Type 77 heavy machine gun
12.7 mm heavy machine gunIndependent reference works and the catalog attribute the Type 77 to Zijiang as developer and producer.
Sources: Type 77, Zijiang machine factory historyManufacturer catalog
Hunan Ordnance Zijiang Machinery
Hunan Ordnance Zijiang Machinery is a state-owned Chinese light-weapons manufacturer in Yiyang, Hunan, operating within Hunan Province Ordnance Industry Group. Official group material traces the company to a 1965 founding, identifies it as a wholly owned subsidiary focused on light weapons and sporting firearms, and places its legacy Zijiang Machine Factory work behind the Type 77 and Type 85 heavy machine-gun branch.
1 weaponsHunan Ordnance Zijiang Machinery is the modern Hunan province ordnance company descended from Zijiang Machine Factory, also recorded as state-run Factory 9656. The company remains part of Hunan Province Ordnance Industry Group, whose public materials describe Zijiang as a wholly owned subsidiary engaged in research and production of light weapons, sporting firearms, and related machinery.
Zijiang's public history is closely tied to China's third-line defense-industrial buildout. Chinese provincial coverage says the original factory was approved in 1965, first produced the Type 54 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun, and later organized the technical team that produced the Type 77 12.7 mm heavy machine gun. The same historical account describes the 1985 design finalization of the follow-on Type 85 heavy machine gun after competitive trials, with Zijiang as the selected production factory.
The English-language public record is limited, so the strongest manufacturer context comes from Hunan Province Ordnance Industry Group notices, provincial Chinese-language histories, and specialist weapons references. Manufacturer prose here is limited to organizational history and sourced product context; conflict-use claims remain with the individual weapon records.
Notable Systems
Type 85 / QJG-85 heavy machine gun
12.7 mm heavy machine gunChinese provincial history and specialist references describe the Type 85 as the improved follow-on to the Type 77; the existing Type 77 catalog record tracks this branch rather than splitting a duplicate weapon page.
Sources: Zijiang machine factory history, Indigenous Machine Guns of China: Part Two - Heavy Machine GunsManufacturer History
Factory founded
Official group recruiting material says the company was founded in 1965 and remains focused on light weapons and sporting firearms.
Sources: 2024 recruitment notice, Zijiang machine factory history
Included in the Hunan Ordnance Group formation
The group history page says Zijiang was one of the five factories and one institute combined into Hunan Ordnance Group in 2001.
Sources: Group development history
Parent company becomes a joint-stock company
Hunan Ordnance's public group history says the group completed its overall change into a joint-stock company in December 2021 after earlier restructuring under Xiangke Group.
Sources: Group development history
Recruitment notice describes current role
A public hiring notice describes the company as a wholly owned subsidiary of Hunan Province Ordnance Industry Group, based in Yiyang and focused on light weapons and sporting firearms.
Sources: 2024 recruitment notice
Listed among group subsidiaries
A 2025 Hunan Ordnance public subsidiary notice lists Hunan Ordnance Zijiang Machinery among the group's wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries.
Sources: Subsidiary roster
Predecessors
Website links
Public English-language references for Zijiang are sparse; official Hunan Ordnance pages and Chinese provincial histories provide the strongest support for the company's legal-name variants, older Factory 9656 identity, subsidiary status, and machine-gun development history. No official or clearly rights-clear reusable manufacturer image was verified during this task, so images are omitted.
Manufacturer Sources
- Official subsidiary pagePublisher: Hunan Province Ordnance Industry Group Co., Ltd. | Note: Supports the official subsidiary page and Hunan Ordnance site context for Hunan Ordnance Zijiang Machinery. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
- 2024 recruitment noticePublisher: Hunan Province Ordnance Industry Group Co., Ltd. | Note: Supports the company's 1965 founding, wholly owned subsidiary status, light-weapons and sporting-firearms focus, and Yiyang address. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
- Subsidiary rosterPublisher: Hunan Province Ordnance Industry Group Co., Ltd. | Note: Supports the company's current listing among Hunan Ordnance wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
- Group development historyPublisher: Hunan Province Ordnance Industry Group Co., Ltd. | Note: Supports the 2001 group formation that included Zijiang among the five factories and one institute, and the broader 1960s three-line history. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
- Group introductionPublisher: Hunan Province Ordnance Industry Group Co., Ltd. | Note: Supports Hunan Ordnance's current business areas in firearms, artillery, ammunition, fuzes, and related defense production. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
- Zijiang machine factory historyPublisher: 湖南国企党建 / 湘云客户端 | Note: Supports the predecessor naming chain, including Zijiang Machine Factory (国营9656厂), the 1965 start-up context, Type 54 early production, Type 77 development, and Type 85 selection context. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
- Type 77Publisher: WeaponSystems.net | Note: Supports Zijiang's Type 77 developer and producer attribution and the Type 85 successor context used in this catalog. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
- Indigenous Machine Guns of China: Part Two - Heavy Machine GunsPublisher: Small Arms Defense Journal | Note: Supports Type 77 adoption and production context, Type 85 successor context, and the distinction between the Type 85 and W-85 branches. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
Produced weapons
Category
Infantry Weapons
Portable weapons used by soldiers and small units.