In the 1960s, amid tense relations with the U.S.S.R., China came up with the concept of creating "frontier-covering forces." The main firepower of this formation was to be units with "frontier-covering tanks" in service. One of the projects for such vehicles was the BZ-75, developed in 1975 using the experience gained developing the WZ‑111 heavy tank. While working on the turret, engineers incorporated the design features of the WZ‑1224 project. No BZ‑75 prototypes were manufactured.