- Cloud giant extends lead as demand for ai-ready data infrastructure accelerates
- AsparaDB strengthens position amid shift toward cloud and domestic substitution
Alibaba Cloud has maintained its leadership in China’s relational database software market, securing a 26.1% share in 2025 across both public cloud and on-premise deployments, according to a report by International Data Corporation (IDC).
The performance marks the seventh consecutive year that Alibaba Cloud has ranked first in the market since 2019, supported by double-digit growth in the latest reporting period.
Relational databases organize data in tables and are managed via SQL, a domain-specific language used to manage data.
This type of database remains the dominant architecture globally and accounts for nearly 70% of China’s overall database market.
Public cloud champion
In the public cloud segment, Alibaba Cloud’s share rose to 38.1% in the second half of 2025, up 1.1 percentage points from the first half, further widening its lead in the country’s fastest-growing database segment.
Public cloud remains the dominant force in China’s database market, with a 2025 market size of $3.19 billion—roughly twice that of on-premise deployments—and is the main driver of overall market growth recovery.
In the on-premise segment, Alibaba Cloud has continued expanding its footprint in government and financial services, including deployments across four major state-owned banks and state-owned enterprises.
Brisk growth in on-premise segment
Revenue from on-premise database products grew 25.4% year-on-year in the second half of 2025, significantly outpacing the broader market’s 11.1% growth rate.
Overall, China’s relational database software market reached $4.83 billion in 2025, up 14.5% year-on-year.
IDC said the sector is being driven by surging AI demand and accelerating domestic substitution.
Amid this ongoing trend, Alibaba Cloud’s AsparaDB has evolved from cloud-native data infrastructure into an “AI-ready” multimodal database system that integrates AI capabilities directly into its core architecture.
$11.24 billion by 2030
Beyond government-backed corporates, AsparaDB counts among its clients established tech firms including Zhipu AI (智谱), MiniMax, Xiaohongshu, Li Auto, MiHoYo (米哈游) and bilibili.
The market is expected to continue expanding, with IDC projecting China’s relational database software market to reach $11.24 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of 18.4%.
Domestic providers potentially will represent more than 70% of the market, the report predicts.
