Did China Actually Manufacture t-34/85 Tanks?

I know their Type 59 was a copy of the Soviet T-54, but did China ever manufacture their own T-34/85 tanks as well, or were they all Soviet-supplied?

They did have the capacity, they might have had. Yet, for a government praising their own so much and even insist politic into culture, about all the hulls and turrets based of the T-34/Type 58, even the monument vehicles, can be traced back to Soviet origin.

The Soviet had so many clearance T-34/85 after the T-54 introduction, and by the time China received them, the tank is more or less obsolete.

Just to be pedantic :grinning: - the Type 59 wasn’t a ‘copy’ of the T-54. It was an officially licensed version.

The Soviets and Chinese had fallen out by the time the T-55 entered production so the subsequent Chinese variants were home-developed versions (various features of the Type 69 were copied from a captured T-62 for example).

A little googling-

1 Like

The question was inspired when I bought the Chinese Volunteer T-34/85 kit from Rye Field, and the notes implied they were Chinese made. Which might have been technically true from what everyone says.

That’s a great kit.

Thanks, for the Dragon T-34/85 kit was a disappointment. Their T-34/76 Model 1941 is good though.

1 Like

here are differences between the Type 59 and the T54. Most are small, but they’re there
gary

I think virtually all T34-85’s used in Korea were left over Russian stocks. Least that’s what I was told by someone who examined a few of them in person
gary

Having seen one such photograph, I deliberately want to try to model a North Korean tank that was knocked out and burned but still mostly externally intact, namely because I want to see the T-34/85 as recognizable for they type it is.