On the Question of the Railway Line to Fujian

Letter to Gao Gang

(March 14, 1953)

Comrade Gao Gang:

Please discuss and review this document[1] with comrades from the Ministry of Railways, and report the results to me. In my opinion, as long as there are no particularly serious engineering difficulties, this route is better than the originally proposed Nanchang-Fuzhou-Ruijin-Xiamen line, and can satisfy both northern and southern Fujian. However, for the Guixi-Pengkou section, it seems no survey materials were left from the Nationalist period, so new surveys will have to be conducted, which may extend the completion time somewhat.

Mao Zedong
March 14

[1] Refers to the report dated February 18, 1953, from Zhang Zhen, Deputy Commander of the East China Military Region of the People's Liberation Army, to Nie Rongzhen, Acting Chief of the General Staff of the PLA, and Huang Kecheng, Deputy Chief of the General Staff. The report stated that regarding the railway line to Fujian, the Ministry of Railways had originally proposed a route starting from Nantang south of Nanchang, passing through Nancheng, Nanfeng, Guangchang, Shicheng, Ruijin, Changting, Pengkou, Longyan, Zhangping, and Hua'an to Songyu, totaling 922 kilometers. The East China Military Region proposed an alternative route starting from Guixi Station on the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railway, passing through Guangze, Shaowu, Shunchang, Nanping, Shaxian, Yong'an, Liancheng, Pengkou, Longyan, Zhangping, and Hua'an to Songyu, approximately 1,000 kilometers in length. Comparing the two proposals, the Ministry of Railways' route was farther from the coastline with greater depth and less vulnerability to wartime impacts. The East China Military Region's route passed through most of Fujian, addressing the province's transportation difficulties, was militarily closer for supporting operations from East China, and would also be closer for any future extension of the railway to Fuzhou. A review and instructions were requested on which route to construct. The railway to Fujian was later built essentially according to the East China Military Region's proposal, which Mao Zedong endorsed in this letter.