCA Act by requiring the SEC to prohibit an issuer's securities from trading on any U.S. stock exchanges if its auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspections for to two consecutive years instead of three, thus reducing the time before our securities may be prohibited from trading or delisted. On December 2, 2021, the SEC adopted amendments to finalize rules implementing the submission and disclosure requirements in the HFCA Act. The rules apply to registrants that the SEC identifies as having filed an annual report with an audit report issued by a registered public accounting firm that is located in a foreign jurisdiction and that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a position taken by an authority in a foreign jurisdiction. On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a report on its determinations that it is unable to inspect or investigate completely PCAOB-registered public accounting firms headquartered in China and in Hong Kong because of positions taken by PRC and Hong Kong authorities in those jurisdictions. The PCAOB has made such designations as mandated under the HFCA Act. Pursuant to each annual determination by the PCAOB, the SEC will, on an annual basis, identify issuers that have used non-inspected audit firms and thus are at risk of such suspensions in the future. On August 26, 2022, the SEC issued a statement announcing that the PCAOB signed a Statement of Protocol ("SOP") with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, or CSRC, and the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China governing inspections and investigations of audit firms based in China and Hong Kong, jointly agreeing on the need for a framework. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB announced that it has secured complete access to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms headquartered in Mainland China and Hong Kong and voted to vacate the previous Determination Report to the contrary. Our auditor, the independent registered public accounting firm that issues the audit report, as an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the PCAOB, is subject to laws in the United States, pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess its compliance with the applicable professional standards. Our auditor is headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado and has been inspected by the PCAOB on a regular basis.

The SEC, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, adopted rules requiring every public company to include a management report on such company's internal controls over financial reporting, which contains management's assessment of the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting. Our reporting obligations as a public company place a significant strain on our management and operational and financial resources and systems. Effective internal controls, particularly those related to revenue recognition, are necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and are important to prevent fraud. As a result, our failure to achieve and maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting may result in the loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which in turn may harm our business and negatively impact the trading price of our stock. Furthermore, we anticipate that we will continue to incur considerable costs and use significant management time and other resources in an effort to comply with Section 404 and other requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. In connection with the auditing of our consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2022, we identified the following material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting: - Inadequate segregation of duties consistent with control objectives;     - Lack of formal policies and procedures;     - Lack of a functioning audit committee and independent directors on the Company's board of directors to oversee financial reporting responsibilities; and     - Lack of risk assessment procedures on internal controls to detect financial reporting risks on a timely manner. As defined in the rules and regulations adopted by the SEC, a "material weakness" is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Management has been implementing and continues to implement measures designed to ensure that control deficiencies contributing to the material weakness are remediated, such that these controls are designed, implemented, and operating effectively. The remediation actions planned include: - Continue to search for and evaluate qualified independent outside directors;     - Identify gaps in our skills base and the expertise of our staff required to meet the financial reporting requirements of a public company; and     - Continue to develop policies and procedures on internal control over financial reporting and monitor the effectiveness of operations on existing controls and procedures. We have also engaged with a third-party financial consulting firm during the year to assist with the preparation of SEC reporting. We are committed to maintaining a strong internal control environment, and believe that these remediation efforts will deliver improvements in our control environment. Our management will continue to monitor and evaluate the relevance of our risk-based approach and the effectiveness of our internal controls and procedures over financial reporting on an ongoing basis and is committed to taking further action and implementing additional enhancements or improvements, as necessary and as funds allow. However, the implementation of these measures may not fully address these weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, and we cannot conclude that they have been fully remedied. Our failure to correct these weakness and deficiencies or our failure to discover and address any other weakness and deficiencies could result in our inability to accurately report our financial results, prevent or detect fraud or provide timely and reliable financial and other information pursuant to the reporting obligations we have as a public company, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Further, it could cause our investors to lose confidence in the information we report, which could adversely affect the price of our shares.

The Enterprise Bankruptcy Law of the PRC, or the Bankruptcy Law, came into effect on June 1, 2007. The Bankruptcy Law provides that an enterprise will be liquidated if the enterprise fails to settle its debts as and when they fall due and if the enterprise's assets are, or are demonstrably, insufficient to clear such debts. Our PRC subsidiaries hold certain assets that are important to our business operations. If our PRC subsidiaries undergo a voluntary or involuntary liquidation proceeding, unrelated third-party creditors may claim rights to some or all of these assets, thereby hindering our ability to operate our business, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. According to the SAFE's Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Further Improving and Adjusting Foreign Exchange Administration Policies for Direct Investment, effective on December 17, 2012, and the Provisions for Administration of Foreign Exchange Relating to Inbound Direct Investment by Foreign Investors, effective May 13, 2013, if our PRC subsidiary undergoes a voluntary or involuntary liquidation proceeding, prior approval from the SAFE for remittance of foreign exchange to our shareholders abroad is no longer required, but we still need to conduct a registration process with the SAFE local branch. It is not clear whether "registration" is a mere formality or involves the kind of substantive review process undertaken by SAFE and its relevant branches in the past.

