Individuals have been allowed to register the ".cn" domain name, according to a recently amended regulation on domain name registration of the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the administrator of Chinese domain name.

The new regulation, which came into effect on May 29, 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 the CNNIC. "Opening the .cn domain name to individuals will boost the openness and diversity of the Internet."

Individual online shops can possess their own .cn domains that will help their brand operation, according to Qi.

Statistics from the CNNIC show China had around 2.3 million websites as of the end of 2011, up 20 percent year on year.