Can I host my site in China using a cn.com domain?

[Nick Jones]

Hi,

I can't seem to find an answer to this anywhere online. I want to launch a .cn version of my proofreading website so that Chinese students (and any other Chinese people wanting a proofreader) can read my site in their own language. I believe this will help me get more business. However, I know that while I can register the .cn domain and host it outside of China if I go through Only Domains, it will not appear in any Chinese search results, due to the Chinese government's restrictions.

I've read that the cn.com domain doesn't have the restrictions that .cn, .asia, .com.cn etc have. What I can't seem to establish is whether or not I can host a .cn.com domain on a Chinese server so that the website does show up in Chinese searches.

Can anyone shed any light on this for me?

Cheers,

Nick

 

[astutiumRob]

Basically, if you want to appear in Chinese Search Results, you need to ...
* host the domain inside the great-firewall
* use a .cn or a gtld (so yes, .cn.com being a subdomain of .com would work)

They exclude sites which dont resolve to a Chinese controlled IP address, and/or are other ccTLDs

 

[Nick Jones]

Thanks for your response! So basically people in China can only ever access true Chinese sites - i.e. ones that are based in China - regardless of the domain extension?

 

[tictac]

You'd need a presence in China to buy a chinese domain.

 

[Nick Jones]

You can buy a Chinese domain without a Chinese presence. I bought a .cn domain with Only Domains. And I can put a website on it too, using Only Domains' servers. It just won't show up in China. The original question was whether or not a cn.com domain would bypass this restriction, but the previous poster's answer seems to confirm that it won't.

Unless I open an office in China and employ Chinese staff, my .cn website will never show up in Chinese searches regardless of the domain extension. However, my .cn site will show up in the UK to Chinese people and many of them will appreciate a Chinese-language version of the site, so all is not lost

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

You don't need an office in China to get space on a chinese server though...

Just look for a host that provides hosting in china, or a chinese host and you should be good to go.

Good luck

 

[Nick Jones]

Are you sure? All my research suggests that when you register a .cn domain name you have to fill out a form to prove that you are a bona fide China-based company, otherwise your site will be blocked by the Chinese authorities. So even if I find a Chinese host, they'll ask me to fill out that form before I can host the site with them.

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

That could well be the case. Even for a .fr you need to be french citizen. However, I wouldn't expect a host with servers in china to expect you to fill out that form if you already own the domain, although I could well be wrong. It is a very regulated and different market.

The way people get around this is to have the domain registered or owned by a company or citizen of the country. Although that does carry obvious risks.

I would have thought you could have the domain registered by a chinese hosting/web design company, in their name, and also get your hosting, and then you'd be okay.

However, if you can use a western company that trades, and has a license to trade in china that may be preferable. We don't host in china so this is all speculation on my part.

I'm sure a bit of research on Google should point you to people that have had to overcome similar obstacles.

Good luck!

 

[mzone]

You can buy all package in chines web hosting company, they speak English, so they help with this: www sinohosting net
If your target is in china you need server with IP from this country and domain.

You don`t need to be a citizen of this country. Matter of fact is some overseas web hosting company making a problem when you want buy something from them, that happened very often in France.

 

[Nick Jones]

OK, well I have just emailed that company you suggested, so we'll see what they say.

Thanks,

Nick

 

[astutiumRob]

All my research suggests that when you register a .cn domain name you have to fill out a form to prove that you are a bona fide China-based company, otherwise your site will be blocked by the Chinese authorities

CNNIC changed their rules about 2 years ago to prohibit non chinese citizens and companies (with a physical presence) from registering (and in some cases renewing) a .CN domain

You have to take your id/passport/company-documentation to a police station in China to get authorised before a .CN will resolve

Earlier this year (after their income dropped 70%) they relaxed the rules on ownership of the domains, re-enabling external registrations, however many of us having customers "Burnt" by a TLD are reticent about offering them for general sale again.

Although there are exceptions, basically to appear "behind the firewall" you need to be on a Chinese IP (so hosted there) or hosted externally with a verified .CN domain (verification is done inside China)

Once you are hosted on a Chinese IP you'll likely *NEVER* be able to email the majority of the world, as the IPs all appear in everyones blocklists/blacklists for hack attempts, mass spamming, ddos etc

9 of the 10 worst domain registrars are in the APNIC region, 7 of them in China, and 1/3rd of all attempts to break into servers comes from behind the greta-firewall-of-chine

Rightly or wrongly, the majority of non-chinese hosts block all accesses from China, and Chinese authorities block access to non-chinese hosts

Welcome to the 2-layer internet, and it'll become a multi-layer system if the attempts by the UN to take control of t'internet via the ITU actually get to happen

 

[Nick Jones]

Thanks Othellotech, sounds like you know exactly what you're talking about!

