China's CETC Kingbase Unveils AI-Powered Database Appliances Amid Rising Demand for Intelligent Data Infrastructure

Du Sheng, President of CETC Kingbase

AsianFin -- As China accelerates its push for self-reliance in core technologies, CETC Kingbase (Beijing) Technology Co. has introduced a new line of AI-empowered database appliances aimed at helping enterprises tackle increasingly complex data management needs driven by artificial intelligence.

At a product launch in Beijing on Monday, the subsidiary of Taiji Computer Corp. unveiled the KES V9 2025 Fusion Database, an AI-era platform designed to handle high-performance data integration and operations.

The company also debuted its next-generation KXData-M cloud database appliance, an enterprise-grade data management system, along with new tools for unified operations and intelligent data integration.

Kingbase’s flagship AI database appliance integrates its own database software with a hyper-converged platform, large AI models, and hardware optimized for chips from Hygon, ARM, and X86 suppliers. Designed in collaboration with cybersecurity and cloud provider Sangfor, the appliance features IaaS and DBaaS tools and offers unlimited licensing for database instances and clusters. The company says this reduces total cost of ownership by more than 40%.

“With the rise of AI, we’re at a turning point in the database industry,” said Wang Shan, former chairman of Kingbase and professor at Renmin University. “We’ve moved from following global players to running alongside—and in some areas, even leading.”

The new platform also features a proprietary Chitu Acceleration Engine, enabling sub-millisecond response times and supporting millions of concurrent transactions. AI tools embedded in the system allow database administrators to use natural language commands for operations and maintenance. AI-driven SQL optimization and fault warnings are also included, with the company claiming a 98% accuracy rate for alerts.

Founded in 1999, Kingbase is part of state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corp. (CETC) and has long been a pillar of Beijing’s push to develop domestic alternatives to foreign database solutions such as Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server. Kingbase products are widely used across sectors including energy, finance, telecom, transportation, healthcare, and public services. The company reports over one million deployments to date.

Kingbase led the domestic database market in healthcare and transportation deployments in 2023, and has topped sales rankings in key application sectors for four consecutive years. In 2024, the company reported operating revenue of 433 million yuan ($59.6 million), up 16% year-on-year, and net profit of 80.07 million yuan, according to Taiji Computer’s annual report.

The KXData-M, the company’s new cloud-native appliance, is built for multi-application environments and supports centralized deployment, multi-tenant isolation, disaster recovery, and automated maintenance. It has already been deployed in institutions such as the Affiliated Stomatology Hospital of Zhejiang University and MCC Tiangong Group.

Kingbase also introduced SQL Server and Sybase compatibility in its KES V9 2025 platform, broadening appeal to enterprises that rely on legacy systems. The upgrades target core performance improvements through optimized computing frameworks, storage access, and resource scheduling.

Du Sheng, president of CETC Kingbase, said database replacement remains one of the most technically complex challenges for enterprise IT systems, due in part to decades of deep integration between business applications and foreign databases.

“Foreign databases created powerful abstractions that allowed developers to focus purely on building apps. But that same tight coupling has now become a constraint,” Du said, pointing to rising licensing costs and lack of adaptability among global vendors.

As AI and cloud computing spawn new application scenarios, Kingbase is positioning itself as a full-stack solution provider to help clients replace Oracle and other foreign databases with minimal risk. Its migration services, Du said, offer lower costs and faster deployment with higher performance stability.

“Choose Kingbase when you need an alternative,” Du told the audience. “We are building a new generation of AI-native database infrastructure that can support the digital transformation of every industry.”

With China increasingly focused on technological self-sufficiency amid ongoing geopolitical tensions, companies like Kingbase are expected to play a pivotal role in localizing critical infrastructure. The latest product rollouts signal that Chinese database providers are not only catching up—but are aiming to set new standards in the AI age.