Instructions on Cadre Appointments and Jurisdictional Boundaries
(August 1, 1949)

To the South China Bureau, with copy to the Central China Bureau and the East China Bureau:

We have received your telegram of noon.

(1) A provincial party committee is to be established in Guangxi, with Comrade Zhang Yunyi proposed as secretary; the other members have not yet been decided. As for other cadres, the Central China Bureau and the Central Committee will each prepare a portion, while the South China Bureau should also make preparations.

(2) No provincial party committee will be set up in Guangdong. Instead, several regional or prefectural party committees may be formed—such as those for Humei, Dongjiang, Erqijiang, Nanlu, and the Central Area—under the direct leadership of the South China Bureau.

(3) The South China Bureau will have Ye Jianying as its First Secretary, Zhang Yunyi as Second Secretary, and Fang Fang as Third Secretary. The list of bureau members will be drawn up after Ye Jianying, Zhang Yunyi, and Fang Fang meet to discuss and agree upon it, after which it will be submitted to the Central Committee for consideration and decision.

(4) The South China Bureau will exercise leadership over the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi, as well as the Hong Kong Working Committee.

(5) The South China Bureau will be under the leadership of the Central China Bureau. The Central China Bureau’s First Secretary is Lin Biao; its Second Secretary is Luo Ronghuan (who remains in Beiping due to illness); and its Third Secretary is Deng Zihui. Its jurisdiction encompasses the six provinces of Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, and Guangxi, together with the Fourth Field Army (a regular force of 900,000 troops). The Central China Bureau is currently located in Wuhan but may later move to Changsha.

(6) The Southwest Bureau will have Deng Xiaoping as its First Secretary, Liu Bocheng as Second Secretary, and He Long as Third Secretary. It will oversee the four provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Xikang, along with the entire Second Field Army and a portion of the First Field Army, totaling 600,000 troops. This force can occupy key positions in all four provinces this coming winter. Specifically, Chen Geng’s corps within the Second Field Army will first assist Deng Hua’s corps in securing Guangdong; then, in a second phase, it will join the Fourth Field Army’s five corps in defeating Bai Chongxi in Guangxi; and finally, it will advance into Yunnan. During the campaign in which our main forces (a total of eight corps) enter Guangxi to defeat Bai Chongxi, the South China Bureau will be tasked with utilizing Guangdong’s financial resources, material supplies, and cadres to help resolve the Guangxi issue.

(7) After the Fujian Provincial Party Committee takes over western and southern Fujian, the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee assumes control of southern Jiangxi, the Hunan Provincial Party Committee takes charge of southern Hunan, and the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee (led by Chen Geng and others) assumes responsibility for Yunnan, the respective provincial party organizations and armed forces that were previously under the leadership of the South China Bureau will then come under the leadership of their respective provincial committees and military regions. At that time, the South China Bureau should instruct the relevant officials in each province to ensure a smooth transition to the new leadership and to maintain the orderly continuation of work throughout the region.

Drafted by Mao Zedong on behalf of the CPC Central Committee: “Instructions on Cadre Appointments and Jurisdictional Boundaries of the South China Bureau, Central China Bureau, and Southwest Bureau.”