06 August 2025

.ICBC New gTLD Application

06 August 2025

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New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited

String: ICBC

Originally Posted: 13 June 2012

Application ID: 1-1010-74163

Applicant Information

Full legal name

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited

Address of the principal place of business

No. 55 Fuxingmennei Avenue, Xicheng District

Beijing 100140

Phone number

+86 010 66108608

Fax number

+86 010 66106139

If applicable, website or URL

Primary Contact

6(a). Name

Ms. qing peng

6(b). Title

business manager

6(c). Address

6(d). Phone Number

+86 010 64242299

6(e). Fax Number

6(f). Email Address

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Secondary Contact

7(a). Name

Ms. Xiaoxue Guo

7(b). Title

business manager

7(c). Address

7(d). Phone Number

+86 010 82096263

7(e). Fax Number

+86 010 82096262

7(f). Email Address

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Proof of Legal Establishment

8(a). Legal form of the Applicant

Joint Stock Limited Company

8(b). State the specific national or other jursidiction that defines the type of entity identified in 8(a).

Beijing, China

8(c). Attach evidence of the applicant's establishment.

Attachments are not displayed on this form.

9(a). If applying company is publicly traded, provide the exchange and symbol.

Shanghai_Stock_Exchange;601398

9(b). If the applying entity is a subsidiary, provide the parent company.

9(c). If the applying entity is a joint venture, list all joint venture partners.

Applicant Background

11(a). Name(s) and position(s) of all directors

Huan Huiwu Non-executive Director

Jiang Jianqing Chairman of the Board of Directors and Executive Director

Kenneth Patrick Chung Independent Non-executive Director

Li Jun Non-executive Director

Li Xiaopeng Executive Director and Senior Executive Vice President

Malcolm Christopher McCarthy Independent Non-executive Director

Qian Yingyi Independent Non-executive Director

Wang Lili Executive Director and Senior Executive Vice President

Wong Kwong Shing, Frank Independent Non-executive Director

Xu Shanda Independent Non-executive Director

Yang Kaisheng Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Executive Director and President

11(b). Name(s) and position(s) of all officers and partners

Hu Hao Board Secretary

Lin Xiaoxuan Chief Information Officer

Liu Lixian Secretary of Party Discipline Committee

Luo Xi Senior Executive Vice President

Wang Xiquan Senior Management and General Manager of Human Resource Department

Wei Guoxiong Chief Risk Officer

Yi Huiman Senior Executive Vice President

Zhang Hongli Senior Executive Vice President

11(c). Name(s) and position(s) of all shareholders holding at least 15% of shares

Central Huijin Investment Ltd Not Applicable

HKSCC Nominees Limited Not Applicable

Ministry of Finance Not Applicable

11(d). For an applying entity that does not have directors, officers, partners, or shareholders: Name(s) and position(s) of all individuals having legal or executive responsibility

Applied-for gTLD string

Provide the applied-for gTLD string. If an IDN, provide the U-label.

ICBC

14(a). If an IDN, provide the A-label (beginning with "xn--").

14(b). If an IDN, provide the meaning or restatement of the string in English, that is, a description of the literal meaning of the string in the opinion of the applicant.

14(c). If an IDN, provide the language of the label (in English).

14(c). If an IDN, provide the language of the label (as referenced by ISO-639-1).

14(d). If an IDN, provide the script of the label (in English).

14(d). If an IDN, provide the script of the label (as referenced by ISO 15924).

14(e). If an IDN, list all code points contained in the U-label according to Unicode form.

15(a). If an IDN, Attach IDN Tables for the proposed registry.

Attachments are not displayed on this form.

15(b). Describe the process used for development of the IDN tables submitted, including consultations and sources used.

15(c). List any variant strings to the applied-for gTLD string according to the relevant IDN tables.

Describe the applicant's efforts to ensure that there are no known operational or rendering problems concerning the applied-for gTLD string. If such issues are known, describe steps that will be taken to mitigate these issues in software and other applications.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (“the Applicant”) anticipates the introduction of this TLD without operational or rendering problems. Based on a decade of experience launching and operating new TLDs, Afilias, the back-end provider of registry services for this TLD, is confident the launch and operation of this TLD presents no known challenges. The rationale for this opinion includes:

- The string is not complex and is represented in standard ASCII characters and follows relevant technical, operational and policy standards;

- The string length is within lengths currently supported in the root and by ubiquitous Internet programs such as web browsers and mail applications;

- There are no new standards required for the introduction of this TLD;

- No onerous requirements are being made on registrars, registrants or Internet users, and;

- The existing secure, stable and reliable Afilias SRS, DNS, WHOIS and supporting systems and staff are amply provisioned and prepared to meet the needs of this TLD.

