[3] From 1956 until the late 1980s, the standard service rifle of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) was the Type 56 carbine, a licensed derivative of the Soviet SKS.

[8] The SKS was well-regarded by the PLA, but it lacked select-fire capability and was limited to a ten-round fixed magazine fed from stripper clips.

[9] To overcome these shortcomings, Chinese military officials specified a new service rifle based on the overall SKS design but capable of fully automatic fire and modified to accept large capacity, detachable magazines.

[8] It also needed to be manufactured with the same tooling equipment as the SKS and AK-47 for logistical reasons, as the Chinese government wished to adapt its pre-existing production lines for the new rifle.

[9] Work on the new weapon commenced in 1959, led by a diverse three-tiered development team consisting of technicians from arms factories, engineering faculty and students from universities, and military staff.

[1] However, they later drew more heavily on the internal structure of the AK-47, not only because of its proven select-fire capabilities but also the comparative ease of mass producing parts for that weapon.

[3] The Type 63 was subsequently inspected and approved for service by Mao Zedong in his capacity as chair of the Chinese Central Military Commission.

[1] Due to the lack of oversight, a large number of technically unauthorized changes were made to the Type 63 to simplify or streamline manufacturing, and the original specifications disregarded.

[1] This method was much more cost effective and efficient, but several miscalculations were made which caused the barrels to deform prematurely under stress, and they often failed to fit the receivers properly.

[1] Additionally, the pins used to hold the pressed barrels and the receivers in place were of poor quality and suffered a high failure rate.

[7] The Type 63 entered service with the PLA in 1969, and for the first two years of production the weapon remained favorably evaluated by Chinese infantry troops.

[1] In 1979, with PLA forces suffering from a shortage of automatic weapons in the Sino-Vietnamese War, a small number of Type 63s were returned to service.

[1] The Type 63 is a gas-operated, select-fire assault rifle with a conventional wooden stock and the ability to accept proprietary 15 and 20 round magazines.