The PF-89 is a single-use weapon, which is fired from the shoulder. This anti-tank rocket launcher resembles a Swedish AT-4. Though the PF-89 is a new design, rather than a clone of the AT-4. Also, it is a rocket launcher, rather than a single-use recoilless rifle, so in this way, its design is more similar to a US M72 LAW, or a Soviet RPG-22.
The PF-89 launcher fires an 80 mm rocket with a High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) warhead. Its rocket is packed in a fibreglass tube and weighs 1.84 kg. This tube also acts as a storage and carrying case of the rocket. During flight it is fin-stabilized. It penetrates around 400 mm of vertical steel armour or a 180 mm steel plate, inclined at a 65-degree angle. Some sources report that the PF-89 penetrates a 630 mm vertical steel plate, These numbers might not be true, as similar Western and Russian anti-tank rocket launchers struggle to penetrate more than 400 mm of steel armour. The PF-89 is effective against lightly armoured vehicles such as armoured personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled artillery systems and so on. However, its penetration is not sufficient to effectively engage modern main battle tanks. For this role, the Chinese army has a much more powerful PF-98 anti-tank rocket launcher, which was adopted back in the mid-1990s and is also deployed by infantry units. Though the PF-98 is a much larger and heavier weapon, operated by a crew of 3 soldiers, while the PF-89 is an individual weapon that can be carried by riflemen as an addition to their assault rifles. A rectangular assembly on the base of the launcher contains a folding, half-tube shaped pistol grip, the trigger group (which is covered by the pistol grip while it is folded). The launch system is mechanical rather than electrical. Such a system is safer and more reliable, as it eliminates the need for batteries and the possibility of misfiring due to static electricity. There are removable covers on each side of the launch tube. The covers have a built-in safety mechanism, which prevents accidental fire if these covers are not removed. This launcher has got a carrying handle and is watertight. Also, the launcher is non-reusable. Once the rocket is launched, the launcher is discarded, as it can not be reloaded.
The PF-89 is a cheap and easy to produce and simple-to-use weapon. Simple instructions are printed on the side of the weapon. It can be used effectively with minimal training.
The loaded launcher of the PF-89 weighs only slightly more than a loaded QBZ-95 assault rifle, which is a standard infantry weapon in China. Furthermore, the PF-89 is significantly smaller and weighs slightly less than half of the older Type 69 launcher loaded with a rocket. Yet the PF-89 has armour penetrating force equal or greater than that of Type 69.
This weapon has an integral simple optical sight with 2.5x magnification. The baseline PF-89 has a sighting range of 400 meters, though the effective range is up to 200 meters. Once the rocket is launched the sight can be removed and reused. However, there is no provision to mount a night sight. The rather short effective range of the PF-89 is one of the limitations of this weapon, which is an overall rather effective one.
Over time the baseline PF-89 anti-tank rocket launcher evolved into a whole family of weapons with different capabilities.

Ref: military-today