(OPTIONAL) Provide a representation of the label according to the International Phonetic Alphabet (http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/).

Mission/Purpose

18(a). Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD.

The intention of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ʺICBCʺ) in filing this application is to provide a trusted, hierarchical and intuitive namespace for businesses and consumers that use ICBC’s broad range of financial products and services. In addition to this ASCII application for the .ICBC string, ICBC will also be filing an internationalized domain name (IDN) application for the string (.工行) to provide a unified branding strategy for a global financial institution.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited

ICBC is a trademark of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (SEHK: 1398; , SSE: 601398). (simplified Chinese: 中国工商银行; traditional Chinese: 中國工商銀行; pinyin: Zhōngguó Gōngshāng Yínháng, more commonly known as 工行 Gōngháng). ICBC was incorporated in the Peopleʹs Republic of China on January 1, 1984 and is now one of the largest commercial banks in China, as well as around the world, with total assets in excess of RMB 15,476 billion, ICBC had 408,859 employees under payroll providing a wide range of financial products and services to 4.11 million corporate clients and 282 million individual customers through 16,648 outlets across China and 239 overseas subsidiaries at the end of 2011.

The following trademark portfolio is the inseparable part of ICBC’s businesses. It represents the past and on-going effort made by ICBC on intellectual property asset protection relating to the “ICBC” and “工行” brand.

“ICBC” and “工行” Trademark Information

（1） Greater China trademark registrations：

“ICBC” trademark

China:4140958,4140957,4140959,4140960,4140961,6766427,4140963,4140964,4140965,

4140966,4139917,4139918,4139919,4139920,4139921,4139922,4139923,4139924,

4139925,4139926,4139927,4139928,4139929,4139930,4139931,4139932,4139933,

4139934,4139935,4139936,4139944,4139946,4139945,6766426,6766424,6766423,

6766422,6766421,6766420,4140967,4140968,4140969,4140970,4140971,1149829,

Macao: N⁄013317 Hong Kong :1997B06436

“工行“ trademark

China:4138614,4138613,4138612,4138611,4138610,4138609,4138608,4138607,4138606,4138605,4138474,4138473,4138472,4138471,4138470,4138469,4138468,4138467,4138466,4138465,4138484,4138483,4138482,4138481,4138480,4138479,4138478,4138477,4138476,4138475,4138494,4138493,4138492,

4138491,4138490,4138489,4138488,4138487,4138486,4138485,4138504,4138503,4138502,4138501,4138500

Hong Kong: 300804609

Macau: N⁄026615

（2） International in following countries:

“ICBC” trademark

Indonesia: IDM000050742

Korea :49297

Kazakhstan，Russia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Britain, Italy, Spain, Egypt：826388

Singapore: T97⁄08659G

United Arab emirates:101950

Kuwait:89146

Peru:00063863

India:1938584

Laos:22417

Qatar:56377

Burma:4⁄3382⁄2011

Brazil,:902445260

Thailand:765401

South Africa :2010⁄05937

Vietnam:4-2010-24056

France: 103781954

Cambodia: KH⁄40137⁄11

Argentina:3075590

Mexico: 1148826

Chile:939714

Pakistan:294516

Mongolia, Hungary, the Czech republic, Austria, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia：1081128

“工行” trademark

Indonesia:2007002885

Malaysia:2007⁄01718

Singapore:T1015035B

Vietnam:4-2010-24059

France:103781984

Potential Business Models

ICBC is still analyzing potential use case options on the type of domain names that will be permitted to be registered and by whom. In undertaking this research, ICBC is leveraging its experience as global financial institution to ensure that its corporate and individuals clients are provided information and services in a safe and trusted environment. The current best thinking involves a three stage roll-out over a seven year period of time.

