Central Committee Endorsement of Gao Gang’s Report〔1〕 on Launching a Campaign for Increased Production and Economy in Industrial and Mining Enterprises (December 14, 1951) To all Central Bureaus, with copy to the Party committees of provinces, municipalities directly under the central government, and autonomous regions; to the Party leading groups of government industrial departments; and to the Party leading groups of trade unions:

Comrade Gao Gang’s report dated December 3, 1951, concerning the need to go deep into workshops within industrial and mining enterprises and to launch a campaign for increased production and economy〔2〕, is most commendable and is hereby circulated for reference throughout the country.

According to this report, in Northeast China alone, the state-owned and publicly operated industrial sector, by the end of October 1951, had, in addition to fulfilling its original production plan, created wealth equivalent to more than ten million tons of grain for the nation. This was achieved precisely because our work had been taken down to the workshop level, thereby improving the living standards of the workers. Such experience should be disseminated to all industrial and mining enterprises nationwide and adapted and implemented appropriately in light of local conditions.

Comrade Gao Gang’s report should be published in Party publications.  Printed on December 14 by the Central Committee, based on Mao Zedong’s handwritten draft.

Notes 〔1〕 Gao Gang was at that time Secretary of the Northeast Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman of the Northeast People’s Government. 〔2〕 In this report to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee, Gao Gang stated: (1) Since Chairman Mao proposed increasing production and practicing strict economy as the central task facing the people of the whole country today, the working enthusiasm of the working class in Northeast China has further risen, and the campaign for increased production and economy has also reached a new stage of development. By the end of October, all industrial production sectors, in addition to completing their original production plans, had already created wealth equivalent to more than ten million tons of grain for the nation. (2) The key to continuing to deepen the campaign for increased production and economy in the industrial sector at present lies in leading cadres of factories and mines going down to the workshops, focusing their work there, and strengthening workshop-level activities. (3) In order to do a good job at the workshop level, three matters must be given particular attention: (a) effective political education within the workshops; (b) sound technical management; and (c) proper administration of wages and welfare benefits.