Aside from a Type 85 12.7 mm machine gun and a radio antenna on the turret, no other improvements are visible, which suggests the tank’s dismal armor protection is intact. In this undated photograph scoured from the depths of Google a Type 59 equipped with a massive 120 mm gun is advertised.

Here is a chronological survey of Chinese MBTs from the 1950s to the present. When tank inventories around the world are shrinking the PLA continues to field new variants for its combat brigades.

The irony is, despite a rising defense budget, the PLA still maintains unknown numbers of its older tanks even if their armament and electronics have been upgraded. The PLA together with powerful state-owned enterprises copied and adapted their way to near-equal status with Western technology. The next quarter century would be a game of catch up. When the Communist Party cracked down on the Tiananmen Square protesters in 1989, the PLA deployed scores of Type 59’s, an obsolescent model compared to the third-generation MBTs used by NATO and the ailing Soviet Union. The development of Chinese MBTs in the last 25 years is nothing short of incredible. Norinco now offers largest selection of exportable tanks in the world with varying armament and weight classes. First teased as a scale model in exhibitions, and then on state-owned defense conglomerate Norinco’s website, the MBT 3000 was given a fitting public debut during the 2014 Zhuhai Air Show. China was the only country to unveil a brand new main battle tank (MBT) in 2014.

Chinese main battle tank