Comments on the Report on the Movement for Technological Innovation and Technological Revolution [I]
(March 3, 1960)

To all provincial Party committees, municipal Party committees, and autonomous region Party committees:

The Jilin Provincial Party Committee’s report on the movement for technological innovation and technological revolution is very well written. It is hereby forwarded to you for study and reference. It is hoped that the Party committees of all provinces, municipalities, and regions can promptly sum up their own experiences on this major issue and write a report to us, and at the same time notify your subordinate levels so that all may be informed and act accordingly. This document and its attachment may be published in Party journals and may be forwarded to all prefectural, municipal, and county Party committees.

The Central Committee
March 3, 1960

Printed and distributed this afternoon to all comrades attending the meeting for study, in preparation for discussion.

Mao Zedong
4:00 a.m., March 3

[I]
This report, submitted by the CPC Jilin Provincial Committee to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee on February 26, 1960, states: Over the past three months, the movement for technological innovation and technological revolution in our province, centered on mechanization, semi-mechanization, automation, semi-automation, and continuous operation, has developed swiftly and vigorously. This movement is more thorough and solid than previous ones and has entered a new stage. This is mainly manifested in the following aspects: First, the development of the movement shows a trend of moving from general reforms based on original technical equipment toward comprehensive technological transformation. Second, it has developed from the promotion of single, scattered advanced experiences into the systematic and comprehensive coordination of advanced experiences, being promoted in a planned, led, large-scale, and comprehensive manner. Third, there are not only general innovation projects but also the beginning of an advance into cutting-edge science and technology. Linked to this, mass scientific research work has seen new development. Fourth, comprehensive utilization is being vigorously pursued to increase production and economize on raw materials. In the movement, the following several experiences are worthy of attention and should be studied so that they may continue to develop. First, this movement is both a production movement and a mass ideological movement, a movement for the self-transformation of the masses of workers and staff. Second, in many enterprises and units, the integration of leading cadres, engineering and technical personnel, and workers has become closer, and some scientific research departments and universities and colleges have also joined in, forming a new "three-in-one combination" inside and outside the factory and all-round large-scale cooperation. Third, technological innovation and technological revolution must be closely integrated with current production, continuously raising the level of enterprise management to adapt to and promote the development of the mass movement. Fourth, it is necessary to proceed from reality and implement the policy of combining indigenous and foreign methods, "walking on two legs," and the principle of testing everything through experimentation. Fifth, the ideological revolution, technological revolution, and cultural revolution should be integrated with one another. Based on the actual development of the current movement, we have put forward the slogan of the "double doubling" movement—renovating equipment and doubling production capacity—so as to integrate this movement with increasing production and practicing economy, developing it in a broader and deeper direction. At an appropriate time, emphasis must also be placed on consolidating the achievements of the movement.

[2]
Refers to the 24 comrades mentioned in the "Letter to Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping on the Three Draft Comments for the Central Committee to Forward the Reports of the Guangdong, Jilin, and Guizhou Provincial Party Committees."

Facsimile of Mao Zedong's handwritten draft of the "Central Committee's Comments Forwarding the Jilin Provincial Party Committee's Report on the Movement for Technological Innovation and Technological Revolution," drafted for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.