1. 2016 was early; ico was banned 2017/09/04; 2. Non Mainland NGO cannot host events unless approved by ministry of public safety; which is very hard; George Soros did a non profit JV back in 80s with billion $ budget - that’s how hard it is. 3. You can partner with local for profit companies or non profit organizations. In Devcon2 case, was done by Wanxiang Group (they’ve been established decades again and non profit registered years ago in mainland). For ethshanghai case it’s also helped by 绿发会 CBCGDF(check its leader) and later WanXiang 4. Seems Solana Shanghai etc try to use a newly registered company (less than half yrs ago) to host events without reveal its tie to overseas foundation or a strong national NPO / conglomerate.