Do you need a .cn domain to reach China?

Few decisions in a China plan look as easy as buying a .cn, and few come with worse advice. Registrars sell it as a ranking boost. Older guides say foreigners can’t have one.

Both are wrong, or at least unproven. This guide is part of the legal basics of a website in China.

Does any Chinese rule require a .cn?

No. The domain measures name .CN and .中国 as China’s national domains, but no article we read requires a website to use one.¹

CNNIC, the registry, says registering a domain doesn’t itself need a filing.³ A website using the domain follows MIIT’s filing rules, and that’s where the confusion starts.

So Alibaba Cloud’s wording points to your server, not your extension, as the ICP trigger. That’s a host’s reading, not a ruling. Our guide to ICP filing vs ICP license explains what follows from that.

Does a .cn help you rank on Baidu?

Baidu’s written answer is no, though it’s old. Its 2014 guide says the suffix has no effect on Baidu web search, and it should simply be easy for users to remember.⁵

Here’s who says what:

Source	Claim	What backs it
Baidu guide, 2014	Suffix has no effect on web search 5	Baidu’s own text, 12 years old
Baidu white paper, 2019	Use a common suffix 6	Baidu’s own text, for mobile sites
Search Engine Journal, 2023	.com on 72.59% of top results, .cn on 14.06% 29	A count of 10,000 keywords, correlation only
Dragon Metrics, 2017	No ranking priority for .cn 9	“Based on our experience”
Sampi, 2025	Baidu ranks .CN above .COM 7	No test cited
Exabytes, 2023	Can improve Baidu performance 24	No data, sells domains
Easyname, undated	“Better rankings on Baidu” 8	No data, sells domains

We found no controlled test on either side, and no recent Baidu statement. Dragon Metrics still recommends .cn, because it signals a mainland audience and visitors recognize it,⁹ which is an opinion and not a measurement.

The closest thing to data is that 2023 count of the top 20 results for 10,000 Chinese keywords. It puts .cn at 14.06%, up from 3.8% in an earlier 2020 study, and .com.cn at 6.55%.²⁹

That leaves .com far ahead, and the article calls the idea that a .cn is essential “more myth than reality.”²⁹ It doesn’t control for who owns the sites, so it shows presence, not cause.

Trust is just as thin. The one survey we found, in a 2013 post, covers 34 people, who preferred .com.²³ Its author calls it small.

Baidu groups .com, .cn and .net as common suffixes users remember easily.⁵ Only rare suffixes draw a warning.⁵⁶

When is a .cn worth having?

For most foreign companies, it’s worth having as protection, not as an address. Your situation decides it.

Your situation	Need a .cn?	What to do
Testing China, hosted abroad, Chinese section on your main domain	No	Keep your domain. Register the .cn if the name matters
Separate Chinese site hosted abroad	No	Either works. Choose on brand and on what’s available
Mainland hosting with a Chinese entity	No	Check suffix, registrar and holder with your host first
Brand known in China, or sold there	Not for the site	Register the .cn, and take trademark advice

Whether your Chinese site should be a section or a separate site is a bigger choice than the extension. Our guide on subfolder, subdomain or separate site covers it.

Can a foreign company register a .cn?

Yes, in its own name. CNNIC’s rules open registration to people, companies and other organizations, with no exclusion for foreigners.²

WIPO’s summary says .CN and .中国 names “are not restricted.”⁴

You’ll still read otherwise, because the rules did change. In December 2009, only businesses could register.²⁸ Requirements reopening .cn to foreign companies and individuals took effect on September 3, 2012.²⁶

Claim you may read	Status
Foreigners can’t register 23	Dated. Superseded in 2012, as the page’s own update suggests
Foreign companies need a presence in China or Chinese partners 8	Not in CNNIC’s rules 2
You need a physical address in China 22	Not in CNNIC’s rules 2
You must sign a Letter of Commitment 25	CentralNic Reseller says it’s no longer required 11
Registrants from China or Hong Kong are refused 11	One reseller’s rule, not CNNIC’s 2

Being able to hold a .cn doesn’t mean you can run a mainland site on it. That still takes a Chinese entity, as our guide on working without a Chinese company explains.

How to register a .cn as a foreign company

The process is short, but a wrong name can sink it. Settle the holder first.

1. Choose the holder. Use your company’s exact legal name. See the mainland section below if you may host there later.
2. Choose a registrar. CNNIC publishes lists of domestic and overseas registrars, and each sets its own price.³
3. Prepare your documents. Alibaba Cloud asks for a registration certificate showing name, registered address and number.¹⁰
4. Match the name exactly. CentralNic Reseller requires an exact match,¹¹ and Openprovider warns that dropping “LTD” or “GMBH” can get you refused.²⁷
5. Submit and wait. Watch for a document deadline, since it differs by registrar.
6. Check the record. Look up the name in CNNIC’s WHOIS.³ Some registrant data is withheld there,²¹ so confirm in your registrar account that the holder is your company. The status shouldn’t be serverHold.¹⁷

Registrars set their own practical rules, so read yours:

Registrar	Rule
Alibaba Cloud	Review in 3 to 5 business days. Wait 10 calendar days after a certificate’s issue date 10
CentralNic Reseller	Documents within 8 days or the registration fails. Accents in a foreign registrant’s name can fail the audit 11
Openprovider	Up to 5 days. Documents in JPG, not PDF 27

CNNIC itself says it completes its review within 2 working days.³ The registrar’s steps come on top.

