Central Committee Endorsement of the East China Bureau’s Four Categories of Criteria for Distinguishing Between Waste and Corruption (January 15, 1952)

To all Central Bureaus, with copy to sub-bureaus, provincial, municipal, and regional party committees; to all major military regions and the Chinese People’s Volunteers, with further transmission to all levels of military regions and individual armies: The Central Committee approves the four categories of criteria for differentiating between waste and corruption set forth in the East China Bureau’s telegram of January 13〔1〕 (with a minor revision to the first item). These are essentially consistent with the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee’s three categories of criteria〔2〕. All localities are urged to pay close attention to this distinction so as to facilitate the advancement of the Three-Anti Campaign. Printed on January 15 by the Central Committee, based on Mao Zedong’s manuscript.

Notes 〔1〕 Refers to a telegram dated January 13, 1952, from the CPC Central Committee’s East China Bureau to the Shandong Sub-Bureau, various provincial committees, regional party committees, and municipal party committees, with copy to the Central Committee. The telegram states that waste can be broadly classified into four types: First, waste resulting from insufficient or complete lack of experience, such as losses caused by inexperienced construction design. (When forwarding this telegram, Mao Zedong revised the original text—“The first or second instance is generally unavoidable; repeated offenses, however, constitute bureaucratism”—to read: “Such cases should be rigorously reviewed, and repetition must be prohibited. A single mistake need not be severely criticized.”) Second, waste arising from the absence of established procedures or from circumstances where procedures cannot be put in place within a short period. Past instances need not be pursued, but an examination should be conducted to establish appropriate systems for future implementation. Third, personal overspending authorized or decided upon by the organization, as well as waste incurred by institutional production in providing subsidies and improving collective living standards. Such practices should be closely monitored and corrected going forward, yet no action should be taken against past occurrences. Fourth, personal indulgence in decadence, special privileges, and dissolute extravagance. This constitutes waste bordering on corruption or directly stemming from corrupt practices and warrants particularly thorough investigation and exposure. 〔〕 See note 1 to the article “Central Committee Endorsement of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee’s Analysis of Cadres’ Overspending” on page [page number] of this volume.