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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 20-F

(Mark One)

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For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.

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OR

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Date of event requiring this shell company report ________

For the transition period from ________ to ________

Commission file number:001-40376

Waterdrop Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

N/A

(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)

Cayman Islands

(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

Block C, Wangjing Science and Technology Park

No. 2 Lize Zhonger Road

Chaoyang District, Beijing 100102

People’s Republic of China

+86 10 5339-4997

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

Guang Yang, Vice President of Finance and General Manager of International Business

Telephone: +86 10 5339-4997

Email:IR@shuidi-inc.com

Block C, Wangjing Science and Technology Park

No. 2 Lize Zhonger Road

Chaoyang District, Beijing 100102

People’s Republic of China

(Name, Telephone, Email and/or Facsimile Number and Address of Company Contact Person)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

(Title of Class)

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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.

2,899,717,031 Class A ordinary shares (excluding 382,539,490 Class A ordinary shares, comprising of Class A ordinary shares issued to the depositary for bulk issuance of ADSs and reserved for future issuances upon the exercise or vesting of awards granted under share incentive plans, and Class A ordinary shares in the form of ADSs held in treasury) and 801,904,979 Class B ordinary shares, par value US$0.000005 per share, as of December 31, 2023.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.   ☐  Yes    ☒  No

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    ☒  No

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.   ☒  Yes    ☐  No

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).   ☒  Yes    ☐  No

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 the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.   ☐  Yes    ☒  No

† 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.   ☐  Yes    ☒  No

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to§240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

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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).   ☐  Yes    ☒  No

(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

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INTRODUCTION

Unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, references in this annual report to:

Our reporting currency is the Renminbi. This annual report also contains translations of certain foreign currency amounts into U.S. dollars for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise stated, all translations of Renminbi into U.S. dollars were made at RMB7.0999 to US$1.00, the exchange rate set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board on December 29, 2023. We make no representation that the Renminbi or U.S. dollars amounts referred to in this annual report could have been or could be converted into U.S. dollars or Renminbi, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all.

Due to rounding, numbers presented throughout this annual report may not add up precisely to the totals provided and percentages may not precisely reflect the absolute figures.

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FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This annual report contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of current or historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

You can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “likely to” or other similar expressions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:

You should read this annual report and the documents that we refer to in this annual report with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from and worse than what we expect. Other sections of this annual report include additional factors which could adversely impact our business and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. New risk factors and uncertainties emerge from time to time and it is not possible for our management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

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PART I

Item 1.Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisers

Not applicable.

Item 2.Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable

Not applicable.

Item 3.Key Information

Waterdrop Inc. is not an operating company in China but rather a Cayman Islands holding company with no material operations of its own and no equity ownership in the VIEs (defined below). We conduct our operations primarily through (i) our subsidiaries in mainland China and (ii) the VIEs, with which we maintain contractual agreements. The laws and regulations of mainland China restrict and impose conditions on foreign direct investment in companies involved in the provision of value-added telecommunication services, insurance brokerage services or insurance agency services. Therefore, we operate such businesses in China through the variable interest entities, Zhuiqiu Jizhi, Shuidi Hubao, Shuidi Hulian, Zongqing Xiangqian and Guangmu Weichen, which we refer to as the VIEs in this annual report, and rely on contractual arrangements among our subsidiaries in mainland China, the VIEs and their shareholders to control the business operations of the VIEs. Revenues contributed by the VIEs accounted for 99.6%, 93.6% and 88.6% of our total net revenues for the fiscal years 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively. As used in this annual report, “Waterdrop,” “we,” “us,” “our company” or “our” refers to Waterdrop Inc. and its subsidiaries. Investors in our ADSs thus are not purchasing equity interest in the VIEs but instead are purchasing equity interest in Waterdrop Inc., a Cayman Islands holding company, and may never directly hold equity interests in the VIEs in mainland China. The consolidated VIEs are mainland China companies conducting operations in mainland China, and their financial results have been consolidated into our consolidated financial statements under U.S. GAAP for accounting purposes. Waterdrop Inc. is a holding company with no operations of its own. We do not have any equity ownership in the consolidated VIEs.

Our corporate structure is subject to risks associated with our contractual arrangements with the VIEs. Investors may not directly hold equity interests in the VIEs or in the businesses that are conducted by the VIEs, and the VIE structure provides contractual exposure to foreign investment in mainland China-based companies which involve foreign investment restrictions. If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating our business do not comply with the laws and regulations in mainland China, or if these regulations or their interpretations change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations. This may result in the VIEs being deconsolidated, which would materially and adversely affect our operations, and our ADSs may decline significantly in value or become worthless. The legality and enforceability of the contractual agreements between our subsidiaries in mainland China, the VIEs, and their nominee shareholders, as a whole, have not been tested in a court of law in mainland China as of the date of this annual report. Our holding company, our subsidiaries in mainland China, the VIEs, and investors of our company face uncertainty about potential future actions by the PRC government that could affect the enforceability of the contractual arrangements with the VIEs and, consequently, significantly affect the financial performance of the VIEs and our company as a whole. The PRC regulatory authorities could disallow the VIE structure, which would likely result in a material adverse change in our operations, and our ordinary shares or our ADSs may decline significantly in value or become worthless. As such, the VIE structure involves unique risks to investors of our holding company. For a detailed description of the risks associated with our corporate structure, please refer to risks disclosed under “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure.”

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We face various legal and operational risks and uncertainties related to doing business in China. Our business operations are primarily conducted in China, and we are subject to complex and evolving laws and regulations in mainland China. In recent years, the PRC government has issued statements and regulatory actions relating to areas such as regulatory approvals on offshore offerings, the use of VIE structure, anti-monopoly regulatory actions, and oversight on cybersecurity and data privacy. For example, on February 17, 2023, China Securities Regulatory Commission, or the CSRC, issued the Trial Administrative Measures of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies and five supporting guidelines, which became effective on March 31, 2023. Pursuant to these regulations, China-based companies that directly or indirectly offer or list their securities in an overseas market must file with the CSRC within three business days after submitting their listing application documents to the regulator in the place of intended listing. These regulations also provide that a China-based company must file with the CSRC within three business days after completion of its follow-on offering of securities after it is listed in an overseas market. There remain uncertainties with respect to how the CSRC filing procedures under these regulations would be applied to, and implicate, the procedures, timetables and outcomes of our future offering or other capital raising activities. These risks could result in a material adverse change in our operations and the value of our ADSs, significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to continue to offer securities to investors and accept foreign investments or list on another foreign exchange, or cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or be worthless. For a detailed description of risks related to doing business in China, “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China.”

Risks and uncertainties arising from the legal system in mainland China, including risks and uncertainties regarding the enforcement of laws and quickly evolving rules and regulations in mainland China, could result in a material adverse change in our operations and the value of our ADSs. For more details, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—The legal system in mainland China is evolving, which leads to uncertainties that could adversely affect us.”

Our Holding Company Structure and VIE Contractual Arrangements

Waterdrop Inc. is a holding company with no material operations of its own. We conduct our operations primarily through our subsidiaries in mainland China and the VIEs. Our value-added telecommunication services, insurance brokerage services or insurance agency services in mainland China have been conducted through the VIEs in order to comply with the laws and regulations in mainland China, which restrict and impose conditions on foreign direct investment in companies involved in the provision of value-added telecommunication services, insurance brokerage services or insurance agency services.

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The following diagram illustrates our corporate structure as of the date of this annual report, including our principal subsidiaries, the VIEs and the VIEs’ principal subsidiaries:

Notes:

Permissions Required from the Authorities in Mainland China for Our Operations

We conduct our business primarily through our subsidiaries in mainland China, the VIEs and their subsidiaries in mainland China. Our operations in China are governed by the laws and regulations in mainland China. As of the date of this annual report, our subsidiaries in mainland China, the VIEs and their subsidiaries have obtained the requisite licenses and permits from the PRC governmental authorities that are material for the business operations of our holding company, the VIEs and their subsidiaries in mainland China, including, among others, licenses to conduct insurance brokerage business and insurance agency business, and license for provision of internet information services. Given the interpretation and implementation of the laws and regulations and the enforcement practice by governmental authorities are evolving, we may be required to obtain additional licenses, permits, filings or approvals for the functions and services of our platform in the future. For more detailed information, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business—Any lack of requisite approvals, licenses or permits applicable to our business operation may have a material and adverse impact on our business and results of operations.”

