Hong Kong Domain Registrations Available in Chinese

The Hong Kong Domain Name Registration Company (HKDNR) have introduced a new system to register domain names using Chinese language characters with the .hk extension. This is the latest of a series of moves to expand the range of options available with a .hk ending.

The Original Hong Kong Domain Names

The .com.hk .net.hk .org.hk .edu.hk are established Hong Kong domain name formats and follow certain rules for registration. The .com.hk requires a local Hong Kong Business Registration Certificate and .org.hk requires valid proof of charitable status issued by an official Hong Kong authority such as the police or revenue department. The .net.hk is solely reserved for registered Hong Kong Internet Service Providers (ISP) and .edu.hk for registered educational institutions such as schools. The .gov.hk is heavily used by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government.

Following this came the .idv.hk aimed at personal Hong Kong web users, but it has never really caught on. This does make some sense as almost all Hong Kong web hosting clients have business websites it was released at the dawn of the free blog account with a shred domain name so I do not think sales have been that good for the .idv.hk

.hk Domain Names Launched

Then, things  became a lot easier with the launch of the simple .hk domain name suffix or tld (Top Level Domain). As it was no longer required to submit documentary confirmation of a registrant's identity via mail or fax. These have been much more popular and are now widely used in Hong Kong.

Now with the launch of Chinese language domain names the Hong Kong Domain Name Registration Company (HKDNR) have one of the most comprehensive, stable and well run top level domain name registration facilities in the region.

HKDNR Chinese Domain Name Pre-registration Press Release:

HONG KONG, 6 December 2006 - Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) and its wholly owned subsidiary Hong Kong Domain Name Registration Company Limited (HKDNR) jointly announce today the commencement of .hk Chinese Domain Name Pre-Registration Period from 4 December 2006 to 5 January 2007. During this Period, registration rights are given to existing .hk English domain name holders who registered their .hk domain names on or before 14 September 2006.

‘.hk’ Chinese Domain Name includes the simple ‘.hk’ category for general use, and ‘.公司.hk’, ‘.教育.hk’ , ‘.政府.hk’, ‘.個人.hk’ , ‘.網絡.hk’ , ‘.組織.hk’ for different groups of users. During the Pre-Registration Period, the .hk Chinese Domain Name being applied for must be in the equivalent category as the .hk English Domain Name that a registrant currently holds.

.hk Chinese Domain Name can be registered via the official website of HKIRC / HKDNR (www.hkdnr.hk) or our service partners. For queries, please contact HKIRC / HKDNR by phone (+852 2319 1313) or email (enquiry@hkirc.hk / enquiry@hkdnr.hk).

About HKIRC and HKDNR
Hong Kong Internet Registration Cooperation Limited (HKIRC) is a non-profit making organization endorsed by the Government of HKSAR to oversee the administration and assignment of the Internet domain names ending with '.hk'. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Hong Kong Domain Name Registration Company Limited (HKDNR), HKIRC provides registration services for the English domain names ending with '.com.hk', '.org.hk', '.net.hk', '.edu.hk', '.gov.hk', '.idv.hk', ‘.hk’ and Chinese domain names ending with ‘.公司.hk’, ‘.教育.hk’, ‘.政府.hk’ , ‘.個人.hk’, ‘.網絡.hk’, ‘.組織.hk’, ‘.hk’; and other domains to be introduced from time to time in Hong Kong.