.ah.cn

.CN: No Special Characters in Registrant Names

The Chinese Registry CNNIC has been enforcing the Real-Name Verification (RNV) regulation for .CN and .中国 (.xn--fiqs8s) domains since last year.

The RNV process requires a real name of an individual person to be provided in the Owner Contact. In addition, a proof of identification (e.g. passport, ID card) is needed to register / transfer / trade a .CN or .中国 domain.

The following problem occurs: If the registrant is foreign (so not Chinese) and the name contains special non-English characters, CNNIC cannot process auditing the passport and registration / transfer / trade cannot be completed.

The solution is to provide a registrant name without special characters. If the registrant is a company, the domain may be registered to another person of the company who does not have special characters in the name and is willing to submit a verification document to CNNIC.

Please note: We refer here to the full name as it appears on the verification document such as the passport.

Examples for special characters that lead to problems:

German umlauts such as ä, ü, ö;

Spanisch / French letters with accents such as é

and other characters not found in the English language.

If you have any further questions, please contact our Support Team.

The .ah.cn registry changed its policies and relaxed the restrictions for .ah.cn registrations. Under the new rules, companies and individuals outside China are allowed to register Chinese domain names again.

The following requirements for registrants outside China are effective as of Monday, September 3, 2012:

• For individuals outside of China:
  • Applicants need to submit a scan or photo copy of an official document that could prove the identity of the registrant: CNNIC is accepting passports or personal ID cards and must be provided in JPEG format (Driver’s licence is NOT acceptable). All documents provided as a proof of identity must feature the name of the registrant.
  • A signed Letter of Commitment is no longer required!
• For companies and organizations outside of China:
  • Applicants need to submit a scan or photo copy of their business license / business certificate or an excerpt from the commercial register
  • The contact ID (Handle) needs to provide a contact name for the responsible person in the company/organization. A copy of passport or ID is required. CNNIC is accepting passports or personal ID cards and must be provided in JPEG format (Driver’s licence is NOT acceptable).
  • A signed Letter of Commitment is no longer required!
  • The contact does not need to be listed on the company certificate.
• For individuals inside of China:
  • Real person's name

  • Copy of passport or Chinese ID card - If the registrant is from mainland of China, please upload a copy of Chinese ID card, not passport.

• For companies and organizations inside of China:

  • Real person's name (This person does not have to be listed on the company document)

  • Copy of passport or Chinese ID card - If the registrant contact is from mainland of China, please upload a copy of Chinese ID card, not passport

  • Copy of page 1 of Company certificate (Example of acceptable certificates: Articles of incorporation, business license) - Business license is preferred

Additional Info:

• For Chinese Registrants, if the domains are using websites, an ICP licence is required. - For ICP issues, we should contact responsible dept. of MIIT. (Website: http://www.miitbeian.gov.cn Tel:86-10-66411166)

• For registrants from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, the acceptable document/certificate include: Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents , Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents , Residence Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents , Residence Permit for Taiwan Residents , Permanent Residence Identity Card for Foreigners.

Note: For these 3 certificates: Residence Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents , Residence Permit for Taiwan Residents , Permanent Residence Identity Card for Foreigners, both of front and back side of the certificate are needed

Please send the required documents (identity proof / business license) to [email protected] for domain name registrations.
Please pay attention to the correct subject line of the e-mail:

• For new registrations: Register [domain name] documents, e.g. "Register example.cn documents"
• Please provide the document in one of the following format: .jpeg. (Document size max. 1MB!)

