Instructions for Convening All-Sector
Representative Meetings in All Localities
(September 4, 1949)
To all central bureaus, branch bureaus, and field army front committees:
	 1.	 The telegram of August 31 from the Chahar Provincial Party Committee
reporting on this province’s experience in holding all-sector representative
meetings1 is worthy of attention. Please study it carefully.
	 2.	 Experience proves that those who have not focused on convening representative meetings are still restricted to the narrow circle of Party members, who
have followed a roundabout course.
	 3.	 We must oppose formalism. Every meeting must be fully prepared, and there
must be core content. We must genuinely discuss problems in our work that
trouble people. We must launch criticism and self-criticism. We treat this as
the great task it is. Otherwise, we will damage the prestige of the Party.
	 4.	 In Newly Liberated Areas, for the first few all-sector representative meetings, representatives may be chosen mainly by invitation or recommendation, supplemented by democratic elections by reliable mass organizations.
This can later be changed to reliance on democratic elections in every group
and every sphere, with recommendations and invitations as a supplementary
method. This system will assure that our Party leads the meetings, while
fostering a democratic spirit.
	 5.	 Towns and cities with populations of 200,000 to 300,000 may also convene
all-sector representative meetings.
	 6.	 Provinces, counties, and districts that have not yet undergone complete land
reform will convene class representative meetings; villages will convene
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 5, pp. 337–39, where it is reproduced
from Mao Zedong’s handwritten manuscript.
peasant representative meetings, but they will be centered around the county
representative meetings.
	 7.	 Provinces, counties, districts, and townships that have already completed
land reform should all convene meetings of people’s representatives, but for
the first few times, they can also hold all-sector representative meetings to
serve as a transition.
	 8.	 Neither all-sector representative meetings nor people’s representative meetings should have too many Party members. The principle should be to have
enough to ensure passage of resolutions. In general, it will be sufficient for
Party members and reliable leftists to make up just over half of the representatives. This will facilitate the absorption of most middle elements and a
few non-reactionary rightists and will get them to close ranks with us.
	 9.	 Before the meetings, Party committees (municipal, county, and so forth) will
meet with the Party members among the representatives to determine overall
policy. It is a good idea to hold congresses or meetings of Party representatives, but this need not be done every time.
	10.	 Please transmit this telegram to every city, county, army, and division.
The Central Committee

--- Notes

1.  The report stated that in the early days of liberation, Zhangjiakou had not yet emphasized holding all-sector representative meetings and work was sidetracked. Now that meetings were being held, they had found them useful in connecting people of various circles,
announcing and carrying out Party policies, inspiring people’s enthusiasm, and building up
the cities together. The drawbacks were formalism, inadequate preparations, a lack of core
content, and insufficient democratic discussions. The report laid out plans for improving
and expanding these meetings.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-317