China has donated 22 armored trucks to Belarus. These hummer-like vehicles will be used by Belarus special operations troops. The Chinese armed forces are not buying a lot of these vehicles (maybe a thousand or so a year) although a civilian version is becoming increasingly popular. The manufacturer (Dongfeng) appears to be encouraging export sales with this gift, via their government, to Belarus.
Although China tried Russian and European designs in their search for a new tactical truck (similar to the American hummer), they finally settled on a hummer clone of their own. China still uses the Russian and German designs for most of its tactical vehicles but it is also buying a growing number of locally made hummer clones.
China got their hands on an American hummer (M998 HMMWV) in 1988. Initially, Chinese military officials felt the hummer was too expensive. But the performance of the hummer in the 1991 Gulf War, plus the growing presence of the American civilian version of the hummer (especially those brought in by oil companies for use in remote areas), changed minds. By 2003, two Chinese companies were producing hummer clones and the Chinese Army adopted one of them as the EQ2050. Recently, an armored version was developed as the EQ2058, and these were apparently the ones given to Belarus.
