BEIJING, May 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Individuals can now register the ".cn" domain name, according to a ruling amended by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), China's .cn domain name administrator.

Xinhua News Agency reports that CNNIC's amended ruling on domain name registration, which came into effect at 12am on Tuesday, states that any person or organization bearing civil liabilities independently can apply to register the domain.

"Individuals will become an important drive for the development of websites," said Qi Lin, assistant director of CNNIC. "Opening the .cn domain name to individuals will boost the openness and uniqueness of the Internet."

The new act will help the development of individual micro-application platforms and e-commerce as well. Individual online shops can possess their own .cn domains which will help their brand operation, said Qi.

Statistics at CNNIC showed that China had around 2.3 million websites as of the end of 2011, up 20 percent in one year.

(Source: CRIENGLISH.com)