The opening of registration of second-level domain names under .CN, the country code of China, has attracted a boom of registrations, according to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), Internet service provider and manager in the country's dotcom industry.

Mao Wei, director of the center, said some 3,000 new domain names were successfully registered in just 10 minutes after the registration service was launched yesterday for organizations and companies. He expected registrations to top 400,0000 this year.

CNNIC has received 65,346 upgrade applications to transfer names from third-level domain names under .COM.CN (such as ABC.COM.CN) to second level names under .CN (such as ABC.CN), Mao said.

Of the transfer applications, 41,843 have been granted.

Mao is not surprised with the registration rush, saying the second-level domain name has been very well received in 67 countries and regions where it's available, because it ensures better information security and Internet administration.

In France, for example, second-level domain names account for 84 percent of the country's total.

The Ministry of Information Industry is researching the possibility of opening up the registration service to individuals, according to Chen Xiaoya, senior official with the ministry.

The registration fee has declined from 300 yuan (US$36) to 160 yuan.