Radix, Asia’s largest internet domain name registry, today announced that it has received the official approval from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (“MIIT”) of the People’s Republic of China for operating four of its gTLDs within the country. The approved gTLDs include .TECH, .ONLINE, .STORE and .FUN. This approval now allows customers from China to use a hosting service within mainland China for the purpose of using their domain names on these four gTLDs. Another gTLD operated by Radix, .SITE, had obtained this approval in December 2016.

Speaking about the announcement, Sandeep Ramchandani, VP and Business Head, Radix, said, “.ONLINE, .TECH and .STORE have proven to be immensely popular in China with over 250K domains in these extensions currently registered from China. With MIIT’s approval, now our customers will be able to realize the true value of these names by resolving them to the website or application of their choice. .FUN hadn’t yet been launched in China and if the early indicators are anything to go by, it will be one of our leading strings in China within a short period of time.”

A growing number of startups are coming up in China, with Beijing being one amongst the top 5 startup eco-systems in the world. China is also the world’s largest ecommerce market and has a flourishing SME sector. In fact, 98% of companies in China are SMEs, currently generating about 60 percent of GDP and 80 percent of jobs in the country. Even the Media and Entertainment industry in China is expected to grow at 8.8% CAGR [PDF], compared to a global CAGR of 4.4%. Thus, there is enormous potential for each of the chosen Radix gTLDs to grow in this geography.

“Our focus will now be on end-user marketing, demand generation and customer-engagement programs like the ones we have done in the West.”, added Sandeep Ramchandani.

Radix is known for its unique end-user initiatives in the nTLD industry. Its startup focused program, the Startup League, provides booth sponsorship at events, access to investors, media and business partnerships, to startups on Radix domains. Recently, Radix announced the launch of a large-scale web design contest, F3.space, which is an initiative to engage with existing nTLD users, as well as to promote the usage of nTLDs among the global web design community.

In addition to Radix’s four gTLDs, MMX’s .WORK, .LAW, .BEER and .?? (IDN - Shopping) have also been given the approval.