.cn

.cn is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the People's Republic of China. Introduced on 28 November 1990, the domain is administered by China Internet Network Information Center, a public institution affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Information. The domain is the largest ccTLD in the world.^[4]

.cn

Introduced	28 November 1990^[1]
TLD type	Country code top-level domain
Status	Active
Registry	China Internet Network Information Center
Sponsor	Chinese Academy of Sciences
Intended use	Entities connected with China
Actual use	Very popular in mainland China (the largest ccTLD)^[2]
Registered domains	20,101,491 (2022-12-31)^[3]
Structure	Names may be registered directly at the second level or at the third level within generic second-level categories or Chinese province codes
Documents	China Internet Domain Name Regulations
Dispute policies	China ccTLD Dispute Resolution Policy and China ccTLD Dispute Resolution Policy Rules
Registry website	CNNIC (General)

The Chinese script internationalized country codes are ".中国" ("China" in Simplified Chinese) and ".中國" ("China" in Traditional Chinese). Entities connected to Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan often use .hk, .mo, and .tw, respectively^[5], despite their corresponding second-level domains under .cn available for those regions.

Second-level domains

Any individual may register for second-level domain names. However, the registry has created a set of predefined second-level domains for certain types of organizations and geographic locations. Registrations for such third-level domains were available before second-level domains became available in 2003, and registrants of third-level domains were given priority for names at the second level.

Generic second-level domains

According to the "China Internet Domain Name System",^[6] published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, there are 9 generic second-level domains, two of which are internationalized:

• ac.cn : Scientific research institutions
• com.cn : Industrial, commercial, financial, and other enterprises
• edu.cn : Education institutions (registration restricted)
• gov.cn : Chinese government organizations (registration restricted)
• mil.cn : Chinese national defense organizations (registration restricted)
• net.cn : Organizations providing Internet services
• org.cn : Not-for-profit organizations
• 政务.cn : Party and government services (registration restricted)
• 公益.cn : Not-for-profit organizations

Second-level domains of Administrative Divisions

The two-letter abbreviations correlate with ISO 3166-2 "Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions—Part 2: Country subdivision code" (adapted locally as National Standard GB/T 2659.2^[7]). According to the "China Internet Domain Name System"^[8] published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, there are 34 administrative division second-level domains:

• ah.cn : Anhui Province
• bj.cn : Beijing Municipality
• cq.cn : Chongqing Municipality
• fj.cn : Fujian Province
• gd.cn : Guangdong Province
• gs.cn : Gansu Province
• gz.cn : Guizhou Province
• gx.cn : Guangxi Province
• ha.cn : Henan Province
• hb.cn : Hubei Province
• he.cn : Hebei Province
• hi.cn : Hainan Province
• hk.cn : Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
• hl.cn : Heilongjiang Province
• hn.cn : Hunan Province
• jl.cn : Jilin Province
• js.cn : Jiangsu Province
• jx.cn : Jiangxi Province
• ln.cn : Liaoning Province
• mo.cn : Macao Special Administrative Region
• nm.cn : Nei Mongol Autonomous Region
• nx.cn : Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
• qh.cn : Qinghai Province
• sc.cn : Sichuan Province
• sd.cn : Shandong Province
• sh.cn : Shanghai Municipality
• sn.cn : Shaanxi Province
• sx.cn : Shanxi Province
• tj.cn : Tianjin Municipality
• tw.cn : Taiwan Province
• xj.cn : Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
• xz.cn : Xizang Autonomous Region
• yn.cn : Yunnan Province
• zj.cn : Zhejiang Province

Internationalized domain names with Chinese characters

Internationalized domain names with Chinese characters may be registered at the second level under the .cn top-level domain.

On 25 June 2010, ICANN approved the use of the internationalized country code top-level domains ".中国" (China in simplified Chinese characters, DNS name xn--fiqs8s) and ".中國" (China in traditional Chinese characters, DNS name xn--fiqz9s) by CNNIC.^[9] These two TLDs were added to the DNS in July 2010.

CNNIC proposed around this time Chinese domain names in ".公司" (".com" in Chinese) and ".网络" (".net" in Chinese). However, these have not been recognized by ICANN yet and are only available via domestic domain name registrars.

Around 15 other generic domain names with Chinese characters have later been registered. See List of Internet top-level domains#Chinese characters.

See also

• .hk (Hong Kong)
• .mo (Macau)
• .tw (Taiwan)

References

1. "The Internet Timeline of China 1986~2003". China Internet Network Information Center. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
2. DENIC (July 2017). . Archived from the original on 2017-07-07. Retrieved 2017-07-25.
3. "The 51th Statistical Report on China's Internet Development" (PDF). China Internet Network Information Center. 2023-03-02. (PDF) from the original on 2023-03-24. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
4. "Leading ccTLDs by number of domains 2023". Statista. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
5. "Country domains: a comprehensive ccTLD list". IONOS Digital Guide. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
6. 中国互联网域名体系. 工业和信息化部域名行业管理信息公示. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
7. 曾建勋; 刘春燕; 赵琪; 李学军 (2022-12-30). 世界各国和地区及其行政区划名称代码 第 2 部分：行政区划代码. 全国标准信息公共服务平台. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
8. 中国互联网域名体系. 工业和信息化部域名行业管理信息公示. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
9. "Adopted Board Resolutions". Brussels: ICANN. 25 June 2010. Retrieved 2012-01-15.

• China Internet Domain Name Regulations

External links

• Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Domain Name Industry Management Information Public Notice
• China Internet Network Information Center
• Accredited Registrar List
• IANA WHOIS for .cn