1. Is there any charge for the selection project?

To ensure the non-profit nature of high-tech and high-growth projects, Deloitte will not charge any fees from enterprises at any stage of the event.

2. What conditions do we need to meet if we want to register?

To register for the Top 50 selection project, the following conditions must be met:

• The company has independent intellectual property rights or proprietary technology, and the technology brings significant operating income to the company;
• Provide audit reports for the three years of 2022, 2023, and 2024, with operating income of no less than RMB 2 million in 2022 and no less than RMB 30 million in 2024, and have good sustainable development capabilities;
• The company's headquarters must be in mainland China or Hong Kong and Macau. Companies with only branches or sub-branches do not meet the requirements.

To register for the China Rising Star selection project, the following conditions must be met:

• The company has leading technology and a viable business model;
• The sub-segment has broad growth space and the company is in a leading position in the field;
• The company's headquarters must be in mainland China or Hong Kong and Macau. Companies with only branches or sub-branches in mainland China or Hong Kong and Macau do not meet the requirements.

Please note that each company can only apply for one of the China Top 50 or Rising Star, and cannot apply for both. At the same time, the financial information of all participating companies will be strictly confidential.

3. Please further explain the requirements for the location of the company's headquarters.

The company's headquarters refers to the company's main operating entity located in mainland China or Hong Kong and Macao, or the company's main business and main technology components are in mainland China or Hong Kong and Macao.

For example: Company A is the legal entity used when registering, which is VIE, and its registered place is Tianjin. The legal entity of the audited consolidated financial statements is a Cayman company. The group's CEO and some R&D teams are based in the United States, the COO and some senior executives are based in Beijing, and the CFO is based in Shanghai (for example, for family reasons). The company has subsidiaries in Beijing and Shanghai. In this case, does it meet the geographical requirements in the registration conditions?

Answer: Because VIE is registered in Tianjin, the operating entity is in mainland China, so it can be registered.

4. We are not quite sure about the differences between the four projects, China Top 50, Regional Top 20, China Rising Star, and Regional Rising Star. Which one should our company sign up for? Or can we sign up for multiple projects at the same time?

You can only sign up for one of the four projects. Please determine the project you want to sign up for based on the following principles.

Top 50/Top 20:

China Top 50 is a nationwide selection project. Enterprises headquartered in the mainland or Hong Kong and Macao can sign up for the selection. Regional Top 20 is a sub-project of China Top 50.

Enterprises can only choose to sign up for one of the top 50 or top 20. This year, there are 7 cities or regions hosting the "Regional Top 20" project: Beijing Yizhuang, Beijing Chaoyang, Beijing Haidian, Optics Valley, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Qingdao. For enterprises headquartered in the above-mentioned areas, they only need to sign up for the "Regional Top 20" project to become candidates for the "China Top 50" at the same time, and there is no need to sign up for the "China Top 50".

If the location of the enterprise did not host the regional top 20 this year (such as Shanghai and Hangzhou), that is, it is not in the above 9 regions, the enterprise can directly apply for the "China Top 50" project.

Rising Star:

As above, "China Rising Star" is a sister project of China Top 50, and the selection criteria and registration conditions are different from those of Top 50.

"Regional Rising Star" is a sister project of Regional Top 20. Enterprises that do not meet the selection criteria of Top 50/Top 20 can apply for China Rising Star or Regional Rising Star projects. The 9 regions that held the top 20 this year also held regional Rising Star selection projects. For enterprises headquartered in the above 7 regions, they only need to apply for the "Regional Rising Star" project to automatically become candidates for "China Rising Star", that is, participating in the regional Rising Star is equivalent to participating in the China Rising Star at the same time.

If the location of the enterprise is not in the above 7 regions and the enterprise is suitable for participating in the "Rising Star" project, it can directly apply for the "China Rising Star" project.

The entry and selection criteria for "Top 50/Top 20" and "Rising Star" are different. You can only choose one of the two. It is recommended that enterprises decide which project to apply for based on the entry criteria and the specific situation of the enterprise.

5. Can the Top 50/Top 20 and Rising Star apply and win every year?

The Rising Star project is equivalent to the Rookie Award in the technology industry. It can only be obtained once, so companies that have won the Rising Star award cannot apply for the Rising Star project again; while the Top 50/Top 20 is similar to the Oscar Award. Strong companies can apply and win consecutively.

