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“The Position of China’s Agriculture in the National Economy”
Circulate for reading among the comrades and return to Mao.
This document [I] may be read.
(December 1959)

Sichuan
This report, published in Issue No. 2940 of the *Internal Reference* compiled and printed by the Xinhua News Agency on December 20, 1959, states:
China is still a large agricultural country at present, and agriculture holds a particularly important position; it is the foundation of the development of the entire national economy. This can be clearly seen from the following aspects:
(1) The relationship between agriculture and the people’s livelihood.
At present, among all the consumer goods in the people’s daily consumption in our country, agricultural products and industrial goods made from agricultural raw materials account for over 85 percent.
Therefore, good or poor harvests in agriculture have a decisive impact on the people’s livelihood. (2) The relationship between agriculture and industry. In our country’s industrial production, sectors that use agricultural products as raw materials account for a very large proportion.
Hence, good or poor harvests in agriculture also have a great impact on industrial production.
(3) The relationship between agriculture and the state’s accumulation of funds. In addition to the form of agricultural tax, agriculture also indirectly accumulates a large amount of funds for the state through links such as the processing, production, transportation, and sale of agricultural products. (4) The relationship between agriculture and foreign trade.
Among our country’s current export goods, agricultural products and processed agricultural products account for over 70 percent. This is also an important aspect of agriculture’s support for national construction.