Letter to Liu Shaoqi
(October 26, 1948)
Comrade [Liu] Shaoqi:
You have revised this document1 very well. On page 29, you changed “we
must not adopt measures that prematurely restrict the private capitalist economy”
into “we must not prematurely adopt measures that restrict the private capitalist economies that at present still benefit the national economy and the people’s
livelihood.” Because our overall economic policy is to restrict private capital,
only private capital that is beneficial to the national economy and the people’s
livelihood is excluded from the restrictions. Moreover, the expression “beneficial
to the national economy and the people’s livelihood” is itself a major restriction.
That is, it guides private capital onto the track of “the national economy and the
people’s livelihood.” To reach this point, we must constantly fight against private
capital that seeks to depart from this trajectory. And while some private capital
is already on this trajectory, it always wants to get off, so the fight for restrictions
will be constant and unceasing.
Mao Zedong
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 5, p. 177, where it is reproduced
from the handwritten manuscript.
1.  This refers to the “Outline of the Basic Policies Regarding the Economic Composition and Economic Construction in the Northeast,” drafted by Zhang Wentian (1900–1976,
native of Jiangsu) on September 15, 1948, and revised by the Central Committee of the
Chinese Communist Party.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-168