Stage One

The primary use of the .ICBC gTLD will initially be primarily defensive in nature, with ICBC registering a limited number of second level domain names. This initial use will provide ICBC IT and security personal the ability to run a number of tests to ensure seamless and secure access to the ICBC website, and interoperability with various software and web-based applications. This will likely take one year, especially considering that ICBC will be seeking to integrate both an ASCII and IDN application.

Stage Two

Once appropriate security and stability issues have been satisfactorily addressed, ICBC will likely begin allocating domain name for internal corporate use. This will likely involve allocating second level domain names corresponding to individual branches and potentially financial products and services offered by ICBC. This phased roll-out will likely take place during years two thru three, but is subject to change depending upon a range of external factors. During this same period of time ICBC will evaluate potential strategies to migrate all traffic away from the current patch work network of second level domains registered in various TLDs, to ICBC’s ASCII and IDN gTLDs.

Stage Three

ICBC is still evaluating the potential to allow future registration of domain name to individuals and organizations outside of ICBC, e.g. select VIPS and SMEs. However, ICBC will likely not make any such determination until after the first three years of operation, and the ability of ICBC to survey how other global financial institutions that might apply for a gTLD is using it in the broader commercial marketplace. This proposed phased roll-out provides heighted guarantees that the identity and contact information of each .ICBC domain name registrant will be known thus minimizing the start-up and operational costs of ICBC.

18(b). How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

ICBC believes that a proposed .ICBC gTLD has the potential to offer the following benefits to Internet users and consumers:

A trusted online marketplace for ICBC corporate and individual customers seeking to access ICBC’s financial goods and services online;
Provide short and memorable domain names that will facilitate the ease by which consumers can locate information online;

Currently ICBC operates a number of corporate websites using a combination of second-level and top-level domain names. A representative sampling of regional ICBC websites and their corresponding domain names are listed below. However, for a full listing of all ICBC global websites and corresponding domain names please refer to the following URL on the ICBC main website, see http:⁄⁄www.ICBC-ltd.com⁄ICBCLtd⁄About%20Us⁄Global%20Websites⁄

ICBC Canada- http:⁄⁄www.icbk.ca⁄

ICBC New York - http:⁄⁄www.icbkus.com⁄

ICBC Madrid - www.icbc.com.es

ICBC Paris - http:⁄⁄www.icbcparis.fr⁄

ICBC London - http:⁄⁄www.ICBClondon.com⁄

ICBC Netherland -http:⁄⁄www.ICBC.co.nl⁄

ICBC Doha - http:⁄⁄www.ICBC.com.qa⁄

ICBC Middle East -http:⁄⁄www.ICBCme.ae⁄

ICBC believes that a .ICBC gTLD can provide an online single source identifying function for its current and future customers around the global, instead of the current mix-and-max approach that ICBC is currently forced to resort to as it expands into different markets around the world.

What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?

The primary mission and purpose of the .ICBC gTLD is to provide a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive online marketplace for customers of ICBC’s financial products and services. As technologies for delivering financial services evolve, ICBC continues to evaluate opportunities to distribute its products and services to its current and future clients. ICBC believes that a .ICBC gTLD has the potential to provide a virtual platform to offer interactive features to deepen and broaden its relationship with existing and future customers.

With regard to reputation, ICBC is driven by the following core corporate values:

ICBC’s Mission: Excellent for You

- Excellent service to clients

- Maximum return to shareholders

- Real success for our people

- Great contribution to society

ICBC’s Vision:

- A global leading bank with the best profitability, performance and prestige

ICBC’s Values: Integrity Leads to Prosperity

- Integrity, Humanity, Prudence, Innovation and Excellence

See http:⁄⁄www.ICBC-ltd.com⁄ICBCLtd⁄About%20Us⁄Corporate%20Culture⁄

What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?

As a brand gTLD, the primary driving factors of ICBC are providing a safe and secure online marketplace for its corporate and individuals customers. The success of the TLD will not be measured by the number of domain name registered. Instead it will be measured by the level of consumer recognition and trust that is placed place in .ICBC gTLD. Using this benchmark, ICBC strives to build consumer recognition and trust that rise to the level of that found in the.EDU and .GOV.CN domain names.

