The Type 81 is a Chinese-designed selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle. It replaced the semi-automatic Type 56 carbine as the standard service rifle of the People's Liberation Army during the 1980s. It was also designed as a replacement to both the Type 56 assault rifle, as well as the Type 63 assault rifle, mostly being a further development and design improvement over the Type 63. Later, the Type 81 would be used under the designation Type 87 as testing for the PLA's new 5.8x42mm firearms, namely the QBZ-95.
A chilling frontline video from the Thailand–Cambodia war shows a shirtless Cambodian soldier firing a Chinese-made Type 81 light..