The Type 96 is a Chinese third-generation main battle tank (MBT). Based on the Type 85-III design, the Type 96 entered service with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in 1997. As of 2005, an estimated 1,500 Type 96 tanks were in service with the PLA.

Generally speaking, PLA's tank development can be divided into three generations. The first generation is a version of the Soviet T-54A and its derivatives, produced in China as the Type 59 and Type 69/79. The second-generation main battle tank started with the Type 80, which further branched into the Type 88 and Type 96, developed in parallel by different institutes but all funded by China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO). The Third-generation started with the developmental Type 98, to be heavily modified to yield the latest Type 99 tank. The Type 96G can also be considered as a third generation tank.

After the Sino-Soviet split in the 1960s, relations between China and the Soviet Union gradually worsened, leading to border clashes in 1969. By the 1970s, over 1.5 million troops from both sides were stationed along the Sino-Soviet border. At the time the best Chinese tanks were copies of Soviet T-54A tanks, which were hopelessly outmatched by new Soviet designs like the T-62, T-64, and T-72.

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