The PLA requested a self-propelled 122mm artillery system to replace the towed artillery in its armoured forces in the late 1960s. The Type 70 (also known as WZ302) 122mm self-propelled howitzer was introduced as a gap-stop in 1970. The system is simply a Type54-I 122mm howitzer mounted on a Type 63-I (B531) armoured personnel carrier, with not fire-control system. The crew is carried inside the troop compartment, but has to manually operate the howitzer without any protection. Only a small number was produced (<200 examples) before the production sully stopped.