Letter to Rákosi

(March 28, 1956)

Budapest

Comrade Mátyás Rákosi, Esteemed Secretary of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Working People’s Party:

Your letter of March 14, 1956, has been received.

We understand the difficulties the Hungarian People’s Republic faces in foreign trade and are willing to help you overcome these difficulties to the best of our ability. In accordance with your wishes and our possibilities, we are prepared to increase the supply of goods to you by a value of 30 million rubles within the year 1956. We have already instructed our Ministry of Foreign Trade to immediately begin discussions with the Commercial Counsellor’s Office of the Embassy of the Hungarian People’s Republic in Beijing regarding the types and quantities of goods to be supplied.

With respectful salutations,

Mao Zedong

March 28, 1956