Network Solutions Registrar's (NSI) .com, .net and .org domain names are now available in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong through a partnership with Chinese Domain Name Corp (C-DN) of Hong Kong. The companies will share revenue on referred domain name registrations, and as part of the agreement, NSI Registrar will also provide one-year domain name registrations to C-DN's first 500 customers.

The number of Internet users in mainland China has risen to 16.9 million people, up from 8.9 million six months ago. Asia's total market is expected to rise to 132 million users in the coming three years according to IDC. In Asia Pacific, NSI Registrar works with over 70 leading ISPs, ICPs and ASPs through its Premier partner program. NSI Registrar established its presence in Asia Pacific with a regional office in Hong Kong in 1999.

"Network Solutions believes that to make the Internet truly global, it must be truly accessible," said Doug Wolford, senior vice president and general manager of Network Solutions Registrar. "The relationship between C-DN and NSI Registrar will hasten that goal by providing seamless registration of dot coms to the millions of people of China when they register for domains through C-DN."

C-DN president and Chief Executive Officer John Huang announced the relationship with a press conference announcing the launch of C-DN. Said Huang: "Network Solutions Registrar was an obvious partner because we knew our customers would benefit from their experience having registered the majority of the world's domain names."

Founded in 1979, NSI, a VeriSign company (Nasdaq: VRSN), is part of the world's largest provider of Internet Trust Services for businesses. The Herndon, Va.-based NSI has business relationships with industry leaders including American Express, IBM, Microsoft, AOL, Dell, and Yahoo!