The technology, a major breakthrough of 3721.com, allows Chinese users to find a full list of relevant organizations and products by simply typing in the address column their names in Chinese characters.

More than 25 million Chinese "netizens" were using the real name technology to locate the Internet databank each day, said 3721.com's chief executive officer Zhou Hongwei Tuesday.

"You don't have to remember complex domain names in English and type out all the 'www', 'com' and 'net'," said Zhou. "A name -- and in Chinese characters -- is enough."

While the Internet normally searches for websites through a combination of the 26 English letters or the 10 Arabic numerals, the real name technology has made the network more user-friendly to English-illiterate Chinese.

The real name, a new generation network technology following the Internet protocol and domain name, had surpassed all search engines in locating network resources in China, statistics showed.

"The fast-growing Internet has provided a new platform for enterprises, most of which are likely to put their conventional business transactions online," said Zhou. "The new technology can help protect their brands and reputations and even attract potential customers."

The technology also benefited small and medium-sized enterprises, which could generate a company profile when registering themselves with 3721.com.

"In this way, you don't have to spend heavily on a company website, but the customers will find you easily when they use the real name technology to locate relevant network resources," said Zhou.

After four years of operation, 3721.com now has 250,000 membership enterprises worldwide and covers 95 percent of China's netizens.

(People's Daily July 10, 2002)