As noted above, ICBC is a leading global financial institution that is increasing relying upon emerging technologies to deliver financial services to its consumers both domestically and abroad. A .ICBC gTLD has the potential to serve as a cornerstone of this online strategy, if potential consumer benefits that ICANN experts have touted become a reality. However, any broader adoption of this strategic initiative will only be undertaken after ICBC has confidence that the concerns of various government and law enforcement regarding ICANN’s new gTLD process are properly addressed to its satisfaction. This evaluation is specifically reference in Stage Two in Section 18a.

While many customers of financial institutions are subject to a never ending barrage of spam and phishing activities, .ICBC from day one will be a trusted source of goods and services for consumer looking for information regarding ICBC’s financial products and services.

What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?

ICBC believes that the .ICBC gTLD will provide a single trusted eco-system experience for the hundreds of millions of consumers both domestically and internationally that use its financial products and services. In addition to providing consumers with short, memorable, and intuitive domain names to help customer navigate the ICBC website, ICBC envisions best in class safeguards to minimize any potential phishing, pharming, or spam that have plagued the customers of other financial institutions.

As identified in Section 18a, ICBC’s mid-term goal (Stage Two) is to eventually begin migrating traffic from its existing conglomeration of domain names registered across multiple TLDs to a single online source under the .ICBC (ASCII and IDN) gTLDs. This will provide customers with a single online trusted source for ICBC financial products and services. This will also increase confidence and predictability for ICBC customers and partners as ICBC continues to expand into other markets around the world as a leading global financial institution.

Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.

As documented in Section 18a, during the first three years of operation, ICBC is intending to restrict registration and use of domain names with the gTLD to limited number of CIU. Because of this condition precedent, any registration and use requirements are more appropriately vested in these corporate⁄subsidiary agreements and not in a domain name registration agreement. ICBC mark is a valuable brand whose protection is of paramount important, any registration and use (e.g. trademark quality control provisions) must vest in these other agreements.

Aside from these concerns, ICBC will incorporate all required ICANN consensus policies and other legal⁄policy requirements imposed on new gTLD applicants into the terms and conditions of the domain name registration agreement. Based on ICANN Registry Agreement, ICBC sets and enforces .ICBC registration policies. General Registry Policies will be developed and made available prior to launch of TLD. Such policy decisions, based on ICANN Registry Agreement and relevant industry best practices, include but are not limited to:

Registration eligibility requirements
Which registrars may become accredited and sell domains
Wholesale prices offered to registrars
Reserved names
Phased allocation (Sunrise, Landush, etc.) of the domain space at the second and third levels
Dispute policies
Technical policies, including SRS security and access.

This .ICBC General Registry Policies pertain techno-operational policies in the following areas:

Domain Registrations (Domain Objects) and the .ICBC Zone File
Domain Contacts (Contact Objects) and WHOIS Service
Dispute Resolution Policies
Obligations of Registered Name Holders

The General Registry Policies provides the framework for the general operations of the .ICBC Registry. Other policies, such as the .ICBC Eligibility, Reserved Name Policies, Sunrise Policies and other relevant policies are described separately in other documents published at the .ICBC TLD registry Websites. Pricing and technical specifications are published for Accredited Registrars only and provided separately.

The .ICBC TLD registry is committed to maintaining the integrity of the data within the .ICBC Registry and to implement policies that deter infringements. The .ICBC Registry adopts the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) for facilitating the resolution of disputes over the registration and use of a second-level domain name registered under the .ICBC Registry. All domain name registrations must submit to the mandatory proceedings commenced under UDRP, which is available for review at http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄dndr⁄udrp⁄policy.htm. Complaints under the UDRP should be submitted to an approved dispute-resolution service provider listed at http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄dndr⁄udrp⁄approved-providers.htm.

Beyond the UDRP, all domain registrations must also submit to proceedings commenced under formally adopted dispute policies as set forth by ICBC from time to time and published on the .ICBC TLD registry Website(s). Such dispute policies will take effect at the time they are announced on the .ICBC TLD registry Website(s), with or without prior notice to registrars or registrants.

Such dispute policies may include for example, but not limited to, expedited processes for suspension of a domain name by claims sought by intellectual property right holders (URS), Internet engineering and security experts or other competent claimants in the purpose of upholding the stability, security and integrity of the .ICBC Registry. Dispute policies may also include for example challenge processes adopted by the .ICBC Registry for special programs when occurred.

