Letter to Zhou Enlai Regarding the Construction of the Xinjiang Railway and the Issue of the Four Companies Being Solely Owned by China (October 11, 1954)

Premier Zhou:

(1) Regarding the construction of the Xinjiang Railway and the matter of the four companies being solely owned by China [1], please take some time today (or have Xiaoping [2]) to inform Comrade Saifudin [3] (other matters can also be informed).

(2) When the various documents [4] and news are published, a editorial [5] should be written and published on the same day or the second day.

Mao Zedong
October 11

Printed according to the manuscript.

Notes:

[1] Refers to the joint communiqué between the Chinese and Soviet governments to be signed on October 12, 1954, regarding the construction of the Lanzhou-Urumqi-Almaty railway, and the joint communiqué regarding the transfer of Soviet shares in the four companies, such as the Xinjiang Province Non-Ferrous and Rare Metals Mining Company, to China. The "Joint Communiqué between China and the Soviet Union on the Construction of the Lanzhou-Urumqi-Almaty Railway and the Organization of Joint Transportation," signed on this day, stipulated that the railway within Chinese territory would be constructed by the Chinese government with Soviet technical assistance. The "Joint Communiqué between China and the Soviet Union on the Transfer of Soviet Shares in Various Joint-Stock Companies to the People's Republic of China," also signed on the same day, stipulated that the Xinjiang Province Non-Ferrous and Rare Metals Mining Company, the Xinjiang Province Petroleum Exploration and Refining Company, the Dalian Shipbuilding and Repair Company, and the Civil Aviation Route Organization and Operation Company would be completely transferred to China from January 1, 1955, and the value of the Soviet shares would be repaid over several years by China supplying the Soviet Union with its usual export goods.

[2] Xiaoping, namely Deng Xiaoping, was then the Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council.

[3] Saifudin, namely Saifudin Aziz, was then the Vice Chairman of the People's Government of Xinjiang Province.

[4] Refers to the "Joint Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics," the "Joint Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on Relations with Japan," the "Joint Communiqué between China and the Soviet Union on the Withdrawal of Soviet Troops from the Jointly Used Chinese Lushunkou Naval Base and the Transfer of the Base to the Complete Control of the People's Republic of China," the "Joint Communiqué between China and the Soviet Union on the Transfer of Soviet Shares in Various Joint-Stock Companies to the People's Republic of China," the "Joint Communiqué between China and the Soviet Union on the Signing of an Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation," the "Joint Communiqué between China and the Soviet Union on the Construction of the Lanzhou-Urumqi-Almaty Railway and the Organization of Joint Transportation," and the "Joint Communiqué of the Government of the People's Republic of China, the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the Government of the Mongolian People's Republic on the Construction of the Railway from Jining to Ulaanbaatar and the Organization of Joint Transportation." These documents were all published in the *People's Daily* on October 12, 1954.

[5] On October 13, 1954, the *People's Daily* published an editorial entitled "An Incomparably Profound and Great Friendship."