Xinhua referred to the data released on Friday that China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC), which manages the domain “.cn” had 16.36 million users by the end of 2015 surpassing Germany’s “.de. ‘.cn’ is managed through a branch of the ministry of industry and information. CNNIC head Li Xiaodong said the ‘.cn’ domain is also leading in security, domain resolution service, and the ratio of benign uses in the world. The ‘.cn’ domain is able to protect users’ interests and lessen online theft, phishing and fraud, as China started to require real-name registration in 2009, Li said. Germany’s ‘.de’ domain in the past had the biggest number of registered websites. The CNNIC said that the domain is not only extensively used by Chinese companies and institutions but also by overseas institutions and multinationals. State-run Xinhua news agency reported that besides commercial banks, it is used by all central and provincial governments in China and by many of the telecom companies. According to the official data, China has around 670 million internet users and over 4.13 million websites.
