release:v9.0.0

**Disclaimer**
The dates published in this issue are for planning purposes only. It is intended solely to help you plan your projects. A date that exists in the future should not be considered a firm release date as the release and timing of releases are subject to change at any time and are at PingCAP's sole discretion.

Release process checklist
Candidate SHA: TBD

Working Tags: TBD

Check the diff in the current version:

- [ ] 0. Announce the release plan

- [ ] 1. Create release-9.0 branch and code freeze:

- [ ] 3. Qualifying the release.

- [ ] 4. Docs preparing for release.

- [ ] 5. The release qualified.

- [ ] 6. Docs ready for release.

**release date: TBD**

Do not proceed below until the release date.

- [ ] 7. Publish TiDB Release

> fill in Candidate SHA above

> fill in Make and Publish Build above

- [ ] 8. Update version numbers

- [ ] 9. Update docs (handled by Docs team)

- [ ] 10. Update the official website