.cn WHOIS Lookup
.cn is China's country code extension, and CNNIC runs its registry. A .cn WHOIS lookup names the holder, the sponsoring registrar and the date the registration runs out.
- 1,494 extensions
- IANA 1601 ICANN accredited
- 2 protocols — RDAP and WHOIS
Your IP address
.cn WHOIS Lookup: What a CNNIC Record Contains
.cn is the country code extension of China. It entered the root zone on 28 November 1990 and is operated by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). WHOIS queries go to whois.cnnic.cn on port 43. IANA lists no RDAP endpoint for .cn, so this port 43 service is the only source of .cn registration data. CNNIC signs the .cn zone with DNSSEC, and a DS record for it sits in the root.
A CNNIC reply is short, ten fields in all, and it keeps the holder in view. Registrant gives the holder's name, Registrant Contact Email an address for reaching them, and Sponsoring Registrar the company that manages the domain. These names can arrive in Chinese characters, as they do for cnnic.cn itself. The reply also carries a ROID identifier, status codes, name servers and two dates, Registration Time and Expiration Time. To compare with other Asian registries, see the .my WHOIS lookup and the .in WHOIS lookup.
About the .cn extension
- Extension
- .cn
- WHOIS server
- whois.cnnic.cn
- RDAP endpoint
- This extension has no RDAP endpoint in the IANA bootstrap registry.
- Registry
- China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC)
- In the root zone since
- 28 November 1990
- Published
- Holder's name and email, sponsoring registrar, registration and expiration time
- Not in the reply
- Last-updated date, abuse contact
- Last checked
- 12 August 2026
Looking for whether a name is still free, rather than who holds it? run a domain name search
WHOIS FAQ
How can I reach the holder of a .cn domain?
You can write to the address on the Registrant Contact Email line, which CNNIC publishes openly. The name on the Registrant line tells you whom you are addressing. If the email goes unanswered, the Sponsoring Registrar line names the company that manages the domain, and that is the next place to ask. The reply carries no separate abuse contact.
When does a .cn domain expire, and where is the date?
The expiry date is on the Expiration Time line, written as year-month-day followed by a clock time. For cnnic.cn it reads 2028-03-10 19:06:34, exactly 25 years after its Registration Time of 2003-03-10 19:06:34. CNNIC publishes no last-updated date, so the record does not show when the holder or the name servers last changed.
Why does the .cn result screen leave out the holder and dates?
The whois.com.tr result screen currently lists five .cn fields, namely the domain name, the registrar, the name servers, the status and DNSSEC. The holder's name and email and the two date lines use CNNIC's own labels, such as Registration Time in place of Creation Date, and are not split into fields. You can read them in full in the Full WHOIS output tab, which shows the registry's raw reply.
What do serverDeleteProhibited and serverUpdateProhibited mean on .cn?
Both codes mean the registry has locked the domain, one against deletion and the other against changes to its record. The server prefix shows that CNNIC set them, and a registrar cannot lift them on its own. cnnic.cn carries both. If your domain shows them, a name server or contact change can only go through once the registry removes serverUpdateProhibited.
Can a .cn WHOIS lookup show whether a name is free?
Yes, an unregistered .cn name comes back without holder, date or name server lines, and the result screen marks it as available. You can then register it through a registrar that offers .cn. If the name is already taken, the address on the Registrant Contact Email line is the way to ask the holder about it.
What is the ROID in a .cn WHOIS record?
The ROID (Repository Object ID) is the unique identifier CNNIC gives the domain object in its database. For cnnic.cn it is 20030310s10001s00012956-cn, and its first eight digits match the registration date, 10 March 2003. An ordinary lookup has no use for it, while registrars and the registry use it to point to one record without ambiguity.