On the Issue of Ordnance Construction [1]
(July 12, 1951)

Comrade Xiangqian:

Your telegram of July 7 has been received.

1. Regarding the issue of organization, after study by the Military Commission, we agree to the plan proposed by the Soviet side and have decided to equip sixty divisions according to this organization. Only the personnel of a few individual units need to be increased or decreased somewhat in accordance with China’s specific conditions.

2. Regarding the equipment for the sixty divisions, except for two types of mortars, 76mm mountain guns, 45mm anti-tank guns, horses, carts, and communication equipment, which shall all be equipped by ourselves without requesting supplies from the Soviet Union, and except for dining cars and bread ovens, which shall be supplied for only ten divisions, all other equipment and materiel, including engineer and chemical equipment, shall be supplied to us by the Soviet side in accordance with the organizational regulations. The ammunition base number shall be changed to five.

3. Regarding the issue of ordnance production, we agree to adopt the existing Soviet weapons, ammunition, and equipment as the standard, to unify calibers, and to unify standard models. In addition to requesting the Soviet side to dispatch a comprehensive expert design group to China to understand the current conditions of our existing ordnance factories and to propose a conversion plan, you are also requested to provide the Soviet side in Moscow with materials on the current state of our various ordnance factories, so as to facilitate their consideration of plans for the conversion and new construction of our country’s ordnance production. At the same time, during negotiations, the plans for newly building factories and converting original factories should be integrated, and the supply of current needs should be integrated with the supply of future needs. It is also hoped that you will telegraph reports on the progress of the negotiations on future ordnance construction at any time.

4. Several specific issues in the negotiations are determined as follows: (1) Regarding the production of the seven types of weapons and their ancillary equipment already agreed to by the Soviet side, and the establishment of four new factories, they may be requested to first dispatch a design group. (2) Regarding artillery production, a heavy artillery factory for calibers of 152mm and above may be proposed, but at present the focus of artillery factory construction should be on small and medium caliber guns (37mm anti-aircraft guns, 57mm anti-tank guns, 76.2mm field guns, 85mm anti-aircraft guns, 122mm howitzers). All types of ammunition factories must be integrated with our existing ones; those that need to be added should also await the arrival of their design group in China for inspection before a final decision can be made. (3) The construction of an optical equipment factory should be proposed to the Soviet side. (4) For communication equipment, the Soviet side is needed to help us establish a vacuum tube factory and a parts manufacturing factory. (5) Regarding engineer equipment, in addition to the equipment for the sixty divisions, how strategic engineer corps should be constructed should also be proposed to the Soviet side for their opinion. (6) We plan to build the tungsten and molybdenum refinery ourselves; please ask whether the Soviet side can dispatch experts to design it for us and provide technical assistance in its establishment. (7) The tank assembly plant has already begun to expand from a repair plant, so it need not be proposed to the Soviet side again.

5. After the equipment for the sixty divisions and the ordnance construction are negotiated and agreed upon, separate contracts should be signed. For ordnance construction, two contracts—for weapon blueprints and for design—should be signed first; other contracts can only be signed after the design is completed. The equipment for the sixty divisions cannot be calculated according to the previous military loans; the repayment period must begin at least eight years later and be fully repaid in ten years (the previous military loan stipulated that repayment must begin after five years and be fully repaid in eight years). The transportation plan for this year’s equipment for ten divisions is agreed to according to the opinion of the Soviet side.

6. Other details will be communicated by Comrades Zhou Enlai and Nie Rongzhen [2] by letter.

Mao Zedong
July 12

[1] This is a telegram from Mao Zedong to Xu Xiangqian, Chief of the General Staff of the People’s Revolutionary Military Commission, who was leading a delegation of the Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China on an ordnance mission visiting the Soviet Union. This telegram was drafted by the relevant department, reviewed and revised by Zhou Enlai, and issued after Mao Zedong’s final approval.
[2] Nie Rongzhen was then serving as Acting Chief of the General Staff of the People’s Revolutionary Military Commission of the Central People’s Government.