The PRC National People's Congress promulgated the Labor Contract Law which became effective on January 1, 2008 and was amended on December 28, 2012, and the State Council promulgated implementing regulations for the labor contract law on September 18, 2008. The labor contract law and the implementing regulations impose requirements concerning, among others, the execution of written contracts between employers and employees, the time limits for probationary periods, and the length of employment contracts. The interpretation and implementation of these regulations are still evolving, our employment practices may violate the labor contract law and related regulations and we could be subject to penalties, fines or legal fees as a result. If we are subject to severe penalties or incur significant legal fees in connection with labor law disputes or investigations, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. Further, the law requires certain terminations be based upon seniority and not merit. In the event that we decide to significantly change or decrease our workforce, the Labor Contract Law could adversely affect our ability to enact such changes in a manner that is most advantageous to our business or in a timely and cost-effective manner, thus materially and adversely affecting our financial condition and results of operations.

We have limited control over the operations of our third-party suppliers and other business partners and any significant interruption in their operations may have an adverse impact on our operations. For example, a significant interruption in the operations of our supplier's manufacturing facilities could cause delay or termination of shipment of the raw materials to us, which may cause delay or termination of shipment of our products to our customers, thus resulting in penalties or fines due to our breach of contract. If we could not solve the impact of the interruptions of operations of our third-party suppliers, our business operations and financial results may be materially and adversely affected.

Business insurance is not readily available in the PRC. To the extent that we suffer a loss of a type that would normally be covered by insurance in the United States, such as product liability and general liability insurance, we would incur significant expenses in both defending any action and in paying any claims that result from a settlement or judgment. We have not obtained fire, casualty and theft insurance, and there is no insurance coverage for our raw materials, goods and merchandise, furniture or buildings in China. Any losses incurred by us will have to be borne by us without any assistance, and we may not have sufficient capital to cover material damage to, or the loss of, our production facility due to fire, severe weather, flood or other causes, and such damage or loss may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, business and prospects.

While the PRC's government has pursued economic reforms since its adoption of the open-door policy in 1978, a large portion of the PRC's economy is still operating under five-year plans and annual state plans. Through these plans and other economic measures, such as control on foreign exchange, taxation and restrictions on foreign participation in the domestic market of various industries, the PRC's government exerts considerable direct and indirect influence on the economy. Many of the economic reforms carried out by the PRC's government are unprecedented or experimental, and are expected to be refined and improved. Any readjustment process may not necessarily have a positive effect on our operations or future business development. Our operating results may be adversely affected by changes in the PRC's economic and social conditions as well as by changes in the policies of the PRC government, such as changes in laws and regulations (or the official interpretation thereof), measures which may be introduced to control inflation, changes in the interest rate or method of taxation, and the imposition of restrictions on currency conversion.

The U.S. government has recently made statements and taken certain actions that may lead to potential changes to U.S. and international trade policies, including recently-imposed tariffs affecting certain products manufactured in China. It is unknown whether and to what extent new tariffs (or other new laws or regulations) will be adopted, or the effect that any such actions would have on us or our industry and customers. Although cross-border business may not be an area of our focus, if we plan to sell our products internationally in the future, any unfavorable government policies on international trade, such as capital controls or tariffs, may affect the demand for our products and services, impact the competitive position of our products or prevent us from being able to sell products in certain countries. If any new tariffs, legislation and/or regulations are implemented, or if existing trade agreements are renegotiated or, in particular, if the U.S. government takes retaliatory trade actions due to the recent U.S.-China trade tension, such changes could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations.

We regard our trademark, patents, know-how, proprietary technologies, and similar intellectual property as critical to our success. We may become an attractive target to intellectual property attacks in the future with the increasing recognition of our brand. Any of our intellectual property rights could be challenged, invalidated, circumvented or misappropriated, or such intellectual property may not be sufficient to provide us with competitive advantages. In addition, there can be no assurance that (i) all of our intellectual property rights will be adequately protected, or (ii) our intellectual property rights will not be challenged by third parties or found by a judicial authority to be invalid or unenforceable.