Early in 1993, China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) announced that it had completed the prototype of a new 155 mm towed gun with a 52 calibre ordnance called the XP52. In the designation 'XP52' the two letters indicate that it is an experimental weapon and the '52' indicates the calibre length of the 155 mm ordnance.

This builds on its experience with the NORINCO 155 mm 45 calibre towed (WA 021 covered in a separate entry and already in service with the People's Liberation Army) and PLZ45 (now in service with Kuwait) full-tracked self-propelled artillery systems which use a 155 mm/45 calibre ordnance based on a design by the late Dr Gerald Bull.

The prototype of the 155 mm XP52 is based on an existing conventional split-trail carriage and recoil system, believed to be the Chinese NORINCO 152 mm gun Type 83 covered in a separate entry. Production of this was completed some time ago and it is no longer being marketed by NORINCO.

The 155 mm 52 calibre rifled ordnance has 40 grooves and, firing a NORINCO developed Extended-Range Full-Bore (ERFB) projectile weighing 45.54 kg, a maximum range of 34,000 m can be achieved. When firing an Extended-Range Full-Bore-Base Bleed projectile weighing 48 kg, a maximum range of 44,000 m is claimed to be achieved and maximum muzzle velocity is 980 m/s.

As far as it is known there has been no recent marketing of the 155 mm XP52 towed artillery system. More recently NORINCO has built the prototype of a 155 mm 52 calibre self-propelled artillery system. It is thought that this has now replaced the XP52 system.