In a signal that shows the importance Asia has to the Internet, ICANN has named a Chinese scholar as its new vice president for the region. Xiaodong Lee, who’s is being described as a “noted Internet expert” will assume the key role on Monday.

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is the influential organization which remains in control of Internet domain names globally.

Rod Beckstrom, ICANN’s president and CEO, said in a recent statement that Lee’s appointment is “an important development for ICANN, for China and for all of Asia.”

“Dr. Lee has an impressive history of achievement, and respect for him reaches far beyond China’s borders,” Beckstrom added. “His broad range of knowledge and expertise will make a major contribution to ICANN and to the future of the global Internet. It is a visible demonstration of ICANN’s commitment to fully engage globally.”

“Xiaodong Lee has been working in the Internet for a long time, and has been an influential contributor in the process that led to our current standards and procedures for international domain names,” Harald Alvestrand, a former ICANN board member, said. “He knows the technology and the people who work with it very well.”

In addition, close to half of the world’s Internet users reside in Asia, with China having the largest number of Internet users in the world.

Beckstrom announced Lee’s appointment in Beijing during an event on ICANN’s new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) program.

“This appointment sends a powerful signal that ICANN recognizes the importance of the new gTLD program to China’s and Asia’s online future,” Beckstrom said.

Lee graduated from Shandong University, and later began an association with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, from which he received advanced degrees in computer science. He became one of the academy’s youngest professors, ever. He recently was named one of the 10 “outstanding youth” in China’s software industry. He was also given a “China Outstanding Youth Medal.”

Lee also has been the deputy director general and chief technology officer of the China Internet Network Information (CNNIC ), which is the state network information center of the nation. It oversees registering domain names for China.

“I am proud to join an international organization like ICANN,” Lee commented in the ICANN press statement. “ICANN’s role in shaping the history of the Internet is undeniable, as its role in shaping the Internet’s future.”

In other recent news about ICANN, the organization has taken over the management of a key Internet time zone database, called “The Time Zone Database,” according to TechZone360.