The PLA demanded a tracked armoured mine dispenser system in the mid-1980s. The theoretical evaluation of the mine dispenser system commenced in January 1986, and the preliminary study began in 1987. The PLA officially approved the mine dispenser development project in 1989. The initial design concept was submitted to the PLA for review in early 1991, and the ZSD89 (Type 89) tracked armoured personnel carrier (APC) was chosen as the chassis for the mine dispenser system. The first concept prototype was built and tested in 1992. A revised production prototype was handed over to the PLA for design finalisation trial in April 1993. Following several rounds of tests, the design of the vehicle was finally certified in December 1994. The vehicle’s official designation was GBL130.

The GBL130 is based on an enlarged ZSD89 APC hull. It is 0.076m longer and 0.042m wider than the standard ZSD89, with the number of road wheels increased from five to six pairs. This provides the vehicles with extra space for mine dispensing equipments. The vehicle has a stepped rear hull roof to enable six mine dispensers to operate simultaneously. The number of observation ports and roof hatches were reduced, and the rear exit door is smaller in size compared to that of the ZSD89. A ladder is fitted on the right side of the rear exit door to enable the crew to climb to the roof for reloading.

The hull is in three sections: (1) the driving compartment at the front, (2) the engine compartment in the middle, (3) the control compartment at the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle has a crew of three people: driver and commander seated in the driving compartment, and a system operator seated in the control compartment at the rear. The system operator has a roof-mounted periscope and an observation port on the left side of the hull for observation. The driver has three periscopes mounted on his hatch, and the middle one can be replaced by an image intensifying night vision. The commander has an observation port to his left. The crew is protected by an over-pressure collective NBC protection system and automatic fire suppression system.

The vehicle adopts the same powerpack and transmission as the standard ZSD89 APC, with a BF8L413F 320hp air-cooled turbocharged diesel and six pairs of rubber-tyred road wheels. The combat weight of the vehicle was increased to 20 tonnes. The vehicle is fitted with a CWT-167B vehicle-mounted radio and CYY-168 intercom.

Self-defence weapon includes a 12.7mm QJC88 anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on the commander copula. The machine gun does not have a protection shield found on the basic variant ZSD89 APC. Two 4-barrelled smoke grenade launchers, one on each side of the hull.

The GBL130 carries six mine dispenser racks mounted on the stepped rear hull, each with 36 cylinder-shape launchers. The dispenser rack has a 360° traverse and is fixed at 40° elevation. Each launcher can project one mine canister at one time. The mine canister is available in several variants: GBL240 carrying five Type 224 anti-tank mines, GBL241 carrying fifteen Type 125 anti-personnel mines, GBL242 carrying forty-five Type 115 anti-personnel mines, and GBL243 carrying a mixture of Type 224 anti-tank mines and Type 125 anti-personnel mines.

The operator controls the arming sequence and the delivery speed from inside the driver compartment via a fully automated control system. It also sets mine self-destruction times (1~272 hours).