China-Developed Databases: Challenges, Opportunities, and Application Practices

Recently, at the China Database Industry Summit · China-Developed Database Innovation Practice Seminar, Xu Ji (Bai Shan), CTO of Nanjing Jishi Data Technology Co., Ltd., delivered a keynote speech titled "China-Developed Databases: Challenges, Opportunities, and Application Practices." He elaborated on the history and current status of China-developed databases, the opportunities and challenges they face, analyzed their real-world application through several industry cases, and shared his experience in database product selection based on years of practical application.

Xu Ji stated that China's database market started in the 1980s. In recent years, China's self-developed databases have entered a period of accelerated growth, making significant progress in terms of database categories and performance. As of July 2022, there are more than 200 China-developed database vendors. However, due to high technical barriers, long R&D cycles, and rigorous engineering requirements, databases need large-scale deployment to achieve maturity. Most foreign commercial database vendors have been established for over 40 years, whereas less than 50% of China-developed database vendors have been in business for more than 10 years. Consequently, China-developed database vendors generally remain small in scale and lack core competitiveness in database technologies.

By type, nearly 60% of databases in China are relational databases, while among non-relational databases, graph databases are the most numerous. There are three main technology pathways: first, independently developed from scratch, such as the analytical database GBase 8a; second, secondary development based on open-source databases like openGauss, PostgreSQL, and MySQL, an approach adopted by many large companies; third, purchasing foreign commercial licenses and repackaging or re-engineering them into a China-developed database.

Xu Ji pointed out that China-developed databases currently face a series of challenges. There are established international giants in the traditional database, open-source database, and cloud provider arenas; the diversity of data types, massive data volumes, diverse business needs, and mixed workloads make database application scenarios increasingly complex; migration costs, SQL engine efficiency, and challenges of deploying a single cloud platform across multiple chip architectures make migrating legacy systems particularly difficult; furthermore, the relatively low rate of licensed database software use, weak awareness of intellectual property protection, and widespread use of pirated databases pose significant IP-related risks for Chinese enterprises.

Xu Ji emphasized that when procuring or selecting database products, users consider a comprehensive set of factors that can be summarized into four key areas: macro policies, self-reliance level, technical capabilities, and ecosystem strength. In his speech, he used centralized relational databases as an example to provide a detailed analysis of user selection criteria.

By examining real-world applications of China-developed databases — such as the full domestic replacement of the State Grid’s dispatch system, the core system replacement at China Southern Power Grid, and the replacement of SYBASE IQ with GBase 8a in the State Grid’s all-in-one unified data center — Xu Ji concluded that commercial China-developed databases now have the initial capability to replace foreign products and hold enormous development potential. At the same time, China's database industry is still in its early stages, and we are still in the process of catching up and emulation. However, by leveraging emerging database theories, it is not impossible for China-developed databases to overtake on the curve in certain areas.

To that end, he proposed: China's database industry should undergo optimization and consolidation, using capital operations and industrial policies to promote joint enterprise development and nurture giant China-developed database players; strongly develop the open-source ecosystem and accelerate the popularization and advancement of open-source technologies; establish national standards to improve the ease of use of China-developed databases and lower user costs; and actively support the surrounding ecosystem by cultivating talent in database operation, training, and R&D, thereby promoting the healthy development of the entire industry.