Commentary on Ma Mingfang’s Report〔1〕 on the Discussions in the Northwest Provinces Regarding the Spirit of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Seventh CPC Central Committee (October 23, 1955) To Liu, Zhou, Chen, and Deng〔2〕: Please read and return to Mao. With regard to the questions raised in the last few lines on page two〔3〕, Comrades Xiaoping and Chen Yun are requested to take note. Issued October 23 by Mao Zedong, based on the manuscript.

Notes 〔1〕 Ma Mingfang was at that time Deputy Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee.

〔2〕 Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi; Zhou, to Zhou Enlai; Chen, to Chen Yun, who then served as a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council; and Deng, to Deng Xiaoping, who at the time held the posts of Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council.

〔3〕 These refer to the two questions posed at the end of page two of Ma Mingfang’s report dated October 20, 1955, addressed to Mao Zedong, concerning the symposiums held in the northwest provinces to discuss the spirit of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Seventh CPC Central Committee: First, Shaanxi Province has indicated that funds for training cadres involved in establishing agricultural cooperatives are insufficient and requests that the Central Ministry of Finance approve the use of local fiscal surpluses to cover these expenses. Second, various provinces have reported that grassroots-level work is currently very busy and hope that meetings convened by central government departments can be better regulated.