Why MySQL Dominates in Mainland China While PostgreSQL Remains Secondary, and Can PostgreSQL Replace MySQL?

When examining why MySQL became the dominant database in mainland China while PostgreSQL stayed in a secondary position, we are looking at a history of technological evolution intertwined with market demand.

MySQL originally offered a lightweight solution that matched the early internet boom, providing just enough relational functionality for startups that needed a simple, easy‑to‑deploy database.

Its strengths lie in simplicity and raw performance; early applications often required fast read/write operations rather than complex transaction handling, and the MyISAM engine delivered very high read speeds for large volumes of simple queries.

For example, a high‑traffic content publishing system that mainly serves read‑only pages (news sites, blogs) can benefit from MySQL’s speed without needing sophisticated transaction logic.

As applications grew, the need for robust transaction support led to the adoption of the InnoDB engine, which introduced ACID compliance, row‑level locking, and foreign‑key constraints—features essential for enterprise‑grade software.

PostgreSQL, on the other hand, has always positioned itself as the most advanced open‑source database, excelling in transaction processing, data consistency, and offering powerful features such as MVCC, rich data types, and custom composite types, making it especially suitable for finance or other complex domains.

In a banking scenario where thousands of interrelated transactions must maintain strict consistency, PostgreSQL’s advanced isolation levels and data‑type flexibility provide critical guarantees.

Historically, PostgreSQL lagged in ease of use and operational overhead because it relied on a multi‑process architecture that consumed more resources than MySQL’s multi‑threaded model, and features like logical replication arrived later.

Both systems have evolved: MySQL added stored procedures, triggers, and views, while PostgreSQL improved usability, introduced logical replication, and enhanced performance.

Choosing PostgreSQL over MySQL involves not only technical considerations but also market and ecosystem factors; MySQL’s widespread adoption has built a strong community, abundant tooling, and a larger pool of DBAs, which are decisive advantages for many companies.

In summary, PostgreSQL can certainly shoulder the workload when its advanced capabilities align with business needs and the team is comfortable with it, but for most enterprises the combination of historical momentum, community support, and familiarity keeps MySQL as the preferred choice.

The article also lists a series of beginner‑to‑advanced MySQL tutorial topics for readers who wish to deepen their knowledge.