How Cloud‑Native Databases Are Redefining China’s Database Landscape

Databases, operating systems, and middleware are considered foundational software, and the "base" in China’s "core, high, and base" (核高基) strategy refers to these three categories, which play a pivotal role in the software industry. For a long time, international vendors such as Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft dominated the database market, leaving domestic databases on the margins. However, driven by China’s rapid economic growth and cloud‑computing benefits, domestic databases are gradually moving to the center stage.

Gartner’s 2021 Global Cloud Database Magic Quadrant named Alibaba Cloud a leader for the second consecutive year, marking the first time a Chinese vendor entered the top tier of global databases. Huawei Cloud also appeared as a "Niche Player," indicating a significant rise in the overall strength of Chinese database providers.

1. Cloud‑Native Databases Born from the Cloud

After more than 40 years of effort, China’s database industry has produced notable domestic vendors such as Kingbase, DM, and others, yet they have struggled against mature foreign products with established ecosystems. The explosion of data from mobile, IoT, and other sources created new demands—TB to PB scale, higher concurrency, and elastic scaling—that traditional databases could not meet. This shift gave rise to cloud‑native databases, exemplified by Alibaba Cloud’s PolarDB.

Compared with traditional databases, cloud‑native databases fully leverage cloud capabilities. The key technical transformation is resource pooling and decoupling, which brings elasticity, high availability, containerized deployment, and intelligent operations.

PolarDB uses a distributed shared‑storage architecture, separating compute from storage to achieve high scalability. In 2021, it further advanced by decoupling compute, memory, and storage into three layers, enabling second‑level elastic scaling through memory pooling. As a full‑stack cloud provider, Alibaba Cloud also offers IaaS services that allow hardware‑software co‑optimization for better performance.

"Because we can define storage, many tasks such as data filtering and decompression can be offloaded to the storage layer, gaining performance advantages," said Wang Weimin, General Manager of Alibaba Cloud Database Product and Solutions.

Integration with other Alibaba Cloud services (RDS, ECS) enables RDS to inherit ECS capabilities, while AI‑driven operations reduce human effort. The Database Autonomous Service (DAS) can automate many DBA tasks, cutting operational costs dramatically.

Gartner predicts that cloud databases will account for half of total database revenue by 2022, underscoring their future dominance.

2. Transition to Cloud‑Native Database 2.0

Beyond relational databases, the rise of semi‑structured and unstructured data (videos, logs, IoT) has spurred new solutions such as graph databases, data lakes, and migration tools. Alibaba Cloud now offers a comprehensive portfolio covering relational, non‑relational, data warehousing, and ecosystem tools across four major blocks: data production & integration, real‑time processing & storage, analytics & discovery, and development, management, and intelligent operations.

Cloud‑Native Database 2.0 focuses on continuous enhancements (e.g., three‑layer decoupling) and a one‑stop, full‑lifecycle service that addresses the entire data journey. Hybrid‑cloud offerings like DBStack allow customers to deploy databases on‑premises while enjoying cloud‑native benefits, including one‑click migration for government and enterprise clients.

Key government and enterprise customers—including the National Tax Administration, China Post, and major insurers—have adopted Alibaba Cloud databases, demonstrating market validation.

Alibaba Cloud is also building an open ecosystem by partnering with leading ISVs in finance, providing training and certification (ACA, ACP, PSA), and establishing an ecosystem alliance to co‑create solutions.

3. Serious Commitment to Open Source

Since 2021, Alibaba Cloud has open‑sourced several database products: PolarDB for PostgreSQL (distributed version), PolarDB‑X, PolarDB for PostgreSQL shared‑storage version, and the upcoming multi‑model database Lindorm. These releases stem from internally validated, original technologies, reflecting a genuine open‑source strategy.

Open source is viewed as the future trend for databases, enabling rapid iteration, community‑driven innovation, and broader ecosystem growth. While open source accelerates development, it is not a guaranteed path to market dominance; its purpose is to foster collaboration and trust.

4. Conclusion

China’s digital economy is expanding rapidly, driving unprecedented data growth and new processing demands. Emerging concepts such as lake‑warehouse integration and real‑time analytics challenge traditional databases, creating opportunities for domestic vendors. Alibaba Cloud’s leadership in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant exemplifies the progress of Chinese databases, and continued innovation promises stronger support for the nation’s digital transformation.