Chinese Development Team Contributes to Open Source
In the digital age, the open source movement has become a vital force driving global technological innovation. China, as one of the largest internet markets globally, is increasingly prominent in the open source domain, not only fostering an active open source community domestically but also playing a more significant role on the international stage. China's contributions to open source are evident not only in technological innovation but also in promoting global cooperation, which is reflected in various aspects.
Since the late 1990s, with the rise of the internet, the open source movement began to take root in China. Initially, China's contributions to open source were mainly focused on learning from and drawing on international open source projects. However, over time, China has begun to demonstrate more innovation and leadership in the open source field. Today, Chinese companies and developers have become important contributors to global open source projects.
The support of the Chinese government for open source is also a factor that cannot be overlooked. In the "14th Five-Year Plan," China explicitly proposed to support the development of open source, reflecting the country's correct grasp of the new opportunities and new situations in the development of open source. Government support provides policy and financial backing for the open source community, promoting the rapid development of open source projects.
At the corporate level, Chinese technology companies such as Huawei, Alibaba, and Tencent have made significant contributions to the open source field. These companies not only promote an open source culture internally but also push their open source projects internationally, working with developers worldwide to drive technological progress. For example, Huawei has made numerous contributions to international projects like the Linux kernel and Rust, becoming a leader among Chinese companies in contributing to global open source projects.
China's open source communities are also growing. For instance, the Open Source Society, composed of individual members voluntarily dedicated to the open source cause, has maintained its vendor-neutral, public welfare, and non-profit characteristics since its establishment, aiming to create a healthy and sustainable open source ecosystem. These communities not only promote the development of the domestic open source culture but also contribute many excellent developers and projects to international open source projects.
In terms of international cooperation, China's open source contributions stand out. The activity of Chinese developers on international platforms like GitHub continues to increase, and many Chinese open source projects have gained international recognition and use. According to the latest GitHub Annual Developer Report, China added nearly 1.03 million developers on GitHub in 2021, with a total of about 7.55 million. This indicates that China's influence in the global open source community is continuously growing.
Moreover, Chinese open source projects are also going global, shaping new era influence. In international open source foundations such as ASF, LF, and CNCF, the number of open source projects originating from China is increasing, and more Chinese open source professionals are being elected to important positions in international foundations.