.中国

ccTLD
Type	ccTLD
Status	Active
Region	AP
Country	China
Implemented	July 9, 2010
Script	Chinese
In English	China
Punycode	xn--fiqs8s
Registry	China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC)
Website	cnnic.cn

.中国 (Simplified Chinese) and .中國 (Traditional Chinese) are IDN ccTLD for China. They are managed by China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

The string “中国” is represented in ASCII-compatible encoding according to the 2003 IDNA specification as “xn--fiqs8s”. The individual Unicode code points that comprise this string are U+4E2D U+56FD. The string is expressed in Chinese script, using simplified characters.

The string “中國” is represented in ASCII-compatible encoding according to the 2003 IDNA specification as “xn--fiqz9s”. The individual Unicode code points that comprise this string are U+4E2D U+570B. The string is expressed in Chinese script, using traditional characters.

Background

.中国 is the IDN domain name that represents China on the global internet. Similar to .CN, .中国 is part of China's domain name system and the global domain name system. It can be used in anywhere in the world, and it is unique. .中国 is similar to .CN in its function, as relevant internet infrastructure, such as web pages, mmail, FTP and other services can be built on it.

History

On July 16, 2008, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) initiated a project named “From China to the world——China domain name global upgrade action” in Beijing, China. CINNIC also announced that on the date when “.中国” is integrated in the global Domain Name System root zone, all “中文.CN” (IDN to the left of the dot .CN) domain name users will automatically get the corresponding Chinese IDN, for example “中文.中国”, .中国 domain name(s) without needing to go through the application and registration process again. After “.中国” is integrated into the global Domain Name System root zone, all automatically obtained Chinese IDN “.中国” domain names will be upgraded to the "Chinese Domain" database in the global Domain Name System root zone.

In December 16, 2009, CNNIC held the “.中国” international domain name application launch ceremony in Beijing with Microsoft, Baidu, Alibaba, Taobao, OPERA, Aoyou, Xinhua, People.cn, Sina, Tencent and many other well-known companies present and on-site signing support of the initiative. CNNIC, on behalf of China officially submitted the application of “.中国” to ICANN.

In July 10, 2010, ICANN authorized IANA to officially write “.中国” into the global DNS root zone. Internet users can directly enter the registered “.中国” domain name in the browser address bar to visit the associated site.

From October 29, 2012, “.CN” and “.中国” domain name was registered and serviced separately which means “.中国” domain name officially operates independently. When registrants register a “.中国” domain name, they will no longer automatically get the associated “.CN” Chinese IDN domain name.

Registrars

• Chinese registrars
• Non-Chinese registrars

Rules and Restrictions

Characters

• .中国 domain naming rules:.中国 domain can include Chinese characters, English characters, a-z (upper case or lower case characters are used equally), Arabic numbers, 0-9, half-angle dash “-”, or their combinations; “-” can’t be placed in the beginning or the end of a .中国 domain name.
• Supports Simplified and Traditional Chinese characters

Websites in Use

• People’ Daily online portal: 人民网.中国
• China Merchant Bank: 招商银行.中国
• China Mobile: 中国移动.中国
• China Internet Museum: 互联网博物馆.中国
• CNNIC: 互联网中心.中国
• China Central Television: 中央电视台.中国

Country code top-level domain, as determined by "ISO 3166: Country Codes".

Asia/Australia/Pacific, according to the ICANN Geographic Regions (ICANN Geographic Regions).

Internationalized Domain Name

American Standard Code for Information Interchange

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority