China's Domain Name Now Available To Foreigners. Business and Trademark Owners Rush to Secure their Addresses.

Starting Sunday, December 15, businesses outside of China will be allowed to register Chinese (.cn) domain names, under a newly liberalized policy. Domain names will be available on a first-come, first-served basis only from accredited Registrars such as EnCirca.com. Trademark owners concerned about cybersquatting should ensure that their trademarks are protected.

BOSTON, MA -- 12/15/2002 -- Starting Sunday, December 15, businesses outside of China will be allowed to register Chinese domain names, under a newly liberalized policy. Domain names will be available on a first-come, first-served basis from accredited domain name registrars, such as EnCirca.com.

The .CN domain is ideal for two types of US businesses," according to Thomas Barrett, CEO of EnCirca, US businesses expecting to conduct business with the Peoples Republic of China and US businesses that target the fast-growing Asian-American ethnic group.

Companies worldwide can now participate in Chinas booming economy via the Internet, under this new liberalized policy. China is the worlds largest country in terms of population and the second largest, after the US, in terms of Internet users. According to Netratings, Inc., there are currently over 56 million Internet users in China. China is expected to surpass the US in Internet users within the next 2-3 years. With Chinas entrance into the World Trade Organization, international trade is also expected to accelerate.

China will be leading the next wave of Internet growth." says Barrett. Any US business who does e-commerce with international customers today, should be formulating their e-commerce strategy for China now."

Asian-Americans are one of the fast growing minority groups in the country, according to a 2001 study by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. In addition, Asian-Americans have the highest Internet use of any ethnic group: over 70%, according to a Pew Internet Project called "Asian-Americans and the Web: The Young and the Connected."

EnCirca is accepting registrations now at http://www.encirca.com/. The available domains will be one of three types: com.cn, net.cn and org.cn. Since the most desirable names will be registered first, businesses should ensure they apply early in order to get their desired domain name. Trademark owners concerned about cybersquatting should also ensure their trademarks are protected.

About EnCirca, Inc.
EnCirca, Inc. is a Massachusetts-based accredited domain name registrar formed in 2001. It provides registrations services for trademark owners, small businesses and consumers worldwide. In addition to .cn, EnCirca also supports .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info and .us. Visit http://www.encirca.com/ for more information.