6. What are the selection criteria for the Top 50? Will companies recommended by Deloitte clients or ** be given priority?

The growth rate of the company's operating income in the past three fiscal years. This is the only ranking criterion for the Top 50. At the same time, we will also pay attention to the rationality of other major financial indicators of the company. In addition, there is no influence of other non-objective factors, so there is no priority consideration of whether it is recommended by Deloitte clients or **. This is also an important reason why this event has become one of the most fair and objective selection activities in the world.

7. What are the criteria for the selection of Rising star?

We will mainly consider the following four aspects:

• Founding team
• Technological innovation
• Industry prospects
• Company valuation

8. I think my company has a good chance of winning. When will I be notified of the winning?

The list of winners will be officially announced in mid-to-late December 2025. Before that, separate email notifications will be made based on the project contact information reserved by the company on the registration website.

9. What benefits will my company get if it wins?

There are actually many values ​​of winning. We have listed some of them here for your reference:

• Increase brand influence
• VC/PE investment
• Local government support
• Increase employee pride

Note:

• In addition to the top 20 companies needing to register in the local area where the selection event is held, the above questions about the top 50 also apply to the regional top 20.
• The financial information of all participating companies will be strictly confidential.

Interpretation of financial issues

1. The top 50 and regional top 20 are required to submit audited financial statements. Will our company's financial data be leaked?

Don't worry! The selection will only publish the growth rate of revenue, and will not disclose any financial data of the company to any third party. In Deloitte, only the project review team has the right to know. The confidentiality agreement can be downloaded on the registration website.

2. "Audited financial statements for the past three complete fiscal years", can you explain this provision in detail?

Here it refers to 2022, 2023 and 2024. If the fiscal year of the participating company is not a natural year (i.e. January 1 to December 31 of the Gregorian calendar), it should ensure that the balance sheet date (i.e. the end of the fiscal year) of the last year of "three consecutive years" is within 2024, or within January to March 2025. Remember, the registered company must ensure the integrity of the electronic audited financial statements, which must include the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement and notes to the financial statements (collectively referred to as "financial statements") and the audit report signed by a third-party certified public accountant, and stamped with the company seal.

3. What if there are special circumstances and the three-year electronic audited financial statements cannot be submitted temporarily?

Three years of audited financial statements must be submitted!

The top 50 participating companies must submit electronic audited financial statements before the registration deadline, which will be invalid after the expiration date. All financial indicators are subject to the submitted electronic audited financial statements. In addition, I remind you again: Remember to ensure the integrity of the audited financial statements, which must include the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement and financial statement notes (collectively referred to as "financial statements") and the audit report signed by a third-party certified public accountant, and stamped with the company seal.

The top 20 participating companies also need to submit electronic audited financial statements in the registration system. The requirements for audited financial statements are the same as above.

4. I also want to submit electronic audited financial statements if there are no conditions, but I will create conditions! Are there any requirements for the preparation basis (accounting standards) of financial statements and the reporting currency used?

Companies only need to ensure that the preparation basis and reporting currency of the reports for three consecutive years are consistent. We do not evaluate the absolute value of financial data, but only evaluate the revenue growth rate and refer to other key financial ratios, so we do not make special requirements for standards and currencies.

5. We are a listed company, and the audited financial statements can be obtained directly on the Internet. Do we still need to submit electronic audited financial statements?

If the applicant confirms that the identity and scope of its registration are consistent with the listing scope, it does not need to provide an electronic report. We can obtain it directly on the Internet and check it with the financial data filled in by the company online. But please note that this requires that the audited financial statements of the company for three consecutive years can be obtained from public channels.

6. If we are a group, the financial statements contain consolidated data and parent company data. Which caliber will be used during the selection?

The company can decide to participate in the election as a group or a parent company. However, if it participates in the election as a parent company, the premise is that the main business and technology elements are independently operated within the parent company. If it participates in the election as a group, the audited consolidated financial statements are required. The company can fill in the corresponding three consecutive years of income data when registering on the website according to the caliber determined by itself. We will compare it with the audit report and financial statements to determine the data caliber of the company's registration. Therefore, it is also very important to fill in the accurate three consecutive years of income amount on the registration website.

Note: The above questions regarding the top 50 also apply to the regional top 20.