Notification on the Concrete Arrangements for Reporting Work to the Central Committee
(May 14, 1956)

To all provincial Party committees, municipal Party committees, and Party committees of autonomous regions:

Regarding the matter of your reporting work to the Central Committee, it has now begun with several provinces and municipalities in the Central-South region. Next, several provinces and municipalities in the East China region will be asked to report (the time will probably be between May 25 and June 10). After that, the provinces, municipalities, and regions of the Southwest, Northwest, North China, and Northeast will be asked to report in turn (the time will be from June 10 to the end of July). The issues for reporting may be divided into:

(1) Industry (heavy industry, light industry, handicrafts—those managed by central ministries, those managed locally, and the socialist transformation of private industry);
(2) Transportation and communications (land, water, air—modern and backward);
(3) Commerce (domestic trade, foreign trade, supply and marketing cooperatives, and the socialist transformation of private commerce);
(4) Agriculture, forestry, and water conservancy;
(5) Finance and banking;
(6) Cadres (i.e., educational work).

For each of the above items, a historical account and a description of the current situation should be provided, along with a seven-year or twelve-year long-range plan, focusing primarily on matters managed locally or hoped to be managed locally, with those managed by central ministries as supplementary. Written documents should be prepared, with no restriction on word count, determined by the content; longer ones may be ten thousand words, or twenty thousand words, or even longer, while shorter ones may be only a few thousand words. In addition, there are:
(7) The issue of united front arrangements;
(8) The issue of arrangements for counterrevolutionary elements (mainly employment arrangements);
(9) The issue of unemployment arrangements;
(10) The issue of minority nationalities (omitted in places where this issue does not exist);
(11) Other special issues (for example, the issue of overseas Chinese and their dependents in Guangdong, the issue of fishermen, the issue of salt workers, the issue of Hong Kong and Macao).

For each of the above items, a few thousand words per issue will suffice. Each must be written separately, each forming its own section, and must not be linked together. There are altogether over ten topics listed above. It is impossible to prepare and report them all at one time; they may be prepared and reported in two or three sessions. It is hoped that all will be discussed and deliberated upon by your committees, but it need not be perfect in every respect; it does not matter if it is not entirely flawless. When reporting, in addition to the first secretary who should come, several assistants related to the work may be brought along. Among the above issues, the emphasis should be placed on items one through six, with the first item as the primary focus. Once the first item is prepared, a report may be given on that occasion. The reporting documents must contain materials and arguments, must prominently criticize the shortcomings and errors in the work of the Central Committee and local work, expose contradictions (including contradictions between the Central Committee and the localities), and propose solutions. Immature opinions may also be put forward. The specific reporting times will be discussed with you by telephone.

The Central Committee
May 14, 1956

Manuscript of the "Notification on the Concrete Arrangements for the Party Committees of Various Provinces, Municipalities, and Autonomous Regions to Report Work to the Central Committee," drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.