SnapNames goes to China
A note from the CNNIC Partner Conference in Guangzhou.
Domain name marketplaces are making a lot of money from Chinese buyers these days (more on that later), and it makes sense for these firms to visit with their buyers.
Following NamesCon, Tom Jennings and Barb Sher of SnapNames traveled to China to visit with clients. Director of Business Development for SnapNames Tom Jennings filed this note:
The business development team from SnapNames/Web.com, Barb Sher and Tom Jennings, are in Guangzhou, China for the annual CNNIC Partner Conference being held on January 19th-20th. The conference brings together some of China’s largest registrars, registries and internet firms such as Xinnet, HiChina, BizCn, 35 Technology, Yumi, Zodiac, EJEE, 22.cn, and their global partners such as SnapNames, Afilias, and Neustar.
The conference allows industry leaders from around the world to exchange ideas, best practices and forge fresh business relationships. The conference opened with a Keynote by CNNIC and MIIT (Ministry of Industry & Information Technology) offering their views on the domain industry in China, both stressing the importance of international cooperation moving forward. Additionally, various breakout sessions were offered counting meetings for both domestic and overseas registrars to exchange ideas and foster growth and cooperation.
On Tuesday, January 19th the Chinese Government disclosed that their gross domestic product rose 6.9 percent in 2015. While this number represents the slowest GDP growth in China in the last 25 years, the overall sentiment at the conference remains bullish as it pertains to domains as we enter into the first quarter of 2016. Due to continued, increased penetration in the education of the Chinese marketplace around domain buyout as well as the strong belief in domains as an alternative investment vehicle class to offset an uncertain Chinese stock market, we are hopeful that the strong buying we saw out of China to close 2015 will continue. To that point, CNNIC CEO Mr. XiaoDong Lee specifically noted the opportunity for great growth in China by noting that 1 in 5 people in Germany owns a domain, while in China that number in 2015 was only 1 in 46.