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As of the date of this annual report, except for the licenses and approvals that have been granted and except as disclosed in this annual report, we, our subsidiaries in mainland China and the VIEs are not required to obtain approval or permission from the CSRC, the Cyberspace Administration of China or any other entity that is required to approve the VIEs’ operations or required for us to offer securities to foreign investors under any currently effective laws, regulations and regulatory rules in mainland China. However, in connection with any future overseas capital markets activities, we may need to file with the CSRC, undergo a cybersecurity review conducted by the Cyberspace Administration of China, or meet other regulatory requirements that may be adopted in the future by the authorities in mainland China. To the extent such requirements are or become applicable, we cannot assure you that we would be able to comply with them. Any failure to obtain or delay in obtaining such approval or completing such procedures could subject us to restrictions and penalties imposed by the CSRC, the Cyberspace Administration of China or other PRC regulatory authorities, which could include fines and penalties on our operations in China, delays of or restrictions on the repatriation of the proceeds from our offshore offerings into mainland China, or other actions that could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects, as well as the trading price of our ADSs. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—The PRC government’s significant oversight and discretion over our business operation could result in a material adverse change in our operations and the value of our ADSs.”

Furthermore, in connection with issuance of securities to foreign investors, in recent years, the PRC government has strengthened oversight over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China-based issuers. Any such action could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to conduct future offerings of securities to investors and accept foreign investments. For more detailed information, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—The filing, approval or other administration requirements of the CSRC or other PRC governmental authorities may be required in connection with our offshore offerings under the law in mainland China, and, if required, we cannot predict whether or for how long we will be able to complete such filing, obtain such approval or meet such requirements.”

The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act

Our auditor is located in mainland China. Pursuant to the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act that was signed into law on December 29, 2022, if the SEC determines that we have filed audit reports issued by a registered public accounting firm that has not been subject to inspections by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB, for two consecutive years, the SEC will prohibit our shares or the ADSs from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over-the-counter trading market in the United States. On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a report to notify the SEC of its determination that the PCAOB was unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong, including our auditor. In May 2022, the SEC conclusively listed us as a Commission-Identified Issuer under the HFCAA following the filing of our annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB issued a report that vacated its December 16, 2021 determination and removed mainland China and Hong Kong from the list of jurisdictions where it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms. As of the date of this annual report, the PCAOB has not issued any new determination that it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in any jurisdiction. For this reason, we do not expect to be identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer under the HFCAA after we file this annual report on Form 20-F. Each year, the PCAOB will determine whether it can inspect and investigate completely audit firms in mainland China and Hong Kong, among other jurisdictions. If the PCAOB determines in the future that it no longer has full access to inspect and investigate completely accounting firms in mainland China and Hong Kong and we continue to use an accounting firm headquartered in one of these jurisdictions to issue an audit report on our financial statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, we would be identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer following the filing of the annual report on Form 20-F for the relevant fiscal year. There can be no assurance that we would not be identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer for any future fiscal year, and if we were so identified for two consecutive years, we would become subject to the prohibition on trading under the HFCAA. See “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—The PCAOB had historically been unable to inspect our auditor in relation to their audit work performed for our financial statements and the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of our auditor in the past has deprived our investors with the benefits of such inspections” and “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Our ADSs may be prohibited from trading in the United States under the HFCAA in the future if the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely auditors located in mainland China. The delisting of the ADSs, or the threat of their being delisted, may materially and adversely affect the value of your investment.”

