Though the Chinese tank industry was not among the pioneers who introduced armored vehicles to the combat, it made a significant contribution to further develop the world’s tank production industry and
became one of the leading tank manufacturers in the second half of the 20th century. In the 1930s, the Chinese actively used the best foreign models and evolved their own design by introducing numerous
modifications and domestic improvements to the existing machines.
The tank development of the People’s Republic of China owed a lot to the Soviet military assistance. After World War II, the USSR supplied the communist People's Liberation Army with T-34-85 medium
tanks and IS-2 heavies. Later the Chinese made a copy of the T-34-85 that was designated Type 58. This model marked the birth of the Chinese tank development industry. In 1956, the Soviet Union agreed
to assist China in building a tank production facility to manufacture T-54 tanks. Initially the machines were assembled from Soviet-supplied parts, but gradually were substituted with domestically produced
components. The Chinese engineers managed to create the best vehicle of the 1950’s, widely used in numerous post-WWII military conflicts around the globe. The T-54 concept was further evolved in the
Type 56/69/79, thus pushing the Chinese tank development industry to a new level.
The Chinese tank industry chose to follow and adapt the best practices of the Soviet military engineers. In the 1950’s, China launched a limited production of the Soviet light amphibious PT-76 that was later
used as a platform for creating its own amphibious machine. From this moment on, the Chinese tank builders kept their eyes peeled for tank development activities in Kharkov, Nizhnij Tagil and Leningrad.
The Chinese tech tree in World of Tanks will showcase a variety of modifications of the Soviet, French, British, German, American and Italian combat machines, as well as a number of the Chinese-made tanks
that never went into mass production. The Chinese tanks inherited the best traits from their foreign precursors: maneuverability of the Americans, shooting accuracy of the Brits, rapid firing rate of the
French and sheer power of the Soviets.
The Chinese tank development industry applied a pretty simple and cheap way of production, assembling its own vehicles from various components of other, mostly foreign-produced, tanks. The
simplicity, robustness, compact size and low cost of the Chinese tanks made them attractive on the export market, helping China sell thousands of its vehicles worldwide.
Despite the fact that many of the Chinese designs were of foreign, primarily Soviet, influence, China increasingly developed its own indigenous solutions and often equipped them with Western weapon
technologies. On the basis of the Soviet T-54, the Chinese engineers developed their first light tank prototype, Type 62 that entered production and service in 1963.
The Chinese tank industry was aiming at the development of numerous redesigns of the iconic Soviet machines, including T-34-85, IS-2, IS-3 and T-54, that enjoyed descent armor, powerful guns and low
manufacturing costs.
Many experts feel skeptic about the Chinese tanks calling them sad excuses of the Soviet machines. One way or another, the Chinese armor was in high demand among the Asian, African and even some
European countries. Though the biggest part of the Chinese design and prototypes didn’t go into mass production, they remain extremely interesting vehicles due to their technical authenticity and creativity
in the design.With the Chinese tank tree roll out in World of Tanks, players will have an excellent opportunity to experience a different gameplay.