--- Notes



Comments on the Draft Central Directive Regarding the 1957 Campaign for Increased Production and Economy-Saving [1] (February 15, 1957) To Comrade Hu Qiaomu [2]: This document [3] is suitable for use.
Please draft a telegram in the name of the CPC Central Committee instructing all central ministries and commissions and their Party leadership groups, as well as the Party committees of provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, to promptly forward it upon receipt to county Party committees, district Party committees in cities, and regimental-level Youth League committees in the armed forces, and to publish it in Party periodicals.
Mao Zedong, February 15.
Printed from the manuscript.
Notes [1] These comments were written on the “CPC Central Committee Directive on Launching the 1957 Campaign for Increased Production and Economy-Saving” (revised version of January 30), issued by the Confidential Office of the CPC Central Committee General Office on January 30, 1957.
While reviewing the draft directive, Mao Zedong altered the words within parentheses—“revised version of January 30”—to read “approved by the Political Bureau on February 8, 1957,” and moved this note below the title.
The directive was officially issued on February 15, 1957. [2] Hu Qiaomu was at that time an alternate member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Mao Zedong’s secretary. [3] Refers to the “CPC Central Committee Directive on Launching the 1957 Campaign for Increased Production and Economy-Saving.”
The directive stated that in 1956 China had achieved rapid progress in socialist transformation and socialist construction, with remarkable accomplishments; however, the annual economic development plan for that year also exhibited the drawback of advancing too quickly, and proper control had been relaxed in certain aspects of its implementation.
First, the pace of basic construction was excessively high, with too many projects initiated, leading to imbalances between the supply and demand of materials and between cash inflows and outflows in 1956.
Second, the number of employees increased too much, which not only resulted in excessive wage expenditures for enterprises and fiscal expenditures for the state but also lowered labor productivity.
At the same time, urban populations grew too rapidly, placing increased demands on urban infrastructure.
Third, due to the excessive expansion of the workforce and the broadening of wage increment coverage, coupled with inappropriate disbursement of certain welfare benefits and bonuses, some individuals’ wages rose disproportionately, causing a surge in social purchasing power that far outstripped the growth of consumer goods.
This created severe shortages of consumer products, particularly in urban areas.
Moreover, the agricultural production plan for 1956 could not be fulfilled owing to natural disasters, which negatively affected various aspects of the national economy in 1957, especially the production and supply of consumer goods and government revenue.
In order to alleviate the strain on material supplies and fiscal expenditures, and to shift the economic front from its tremendous advance in 1956 toward steady progress while making necessary adjustments, it was imperative in 1957 to appropriately regulate the scale and speed of construction and to launch, with redoubled effort nationwide, a mass campaign for increased production and economy-saving.