Strict rules for .cn registrations also remain in 2011

Mid January CNNIC (the Chinese registry) held a meeting to review what happened in 2010 and to inform everyone about the upcoming changes that may occur in 2011 regarding the .cn domain.

First of all, CNNIC wishes to apologise for the fact that the rules for .cn registrations changed so often during 2010. The final rules are also very strict. Due to this rules, it has become nearly impossible for a foreign company to register a .cn domain name. This is why CNNIC saw a spectacular drop of new registrations during 2010. Also the amount of renewals decreased drastically. The total amount of .cn domain names dropped from approximately 12 million at the beginning of 2010 to a bit over 4 million names at the end of 2010.

Unfortunately CNNIC also announced that they don’t have the intention to change their strict policy. So it looks like it will remain very difficult for a foreign company to register a .cn domain name in 2011.

Moreover the registry also announced they’ll continue sending emails to the owners of .cn domain names in order to verify their identity. At the end of 2010 85% of the owners already responded on the email of CNNIC regarding this topic. During 2011 the registry wants to higher this number to 99%.