Please note:

• If the documents are not received after 8 days the registration will fail.
• Once a contact is whitelisted, the audit process is still manual
• Once you enter the order in the system, you need to send an email to [email protected] to let them know you have done so (you can send one email with a list of the registrations you submitted.
• The domain will then be registered

Furthermore all applicants must be explicitly be informed of the following during the registration process:

• Applicants must provide authentic, accurate and complete documentation
• Applicants must confirm to have read and understood CNNIC's registration rules and policies
• Applicants must adhere to all policies governing the contents of the website(s) under the domain name
• In case the domain name is used for a website where the webserver is located in mainland China, a valid ICP number must be obtained from MIIT and provided to CNNIC through registrar (only available if registrant has an office in China)
• Applicants must accept full responsibility for the suspension of the domain name or any consequences caused by violations of the applicants commitments, and understand that CNNIC and the registrar undertake no responsibility in the event that it needs to interrupt the usage of the domain name.

command         = AddDomain
domain          = yourdomain.ah.cn
period          = (INT)
ownercontact0   = (CONTACT)
admincontact0   = (CONTACT)
techcontact0    = (CONTACT)
billingcontact0 = (CONTACT)
nameserver0	= (NAMESERVER)
nameserver1 	= (NAMESERVER)
X-CN-OWNER-TYPE = (E|I)
X-CN-OWNER-ID-TYPE = (SFZ|HZ|GAJMTX|TWJMTX|WJLSFZ|GAJZZ|TWJZZ|JGZ|QT)
X-CN-OWNER-ID-NUMBER = (INT)

command = ModifyDomain
domain  = yourdomain.ah.cn

command       = TradeDomain
domain        = yourdomain.ah.cn
ownercontact0 = (CONTACT)
X-CN-OWNER-TYPE = (E|I)
X-CN-OWNER-ID-TYPE = (SFZ|HZ|GAJMTX|TWJMTX|WJLSFZ|GAJZZ|TWJZZ|JGZ|QT)
X-CN-OWNER-ID-NUMBER = (INT)

• For the trade of the domain the corresponding copy of ID/passport or business license is required for the new domain holder. Please also note that the trade is not processed real time.
• Please send the required documents (identity proof / business license) to [email protected] for domain name registrations and owner changes. Please pay attention to the correct subject line of the e-mail:
  • For owner changes: Trade [domain name] documents, e.g. "Trade xn--fjdkijfdkshj.ah.cn document"
  • Trade away from former Trustee service is possible
  • It's not possible to trade the owner contact to the trustee service
  • Please provide the document in one of the following formats: .jpg, .png, .gif or .jpeg. (Document size max. 1MB!)

command    = RenewDomain
domain     = yourdomain.ah.cn
period     = (INT)
expiration = (INT)

COMMAND = DeleteDomain
DOMAIN = yourdomain.ah.cn

command = TransferDomain
domain = yourdomain.TLD
action = REQUEST
auth = (TEXT)
ownercontact0   = (CONTACT)
X-CN-OWNER-TYPE = (E|I)
X-CN-OWNER-ID-TYPE = (SFZ|HZ|GAJMTX|TWJMTX|WJLSFZ|GAJZZ|TWJZZ|JGZ|QT)
X-CN-OWNER-ID-NUMBER = (INT)

• We would also like to inform you that transfers will now require an owner contact. If RNV must be processed during the transfer, a fee will be charged.
• A .ah.cn domain transfer must be initiated with a so-called authorisation code, which can be obtained from the current registrar through the owner or Admin-C of the domain.
• Please ensure, that you have a correct authorisation code associated with the domain, before initiating the transfer, otherwise it will fail.
• Ensure that your respective domain does not have a lock-status (REGISTRAR-LOCK or HOLD). This can be seen in the WHOIS. If the domain is locked, then the owner can demand that this be unlocked.
• Initiate the transfer on time and not just shortly before the domain expires.
• Please ensure that the domain is older than 60 days otherwise the transfer will be denied.
• Please note that the expiration date needs to be more then 15 days in the future otherwise the transfer will be denied.
• Please note that you need a signed request from the registrant before you initiate the transfer.

command = RestoreDomain
domain  = yourdomain.ah.cn

After a restore, the domain will be inactive and have no nameservers. Please add nameservers and the domain will become active again automatically.