We Must Do Economic Construction
Work Well1
(April 3, 1944)
I
Because of the long-term nature of the Chinese Revolution, we must be engaged
in the work of economic construction to meet the material provision
requirements for the revolution and the war, on the one hand, and the needs of
the people, on the other hand. We should not and cannot wait until the enemy
has been entirely defeated before carrying out construction work. Moreover,
China’s vast area requires that we use construction as an example to the people
throughout the entire country so as to convince them of the correctness of our
path and therefore to lead them to support us and to take part in the
revolutionary struggle.
II
We must understand that trade, banking, and finance are important sectors for
organizing all economic life. Without them, or if we adopt erroneous policies
toward them, all economic life will stagnate or be obstructed.
Notes

Our source for this document is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 3, pp. 125–26, where it is reproduced from Mao
Zedong’s handwritten manuscript.
1. These are two paragraphs that Mao Zedong added to Ren Bishi’s speech “Estimation of Last Year’s
Financial Work in the Border Region and the Basic Policies for This Year’s Banking, Trade, and Finance in
the Border Region,” written in 1944.