Notes by Mao Zedong Regarding Matters Requiring Central Approval from the Government, with Instructions for Deng Xiaoping to Take Greater Responsibility (March 3, 1953) 1. For all matters concerning the government that require central approval, please ask Xiaoping to assume more responsibility. Mao Zedong, March 3 2. The following passage in the draft telegram should be omitted, because the original text did not reject dealing with minor issues; rather, it cautioned against placing primary emphasis on handling them. Mao Zedong, March 3 Printed from the manuscript. Notes [1] Deng Xiaoping was then Vice Premier of the Government Administration Council.

[2] These two notes were written on Deng Xiaoping’s report dated March 2, 1953, submitted to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee, concerning a draft reply prepared on behalf of the Central Committee approving the Work Priorities for the First Half of 1953 of the People’s Supervisory Commission of the Government Administration Council. [3] This refers to a passage in the draft reply prepared for the Central Committee: “However, the phrase ‘a handicraft-style working method of tackling cases piecemeal’ may be deleted, since supervisory work often requires addressing whatever issues arise as they occur and cannot simply be ignored; therefore, this formulation is not entirely appropriate.”