Telegram to Rao Shushi [1] et al. on Financial and Economic Work (May 20, 1950) Comrade Rao Shushi, with copy to Deng Zihui, Deng Xiaoping, Peng Dehuai, and Gao Gang [2]:  1. We have received the oral views you entrusted to Liao Luyan [3] to convey; they are all correct. Among them, it is stated that both the Central Committee’s policies and the plans of the Central Finance Commission are sound, but that many of the specific tasks and work arrangements assigned by the Central authorities to local organs are excessively heavy and impracticable. Could you please list the concrete instances involved and report them by telegram so that we may rectify the situation?

2. (Omitted)

3. Hereafter, whenever any task or plan prescribed by a Central authority proves difficult or impossible to implement at the local level, the responsible comrades in each region should, upon discovery, immediately report it by telegram for correction.

4. The principal leading comrades of each Central Bureau must personally take firm charge of fiscal, financial, and economic work. Meetings of the Central Bureaus must regularly discuss financial and economic matters; there must be no slackening of effort under the mistaken belief that these are solely the responsibility of the specialized financial and economic organs. The same applies to the sub-bureaus, major municipal committees, provincial committees, and regional party committees. The Political Bureau of the Central Committee now discusses financial and economic work at almost every meeting.

5. Please forward this telegram to the sub-bureaus, the major municipal committees, the provincial committees, and the regional party committees.

Mao Zedong, May 20th. Printed from the manuscript. (The second point has been omitted.)

Notes [1] Rao Shushi was then First Secretary of the East China Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

[2] Deng Zihui was then Third Secretary of the Central South Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. Deng Xiaoping was then First Secretary of the Southwest Bureau. Peng Dehuai was then First Secretary of the Northwest Bureau. Gao Gang was then Secretary of the Northeast Bureau.

[3] Liao Luyan was then Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee.