The Type 56 Carbine (not to be confused with the Type 56 Assault Rifle) was a local Chinese copy of the Soviet-era Simonov SKS Carbine self-loading rifle and, as such, shared many similarities with the original design including both form and function. Like the SKS before it, the Type 56 utilized the Soviet 7.62x39mm M1943 "intermediate" cartridge established during World War 2 - the same cartridge that would eventually power the ubiquitous AK-47 assault rifle series still to come.