After the Zhenbao Island incident (zh:珍寶島事件) in 1969, PRC leaders decided on the necessity to develop new second-generation tank models.

This tank is largely based on Soviet designs in terms of external shape but with a different suspension and main gun.

Chinese officers seemed interested in the Leopard 2, especially its mobility, but the People's Liberation Army was unable to procure the tank or the license to produce it due to financial strain and possible maintenance problems.

Due to this, the PLA decided to start the development of new tanks with western technical support to lower production and maintenance costs.

The conference resulted in a new tank project with specifications including a mass of 43-45 tonnes, a 120mm smoothbore gun that is capable of penetrating the frontal armor of the T-72 in the range of 2000 meters, a new 900-1000hp engine, giving the tank a hypothetical top speed of 65km/h and an average speed of 45km/h, as well as an NBC protection system and a fire extinguishing system.

Finally, due to China's lack of heavy duty road infrastructure and bridgelaying vehicles, the new tank is required to have deep fording abilities.

For power, the WZ-1224 utilized an MTU MB8V331 TC41 engine, a German on-the-shelf civilian product, and indigenous torque and two-plate planetary gear system from Factory 617.

During the spring of 1977, the Fifth Machine Industry Ministry began work on reverse engineering the Rheinmetall Rh-120 smoothbore gun with possible technical assistance from Germany.

Generally, the vehicle proved satisfactory but not necessarily excellent, according to both sources, so the Fifth Machine Industry Ministry moved on to creating a new prototype.

[4] Both tanks used a hydraulic automatic gearbox with four forward gears and one reverse, developed by Factory 617, combining the transmission and engine into a single modular power pack that is easily replaceable and removable.

Combined with the hydraulic-assisted power steering, the "three-liquid" technical expectation was realized on the WZ-1226, more than ten years after the original WZ-122 prototype.