Instruction on the Army’s Participation
in Production and Construction Work in 1950

(December 5, 1949)

Source: RMRB (Dec. 6, 1949), 1. Other Chinese Texts: XHYB, 1:3 (Jan. 15,
1950), 669; Wansui (1969), pp. 1-4. Available English Translations: NCNA, Weekly Bulletin, 132 (Dec. 13, 1949), 4
(excerpt).

According to the RMRB and XHYB sources, this document was released in the name
of the People’s Revolutionary Military Council.

The People’s War of Liberation has basically won a nationwide victory.
to ith the exception of [units] on a few fronts which have to devote themselves
lee ne and annihilating the remnant enemy forces so as to achieve a com-

ave aamph, a large number of the troops of the People’s Liberation Army

solidai ey engaged in, or are soon to begin to engage in, training and con-rene ion. The Common Program of the People’s Political Consultative Con-
€ provides that “the armed forces of the People’s Republic of China

——



shall, during peacetime, systematically take part in agricultural and industrial;
production in order to assist in the work of national construction, provided |
such work does not interfere with their military duties.”* Here, a glorious and |
formidable task is given to our people’s armed forces in addition to the great j
tasks of securing our national defense, reinforcing public order, and strength- ;
ening [their own] training and consolidation. Therefore, the People’s Revolu- ;
tionary Military Council is calling on the entire army, with the exception of 4
those [units] which are still engaged in fighting and logistics service, to shoulder part of the task of production so that our People’s Liberation Army will |
not only be an army for national defense but also an army of production, in
order to cooperate with all the people in the country in overcoming the q
difficulties left behind by long years of war and in accelerating the economic |
construction of [our] New Democracy.

This production task must and can be realized.

The reason that this production task must be realized is that the long war }
launched against the Chinese people by reactionaries both inside and outside :
of our country has caused the people serious hardships and has severely dam- }
aged the economy. Today, we want to carry the revolutionary war through to j
the end and heal the wounds left by the long periods of war; we must under- q
take the work of construction in all areas of [our] economy, our culture, and 4
{our] national defense. The state’s revenue is inadequate, but its expenditure j
is huge. This is the one major difficulty we are facing today. The way to over- ]
come this kind of difficulty is first to have the entire people, under the leader- |
ship of the Central People’s Government, restore and develop production step :
by step; and as for the People’s Liberation Army, it must assume the responsi- 1
bility for a set [share] of the task of production. Only by doing this can it join }
the people of the entire country in overcoming this difficulty. :

The reason that this production task can be realized is that the overwhelm- }
ing majority of [the personnel in] the People’s Liberation Army come from :
among the laboring people. They have a high degree of political conscious- 4
ness and all kinds of production skills. Furthermore, during the most difficult q
years and months of the War of Resistance against Japan, they shouldered the |
tasks of production and a tradition of labor. The vast numbers of cadres and }
veteran fighters of the People’s Liberation Army all understand that after the |
troops have participated in production, not only will difficulties be overcome, q
government expenditures decreased, and army life improved, but also, the |
political quality of the army will be raised through the tempering of labor, and —
the relations between officers and soldiers and between the army and the people will be improved. [Another] reason that this production task can be realized is that in areas where fighting has ended, in addition to assuming such
tasks as securing national defense, cleaning out bandits, consolidating public
order, and strengthening training, the People’s Liberation Army now has
spare time to take part in production and construction work. All these things
are the factors which make it possible for the People’s Liberation Army to
carry out the task of production.


SEPTEMBER — DECEMBER 1949 / 49

The participation of the People’s Liberation Army in production is not a
temporary measure; it should proceed from the perspective of long-range construction. The emphasis is on increasing the nation’s wealth through labor.
Beginning in the spring of 1950, the heads of all military regions must therefore direct their subordinates to put into effect [a program of] participating in

production and construction work in order to improve their own livelihood
and to save a portion of the state’s expenditure. This production and construction work ought to become a kind of movement in order to facilitate its wider
adoption. A relatively long-term plan and concrete measures [for implementation] should be formulated for this type of production work. With the approval
of the people’s government, the categories of [such] production should stay
within the confines of agriculture, animal husbandry, fishery, water conservation projects, handicraft industries, and transportation projects which [the
army] is capable of undertaking. Commercial undertakings are forbidden. The
leading organs of the army [unit] should carry out investigations and studies
[for production] based on the conditions of the places where they are stationed
and complete the preparation this winter.

