Norinco

The China North Industries Corporation (Chinese: 北方工业; pinyin: Běifāng Gōngyè; literally "North Industries"), official English name Norinco. In addition to firearms and ammunition, Norinco also manufactures vehicles (trucks, cars and motorcycles), machinery, optical-electronic products, oil field equipment, chemicals, light industrial products, explosives and blast materials, etc. Norinco is also involved in domestic civil construction projects in China.

Norinco is also known outside of China for its high-tech defense products, some of which are adaptations of Soviet equipment. Norinco produces precision strike systems, amphibious assault weapons and equipment, long-range suppression weapon systems, anti-aircraft & anti-missile systems, information & night vision products, high-effect destruction systems, fuel air bombs, anti-terrorism & anti-riot equipment and small arms.

History

Norinco was established in 1980 with the approval of the State Council of China, and is overseen by the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND). According to the congressional testimony of Gary Milhollin of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control in 1997, Norinco subsidiaries in the U.S. include: Beta Chemical, Beta First, Beta Lighting, Beta Unitex, China Sports (California), Forte Lighting, Larin, NIC International (New Jersey).

Controversies in the United States

Importations of most Norinco firearms and ammunition into the United States were blocked during the Clinton Administration in 1993 under new trade rules when China's "Most Favored Nation" status was renewed. Concerns about their use by criminals in inner cities was the reason put forward as the pretense for the prohibition. The prohibition did not apply to sporting shotguns or shotgun ammunition however.

In 1994, some employees of Norinco came under federal investigation from both the FBI as well as the BATF after a successful sting dubbed “Operation Dragon Fire.” In May 1996, in what was called "the largest seizure of fully operational automatic weapons in U.S. history," 14 individuals and an Atlanta, Georgia company were indicted for the unlicensed importation and sale of 2,000 Type 56's into the United States. U.S. Customs agents posing as arms traffickers convinced a group of Chinese arms dealers, including three Norinco representatives, that they were in the market to buy guns for drug rings and street gangs. According to Wayne Yamashita, of the U.S. Customs Service: "The defendants offered the government undercover agents more sophisticated weapons, including hand-held rocket launchers, mortars, anti-aircraft missiles, silenced machine guns and even tanks." The Customs Service discovered during the investigation that these weapons were bound for Oakland, California street gangs. According to an affidavit signed by two of the undercover agents involved in the investigation, representatives from Norinco offered to sell urban gangs shoulder-held missile launchers capable of downing a large commercial airliner.

In August 2003, the Bush administration imposed sanctions on Norinco for allegedly selling missile-related goods to Iran. While not formally joining the multinational effort to restrict the proliferation of missiles, China did commit in 2000, not to assist in any way the development by other countries of MTCR-class missile technology. Neither the Chinese government nor Norinco has denied doing business with Iranian companies, although they did deny that it was for missile related purposes at the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, Iran’s key manufacturer of ballistic and non ballistic missiles. Norinco has called the sanctions "groundless and unjustified" and "entirely unreasonable."

These sanctions led to a prohibition on imports into the US of the remaining types of firearms and ammunition not covered by the 1993 ban.

Some weapons manufactured by Norinco

• QSZ-92 Pistol
• QBZ-95, an assault rifle
  

  

  Norinco-designed QBZ-95 rifle.
• QBB 95, a squad automatic weapon version of the QBZ-95
• ZM-87, a portable laser disturber
• M14S, a clone of the M1A, a civilian version of the M14 rifle
• CQ, a clone of the Colt M-16A1
• Type 56, a clone of the Russian AK47
• MAK-90, a civilian, semi-automatic version of the AK-47
• NHM-90, 1994-2004 gun ban model, w/1.5mm stamped receiver, thumbhole stock, no bayonet lug, non-flashhider
• A copy of the Winchester model 1897 pump shotgun.
• NZ-75, a clone of the CZ 75
• NP226, a clone of the Sig Sauer P226
• NDM-86, a version of the Dragunov Sniper Rifle that fires .308 Win. ammo or traditional 7.62x54R depending on model
• 23-2K, a version of the Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23
• Norinco HP9-1, also known as the Norinco 982, a clone of the Remington 870, a pump-action shotgun
• Norinco YL-1887L lever-action shotgun (reproduced the Winchester Model 1887/1901 model
• Type 54, a clone of the Soviet TT-33 Pistol
  • Model 213, a civilian version of the Type 54 also chambered in 9x19mm with the addition of a manual safety
• Norinco Type 63 Light Amphibious Tank
• Type 99 MBT
• Type 86S bullpup assault rifle
• Type 88 sniper rifle
• Type 69 RPG anti-armor rocket launcher, a clone of the RPG-7
• WZ-523 Wheeled APC
• 1911A1 mil-spec clone of the Colt M1911A1
• Type 98 anti-tank rocket 120 mm anti-tank rocket system

See also

• Bazalt (Russian Manufacturer of the RPG-7, RPG-29, etc.)
• List of firearms

External links

Official

• Norinco Homepage
• Norinco Equipment, a subsidiary of Norinco. (site contains an online English catalogue)

Others

• Jane's Armour and Artillery description of Norinco Assaulter 105 mm tank destroyer