How Tianxi Tech Is Building a Controllable Open‑Source Database on PostgreSQL

Background and Motivation

After the ZTE incident, public attention turned to domestic foundational software, especially databases, raising questions about how “controllable” open‑source solutions can be built and what challenges Chinese vendors face compared with international giants.

Interview Overview

The author interviewed Wang Yingze, Technology Director of Tianxi Database, to understand the company’s approach to an open‑source‑controllable database path.

Technical Architecture of Tianxi Database

Tianxi Database is built on PostgreSQL and adds comprehensive Oracle compatibility through three main components:

Kernel level: Independent Oracle SQL and PL/SQL parsers are integrated while retaining PostgreSQL’s core, enabling support for Oracle data types, MERGE INTO, CONNECT BY, tablespaces, DUAL, ROWNUM, etc., and providing a new PL language.

Interface level: The database interfaces are adapted to mimic Oracle behavior, aiming to minimize or eliminate changes required in existing application code.

Tooling level: Management and SQL editing tools are supplied, along with a dedicated migration tool that assists moving from Oracle to Tianxi (and even directly from Oracle to PostgreSQL) with performance optimizations.

Understanding “Open‑Source Controllable”

Wang explains that PostgreSQL’s BSD/MIT‑style license grants users extensive freedom to modify, redistribute, and build commercial products, which encourages ecosystem growth. However, “controllable” for Tianxi means possessing end‑to‑end development capability—from kernel to interfaces to tools—so the product can be customized, maintained, and supported without relying solely on third‑party services.

Why PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL is chosen for its advanced, mature, and stable technology stack, active community, rapid release cadence, and strong performance, high‑availability, and disaster‑recovery features that can satisfy most Oracle workloads.

Team Strength and Development Philosophy

Tianxi’s core team has years of PostgreSQL R&D experience, allowing faster, higher‑quality development and leveraging community contributions to boost technical competence.

Competitive Position vs. International Vendors

While Oracle leads in technology depth, brand, ecosystem, and customer scale, domestic vendors like Tianxi can offer localized services and, with PostgreSQL as a foundation, can achieve functional and performance parity for many scenarios, especially when migration tools reduce code changes.

Key Challenges for Chinese Database Vendors

The interview identifies four major pain points:

Talent cultivation: A severe shortage of engineers skilled in kernel and interface development, with limited academic focus on deep database research.

Technical accumulation: Building a robust knowledge base takes time; blind ambition without solid research leads to unsustainable products.

R&D management: Database development differs from typical application projects; managing massive codebases, ensuring quality, and balancing feature delivery require specialized processes.

Ecosystem construction: Beyond the database itself, a healthy ecosystem includes hardware partners, OS vendors, middleware, backup solutions, and a community of developers and service providers.

Future Outlook

Wang acknowledges the current gap with long‑standing foreign vendors but believes that by focusing on high‑quality, differentiated products and leveraging PostgreSQL’s openness, Tianxi can gain market trust. He also notes supportive national policies and the growing adoption of domestic databases across government, manufacturing, insurance, and finance sectors.