It really doesn’t surprise me that China would do this, it makes sense in terms of improving language support though I find the security claim mentioned in The Register article as somewhat dubious.
And, as Engadget points out, it looks like they are borrowing some ideas from Android. I find this somewhat amusing since Android borrowed a lot of ideas from iOS back when it first launched. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, apparently. Engadget has a full slideshow of China Operating System screenshots, so make up your own mind about how close it is to Android.