The Type 96 (Chinese: 96式; pinyin: Jiǔliù shì) or ZTZ96 is a Chinese second generation main battle tank (MBT). The final evolution of the Type 88 design, the Type 96 entered service with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in 1997. The later variants of the Type 96 are currently in PLA service together with China's third generation MBT, the Type 99. China's tank development can be divided into three generations. The first generation was the Type 59, a locally manufactured copy of the Soviet T-54 and its derivative tanks. The second generation of MBTs started with the Type 80 and reached its end state as the Type 96. The third generation began with the Type 99 tank. China's first generation tank development program failed to meet the PLA's performance requirements. These technical shortcomings coincided with the appearance of the T-72 and T-80 tanks in Russia, which influenced Chinese defense officials and contributed to their decision to begin development of a new generation indigenous MBT in the early 1980s. This new program was to lead to the development of the Type 80/85 family by 1988. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)