Today is the first meeting of the Seventh Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee. The task of this plenary session is to prepare for the Eighth National Congress, and there are three major projects: documents, elections, and speeches.

First, the issue of documents. There are five documents to be reviewed: one is the political report, one is the draft of the Party Constitution, one is the report on the revision of the Party Constitution, one is the proposal for the Second Five-Year Plan, and one is the report on the proposal for the Second Five-Year Plan. Now it is up to everyone. There are still twenty days left, and there is still time. Comrades, please express your opinions and put forward suggestions for revisions.

Second, the issue of the election of the new Central Committee for the Eighth National Congress. If all delegates can arrive by August 30, it would be best to hold a meeting on the 30th and strive to produce a list within the four days from the 1st to the 4th. The method we intend to use is as follows: first, each delegation will propose a list (the Central Committee will not propose a list; individuals will make their own choices, nominating whomever they wish), and then the Central Committee will consolidate the lists, with the Political Bureau working together with the heads and deputy heads of the delegations.

[1] The first part is Mao Zedong’s speech at the opening of the first meeting of the Seventh Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee, held in the Qinzheng Hall at Zhongnanhai; the second part is Mao Zedong’s speech after Deng Xiaoping provided explanations on several documents submitted to the Seventh Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee. Some parts have been abridged.