Commentary on Bo Yibo’s Report on the Joint-Stock Operation of Private Steamship Companies (February 15, 1953)

Premier Zhou: Please handle this document.2 I can concur with Yibo’s views; however, joint-stock operation is inevitable. After another loan has been extended, efforts should be stepped up to prepare the necessary conditions for it, with particular emphasis on personnel. Mao Zedong February 15

Based on the manuscript. Notes [1] Bo Yibo was at that time Deputy Director of the Financial and Economic Commission of the Administrative Council and Minister of Finance.

[2] Refers to Bo Yibo’s report dated February 14, 1953, addressed to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee, concerning the joint-stock operation of private steamship companies. The report stated that the private steamship companies in Shanghai and along the Yangtze River then possessed a total of 90,000 tons of shipping capacity, but most were unable to sustain operations due to bloated administrative structures, a shortage of cargo, and poor management, and thus requested loans to facilitate joint-stock ventures. Following deliberation by the Central Financial and Economic Commission, it was concluded that these companies ought to be reorganized, yet such a move should not be rushed. If we were to call for public–private joint-stock enterprises on a voluntary basis, it could be confidently expected that the vast majority of private steamship companies would participate. However, given our current inadequacy in both personnel and capital, we would find ourselves placed in a passive position. Accordingly, it was decided to proceed first by extending loans—while dispatching representatives to oversee their proper use—and, after a suitable interval, to reconsider the question of joint-stock operation.