In light of what you have said, it would seem that I'm best not bothering to try and get behind the Great Firewall at all. Only Domains have said that I can host a .cn site on their servers outside of China (I think they're in New Zealand) as long as I sign a form guaranteeing that I won't try and forward it to a Chinese IP. In other words, I can have a .cn site but it will be accessible everywhere except China. As daft as that sounds, I would still see a benefit to this as I get lots of Chinese visitors based in the UK and other countries who need my services - and they'll appreciate the option of reading the site in their own language, I'm sure.

Can you just confirm that I'm understanding this correctly, and that hosting the site with Only Domains shouldn't cause any of the problems with emails and such like that you mentioned?

Thanks again for taking the time to explain all this to me.

Nick

 

[Nick Jones]

You can buy all package in chines web hosting company, they speak English, so they help with this: www sinohosting net
If your target is in china you need server with IP from this country and domain.

You don`t need to be a citizen of this country. Matter of fact is some overseas web hosting company making a problem when you want buy something from them, that happened very often in France.

My response from Sinohosting:

Yes I confirm that you will not be able to host your website in China unless you are incorporated locally.
For details on the ICP license, which is required to host a website in China, please check www sinohosting net/icp php B. regards, sinohosting net

 

[mzone]

I just check it, yes you right. From 2009 you can not buy domain china if your business is not registered In China.
But I know who can sell domain cn for you if you want, PM if you interested.

How about another east country, that have to be China only?

 

[astutiumRob]

Thanks Othellotech, sounds like you know exactly what you're talking about!

Domains are my "thing"

Only Domains have said that I can host a .cn site on their servers outside of China (I think they're in New Zealand) as long as I sign a form guaranteeing that I won't try and forward it to a Chinese IP. In other words, I can have a .cn site but it will be accessible everywhere except China

Yes, pretty much the same answer we'd have given you about hosting it with us.

This is assuming you already own a .CN domain, otherwise I'd suggest getting somehing else, like the .cn.com - no point building a brand around a URL that can (easily) be taken away from you at any point

Of course there's always .ASIA if you are a company registered in the APAC region

Can you just confirm that I'm understanding this correctly, and that hosting the site with Only Domains shouldn't cause any of the problems with emails and such like that you mentioned?

Based on my knowledge of a lot of mail filtering systems, if it's a .cn domain, most people outside of China will never get your emails, *@*.cn is globally junked in a lot of setups

 

[GT JEWELRY]

You should buy a domain in china.

 

[GT JEWELRY]

Yes, you can.
If you buy a domain in china, defintiely, you can.

 

[keytop]

Hi,

I can't seem to find an answer to this anywhere online. I want to launch a .cn version of my proofreading website so that Chinese students (and any other Chinese people wanting a proofreader) can read my site in their own language. I believe this will help me get more business. However, I know that while I can register the .cn domain and host it outside of China if I go through Only Domains, it will not appear in any Chinese search results, due to the Chinese government's restrictions.

I've read that the cn.com domain doesn't have the restrictions that .cn, .asia, .com.cn etc have. What I can't seem to establish is whether or not I can host a .cn.com domain on a Chinese server so that the website does show up in Chinese searches.

Can anyone shed any light on this for me?

Cheers,

Nick

Not,If you need to host the website with .cn
You must register a Chinese Company firstly.
The .cn only for the company in China

Here is Soros Chen from guangzhou,China. Who work for several importers from Euro as their buying agent, Just like their “eyes” and “ears” in China.
Any related business problem, Will try to give you some advice.

 

[adam1987]

The truth is if you want to appear in Chinese search engines then you need to simply have plenty of Chinese text on your website, and Chinese students are likely to use Google when searching for a proofreader in the UK, so you could even run Adwords in Chinese on Google.

I would suggest either buying another .com domain name or setting up a sub-domain on your current .com

Its really not worth getting involved in with .cn domain names, not even Chinese companies used .cn domain names, just look at the domains of all the biggest sites in China.

Baidu.com
Taobao.com
Anjuke.com
360buy.com
the list goes on.........

As for the risk of being blocked in China, if that should happen then you just need to ask your host for a dedicated IP address.