Comment on the Report on the Progress of the Technical Innovation and Technical Revolution Movement
(March 22, 1960)

To the Shanghai Bureau, all cooperative area committees, all provincial, municipal, and autonomous regional Party committees, all ministries and commissions at the central level, and all Party groups:

The report from the Anshan Municipal Party Committee[1] is very good. The more one reads it, the more delighted one becomes, not feeling that the text is too long, and even if it were longer, one would still be willing to read it, because the issues raised in this report are factual, reasonable, and very engaging. The Anshan Iron and Steel Company is the largest enterprise in the country, with over one hundred thousand workers and staff. In the past, they believed that this enterprise was already modernized and that there was no need for a so-called technical revolution. They even opposed launching vigorous mass movements, opposed the policy of "two participations, one reform, and three-in-one combination,"[2] opposed putting politics in command, and only trusted a small number of people to work in a cold and cheerless manner. Many advocated the one-man management system and opposed the factory director responsibility system under Party committee leadership. They considered the "Magnitogorsk Constitution" (an authoritative set of methods from a large Soviet steel plant)[3] to be sacred and inviolable. This was the situation before the Great Leap Forward in 1958; this was the first stage. The year 1959 was the second stage, when people began to think about problems, began to believe in mass movements, began to doubt the one-man management system, and began to doubt the Magnitogorsk Constitution. During the Lushan Conference[4] in July 1959, the Central Committee received a good report from them,[5] advocating the Great Leap Forward, opposing Right deviation, boosting morale, and proposing an achievable high target. The Central Committee was extremely pleased upon reading this report and distributed it to all comrades for reading. Comrades immediately relayed it by telephone to all provinces, municipalities, and regions, aiding the struggle to criticize Right opportunism at that time. Now, this report (March 1960) represents further progress. It is not the same set of practices as the Magnitogorsk Constitution but has created an Anshan Constitution. The Anshan Constitution has emerged in the Far East, in China. This is the third stage. Now, we forward this report to you and request that you forward it to all large and medium-sized enterprises under your jurisdiction, to all municipal Party committees in large and medium-sized cities, and of course, it can also be forwarded to prefectural committees and [small] cities. Furthermore, treat it as a study document, let cadres study it once, stimulate their minds, and think about their own affairs. Throughout the entire year of 1960, under leadership, link by link, wave upon wave, implement the great Marxist-Leninist urban and rural economic and technological revolution movement.

Central Committee
March 22, 1960

[1] Refers to the report of the Anshan Municipal Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, dated March 11, 1960, on the progress of the technical innovation and technical revolution movement on the industrial front, submitted to the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee for transmission to the Central Committee. Its contents are as follows: (1) The technical innovation and technical revolution in the Anshan area have formed a surging mass movement and entered a new stage. The movement has three main characteristics: First, the vast number of workers and staff are highly motivated, participation is very broad, and progress is rapid; second, the pioneering spirit of the workers and staff has been greatly enhanced, with significant new technologies and cutting-edge techniques emerging in a short period; third, it has promoted a continued leap forward in production. (2) Preliminary experiences gained over the past two months and more: First, it is necessary to continuously carry out an ideological revolution, persist in putting politics in command, break down superstitions, and emancipate the mind; second, boldly mobilize the masses, and test everything through experimentation; third, make comprehensive plans and vigorously grasp the key points of production; fourth, combine self-reliance with large-scale cooperation; fifth, combine the technical revolution with large-scale technical performance competitions. (3) The Anshan area must hold high the red banner of Mao Zedong Thought, march towards high, large, precise, cutting-edge, and new technologies and world advanced levels, strive to catch up with and surpass advanced domestic and international levels in various major technical and economic indicators, and scale the heights of science and technology. At present, the main contents and requirements of the technical innovation and technical revolution on the industrial front in the Anshan area are: First, vigorously improve operational techniques, tap the potential of equipment, and continuously increase equipment utilization rates. Second, universally raise the levels of semi-mechanization, mechanization, electrification, and automation. Third, actively trial-produce high, large, precise, cutting-edge, and new products, and master cutting-edge technologies. Fourth, vigorously promote the comprehensive utilization of resources. Fifth, vigorously improve labor organization and reform technological processes to achieve increased production with fewer personnel. (4) Strengthen the Party's leadership over the technical innovation and technical revolution movement. First, persist in putting politics in command. Combine the study of Chairman Mao's works and the summing up of work, continue to criticize Right-leaning conservative thinking; criticize the bourgeois line of adhering to the one-man management system, implementing economic and technical command, and relying on a small number of experts to run enterprises; criticize dogmatism and servile thinking, and further establish the communist style of daring to think, daring to speak, and daring to act. Second, leading bodies at all levels must improve their working methods, set aside time for study and conceptual discussion, using the conceptual to guide the practical. They must effectively streamline meetings to have more time to personally go to the front line of production. They must grasp the two ends to promote the middle; besides paying attention to weak links, special attention must be paid to planting red flags and establishing pacesetters, constantly summarizing and popularizing their experiences, creating an upsurge of "learning, comparing, catching up, helping, and surpassing." Third, vigorously promote technical performance competitions, while also continuously carrying out a cultural revolution, organizing spare-time cultural schools, technical training classes, etc., to rapidly train and expand the scientific and technical contingent. During the movement, attention must be paid to the livelihood of workers and staff, enabling them to have abundant energy to engage in innovation and creation.

[2] "Two participations" refers to cadres participating in productive labor and workers participating in enterprise management; "one reform" refers to reforming unreasonable rules and regulations in enterprises; "three-in-one combination" refers to the principle of combining enterprise leading cadres, technical personnel, and workers in the technical innovation and technical revolution movement.

[3] Refers to the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Combine in the Soviet Union.

[4] Refers here to the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held at Lushan from July 2 to August 1, 1959.

[5] Refers to the report of the Anshan Municipal Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, dated July 25, 1959, on the current production and mass movement situation at Anshan Iron and Steel and the work arrangements for August. Mao Zedong distributed this report on July 31 of that year to comrades attending the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China at Lushan.