Kassey Lee discusses China’s rise and what it means for domain investing.
After listening to an interview with billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio (Ray Dalio: CHINA Town Hall 2020), I have started paying attention to what he says about China. After all, Dalio helped China create the nation’s stock markets in the late 1980s.
Dalio starts by sharing his personal involvement in China as soon as the country opened up. The most interesting bit I’ve found is the history he mentioned about global trading, reserve currency, and financial center.
According to Dalio, all leading trading empires over the last 500 years had the world’s reserve currency and the world financial center. During the 1600s and 1700s, the Dutch guilder became the world’s reserve currency and Amsterdam became the world’s financial center after Holland became the world’s largest trading country.
In the 1700s and 1800s, the British pound became the world’s reserve currency and London became the world’s financial center after the British Empire became the world’s largest trading country. From the 20th century up until now, the United States dollar is the world’s reserve currency, and New York is the world’s financial center after the U.S. became the world’s largest trading country.
Now, China has become the world’s largest trading country, Dalio said. That means many Chinese companies are going global and will continue to do so for quite a while. This will be reflected in the choice of name and matching domain by Chinese startups. What kind of domains will they choose? I think the following types are desirable.
English .com domains
The internet is global by its very nature. English is the global language and .com a global extension, so many Chinese startups will naturally choose to use an English-based name with the matching .com domain. Some examples are NetEase.com (网易) and ByteDance.com (字节跳动).
Pronounceable Pinyin domains
Some Pinyin words are easy to pronounce outside China, so Chinese startups will pay attention to this aspect when choosing a name and its matching domain. The best Pinyin domain I like is Alibaba.com (阿里巴巴), and another one is Baidu.com (百度).
Acronym domains
If you have a Pinyin domain that is not easy to pronounce, you can upgrade to an acronym domain. A good example can be found in the story of “How a 3 letter domain helped this business go global” where ZhuBaJie.com was upgraded to ZBJ.com.
Numeric domains
Numeric domains are popular in China. In my opinion, 2-digit domains even without meaning or 3-digit domains with good meanings can also be used outside China. Examples are 17.com (which has no meaning) and 360.com (which suggests “complete” or “comprehensive”).
In short, China will continue to offer great opportunities for domain investors as it consolidates its position as the world’s largest trading country.
jaleel Khader says
Great Article
Kassey Lee says
Thanks Jaleel.
joesaba2014 says
China was the first most commercial country in contemporary history with the Silk Road.
Kassey Lee says
It seems that trade is shifting from sea to land once again, realizing the World Island theory put forward by Halford John Mackinder in 1904, as China is trying to connect Asia, Europe, and Africa with high-speed railways and intercountry roads.
joesaba2014 says
This super investments facing the future of China gallery and of each powerful country will be very different cargo and passenger aircraft and much faster than the current ones.
Hollywood movies have given many ideas already predicted in the past and current by great aeronautical engineers and scientists.
The Asian market will be the most important and the largest now it is and much more later.
Kassey Lee says
Watch the keyword RCEP. The agreement reached recently means the largest regional economy in the world, led by China which accounts for about 50% of it. Read my article “RCEP could boost demand for domains” (https://domainnamewire.com/2020/11/24/rcep-could-boost-demand-for-domains/) and think of the implication of selling domains to China.
joesaba2014 says
Thank you,
Great news that you bring to me, I have always believed that when China was free from external pressure it would be what to foresee now, much more important with the free market of the other countries which have historical roots with China.
Many Western banks have long opened offices in China and are investing in Startups, it is very interesting as a whole, Asia is already the largest market in the world
Regarding the domains (Com) I have some related to China and next year contact Guta.com
Kassey Lee says
I fully agree with your comment.
joesaba2014 says
Thank you.
You do a great job with your posts, by letting us know the Chinese and Asian markets.