Type 54 pistols are also known colloquially as "Black Star" pistols (Traditional Chinese:黑星手槍, Simplified Chinese: 黑星手枪)[2] due to the five-pointed star engraved on its all-black grip panel.

The Type 51 was first adopted in 1951 and produced in Shenyang's Factory 66 using both Soviet and Chinese-made parts.

Norinco, the People's Liberation Army's state weapons manufacturer in China, still manufactures a commercial variant of the Tokarev pistol chambered in the more common 9×19mm Parabellum round, known as the Tokarev Model 213, as well as in the original 7.62×25mm caliber.

Furthermore, the Model 213 features the thin slide grip grooves, as opposed to the original Russian wide-types.

An updated version known as the K14-VN is made by Factory Z111, and has an increased capacity of 13 rounds, with a wider grip to incorporate a double stack magazine, which is based on the Tokarev Model 213.