Apart from full Chinese domain names such as 
, domain
names could also be rendered in partial Chinese and English domain names
such as 
Big 5 and GB Codes Supported
Said Michael Ng, CEO of i-DNS, "From a technical aspect, domain names can essentially be rendered in any combination of English and Chinese. Given the two different encoding systems (Chinese Big5 and Chinese GB) used by Chinese characters, the registry will allow users to register for a domain name in both codes."
Market Opportunities
Charles Mok, Deputy Managing Director of HKNet, elaborated that currently the whole of Hong Kong has about 27000 registered domain names, all of which are registered in English. He believed that the introduction of Chinese domain names will open up new opportunities in the market, in the process encouraging more enterprises to register their websites in Chinese, developing websites which are targeted at the China market. He predicted that Chinese domain name space will spark off another wave of fervour over domain names.
Not Worried about Market Speculations
As this project is currently catered for clients from small and medium enterprises, a common concern is raised about whether these domain names will be speculated like they have been overseas, in a practice known as cybersquatting - when users register Web addresses resembling trademarked names for the specific purpose of selling the domain name at a higher premium later.
Mok stressed that whenever a client registers for a domain name, the registry will take into consideration whether that particular domain name has any relevance to the client-applicant's company or its operations, before they process the application. In the case of a dispute, the registry will help police the dispute. As such, he is not worried about speculations in Hong Kong.
Different Views in the Industry
There are two views on this service in the industry. While some enterprises welcome it, considering it a big stepping stone to enter the China market; response elsewhere is lukewarm, with entrepreneurs feeling that an extra Chinese domain name would not make any difference.
Another company, solely utilizing English domain names, claimed that having a domain name that is rendered in partial English and Chinese, would come across as 'strange'.
-- Translated Article
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