Domain registry company XYZ Inc. has been granted permission by the Chinese government to sell its dot-xyz domain suffix in China, potentially opening up a huge market to the Santa Monica startup.

XYZ has sold more than 6 million dot-xyz domains globally. About 2 million of those domains were registered in China with tentative permission from the Chinese government. The firm has exclusive rights from Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, a Marina del Rey nonprofit that administers and manages domain names, to sell the dot-xyz domain.

Now with official recognition from the Chinese government, XYZ’s Chief Executive Daniel Negari said he expects to see a huge uplift in registrants from China.

“We are one of the first foreign registries to get approval,” he said. “It’s a complete game changer. It absolutely changes the trajectory of our business.”

Some of the dot-xyz domains have sold for a premium, he added. In March, the company sold domain name “1.xyz” to Chinese domain registry West.cn for $183,000.

Technology reporter Garrett Reim can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @garrettreim for the latest in L.A. tech news.