tacks against foreign governments
and companies, and responses to such activity, including sanctions, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Chinese government or Chinese companies, may negatively
affect China’s economy and Chinese securities issuers. In addition, the current political climate has intensified concerns about trade tariffs or trade disputes with China’s major trading partners, including a potential
trade war between the U.S. and China. These consequences may trigger a significant reduction in international trade, shortages or oversupply of certain manufactured goods, substantial price
increases or decreases of goods, inflationary pressures, and possible failure of individual
companies and/or large segments of the foreign export industry in China with a
potentially negative impact on the
Fund’s investments. As demonstrated by Hong Kong protests in recent years over political, economic, and legal freedoms, and the Chinese government’s response
to them, considerable political uncertainty continues to exist within Hong Kong. Due to the
interconnected nature of the Hong Kong and Chinese economies, this instability in Hong
Kong may cause uncertainty in the Hong Kong and Chinese markets. If China were to exert its authority so as to alter the economic, political or legal structures or the existing social policy of Hong Kong,
investor and business confidence in Hong Kong could be negatively affected and have an
adverse effect on the Fund’s investments.
Risks Associated with Japan:
The Japanese economy has only recently emerged from a prolonged economic downturn. Since
the year 2000, Japan’s economic growth rate has remained relatively low. The
Japanese economy is characterized by an aging demographic, declining population, large government debt and highly regulated labor market. Economic growth in Japan is dependent on domestic consumption,
deregulation and consistent government policy. International trade, particularly with the
U.S., also impacts growth of the Japanese economy, and adverse economic conditions in the U.S. or other trade partners may affect Japan.
Active Management Risk: The Fund is actively managed by Matthews. There is the risk that Matthews may select securities
that underperform the relevant stock market(s), the Fund’s benchmark index or other
funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies.
Sector Concentration
Risk: To the extent that the Fund emphasizes, from time to time, investments in a particular sector, the Fund will be subject to a
greater degree to the risks particular to that sector, including the sector(s) described below. Market conditions, interest rates, and economic, regulatory, or financial developments could significantly
affect a single sector. By focusing its investments in a particular sector, the Fund may face more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous sectors.
—Financials Sector Risk: As of December 31, 2024, 20% of the Fund’s assets were invested in the financial sector. Financial companies are subject to
extensive government regulation and can be significantly affected by the availability and cost of capital funds, changes in interest rates, the rate of corporate and consumer debt defaults, price
competition and other sector-specific factors.
Cybersecurity Risk: With the increased use of technologies such as the internet to conduct business, the Fund is
susceptible to operational, information security, and related risks. Cyber incidents
affecting the Fund or its service providers may cause disruptions and impact business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses, interference with the Fund’s ability to calculate its NAV, impediments to
trading, the inability of shareholders to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, or
additional compliance costs.
Underlying ETF
Risk: Because the Fund may invest in affiliated and unaffiliated ETFs, it is subject to additional risks that do not apply to conventional mutual
funds, including the risks that the market price of ETF shares held by the Fund may trade at a discount to its net asset value, an active secondary trading market may not develop or be maintained,
or trading may be halted by the exchange in which an ETF trades, which may impact the
Fund’s ability to sell its shares of an ETF.