Comrade Shaoqi:

Draft Comment and Revision on the Report on the Spirit of the National Finance and Economics Conference[1]

(August 27–30, 1953)

Please consider whether this document can be forwarded to various localities for reference.

To all central bureaus, sub-bureaus, and to provincial and municipal party committees:

Mao Zedong
August 27

The report by the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee on conveying the spirit of the Second National Finance and Economics Conference of 1953 is very good and is hereby forwarded to party committees in all localities for reference. The Central Committee’s urgent directive of August 28[3] stipulated that the conveyance of the National Finance and Economics Conference should be brief, requiring only three to five days. As for detailed discussions and reviews of local finance and economics work, these should be conducted around the time of the Spring Festival. The period referred to as "around the Spring Festival" is quite ample, and each locality may set an appropriate time on its own, provided it does not hinder this year’s work.

Central Committee
August 30, 1953

**Notes**
[1] The second part of this document is the Central Committee’s draft comment, revised by Mao Zedong, forwarding the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee’s report on conveying the spirit of the Second National Finance and Economics Conference. The text printed in Song typeface represents the words added by Mao Zedong.
[2] This refers to the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee’s August 22, 1953, request for instructions submitted to Ma Wenrui and the Northwest Bureau regarding the conveyance of the spirit of the Second National Finance and Economics Conference. The report stated that at the provincial party standing committee meeting on August 20, the spirit of the Second National Finance and Economics Conference was conveyed, and discussions were held on the content, methods, steps, and timing for further dissemination: (1) The content for conveyance was limited to Zhou Enlai’s conclusions at the 1953 Summer National Finance and Economics Work Conference, the spirit of Chairman Mao’s speech, and the draft resolutions on several issues. (2) In terms of methods, based on the spirit of the finance and economics conference and in connection with the actual conditions of the province, bottom-up criticism and self-criticism were to be carried out to identify and resolve problems and propose future recommendations. In terms of steps, the conveyance was first to be conducted at an enlarged provincial party committee meeting, with organized reading of documents and comprehensive discussions. Then, under the division of responsibilities among provincial party committee members, smaller groups would be formed to review work in light of the documents’ spirit. Subsequently, a joint meeting of prefectural party committee secretaries would be convened for further conveyance, enabling bottom-up work reviews and resolution of existing issues. (3) Regarding timing, the enlarged provincial party committee meeting was scheduled to begin on August 25, and the joint meeting of prefectural party committee secretaries was planned for late October.
[3] This refers to the Central Committee’s August 28, 1953, urgent directive on increasing production, boosting revenue, strictly practicing economy, cutting expenditures, and balancing the national budget.