Comment on the Draft Directive of the Central Committee on Completing the Grain Purchase Plan Within a Set Time Limit [I]
(May 10, 1953)

Comrade Premier Zhou:
In order to obtain grain,
it is permissible to let rich peasants and small traders gain some benefits. Delete the concluding lines [2].
Mao Zedong
May 10

[I] This comment was written on the draft directive of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, dated May 10, 1953, addressed to the Northeast Bureau and for the information of all central bureaus, the Central Financial and Economic Commission, the Central Ministry of Commerce, and the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Grain, concerning the completion of the grain purchase plan within a set time limit.

[2] This refers to the last passage of the draft directive of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The passage stated: "The Central Committee also agrees to your adoption of a preferential measure of a 3% discount for those who sell grain and buy goods simultaneously. However, regarding the measure of granting a 5% preferential benefit to individual peasants who sell more than two tons of grain in a consolidated manner through contracts, please consider whether this would benefit rich peasants and small traders, while bringing no benefit to peasants who sell grain in small, scattered quantities." Mao Zedong deleted this passage during his review.