Based on experience, the army’s production movement must strictly prohibit the opening up of shops and engaging in commercial activities. If among
the cadres there should be ideas of seeking quick profits by attempting to
smuggle, hoard, and speculate, or if such activities are discovered, they must
be corrected and stopped quickly, for they not only violate the correct production guidelines and disrupt economic order, but will invariably [cause] graft
and corruption to occur and will destroy our own comrades. These activities
are not tolerated by law. Moreover, in undertaking agricultural production,
we must be careful not to cause floods as a result of reclaiming wasteland or
incur the people’s dissatisfaction by competing for land.

So that the army may carry out its production tasks correctly and develop its
production movement, it is hereby stipulated that:

1) At levels above division, army, and military subregion, representative
committees should be formed of representatives from the general headquarters, political departments, and logistic service departments. Their tasks are to
take charge of the direction of production, to examine and approve production
Plans, to supervise the implementation of production plans, and to investigate
illegal activities.
2) Producers’ cooperatives are to be established in the army. Organs of leader-an? for these cooperatives should also be established at every level which,
control ana Pervision and guidance of the army production committees, will
suits of, e disposition of all production funds, production activities, and
system production. The system of the cooperatives and the army’s command
ut the are to be parallel. They will maintain close relations with each other,
y are not to be confused with each other.
seement [the principle of] taking both public and private [interests] into
rom fration and distributing on a fair and reasonable [basis] the net income
Production. Forty per cent should go to the individual producers; the rest

a

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should go to the production units and the state in order to establish the revolutionary way of running the affairs of one’s own household as well as those of 1
the public.’ On the one hand, this will make the army partially self-sufficient,
while on the other, it will allow the individual producer to have some income,
This individual income may be kept by the individual for private use, or be
sent home to the family for its use, or be deposited in the cooperative in j
reserve [for future use]; [the choice should be] at the discretion of the individ- }
ual. j
4) In areas where there is a shortage of land, in addition to participating,
whenever possible, in all kinds of handicraft industries, water conservation,
transportation, and construction projects, heads of army units may talk things |
over with the local people’s governments and, on the condition that the peas- |
ants’ own willingness is not violated, contribute the army’s labor funds, ferti- 4
lizer, and farm tools to cultivating the land jointly with the peasants in order to |
increase production and share the fruits equitably. However, it is necessary to }
make sure that this is not carried out through coercion, and that [the army] 4
does not compete with the people for benefits.
5) The production plans of the units in all military regions must be integrated |
with the production plans of the people’s governments of all the provinces and |
of all the greater administrative areas. [There should be] coordination in the {
use of production funds. All the production funds of the army units should be ‘
treated as investment, so interest must be computed and dates set for repay- |
ment. All the army’s production enterprises should pay taxes according to the }
tules and observe all laws and regulations of the people’s governments, and 1
no violations will be permitted. {

It is hoped that all heads of military regions will pay strict attention to the |
above items. They must make sure that our People’s Liberation Army’s pro- |
duction and construction work in 1950 attains remarkable results. They must, j
moreover, conduct check-ups all the time and rectify errors and deficiencies }
that may arise. On their part, the people’s governments in all areas have the j
responsibility of providing guidance and assistance in the production work of |
the army units in their areas.

Notes

1. Mao is here referring to Article 24 of the Common Program. For the Common Program, see 4
text Sept. 21, 1949, note 3.

2. The Wansui version only has “the nation’s wealth.”

3. This refers to Article 26 of the Common Program, which stipulates that the “fundamental
policy for the development of economic construction of the PRC is to implement the specific policies of giving due consideration to both public and private interests, benefiting both labor and
capital, practicing mutual aid between cities and villages, and allowing the interflow of commodities between home and abroad, with the purpose of developing production and promoting economic prosperity.”


SEPTEMBER ~- DECEMBER 1949 / 51