Reply to the Southwest Bureau on the Question of Loans
(July 10, 1953)

To the Southwest Bureau, with copies to all central bureaus, sub-bureaus, and provincial and municipal party committees:

The report of the People’s Bank Southwest Regional Branch dated May 9, 1953, on the question of agricultural loans and the opinions of the Southwest Bureau have been read and noted. The Central Committee approves the various opinions of the Southwest Bureau concerning the treatment of small land lessors, rich peasants, and landlords in the matter of loans.[1] However, with regard to landlord elements who, after the land reform, have genuinely engaged in agriculture and abide by government decrees, if they truly encounter difficulties in production or suffer from illness or other unforeseen disasters, they may also be given appropriate consideration in agricultural loans, provided the local masses agree. If the local masses oppose granting loans to landlord elements, then loans shall not be granted to them.

Central Committee
July 10, 1953

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[1] In its report of May 9, 1953, to the Party Group of the Central Financial and Economic Commission and the Central Committee, the Southwest Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China put forward the following opinions on the question of granting loans to small land lessors, rich peasants, and landlords:
(1) The principle that agricultural loans shall not be granted to landlords and rich peasants should be upheld. As to whether loans may be granted to small land lessors, we believe that the matter should be handled according to specific circumstances. Those who are engaged in agricultural production and truly face difficulties may be granted agricultural loans; otherwise, their difficulties should be resolved through other means, so as to prevent agricultural loans from turning into social relief.
(2) Where landlords truly face difficulties in production and livelihood, we should not adopt an attitude of indifference. Indifference is detrimental to society as a whole, and the matter should be handled concretely according to different situations.
(3) The question of dealing with rich peasants should be carefully analyzed. Generally speaking, since the policy of preserving the rich peasant economy was adopted during the land reform in the Southwest, situations in which rich peasants are unable to carry on production and livelihood basically do not exist. However, this does not mean that rich peasants have no problems in production; it may be a fact that their enthusiasm for production is not high. Therefore, with regard to rich peasants, the basic issue is to stabilize their enthusiasm for production. If there are individual cases of mistaken classification of class status or unforeseen disasters, they may be handled concretely as special circumstances.