Regarding the Timing of Zhou Enlai's Trip to the Soviet Union and Preparatory Work for the Negotiations

Telegram to the Central Committee
(5 January 1950)

Central Committee:

Your telegram of 4 January, 7:30 p.m., received. (1) It has been arranged for Zhou to come here with around seventeen people; he can come, no problem. The train departing from Beijing at one o'clock on the evening of 9 January has also been notified to the authorities here. (2) It seems appropriate for Burhan, Deng Liqun, and the Ili trade minister to arrive in Moscow two or three days after Enlai’s arrival, that is, on 21 or 22 January, or to arrive on the same day as Enlai, that is, 19 January. Please decide immediately and inform me. As for the means of transport needed for Burhan, Deng, and the others to come here, it is necessary to dispatch an aircraft from here, or to assign a plane from the air transport regiment currently in Xinjiang to undertake the task; please also decide and telegraph your reply. (3) Regarding the key points for negotiation and the preparatory work, all the points you have indicated are matters that must be heeded and must be prepared. Since it is a negotiation, it is necessary to unfold and talk things through, making our views clear. After Enlai sets off, please ask the Central Committee to continue its study and telegraph your opinions at any time. As for materials related to trade, if there are some that cannot be prepared in time within five days, they may also continue to be prepared after Enlai’s departure and telegraphed at any time.

Mao Zedong
5 January, 6:00 a.m.