DO have a market in China — English-based domains
Kassey Lee shows some more examples of Chinese firms using English-language domains.
It thrills me almost every day to come across well-funded startups in China using English brand names and domains. The more I read regarding them, the more I am convinced there are selling opportunities for English-based domains to the second-largest economy in the world.
For example, below are some Chinese startups with funding raised recently.
| Firm | Business line | Domain |
|---|---|---|
| Compass (鑫蜂维) | Business IT | CompassHZ.com |
| Duckbill (鸭嘴兽) | Container trucking | DuckbillSCM.com |
| LinkDoc (零氪) | Medical tech | Linkdoc.com |
| inxmed (应世) | Medical tech | inxmed.com |
| Sunmnet (三盟) | Smart education | Sunmnet.com |
As you can see, even though these firms have Chinese names, they use domains based on their English brand names. Also, .com is the first choice in corporate China. All five startups in the list above use .com.
You may also notice that some of the domains do not precisely match their English brand names, for example CompassHZ.com and DuckbillSCM.com. This is where you may find selling opportunities if you own the shorter domains (Compass .com and Duckbill .com).
My daily observation reflects what I see in the 2019 Top 100 Chinese Internet Firms list, where a significant 30% of the firms own English-based domains. Below are some examples.
| Rank | Firm | Domain |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alibaba (阿里巴巴) | Alibaba.com |
| 2 | Tencent (腾讯) | Tencent.com |
| 5 | Ant Financial (蚂蚁金服) | Antfin.com |
| 18 | Cheetah Mobile (猎豹移动) | CheetahMobile.com |
| 19 | Autohome (汽车之家) | Autohome.com |
Clearly, English-based domains do have a market in China. If you own such domains, be sure your domains are available to buyers in China too. This can be achieved by listing your domains at a marketplace that has retail outlets in China, such as Afternic (fast transfer). This approach also helps you avoid language and payment issues when selling to China.
