Kassey Lee examines domains registered in .cn vs. third level .cn domains.
.cn offers many choices to investors as the second-largest extension after .com. You can register a domain in the .cn extension at the second level, for example Amazon.cn and Godaddy.cn. In addition, you can also register a third level (subdomain) of a .cn domain, for example Apple.com.cn, SinoData.net.cn, and HydroPower.org.cn, which are subdomains of com.cn, net.cn, and org.cn respectively.
Direct registration of domains in .cn was not permitted when the Chinese extension was launched in 1990. Registrations were available only for third level domains of the following domains.
| Domain | Description |
|---|---|
| Com.cn | Commerce |
| Net.cn | Networks |
| Org.cn | Non-profit |
| (adm).cn | Administrative districts, e.g., BJ.cn |
| Gov.cn | Government |
| Ac.cn | Academic research |
| Edu.cn | Education |
| Mil.cn | Military |
This changed in 2003 when registration of domains in .cn was allowed.
If you sell a domain to an end user in China, they must apply for an ICP license to operate the website in China. An example of an ICP license can be seen on the home page of Amazon.cn. In recent years, as I understand, the Chinese government is very strict in confirming a non-profit organization status. Therefore, it may not be easy to sell org.cn subdomains in China. (adm).cn, Gov.cn, Ac.cn, Edu.cn, and Mil.cn are all restricted. Therefore, we are talking about three choices for investment purposes: .cn domains, or com.cn or net.cn subdomains.
Recently, I read all “China Statistical Report on Internet Development” published from 1997 to 2021 by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), extracted numbers of domains registered in China, and then compiled the data into the following table.
The choice is obvious: if you want the largest pool of potential buyers, focus on .cn domains instead of the com.cn or net.cn subdomains.
Thanks, Kassey. Do you have any idea how valuable a generic .cn domain is compared to the .com, i.e. loan.cn versus loan.com? And how many aftermarket .cn sales there are compared to .com?
Hi Jon, .com domains are 1st choice by corporate China and are usually much more expensive than .cn domains. Companies also like to upgrade from .cn to .com. For example, Qihoo 360 shelled out $17m in 2015 to upgrade from 360.cn to 360.com. I have not come across any aftermarket .cn sales statistics. If I do, I’ll write about it. My speculation is that .cn wins in terms of volume but .com wins in terms of price.
Thanks. It would be great to see the East and West domain communities come together, with at least one multilingual site reporting on sales and trends. Maybe you should team up with Ron Jackson!:)
I’ve found that at the registration level, the Chinese government has done a lot and provided a lot of data for analysis. However, I have not found any coordinated efforts by vendors in the aftermarket to produce meaningful data. Guta has helped by releasing its report periodically, which is good. Anyway, I’m happy to bridge the gap by writing regularly on China.