.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 Technology. The domain is the largest ccTLD in the world.
The Chinese script internationalized country codes are "" ("China" in Simplified Chinese) and "" ("China" in Traditional Chinese). Entities connected to Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan typically use .hk, .mo, and .tw, respectively, despite the availability of corresponding second-level domains under .cn for those regions.
Second-level domains Domain names can be registered either at the second level, or at the third level under the generic or provincial-level administrative divisions second-level domains.
Generic second-level domains According to the "China Internet Domain Name System" published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, there are 9 generic second-level domains, two of which are internationalized:
Open registration ac.cn : Scientific research institutions com.cn : Industrial, commercial, financial, and other enterprises net.cn : Organizations providing Internet services org.cn : Not-for-profit organizations
Registration restricted
edu.cn : Educational institutions in China gov.cn : Chinese government organizations mil.cn : Chinese military-affiliated organizations
Provincial-level administrative divisions second-level domains 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). The provincial-level administrative divisions second-level domains are with the open-registration policy. According to the "China Internet Domain Name System" 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 domains 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 "." (China in simplified Chinese characters, DNS name xn--fiqs8s) and "." (China in traditional Chinese characters, DNS name xn--fiqz9s) by CNNIC. These two TLDs were added to the DNS in July 2010.
Around this time, CNNIC also proposed Chinese domain names "." ("company" in Chinese, equivalent of ".com") and "." (".net"). Both were delegated in January 2014 and have been active since.
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 also known as the Republic of China)
References
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