Central Committee Endorsement of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee’s Analysis of Excessive Expenditure by Cadres (January 10, 1952) To all departments of the Central Committee and the Military Commission, to the Party Groups of the Central People’s Government; to all Central Bureaus, with circulation to sub-bureaus and to the party committees of provinces, municipalities directly under the central government, and autonomous regions; to all major military regions and to the Chinese People’s Volunteers, with circulation to all levels of military regions and to all branches of the armed forces: The Central Committee approves the threefold classification of excessive expenditure by cadres in Tianjin, as set forth by Comrade Peng Zhen in this report[1], and deems this analysis to be correct.
All party committees at various levels are requested to disseminate this analysis both within and outside the Party without delay, so as to facilitate the advancement of the Three-Anti Campaign.
This document should be published in the Party press.
Issued by the Central Committee on January 10, based on Mao Zedong’s manuscript.

Notes [ ] Refers to the report dated January 9, 1952, submitted by Peng Zhen, Deputy Director of the Central People’s Government’s Committee for Examining Economy, to Mao Zedong and concurrently to the Central Committee and the North China Bureau, concerning the Three-Anti Campaign in Tianjin.
This report was prepared by Peng Zhen following a telephone conversation with Huang Jing, Secretary of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee, at Mao Zedong’s instruction.
The report divides excessive expenditure by cadres in Tianjin into three categories: The first category comprises unavoidable overruns, such as expenses for coal and heating, and food costs incurred when relatives stay for a few extra days.
Such overruns are neither embezzlement nor waste; rather, they stem from certain irrationalities in the existing system.
The second category consists of expenditures characterized by extravagance in daily life, for example, excessively high standards for special dining arrangements.
While this type of spending constitutes waste and should be curbed, it does not yet amount to corruption.
The third category involves corruptly wasteful behavior—spending that borders on embezzlement.
Following such an analysis, and particularly after conducting self-criticism, some cadres who had only incurred first- or second-category overruns, especially those whose expenditures fell solely within the first category, entered the Three-Anti Campaign with a calm and confident demeanor, feeling justified in their actions.