Development of Chinese armoured forces ( 1927 – 45 ) This article deals with the chronology and development of Chinese armoured forces from 1927 to 1945 . Introduction . The Chinese warlord Zhang Zuolin introduced tanks to China . Surprised during the Northern Expedition by Chiang Kai - shek ' s National Revolutionary Army , he bought several Renault FT - 17 tanks armed with 37 mm guns from France in 1927 . It is uncertain how these tanks were used in combat , but they were eventually captured by the Japanese and the Chinese Nationalists . The tanks captured by the Japanese army were deployed in the Kwantung Army and later used during the Mukden Incident . The Nationalists in the meantime also bought 36 FT - 17 tanks . However , they saw no action but were used mainly for training . Also about 6 or 10 Renault UE light armoured carriers armed with Browning MG were bought in France . Additions . Influenced by the Japanese tank performance during the First Battle of Shanghai , the Chinese Nationalist government started the mechanisation of the army in 1933 , buying 24 British Carden Loyd Mk VI tankette s . Later they bought about 20 Vickers 6 - ton tanks between 1935 and 1936 . They also bought some Vickers Amphibious Tanks , which were developed in 1932 and not used in the United Kingdom . Since 1930 , the Nationalists had hired several German military advisers . They made the Nationalists purchase many European weapons through a German company with which the German advisers cooperated . The Nationalists bought Italian CV - 33 and CV - 35 tankettes , German Panzer I Ausf . A light tanks , and British 12 - ton tanks . The exact name of the British 12 - ton tank is unknown . With these newly purchased tanks the Nationalists organized three tank battalions in 1936 . The 1st Battalion in Shanghai had 32 Vickers Amphibious tanks and some Vickers 6 - ton tanks , and the 2nd Battalion also in Shanghai had 20 Vickers 6 - ton tanks , 4 Carden Loyd tankettes and carriers . The 3rd Battalion in Nanking had 10 Panzer I Ausf . A tanks , 20 CV - 33 tankettes and some SdKfz 221 and 222 armoured car s . When the Second Sino - Japanese War broke out in earnest , these battalions participated in the Second Battle of Shanghai and the Battle of Nanking and were more or less completely destroyed by the Japanese forces . In early 1938 , the Japanese government demanded that the German government withdraw all German advisers from China . Given the closer relations between the two nations , Hitler agreed and soon after they left China . After the Germans left , the Soviet Union started to support the Nationalists . Soviet advisers and Soviet tanks arrived in China for the first time in March 1938 . The Soviet advisers organized a mechanised unit in China , the 200th Division , which consisted of one tank regiment and one motorised infantry regiment . The tank regiment consisted of four tank battalions . Each tank battalion had three tank companies . The tank regiments had approximately 200 armoured fighting vehicles ( AFVs ) . The Nationalist government bought 88 T - 26 tanks and BA - 10 and BA - 20 armoured cars . These AFVs and remaining German AFVs were deployed in the 200th Division and the division finally saw action in late 1938 , when it inflicted a devastating defeat upon the Japanese army at the Battle of Kunlun Pass . This division then saw action in the Burma Theatre under Joseph Stilwell , to disastrous results . Upon the American entry into the war in 1941 , it began to supply China with AFVs which the Soviets were unable to provide . M3 Stuart s , M4 Sherman s , and M18 Hellcat s trickled in through Burma and formed part of the several well - equipped , well - trained armies that the Nationalists could deploy . These units were responsible for stopping numerous Japanese attacks during the later phases of the war .