The NORINCO 155 mm Type GM-45 is a conversion of the existing NORINCO 130 mm Gun Type 59-1 (Russian M-46), or the 152 mm gun-howitzer Type 66 (Russian D-20) to accommodate the ordnance of the standard production NORINCO 155 mm/45 calibre gun-howitzer WA 021. There has been no recent marketing of this system and as far as it is known it never entered production or service.

The resultant performance is the same as the WA 021 and it is stated that the barrel and chamber structure used for the ordnance is the same as the Austrian GH N-45.

The GM-45 is fired with its travelling wheels on the ground. The firing rate is 2 to 4 rds/min. Recoil is variable and loading and breech operation are manual.

To increase the rate of fire a flick rammer has been installed on the left side and hydraulically operated wheels have been added to each trail assembly to ease the opening and closing of the trails. Both systems also have a two-wheeled dolly, which is attached under the rear of the closed trails.

There are some differences between the Russian M-46 and the Chinese NORINCO 130 mm field gun Type 59-1 in that the latter has a two-wheel carriage while the Russian system has four wheels and a walking beam suspension system. This suspension improves cross-country mobility.

According to NORINCO, when firing an ERFB 155 mm projectile it has a maximum muzzle velocity of 897 m/s. It can also fire a NORINCO 155 mm laser-guided projectile. Details of this are given in the entry for the NORINCO 155 mm gun-howitzer Type WA 021.