Moreover, based upon ICBC’s commitment and established track record in providing a safe eco-system for businesses and individuals, ICBC intends to provide best in class safeguards that will evolve over time.

Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users? If so, please describe any such measures

As a global financial company, ICBC recognizes first hand that this is an evolving area of law in which there is no international standard. However, due to fact that every domain name will initially be registered to ICBC or a subsidiary in Stages One and Two (see Section 18a), ICBC has a vested interested to make sure that accurate and current domain name information is readily available in connection with each .ICBC domain name.

Because the proposed business model set forth in Section 18a envisions a potential expanded use of .ICBC domain names to non-corporate registrants, ICBC has a vested interested to make sure that accurate and current domain name information is readily available in connection with each domain name. If individuals and or companies are eventually permitted to register domain names in the .ICBC gTLD, ICBC will re-evaluate its policies at that time to ensure that its policies are in compliance with best-in-class policies at that time.

Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.

As noted above ICBC’s driving factor in securing a .ICBC gTLD in ICANN’s first round is primarily defensive in nature, and while ICBC sees the potential for this gTLD to serve as a cornerstone for its future online strategic initiative, there are a number of unanswered questions concerning consumer recognition, security and stability, and broader industry adoption of new gTLDs within the marketplace that must be satisfactorily answered first. Once these concerns have been answered to ICBC’s satisfaction, ICBC is committed to making prominent use of the .ICBC⁄.工行 (ASCII and IDN) gTLDs in printed and online material as well as across its over 16,648 outlets that serve over 4.11 million corporate clients and 282 million individual customers in 2011. As leading global financial company, ICBC currently spends over RMB 42.5 million annually in network marketing and advertising.

18(c). What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs?

What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs (e.g., time or financial resource costs, as well as various types of consumer vulnerabilities)?

ICBC believes the proposed operating rules to initially limit registration to ICBC and its subsidiaries in Stages One and Two (see Section 18a) will provide a trusted online environment for consumers of ICBC’s financial products and services. Therefore there is no need for other trademark and brand owners to defensive register in the gTLD. This verified eco-system also provides consumers with a single trusted source for ICBC with a substantially lower risk of fraud and⁄or scams for its customers. ICBC also believes that the safeguards set forth in the Applicant Guidebook and the proposed business modeled outlined in Section 18a will minimize and potential negative social costs.

What other steps will you take to minimize negative consequences⁄costs imposed upon consumers?

ICBC believes that the proposed operation of the .ICBC gTLD as set forth in this application has no known negative consequences or cost implications on consumers. To the contrary, the proposed operation of this registry will likely lead to direct and quantifiable benefits to consumers. ICBC believes that by following the core corporate values as identified in Section 18b it will be able provide real value to consumer, and minimize any potential negative consequences⁄costs.

How will multiple applications for a particular domain name be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first-come⁄first-serve basis?

ICBC does not envision multiple applicants for the same domain name, as domain names will initially only be allocated to ICBC and its subsidiaries. If and when ICBC decides to permit third party registrations within the gTLD during Stage Three (See 18a), ICBC will evaluate and decide upon a best in class allocation mechanism consistent with its strategic corporate interests.

Explain any cost benefits for registrants you intend to implement (e.g., advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts).

ICBC does not envision any pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts because these marketing⁄commercial initiatives are inconsistent with the mission and purpose of the .ICBC gTLD as a trusted online source identifier. Moreover, it is the current best thinking of ICBC that .ICBC domain name registrations will be provided to ICBC subsidiaries at no-cost.

Note that the Registry Agreement requires that registrars be offered the option to obtain initial domain name registrations for periods of one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar, but no greater than ten years. Additionally, the Registry Agreement requires advance written notice of price increases. Do you intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation? If so, please describe your plans.

ICBC is committed to providing the domain name registration periods set forth in the registry agreement. However, as noted above as .brand gTLD the registration and use of the domain name is conditioned upon the registrant being a subsidiary of ICBC. Therefore providing contractual commitments in a domain name registrant agreement regarding the magnitude of price escalations does not seem relevant or appropriate. Additionally, as noted above, the current best thinking of ICBC that .ICBC domain name registrations will be provided to ICBC subsidiaries at no-cost.