中ソ国境紛争
During the 1969 Sino-Soviet border conflict, the PLA was able to capture a Soviet T-62 MBT. The captured tank was examined, and some of its components, such as the Soviet Luna IR searchlight system, were copied and integrated into the Type 69 design. After around a decade of development, the first domestically developed and produced Chinese tank was inducted into the PLA ground forces as the Type 1969 Medium Tank or Type 69 Tank for short. However, the early version of the Type 69 were only used in limited quantities.