Domain name supplier Melbourne IT has started accepting registration of domain names in Chinese through its subsidiary, Internet Names Worldwide (INWW).
The registration service, the first to be offered by an ICANN accredited registrar, caters for Chinese speakers around the world, regardless of whether they use simplified or traditional scripts.
Clive Flory, president of INWW International said at Internet World Fall 2000 in New York: "The ability to register your company name as a domain name, in the language of the country where you do business, is of incredible importance from a cultural point of view, as well as assisting in the protection of identity and brand names."
"Multinationals and other companies where there is a strong Chinese community presence have already shown interest in the service as they see the benefits of having domain names in the Chinese language."
The announcement follows recent Forrester research that shows business Web users are three times more likely to buy online when addressed in their own language.
Several other languages including Japanese, Korean, Tamil and Arabic will be added to INWW's registration services over the coming months.