A new surge has swept through enterprises, institutions, and state organs across the country as part of the Rectification Campaign: a fresh upsurge of open criticism and self-criticism, focused on combating waste and conservatism, accompanied by a vigorous drive for rectification. In the course of this large-scale campaign, 250,000 big-character posters were posted within the central state organs; and according to statistics from thirty-one Beijing enterprises over a thirty-day period, workers put up 300,000 such posters, offering 430,000 suggestions. The movement is mounting with great momentum, its thrust directed squarely toward implementing the policy of building the nation thriftily and efficiently, achieving rapid, high-quality development, and spurring a great leap forward in production and work.

Judging from conditions in various regions, enterprises, and organs, this campaign against waste and conservatism differs markedly from previous campaigns to increase output and economize. It has in fact evolved into a struggle against all forms of backwardness—ideological, political, and economic—and has given rise to a widespread emulation of advanced models, an intense competition to produce more, faster, better, and cheaper. Amid this sweeping movement, many outmoded practices that had stifled both mass initiative and productive forces have been shattered; numerous long-standing, fundamental problems have been successfully resolved; and tangible, rapid improvements have been achieved in all areas of production and work. The performance of the national economic plan for January provides a vivid illustration. Historically, January has always been the worst month for fulfilling production and capital-construction targets: slack at the outset, tight mid-year, and a frantic rush at year’s end—a pattern almost taken for granted. This year, however, the established practice was reversed: industrial gross output exceeded the monthly plan by 2.5 percent. Capital construction also fared better than in any previous year. Similarly, although the anti-waste, anti-conservatism drive in the commercial sector has only just begun, certain leading units have already, on the basis of a significantly heightened awareness among their employees, resolved many longstanding issues that had previously remained unresolved. For instance, the Tianqiao Department Store in Beijing boldly broke with convention, introducing measures to reduce staff, conserve working capital, and improve customer service, while also correcting the mechanical, formalistic practice of imposing an eight-hour workday—common in industrial enterprises—on retail outlets and instituting a continuous shift system instead.

This momentous movement is clearly a product of the socialist revolution waged by the Chinese people in 1957 on the ideological and political fronts. Consequently, participants are not content merely to eradicate extravagance and waste in daily life or simply to push beyond numerical production targets. After debating the nature and causes of waste and ways to plug loopholes, many enterprises have reached a common conclusion: responsibility for waste lies with management, technical personnel, and workers alike, and all three groups must make simultaneous improvements. Management often suffers from bureaucratism, subjectivism, and a lack of thorough engagement with operational matters; technical staff tend to prioritize technical expertise over political consciousness, cling to outdated methods, and fail to effectively mobilize and harness the creativity of the masses; and some workers themselves have yet to fully grasp the proper relationship between individual interests and the national interest, nor have they adequately addressed the question of whom they are working for. At debate sessions held in numerous units, representatives of all three sectors have openly exposed and criticized their own shortcomings, thereby dispelling bureaucratic inertia, stagnation, and unhealthy influences, resisting bourgeois ideology, and elevating proletarian thought.

The current Rectification Campaign is distinguished by its use of the anti-waste, anti-conservatism drive as a unifying thread to advance work in all other areas. The ultimate aim of China’s nationwide socialist revolution on the political and ideological fronts has always been to propel socialist construction forward on all fronts. Following the first two stages of extensive discussion and debate, the masses’ level of political awareness has risen substantially. Inspired by the grand call to catch up with Britain within fifteen years and to transform the country’s appearance within three years, they naturally demand a major leap in production and work and cannot but oppose waste and conservatism. Just as brilliant ideological and political blossoms inevitably yield abundant economic fruit, this is a perfectly natural and lawful process. Unfortunately, some units have failed to appreciate the full significance of the situation, neglecting ideological work in favor of purely economic considerations. They have resorted to technical fixes without engaging the masses in earnest debate or fundamentally transforming their working methods and leadership styles. As a result, they have been unable to eradicate waste at its root, overcome conservatism, or steer production toward a great leap forward. Therefore, while this struggle is primarily economic in nature, it is also an ideological and political one; we must attend to both the economic dimension and the ideological and political dimensions. Through open criticism and self-criticism, we must not only combat waste and conservatism but also bureaucratism, factionalism, and subjectivism. By integrating the fight against waste and conservatism with broader efforts to improve relations between cadres and the masses, we can raise the socialist consciousness of all workers, dismantle the barriers hindering rapid productivity growth, streamline institutions, enhance production management and labor organization, upgrade production technology, and reduce costs—all in order to implement the principle of producing more, faster, better, and cheaper and to promote a great leap forward in production.

Some, though recognizing the importance of ideological work, have adopted the wrong approach. They have convened the masses to engage in abstract discussions of general principles, leaving participants often confused and at a loss. Of course, major principled questions—such as the relationship between the individual and the collective, freedom and discipline, the worker-peasant alliance, and the leading role of the working class—must indeed be thoroughly debated among the people. However, at the present stage, such debates should focus on concrete tasks related to production and work. Many enterprises have, through specific discussions on combating waste and conservatism, helped the broad masses to grasp these fundamental principles and, simultaneously, to translate those insights into action. Compared with the former approach, is this not far more vivid and profound? When we emphasize using the anti-waste, anti-conservatism drive as the central theme, we mean precisely that it should serve as the guiding principle for the current phase of rectification, through which we will accomplish our immediate tasks. These two objectives must not be treated as separate; if we ignore the concerns most pressing to the people and fail to guide them step by step—from addressing specific problems to resolving underlying ideological issues—we are bound to fail.

Many enterprises, schools, and government organs have rightly decided to make the anti-waste, anti-conservatism campaign the focal point of their rectification efforts. It is our hope that all enterprises, schools, and organs throughout the country will follow their lead, achieve a complete victory in this new task of the Rectification Campaign, and thus bring about a comprehensive, sweeping leap forward in China’s socialist cause!

(Editorial, People’s Daily, February 8, 1958)