What keeps a .cn live after registration

Identity checks don’t end at registration. A .cn stays usable only while its holder’s details hold up, and that applies to a parked name too.

• False details can end it. The registrar must cancel a name registered with false information.¹
• No identity, no resolution. MIIT’s Notice 264 bars registries and registrars from resolving names without real identity details.¹⁴
• Audits are random. Openprovider reports CNNIC audits since August 1, 2022, across all registered names.¹²
• Failure means serverHold. The registry suspends resolution, so the site stops working.¹²¹⁷
• Failure can end in deletion. Openprovider says unverified names aren’t renewed, then go once the grace period ends.¹²
• Renewal has a short margin. CNNIC gives 30 days after expiry to confirm renewal, and registration runs up to 10 years.²³

Free check

Is your website visible on Baidu?

Enter your website. We check Baidu, access from China and how your site is set up, then email you the report.

Your websiteCheck my site

If you later host in the mainland

Then the holder matters more than the extension. These checks apply when you file for an ICP, and they can force a transfer.

• Who may hold it. Notice 264 says the holder must be the entity, including its shareholders, its main responsible person, or a senior manager.¹⁴
• What your host may ask. Alibaba Cloud reads this more narrowly. The holder must match the filing entity or its principal.¹³
• What older guidance said. Gandi said in 2018 the owner had to be a China-based legal entity or a China resident, and that rules varied by province.¹⁶
• Which registrar. Alibaba Cloud requires an approved suffix and registrar, or a transfer first.¹³ Gandi said in 2018 that it wasn’t MIIT-accredited.¹⁶
• Where you bought it. Alibaba Cloud says names registered on its international site aren’t eligible for ICP filing.¹⁰
• How long it has left. Alibaba Cloud wants more than 45 days before expiry.¹³

These sources disagree. A .cn held by your head office might not pass, even though the notice mentions shareholders. Ask your host and a local adviser before you register.

None of this is specific to .cn. A .com used for a filed site goes through the same checks. Our guide to hosting in China covers the wider setup.

.cn, .com.cn, .中国 or .cn.com?

Register .cn first. Of these four, only .cn.com has nothing to do with China’s registry, and that’s the one to avoid.

Extension	What it is	Worth it?
.cn	National domain, 20,768,082 names at end 2025 1920	First choice
.com.cn	Subdomain of .cn, 2,188,326 names in 2019 against 19,668,268 .cn 18	Defensive, if the name matters
.中国	National domain in Chinese, 159,480 names at end 2025 1920	Defensive, for strong brands
.cn.com	Third-level name sold under a private .com, run by CentralNic 18	Avoid

Domain Name Wire calls .cn.com sales “an unregulated practice,” warns against confusing it with .cn, and notes CentralNic has closed similar extensions before.¹⁸ A .cn.com is not a Chinese domain.

Domain Incite reports .中国 falling every half-year for at least five years.²⁰ Openprovider lists the same identity verification for .CN, .COM.CN and .中国.²⁷

Should you register a .cn to protect your brand?

Yes, if your name matters in China, and sooner rather than later. Registration is first come, first served in principle,² and recovering a name is slower than buying it.

The fast route has a time limit. The .CN dispute policy only applies to names registered for less than three years.⁴

1. Less than 3 years since registrationCNDRP procedure possible
2. More than 3 yearsCourt or arbitration

Data from WIPO

WIPO lists some points in your favor. The policy covers any name you hold civil rights in, not only trademarks, and bad faith at registration or in use is enough.⁴

CNNIC names three providers: CIETAC, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre and WIPO.³ Proceedings are in Chinese unless agreed or decided otherwise.⁴

A domain isn’t a trademark, though. Harris Sliwoski puts it plainly: “Registering a .cn domain does not give you a China trademark.”²¹ It’s a separate filing, for a lawyer.

Harris Sliwoski also says buying every extension or spelling “rarely makes sense,” since each adds a renewal.²¹ If you adopt a Chinese brand name, include it in the same review.

The email saying someone is registering your name

It’s generally a scam. Harris Sliwoski calls these emails “sales pitches disguised as trademark protection notices.”²¹

The message says a company has applied for your name under .cn or .中国 and asks if you authorized it. If you object, the sender offers to register the name for you, often at inflated prices.²¹ Here’s what to do:

1. Don’t reply. Don’t click its links or open its attachments.²¹
2. Check the name yourself. Use CNNIC’s WHOIS lookup. It may not show applications that aren’t complete.²¹
3. If it’s free and you want it, use your own registrar. You don’t need the sender.²¹
4. If you already paid, keep the records and call your bank. If you shared passwords or codes, change them and contact your registrar.²¹

Exabytes adds that only your initial registrar is authorized to solicit renewals.²⁴

The bottom line

You don’t need a .cn to reach China, and Baidu said in writing in 2014 that the extension doesn’t affect web search.

If your name matters there, register the .cn anyway, in your company’s exact legal name.

Treat it as protection, not as an SEO tactic. And if a mainland ICP is on your roadmap, settle the holder before you buy.

How Index in China can help

We translate your site into Simplified Chinese with a human reviewer, work on getting it indexed by Chinese search engines and send a monthly report on Chinese traffic.

We don’t promise rankings or traffic, we don’t give legal advice, and we’ll tell you when your domain question needs a local adviser. See what we do.

Book a 30-minute call

Monthly report BaiduIndexed Bing ChinaIndexed SogouIndexed