Why Leading Chinese Tech Giants Prefer PostgreSQL Over MySQL – Key Advantages Explained

In recent years, the push for domestic innovation and the need for autonomous, controllable databases have made PostgreSQL the preferred foundation for Chinese technology companies because of its open‑source nature, stability, and extensive feature set.

Chinese Projects Built on PostgreSQL

Tencent Cloud TDSQL PG (TBase) – https://github.com/Tencent/TBase Introduces a global transaction manager (GTM) and distributed coordination to achieve cross‑shard transactions.

Alibaba Cloud PolarDB for PostgreSQL – adds a shared‑storage write‑once, multi‑read architecture for sub‑second scaling of read nodes.

Huawei Cloud GaussDB (based on openGauss) – https://opengauss.org Integrates a column‑store engine and AI‑driven optimizer, supporting HTAP workloads.

Hangzhou Yijing Shutong openHalo – https://github.com/HaloTech-Co-Ltd/openHalo Provides an open‑source, cloud‑native PostgreSQL distribution.

Why Choose PostgreSQL Over MySQL?

Key technical advantages of PostgreSQL include:

Richer data types : ARRAY, range types (int4range, tsrange), composite types, and JSONB with indexing and efficient queries.

Native sequence objects : PostgreSQL supports independent sequences, e.g.:

CREATE SEQUENCE order_seq START WITH 1 INCREMENT BY 1;
INSERT INTO orders (id, name) VALUES (nextval('order_seq'), 'test');

MySQL only simulates sequences via AUTO_INCREMENT or variables, lacking cross‑table sharing.

Powerful extensions : TimescaleDB (time‑series), pg_trgm (fuzzy matching), Citus (distributed), pg_stat_statements (SQL statistics).

Built‑in monitoring views : pg_stat_activity, pg_stat_statements, pg_locks, and support for EXPLAIN ANALYZE. Third‑party tools such as PgAdmin, pg_stat_monitor, and Prometheus + Grafana integrate smoothly.

Advanced replication : Streaming replication (async/sync), logical replication (per‑table or cross‑version), and mature WAL mechanisms ensure data durability and zero‑loss failover.

MVCC implementation : Stores multiple row versions directly in the heap, providing true snapshot isolation, whereas MySQL keeps only the current version with undo logs.

MySQL Limitations Highlighted

Less expressive data types; no native ARRAY or range types.

No true independent sequence objects; AUTO_INCREMENT is tied to a table.

Fewer high‑impact extensions and plugins.

Monitoring tools are limited (Performance Schema, slow_query_log) and often hard to interpret.

Replication is primarily asynchronous with limited strong‑consistency guarantees; GTID can be error‑prone.

Licensing: GPL + commercial (Oracle‑controlled) vs PostgreSQL’s BSD‑like, fully free license.

Community transparency: MySQL’s core development is Oracle‑controlled, while PostgreSQL is maintained by a global, open community.

Practical Comparison Table (Summarized)

License : MySQL – GPL + commercial (Oracle); PostgreSQL – BSD‑like, fully free.

Enterprise vs Community : MySQL enterprise adds features like auditing; PostgreSQL community edition is complete.

Source transparency : MySQL development is Oracle‑centric; PostgreSQL is community‑driven.

Long‑term stability : MySQL roadmap can shift with corporate decisions; PostgreSQL is governed by an independent foundation.

Conclusion

PostgreSQL is not simply “better” than MySQL; it is more suitable for systems that require long‑term evolution, complex data models, and strong consistency. MySQL remains a strong choice for fast‑to‑market, read‑heavy web applications. The rise of domestic databases in China builds on PostgreSQL’s open, programmable platform to achieve independent innovation.