Global registry services provider Afilias today announced that March 14, 2014, is the sunrise launch date for its first Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) at the top level: .?? (.MOBILE in Chinese).

Transliterated as “Yí Dòng,” .?? is a domain name just like .MOBI, which is also for mobile websites. But this domain is part of a new generation of top-level domains (TLDs) that are written in native languages rather than traditional ASCII-compliant scripts like the .INFO or .MOBI TLDs.

As a complementary TLD to the .MOBI domain in English, .?? is designed to let Chinese-speakers—wherever in the world they’re located—know that a website was designed to work on a mobile device, like an Android™ tablet or an iPhone.

“China is a huge and growing economy,” said Roland LaPlante, Senior Vice President and CMO, Afilias. “More than one billion people in China have mobile phones, as do millions more Chinese speakers around the world. Now, businesses and individuals looking to reach a Chinese-speaking audience on the Web can do so, regardless of country, operator or device. With a .?? address, you can tap the power of mobile and literally put your message in the hands of the people you want to reach.”

LaPlante added, “Along with .??, Afilias will soon launch top-level domains in Arabic, Devanagari and other IDN scripts.”

Today marks the beginning of the 30-day minimum notice period of the Start Date sunrise for the .?? domain. From March 14, 2014 through April 13, 2014, .?? domains will be awarded in a “first come, first served” manner; however, eligibility during this period is limited strictly to trademark holders whose marks are registered in the Trademark Clearinghouse. Following the close of sunrise, the .?? general availability period will open. From that point forward, everyone is eligible to register .?? addresses.