CNNIC issues Chinese domain name

Date: 2000/1/18 
Location: Beijing 
Theme of Conference: issue of Chinese domain name 
Content of Conference: Introduction of Chinese domain name 

Introduction of Chinese domain name 

During these years, as a result of joint efforts made by people from all walks of life, networking industry has developed rapidly. According the CNNIC statistics, the on-line users in our country have increased from 620 000 in Oct. 1997 to the present 8.9 million; and the number of WWW sites has increased from 1500 in Oct. 1997 to the present 15153, an increase of over 10 times. But a problem occurs. When people enjoy increasingly diversified on-line services, our people have to memorize and use domain names in English. This is as embarrassing as for a Chinese tourist to look at a map noted in English when he stands in streets in a Chinese city. Meanwhile, when merchants register their domain names for their products, they have to abandon the well-familiar brands in Chinese but use strange English codes instead, so that although the merchants have spent years to increase the value of their famous brands, it will be reduced to nothing. 

As experts consider, with Internet rapidly developing and popularizing in China to a scale of 10 million users, the composition of network-users will undergo dramatic change. It is predictable, in the coming two to three years, the major colony of Internet users will shift from the present well-educated young people familiar with English to ordinary users who have little understanding of English or even nothing at all. At such a point, the issue of Chinese domain name is inevitable. 

Therefore, making Chinese domain name has become the last fort we must overcome in the development of Internet into localization, popularization and commercialization. 

To meet the social need in development, CNNIC as an administrative organ of Chinese domain name, is trusted by the Ministry of Information Industry to start research on the system of Chinese domain name in 1998. After making survey, analysis and design, the system has gained breakthrough and on Jan. 18, 2000 an experimental system was put out to operation. In the trial run, Chinese domain name are free of charge for operation and management. 

The CNNIC's system for Chinese domain name is based on the existing structure of domain names in English. By using its resolving system, Chinese domain name will be transformed into domain names in English, and the system of domain names in English is responsible for resolve from domain names to IP. If domain name server has no server software installed for Chinese domain name, the user can install client software to use Chinese domain name. However, if server software for Chinese domain name has been installed in domain name server for users, the users do not need installation of the client software at the terminal. 

In the future, as technology advances, methods for implementation will be constantly improved. However, whatever improvement is made, the registered data of Chinese domain name will be transferred to the new domain name server, to realize upgrade seamless. Such an alteration is transparent to the users and will not affect their use. 

After the system for Chinese domain name is released, as well as consummate technical research and development, CNNIC will continue to make contact with IETF and Internet network information centers (NIC) in other countries and regions. It will try to perfect and popularize the system for Chinese domain name with as many countries and regions as possible where Chinese is used, to realize interconnection and interchange. Furthermore, as this system is adaptive to multiple languages, able to support other languages, it is possible to popularize it to other countries after it has been further improved. 

To ensure the exclusiveness of Chinese domain name, to avoid conflict and to protect interests of registered users' domain names, CNNIC also worked out the "Provisional Regulations of Chinese domain name" which was publicized and put into operation when the experimental system of Chinese domain name was put to use.