KingbaseES
activeby CETC Kingbase (中电科金仓) · since 1999 · also known as Kingbase, 人大金仓, 金仓数据库, KES
Chinese PostgreSQL-derived RDBMS with Oracle, MySQL and SQL Server compatibility modes.
Overview
KingbaseES is a commercial relational database from CETC Kingbase (formerly Beijing Kingbase, which grew out of Renmin University of China). Its modern versions are built on PostgreSQL code and add compatibility modes for Oracle, MySQL and SQL Server syntax, plus its own clustering options (read-write separation clusters, shared-storage RAC and sharding). It is one of the main beneficiaries of China's domestic-software programmes in government, energy and finance, and the V9 line is actively developed. Outside the Chinese market it is rarely seen, and most documentation is in Chinese.
Strengths & trade-offs
Strengths
- +One engine with Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server and PostgreSQL compatibility modes
- +PostgreSQL heritage gives mature MVCC and SQL features
- +Certified for Chinese government and domestic hardware/OS stacks (Kunpeng, Loongson, Kylin)
- +Shared-storage and sharding options for HA and scale
Trade-offs
- −Documentation, support and community are almost entirely Chinese
- −Compatibility modes are not complete clones; migrations still need testing
- −Little presence on global cloud platforms
Great for
- +Replacing Oracle in Chinese government systems
- +Energy and utility enterprise applications
- +Applications that must run on domestic Chinese hardware and OS
Think twice for
- −Projects outside China
- −Teams wanting community PostgreSQL extensions unchanged
- −Cloud-native managed-service architectures
Capabilities
Native or official first-party support · 11 of 25 tracked
Scale & consistency
- Comfortable data size
- Medium · ≤ 10 TB
- Horizontal scaling
- Addon
- Multi-region
- Read replicas
- Transactions
- Full ACID
- Consistency
- Strong
- Schema
- Strict
- Architecture
- Client server, Primary replica, Shared storage
- Query languages
- SQL, PL/SQL-compatible procedural SQL, PL/pgSQL
Primary/standby clusters, a shared-storage cluster option and a sharding edition.
Deployment
Ecosystem
Alternatives to KingbaseES
China's leading home-grown RDBMS; DM9 (2026) adds distributed, HTAP and AI features.
kingbase vs dameng →Huawei's distributed enterprise RDBMS built on openGauss, aimed at replacing Oracle in Chinese finance.
kingbase vs huawei-gaussdb →Huawei-originated open-source RDBMS forked from PostgreSQL, with in-memory and column engines.
kingbase vs opengauss →Alipay-proven distributed SQL with MySQL (and Oracle, in Enterprise) compatibility, HTAP and vector search.
kingbase vs oceanbase →The extensible, standards-first open-source relational database.
kingbase vs postgresql →The enterprise heavyweight: RAC, Data Guard and a converged engine for SQL, JSON, graph and vectors.
kingbase vs oracle-database →KingbaseES FAQ
What is KingbaseES?
KingbaseES is a relational database by CETC Kingbase (中电科金仓), first released in 1999. KingbaseES is a commercial relational database from CETC Kingbase (formerly Beijing Kingbase, which grew out of Renmin University of China). Its modern versions are built on PostgreSQL code and add compatibility modes for Oracle, MySQL and SQL Server syntax, plus its own clustering options (read-write separation clusters, shared-storage RAC and sharding). It is one of the main beneficiaries of China's domestic-software programmes in government, energy and finance, and the V9 line is actively developed. Outside the Chinese market it is rarely seen, and most documentation is in Chinese.
Is KingbaseES open source?
No. KingbaseES is proprietary, closed-source software.
Does KingbaseES support ACID transactions?
Yes. KingbaseES supports full ACID transactions, with strong consistency.
Does KingbaseES scale horizontally?
KingbaseES scales horizontally through an official extension, proxy or edition rather than in the core engine. It is comfortable at medium scale (≤ 10 TB). It supports cross-region read replicas.
How can I run KingbaseES?
You can self-host it.
What is KingbaseES best for?
KingbaseES is a strong fit for replacing Oracle in Chinese government systems; energy and utility enterprise applications; and applications that must run on domestic Chinese hardware and OS. Think twice for projects outside China.
What are the best alternatives to KingbaseES?
Common alternatives to KingbaseES include Dameng (DM), Huawei GaussDB, openGauss, OceanBase and PostgreSQL. The right choice depends on your workload, scale and hosting; WhichDB's smart match ranks them against your requirements.
How popular is KingbaseES?
KingbaseES has little measurable public adoption today, so it ranks near the bottom of the WhichDB Score.