Commentary on No. 1 of the “Briefing on Issues Raised at the Meeting of United Front Work Department Heads” (June 8, 1952)

Premier Zhou: Please take a look at item (2) concerning Nanjing [1]. In cities like Nanjing, the figures, timing, and proportions involved in refunds and supplements all warrant careful consideration. Mao Zedong June 8

Based on the manuscript. Notes [ ] Refers to the second item in No. 1 of the CCP Central Committee United Front Work Department Office’s “Briefing on Issues Raised at the Meeting of United Front Work Department Heads,” dated June 7, 1952, which describes the industrial and commercial situation in Nanjing. The briefing states that malformations in Nanjing’s industry and commerce are particularly serious. The city has a total of 25,000 industrial and commercial households, but their financial strength is very weak. Among the more than 10,100 industrial establishments, approximately 9,000 have three or fewer workers, while only 38 employ fifty or more. Of the twenty-three major commercial sectors, only seven have capital exceeding 500 million yuan. The total private capital in the city’s industry and commerce amounts to 32 billion yuan; after several rounds of review during the Five-Anti Campaign, this figure was reduced, and it is now proposed to refund and supplement between 80 and 90 billion yuan. Since the start of the Five-Anti Campaign, over 2,100 businesses have been approved to close down or have voluntarily ceased operations. If refunds and supplements are made according to the original numbers, at least another 1,300 businesses will be forced to shut down, leaving more than 13,000 people unemployed. The unemployment problem in Nanjing has long been severe; currently, over 11,000 people are entirely supported by the government, and more than 40,000 regularly require relief assistance.