After the Korean War, the PLA received trophy American and British M46 Patton and Centurion tanks. At the same time, Chinese engineers were ordered to build a vehicle that could exceed the performance of Western counterparts. By the late 1950s, several projects were ready, one of which was named the Ziqiang. It broadly incorporated Soviet and American tank-building innovations. After considering the projects, the PLA leadership decided to develop the mass-produced Type 59 and re-target the Ziqiang for export, equipping it with guns of NATO states. However, in the absence of any orders, no prototype was built.