Commentary by the Central Committee on the Report of the CPC Women’s Federation Party Group Concerning the Current Situation and Existing Problems in Women’s Participation in Agricultural Production (December 30, 1952) To all Central Bureaus and Sub-bureaus, with copy to the provincial, municipal, and regional party committees, prefectural party committees, county party committees, women’s committees at all levels, and the CPC Women’s Federation Party Group; also to all departments of the Central Committee: The views set forth by the CPC National Women’s Federation Party Group in its report on the current situation and existing problems regarding women’s participation in agricultural production [1] are, in the opinion of the Central Committee, correct and should be approved and implemented throughout the rural areas of the country. In addition to publication in the Party journal, the report should also be printed as a small booklet and distributed to the countryside.

Issued by the Central Committee on December 30, 1952, based on Mao Zedong’s manuscript.

Notes [ ] The main points raised in the report submitted by the CPC National Women’s Federation Party Group to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee on December 25, 1952, concerning the current situation and existing problems in women’s participation in agricultural production, are as follows: (1) In some localities, a small number of mutual-aid teams organized exclusively by women have emerged. Such teams should neither be encouraged nor forcibly disbanded; rather, the issue should be resolved by ensuring that men and women enjoy equal pay for equal work and equal democratic rights within mutual-aid and cooperative organizations, so that they can gradually form joint teams and agricultural production cooperatives. (2) During the production drive, many model female workers have appeared in various localities, but their achievements are often difficult to sustain. Henceforth, in addition to strengthening education for these models, it is even more important to promote specialization, enabling them to leverage their particular skills, reduce their involvement in multiple roles, limit their attendance at routine meetings and activities, and focus on cultivating collective role models. (3) Women in mutual-aid and cooperative organizations do not receive equal pay for equal work and lack equal democratic rights. The most reasonable solution to this problem is to establish, at the institutional level, standards—both quantitative and qualitative—for different types of labor, taking into account the urgency of tasks according to the agricultural season, the relative ease or difficulty of the work, and variations in soil quality and distance from the farmstead. Based on these standards, fixed work-point values should be assigned, ensuring that regardless of gender, remuneration corresponds precisely to the extent and quality of one’s contribution. Furthermore, a system of democratic life must be instituted to criticize and refute feudal attitudes that belittle women. (4) The conflict between women’s participation in agricultural production and their household responsibilities also needs to be addressed. (5) Arguments claiming that surplus labor exists in the countryside following organizational consolidation are being used to restrict women’s participation in farming, thereby undermining their productive enthusiasm. However, any surplus labor in rural areas should be absorbed through intensified intensive cultivation, water conservancy projects, orchard development, and the expansion of other sideline enterprises.