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Cash Transfers and Dividend Distribution

Waterdrop Inc., our Cayman Islands holding company, transfers cash to our wholly-owned Hong Kong subsidiary, by making capital contributions or providing loans, and our Hong Kong subsidiary transfers cash to our subsidiaries in mainland China by making capital contributions or providing loans to them.

Waterdrop Inc. and its subsidiaries are not able to make direct capital contribution to the VIEs and their subsidiaries. However, they may transfer cash to the VIEs by loans or by making payment to the VIEs for inter-group transactions.

The following table sets forth the amount of the transfers for the periods presented.

Note:

The VIEs may transfer cash to our WFOE by paying service fees according to the exclusive business cooperation agreements. Pursuant to these agreements between the VIEs and our WFOE, our WFOE has the exclusive right to provide the VIEs with consulting, technical services and other services required by the VIEs’ business. Without our WFOE’s prior written consent, the VIEs may not accept the same or similar consulting, technical services and other services provided by any third party during the term of the agreement. The VIEs agree to pay our WFOE service fees based on the operating profit generated by the VIEs on an annual basis. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, service fees of RMB718 million, RMB749 million and RMB596 million were paid to the WFOE by the VIEs under the agreements, respectively.

For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, no dividends or distributions were made to Waterdrop Inc. by our subsidiaries. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023, no dividends or distributions were made to U.S. investors.

For purposes of illustration, the following discussion reflects the hypothetical taxes that might be required to be paid within mainland China, assuming that: (i) we have taxable earnings, and (ii) we determine to pay a dividend in the future:

Notes:

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The table above has been prepared under the assumption that all profits of the VIEs will be distributed as fees to our WFOE under tax neutral contractual arrangements. If, in the future, the accumulated earnings of the VIE exceed the fees paid to our WFOE (or if the current and contemplated fee structure between the intercompany entities is determined to be non-substantive and disallowed by Chinese tax authorities), the VIEs could, as a matter of last resort, make a non-deductible transfer to our subsidiaries in mainland China for the amounts of the stranded cash in the VIEs. This would result in such transfer being non-deductible expenses for the VIEs but still taxable income for our WFOE.

As Waterdrop Inc. is a Cayman Islands holding company with no material operations of its own, its ability to pay dividends may depend upon dividends paid by our subsidiaries in mainland China. Our subsidiaries in mainland China in turn generate income from their own operations, and in addition enjoy all economic benefit and receive service fees from the VIEs pursuant to the exclusive business cooperation agreement with the VIEs. If our existing subsidiaries in mainland China or any newly formed ones incur debt on their own behalf in the future, the instruments governing their debt may restrict their ability to distribute earnings or pay dividends to us. Under the law in mainland China, each of our subsidiaries and the VIEs in mainland China is required to set aside at least 10% of its after-tax profits each year, if any, to fund certain statutory reserve funds until such reserve funds reach 50% of its registered capital. In addition, each of our subsidiaries and the VIEs in mainland China may allocate a portion of its after-tax profits based on mainland China accounting standards to a surplus fund at its discretion. The statutory reserve funds and the discretionary funds are not distributable as cash dividends. Remittance of dividends by a wholly foreign-owned company out of mainland China is subject to examination by the banks designated by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, and declaration and payment of withholding tax. Additionally, if our subsidiaries in mainland China and the VIEs incur debt on their own behalf in the future, the instruments governing their debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to us. Our subsidiaries in mainland China have not paid dividends and will not be able to pay dividends until it generates accumulated profits and meets the requirements for statutory reserve funds. For more details, see “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Regulation in mainland China of loans to and direct investment in the entities in mainland China by offshore holding companies may delay us from using the proceeds of financing activities to make loans or additional capital contributions to our subsidiaries in mainland China and to make loans to the VIEs, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business” and “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in China—Governmental regulation of currency conversion may limit our ability to utilize our revenues effectively and affect the value of your investment.”

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Financial Information Related to the VIEs

The following table presents the condensed consolidating balance sheet data for the VIEs and other entities as of the dates presented.

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The following table presents the condensed consolidating statements of operations for the VIEs and other entities for the periods presented.

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