registries CNNIC: The Chinese Domain Name Market Will Become the No.1 Market in the World

[DN.com]

“Without any doubt or any surprise, the Chinese domain name market will finally become the number one domain name market in the world,” said Xiaodong Lee, the chairman of CNNIC on 9th Jan.

The Chinese ccLTD domain name “.CN” has gained the first place in the world’s retained ccTLD domain names in number. With the largest number of retained “.CN” domain names and the mobile internet users exceeding 9 hundred million, the prosperity of Chinese internet culture is to be expected. The strategic plan of Internet Plus supported by the government also provides the domain name market a substantial space to grow. Thus, the chairman of CNNIC made the prediction at the beginning of the article.

The ccLTD of “.CN” is the ccLTD of China. The top level domain .CN was register on Nov 28th,1990. On May 30th 1997, the office of leading group for information technology advancement under the State Council issued the Interim Regulations for the Internet Domain Name Registration in China and authorized CNNIC to administrate the register issue.

In 2013, CNNIC established the Internet Governance Research Center, which has made a great contribution to policy of internet governance and the development of the industry. In March 2014, the US government announced the abandonment of the authority of IANA and transfer the authority to the global shareholder group. Xiaodong Lee is the only Chinese representative in the IANA authority transfer coordination working group. The Authority of IANA transfer will be completed on 30th Sep 2016.

 

[Kassey Lee]

Hi Cynthia

If what 190.com CEO predicted turns out to be true this year, I think it's possible China can become the largest domain market in the world. India will be closing in too in the not so distant future.

In an interview reported in December 2015, 190.com CEO said domain sales in China was 5b CNY in 2014 and more than doubled to 11b in 2015, and forecast to soar by 10 times to hit 100b CNY this year. One major factor to contribute to this spectacular growth is the beginning of securitization of domain names (I think that means bringing domain investment to the general public.)

Details of the interview here: http://mt.sohu.com/20151221/n432038549.shtml

 

[korganian]

Thanks Kassey. Unfortunately, Google does a very poor job of translating the story. Too bad they won't publish English versions so we can actually understand what is going on in China.

 

[Kassey Lee]

Thanks Kassey. Unfortunately, Google does a very poor job of translating the story. Too bad they won't publish English versions so we can actually understand what is going on in China.

AI is coming and helping do a better translation job. Oh, I forgot to mention on important trend included in the interview.

Change in buying behavior:
1. Buying one or two domain names as collection
2. Bulk trading introduced in 2015.
3. Domain securitization to start in 2016 for the masses

 

[DN.com]

Hi Cynthia

If what 190.com CEO predicted turns out to be true this year, I think it's possible China can become the largest domain market in the world. India will be closing in too in the not so distant future.

In an interview reported in December 2015, 190.com CEO said domain sales in China was 5b CNY in 2014 and more than doubled to 11b in 2015, and forecast to soar by 10 times to hit 100b CNY this year. One major factor to contribute to this spectacular growth is the beginning of securitization of domain names (I think that means bringing domain investment to the general public.)

Details of the interview here: http://mt.sohu.com/20151221/n432038549.shtml

Thanks for sharing with us Kassey! Very interesting and useful figures!

 

[DN.com]

Thanks Kassey. Unfortunately, Google does a very poor job of translating the story. Too bad they won't publish English versions so we can actually understand what is going on in China.

sure we can not rely on Google to do the translation job. that's why we are coming and helping to do this part. We hope to bring Chinese investors and investors in here much more close together.

 

[bobbarato]

Would it be fair to say it is a prestigious thing in China to have a personal and short domain name for email and "vanity web"? If so, $$$$$$$! aka KACHING! (old fashion cash register sound)

 

[Kassey Lee]

@bobbarato Very true. Chinese news media often report that Chinese companies see domain name as being the "door' to welcome guests into their corporate world. For this reason, the bigger the company (or those who aspire to be one), the more money they are willing to spend to install a grand door to their world. This is reflected in the article written by Echo Huang Yinyin of qz.com on January 10 saying "Chinese buyers accounted for nearly 75% of all global short domain name purchases in 2015 and 48% of the top 100 sales."

Old fashion cash register sound or not, it's about big money spending in China!

 

[Kassey Lee]

We hope to bring Chinese investors and investors in here much more close together.

That's a good idea.

 

[bobbarato]

@bobbarato Very true. Chinese news media often report that Chinese companies see domain name as being the "door' to welcome guests into their corporate world.

Sorry, I was a bit vague/unclear in my earlier post. I was wondering if individuals in China are seeking out prestigious domain names for personal use. Vanity domains. Kind of like vanity license/number plates on cars.

 

[Kassey Lee]

Remember email? Very few folks in the 90 had email accounts but now many have multiple email accounts. I believe the same will happen to domain names. Some companies such as Google or Microsoft will start to give away free domain names in exchange for ad placement, once it becomes easy for the general public to register a domain name, develop a website, and then use it. Everyone in the world wants a digital "home" to store their valuable digital assets and host private meetings.

 

[hugegrowth]

They forecast China domains sales to increase by 10 times 2015 value?? Holy $&@!

Even 2 times would be crazy good.

 

[Kassey Lee]

Even 2 times would be crazy good

I constantly remind myself that the sheer size of China's Internet population means that anything can happen. I'm watching with great interest how domain securitization results in domain names being packaged, sliced, and then sold to the masses in China. China may lead in bringing the general public into domain investment.

 

[djum]

Kassey Lee What you mean by domain securitization? I know that termin from 2008 reverse mortgage crisis, but it's more like turning domain into financial instrument. If we talking about converted debt, like with mortgages, debt first need to be created, f.e. if domain registrars will give away domains into lease and then collect money every month. This debt can be converted and traded at platforms like Ename, 4.cn or even stock market. But without debt created what can we do?

 

[Kassey Lee]

At this moment it's not clear how secularization will be like. It's only a trend being discussed in China. Can be something like what's covered here: http://domainnamewire.com/2009/05/08/patent-filed-for-domain-name-securitization/

Currently, 4.cn already allows investors to buy or sell shares of a domain name. https://www.4.cn/dnshare

 

[hugegrowth]

Wow, shares of a domain?!