Comments and Revisions on the Resolution of the CPC Central Committee Concerning Mutual Assistance and Cooperation in Agricultural Production (March 24, 1953) Comrade Zihui [1]: I have read both the directive [2] and the editorial [3], making only a few minor changes. As for the resolution on mutual assistance and cooperation, I have revised it in three places [4]. After you have reviewed it, please arrange for someone to circulate copies among Comrades Gao Gang, Zhu De, Dong Biwu, Lin Boqu, Peng Zhen, Peng Dehuai, and Deng Xiaoping [ ] for their perusal (to be completed within one day). If you and they all agree, instruct Comrade Liao Luyan [ ] to copy out the revised text neatly and then submit it to the newspaper for publication. Comrade Chen Boda [7] has already examined the amended portions of the resolution on mutual assistance and cooperation. Regarding the editorial of March 24, Comrade Chen Boda has some comments; please discuss these further with him. Printed according to the manuscript.

Two This resolution was first issued by the CPC Central Committee in draft form to party committees at all levels for trial implementation on December 15, 1951. On February 15, 1953, it was adopted as an official resolution by the CPC Central Committee, with certain modifications made. [ ] Printed according to Mao Zedong’s manuscript. Published in the People’s Daily on March 26, 1953.

Three The Central Committee has assessed its dual nature—private and cooperative. In primary mutual-aid teams, members’ means of production remain entirely private, yet there is also an element of collective labor, which represents the budding stage of socialism. Permanent mutual-aid teams further develop this nascent socialist tendency. As for agricultural production cooperatives, since they are founded on the basis of private property—farmers retain private ownership of land and other means of production—and since farmers are entitled to a share of the harvest proportional to the land they contribute and to fair compensation for tools and livestock they place in common, they still retain a private character. However, once farmers pool their land for unified management, utilize tools more efficiently, engage in joint labor, adopt a system of piecework payment followed by profit-sharing based on individual contributions, and establish certain forms of communal property, such cooperatives possess more socialist elements than permanent mutual-aid teams. Printed according to Mao Zedong’s revised version. Published in the People’s Daily on March 26, 1953.

Four In the countryside, agricultural production is paramount; all other work must serve and support it. Any so-called tasks or methods that impede agricultural production should be strictly avoided.

Five (13) Having resolved many issues related to agricultural mutual assistance and cooperation, the Central Committee deems it necessary repeatedly to remind party committees at all levels, all cadres working in rural areas, and non-party activists to devote themselves wholeheartedly and without reservation to caring for, assisting, and patiently educating individual farmers. Their independent farming must be recognized as lawful—as stipulated in the Common Program and the Land Reform Law—without ridicule or accusations of backwardness, and certainly without resorting to threats or restrictive measures. Agricultural credit should be extended equitably to both cooperative organizations and individual farmers; it would be wrong to favor cooperatives exclusively while denying or severely limiting credit to those who continue to farm alone. Even in a village where the vast majority of peasants have joined mutual-aid teams or cooperatives, leaving only a small minority of independent farmers, we must nonetheless treat this minority with respect and solidarity. Printed according to Mao Zedong’s manuscript. Published in the People’s Daily on March 26, 1953.

Notes [1] Zihui refers to Deng Zihui, who at the time served as Minister of the CPC Central Committee’s Department for Rural Work. [2] Refers to the CPC Central Committee’s directive dated March 16, 1953, addressed to party committees at all levels concerning spring plowing and cultivation. This directive was published in the People’s Daily on March 26, 1953.  [3] Refers to the editorial “The Key to Leading Agricultural Production” published in the People’s Daily on March 26, 1953. [ ] See sections (3), (4), and (5) of this document; the text printed in Song typeface represents words rewritten or added by Mao Zedong. [ ] Gao Gang was then a member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and Chairman of the State Planning Commission of the Central People’s Government. Dong Biwu was a member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and Vice Premier of the Government Administration Council. Lin Boqu was a member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and Secretary-General of the Central People’s Government. Peng Zhen was a member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and Alternate Secretary of the Secretariat. Peng Dehuai was a member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and Vice Chairman of the People’s Revolutionary Military Commission. Deng Xiaoping was a member of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the Government Administration Council. [ ] Liao Luyan was then Deputy Minister of the CPC Central Committee’s Department for Rural Work and Deputy Secretary-General of the Government Administration Council. [7] Chen Boda was then Deputy Minister of Propaganda of the CPC Central Committee and concurrently held a post in the CPC Central Committee’s Department for Rural Work. [ ] This is a note written by Mao Zedong explaining the official promulgation of the CPC Central Committee’s resolution on mutual assistance and cooperation in agricultural production.