Comments and Revisions on the Draft Decision of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council Concerning the Improvement of the Rural Financial and Trade Management System to Meet the Requirements of the People’s Commune Movement (November 24, 1958) Comrade Xian-nian [1]: This document [2] is very good.
I have made only a few textual revisions and additions [3]; please consider them carefully.
It should be circulated among all comrades for discussion—some further amendments may be necessary—and after approval by the Central Committee plenary session, it can be publicly released.
Please also forward my revised sections to Comrade Xiaoping [4] for his review.
Mao Zedong, 5:00 a.m. on November 24, printed from the manuscript.
Second, bourgeois legal rights, those parts that have now become an obstacle to social and economic development, are being abolished, while the useful elements are retained and put to work in the service of the socialist cause.
Third, at the present stage, the utilization of forms such as commodity production, commodity exchange, the monetary system, and the law of value is conducive to promoting socialist production, facilitating the transition toward a comprehensive system of public ownership (which, at present, exists only in state-owned industry, transport, and other state enterprises and institutions, and thus is not yet complete), and gradually preparing the conditions for a future transition to communism.
Fourth, although people’s communes across the country have already been set up in principle and may be regarded as basically established, it will still take at least several months to bring clarity and order to thinking, organization, production, distribution, living standards, welfare services, and all other aspects of their operations, and to get them fully functioning on a stable footing.
Therefore, the state financial and trade departments should continue to strengthen their leadership over the communes’ financial and trade work through planning management, business guidance, and technical assistance, particularly during the initial period of commune establishment, when they should provide vigorous support to assist in the communes’ reorganization and consolidation.
Printed according to the December 23, 1958 issue of the People’s Daily (with Mao Zedong’s revisions). 5£¶

Notes [ ] Xian-nian refers to Li Xiannian, who at that time served as a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council. [2] Refers to the “Decision of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Improving the Rural Financial and Trade Management System to Adapt to the Situation Created by the Establishment of People’s Communes (Revised Draft).” The final version of the decision states that the financial and trade management system must adapt to the new circumstances following the founding of the people’s communes and undergo necessary reforms, implementing the policy of “two delegations, three unifications, and one responsibility.”
By “two delegations” is meant the delegation of personnel and assets; by “three unifications,” the unification of policies, plans, and the management of working capital; and by “one responsibility,” the assumption of fiscal tasks by the communes.
This approach ensures both the full implementation of the state’s various financial and economic policies and the communes’ flexibility in handling their affairs within the framework of these policies; it guarantees the execution of the state’s unified plan while enabling the communes to comprehensively manage and organize activities involving industry, agriculture, commerce, education, and the military; and it secures the state’s fiscal revenues while effectively stimulating the communes’ initiative in developing production and increasing accumulation.
The Sixth Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee, held from November 28 to December 10, 1958, discussed and adopted this decision, which was jointly signed by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and officially promulgated on December 20, 1958.
The People’s Daily published the full text of the decision on December 23, 1958. [3] See sections (2) through (4) of this document; the passages printed in Song typeface represent Mao Zedong’s revisions and additions. [4] Xiaoping refers to Deng Xiaoping, who at that time served as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council.