Free business email in Hong Kong: set up name@yourcompany.com.hk

Hong Kong companies are incorporated in a day and start trading the same week, which is how so many end up with a Gmail or Yahoo address on the invoice. Overseas buyers, the procurement teams at regional headquarters and the banks all treat that as a flag. A .com.hk address tied to your Business Registration certificate fixes it, the mailboxes can be free, and the setup is four DNS records.

Quick answer

Register yourcompany.com.hk through HKIRC or an accredited registrar, using your Business Registration certificate, or a plain .hk if you want no paperwork. Create a free OquMail workspace with no card, add the domain, paste four DNS records at the registrar, click Verify and create your mailboxes. Add the mailbox to Outlook, Apple Mail or your phone with the settings below.

Choosing your domain: .com.hk, .hk or .com

Hong Kong domains are administered by HKIRC, the Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation, which sells directly and through accredited registrars. A .com.hk is reserved for commercial entities and requires a valid Business Registration certificate; a plain .hk is open to anyone. Both are recognised locally, and the .com.hk carries slightly more weight with buyers because it proves a registered business stands behind it.

• .com.hk: for registered businesses; the BR certificate number is required at registration
• .hk: open to individuals and companies; shorter, no documents
• .org.hk, .edu.hk: for organisations and schools
• .com: common among trading and sourcing companies with mainly overseas customers; Hong Kong buyers accept it

Why Hong Kong buyers trust a domain address

Hong Kong is a trading city, and most of its small companies sell to people they have never met: sourcing agents, overseas buyers at HKTDC fairs, regional procurement teams and banks performing know-your-customer checks. All of them compare the email domain to the company name on the Business Registration. A quotation from sales@yourcompany.com.hk passes the first check; one from a free webmail address prompts a request for more documents, or silence. Business email compromise targeting Hong Kong trading companies is well documented, so buyers have been trained to distrust mismatched addresses.

Step by step

1. Register yourcompany.com.hk with HKIRC or an accredited registrar, entering your BR certificate number when asked. Pay by card or FPS.
2. Create a free OquMail workspace at oqumail.com. No card.
3. Add the domain in the dashboard and copy the four DNS records.
4. In the registrar DNS panel add the MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records exactly as shown.
5. Click Verify. The live DNS check shows anything still missing.
6. Create mailboxes: info@, sales@, accounts@ and one per person, up to 15 with 5 GB each.
7. Send a test from webmail and add the account to Outlook, Apple Mail or the phone mail app with the settings below.

The four DNS records OquMail needs

Hong Kong hosts commonly bundle email and pre-set an MX. Delete it before adding mail.oqumail.com, and if Cloudflare handles your DNS keep the MX and TXT records unproxied.

• MX — host @, value mail.oqumail.com, priority 10
• SPF (TXT at @) — v=spf1 MX (Mail Exchanger — where incoming email is delivered) a:mail.oqumail.com ~all
• DKIM (TXT at your selector ._domainkey) — v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=… (the exact key is shown in your OquMail dashboard)
• DMARC (TXT at _dmarc) — v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com

OquMail connection settings

• Incoming (IMAP): mail.oqumail.com, port 993, SSL/TLS
• Outgoing (SMTP): mail.oqumail.com, port 587, STARTTLS
• Username: your full email address (you@yourdomain.com)
• Password: the same password you use for OquMail webmail

What it costs

The domain is a yearly fee at HKIRC or the registrar. The email is free: OquMail's free plan has no card step and includes 15 mailboxes, 3 domains, 5 GB per mailbox, webmail, IMAP and SMTP, delivery logs and a send API. Microsoft 365 is common in Hong Kong and is a good product, but a five-person trading company that needs mailboxes and not SharePoint is paying per user per month for nothing it uses.

Pitfalls common in Hong Kong

• Bundled hosting mailboxes with no DKIM: quotations to buyers on Microsoft 365 land in junk.
• Choosing SSL on port 587 in Outlook. It must be STARTTLS.
• Home broadband and mobile data block outbound port 25. Port 587 is all you need.
• Chinese characters in mailbox names. Keep the address plain ASCII and put the Chinese and English names in the display name.
• Skipping DMARC. Invoice fraud against Hong Kong trading companies and their overseas customers is a known pattern; publish at least p=none and move to quarantine once reports are clean.
• Leaving a Yahoo or Gmail address on the company website, the HKTDC listing and the Google Business Profile after the domain is live.

Common questions

Can a sole proprietor register .com.hk?

Yes. A sole proprietorship has a Business Registration certificate, which is what .com.hk requires. Register the domain in the business name on the BR.

Does it work with Outlook and my phone?

Yes. Add an IMAP account with the settings above in Outlook, Apple Mail or the Gmail app, using your full address as the username.

What are the limits?

15 mailboxes, 3 domains, 5 GB per mailbox, no expiry. Upgrading later does not change DNS or mailboxes.

Want to see how your own domain is set up? Use the free SPF checker, DMARC checker and MX lookup: they run in your browser and store nothing.