Central Instructions Forwarding the Anshan Municipal Party Committee’s Report on the Progress of the Technical Renovation and Technical Revolution Campaign (March 22, 1960) To the Shanghai Bureau, the Committees of the Various Cooperative Zones, the Provincial, Municipal, and Autonomous Regional Party Committees, and the Central Ministries and Commissions as well as their Party Groups: The report from the Anshan Municipal Party Committee [1] is very good; the more one reads it, the more encouraging it becomes. One does not find its length a drawback—even if it were longer, one would still wish to read it—because the issues it raises are grounded in concrete facts and sound reasoning, making it highly engaging.

Anshan Iron and Steel was the nation’s first and largest enterprise, with over 100,000 workers. In the past, they regarded it as already modernized and believed there was no need for any so-called technical revolution. They opposed large-scale mass movements, rejected the policy of “two participations, one reform, and three combinations” [2], and resisted political leadership, preferring instead to rely on a small group of people working in isolation. Many advocated for a single-leader system while opposing the factory director responsibility system under the leadership of the Party committee. They considered the “Magnitogorsk Constitution” (a set of authoritative procedures employed at a major Soviet steelworks [3]) to be sacrosanct and inviolable. This was the situation prevailing before the Great Leap Forward of 1958—the first stage.

The year 1959 marked the second stage: people began to think critically, came to believe in mass movements, grew skeptical of the single-leader system, and questioned the Magnitogorsk Constitution. During the Lushan Conference in July 1959 [4], the Central Committee received an excellent report from them [ ], which championed the Great Leap Forward, opposed rightist deviation, urged vigorous effort, and proposed a feasible high target. The Central Committee was extremely pleased with this report and circulated it widely among comrades, who promptly transmitted it by telephone to provinces, municipalities, and regions, thereby assisting the campaign to criticize rightist opportunism then underway.

The present report (March 1960), however, represents even greater progress. It does not adhere to the Magnitogorsk model but has instead created what may be called the “Anshan Constitution.” The Anshan Constitution has emerged in the Far East, in China. This constitutes the third stage.

We now forward this report to you and request that you, in turn, transmit it to all large and medium-sized enterprises under your jurisdiction, as well as to the municipal party committees of all major and medium-sized cities; it may also be distributed to county-level party committees and smaller cities—and should be used as a study document for cadres to review, stimulate their thinking, reflect on their own work, and, throughout the entire year of 1960, carry out, in a well-organized, step-by-step, wave-after-wave manner, the great Marxist–Leninist urban and rural economic and technological revolution campaign.

Issued by the Central Committee on March 22, 1960, based on documents of the CPC Central Committee. (With Mao Zedong’s handwritten notes.)

Notes [1] Refers to the report dated March 11, 1960, submitted by the CPC Anshan Municipal Committee to the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee for onward transmission to the Central Committee, concerning the progress of the technical renovation and technical revolution movement on the industrial front. Its contents are as follows: (1) Technical renovation and technical revolution in the Anshan area have developed into a sweeping mass movement, entering a new phase. The movement’s main characteristics are threefold: first, workers are highly motivated, participation is widespread, and progress is rapid; second, workers’ pioneering spirit has been greatly stimulated, leading to the rapid emergence of significant new and cutting-edge technologies within a short period; third, production continues to surge ahead. (2) Preliminary experiences gained over the past two months. First, it is essential to persistently carry out ideological revolution, uphold political leadership, dispel superstition, and liberate thought; second, we must fully mobilize the masses and test everything through experimentation; third, comprehensive planning is required, with focused efforts on key production areas; fourth, self-reliance should be combined with extensive cooperation; fifth, technical revolution should be pursued alongside large-scale technical demonstration competitions. (3) The Anshan area must hold high the banner of Mao Zedong Thought and advance toward higher, larger, more sophisticated, more advanced, newer goals, striving to reach and surpass both domestic and international advanced levels, scaling the heights of science and technology. At present, the main content and requirements of technical renovation and technical revolution on Anshan’s industrial front are: first, vigorously improve operational techniques, tap the potential of equipment, and continuously raise equipment utilization rates; second, broadly enhance the levels of semi-mechanization, mechanization, electrification, and automation; third, actively experiment with and produce high-quality, large-scale, sophisticated, cutting-edge, and novel products, mastering advanced technologies; fourth, make full use of resources through comprehensive recycling; fifth, substantially improve labor organization and refine production processes to increase output while reducing manpower. (4) Strengthen the Party’s leadership over the technical renovation and technical revolution movement. First, we must continue to uphold political leadership. By combining study of Chairman Mao’s works with work summaries, we should persistently criticize rightist conservative ideas; denounce the bourgeois line of adhering to a single-leader system, prioritizing economic and technical considerations, and relying solely on a handful of experts to run enterprises; and combat dogmatism and conformist thinking, further cultivating a communist style characterized by bold thinking, outspokenness, and decisive action. Second, leaders at all levels should improve their working methods, setting aside time for study and theoretical discussion to guide practical work. Meetings should be streamlined effectively so as to leave more time for being on the production front lines. Attention should be paid to both ends while guiding the middle: in addition to addressing weak links, particular emphasis should be placed on erecting model flags and establishing exemplary examples, constantly summarizing and disseminating their experiences to create a nationwide upsurge of “learning, emulation, catching up, helping, and surpassing.” Third, we should vigorously organize technical demonstration contests, while simultaneously continuing the cultural revolution by running amateur cultural schools and technical training classes to rapidly train and expand the ranks of scientific and technical personnel. Throughout this movement, attention must be given to workers’ living conditions so that they have ample energy to engage in innovation and creation.

[2] “Two participations” refers to cadres participating in production labor and workers participating in enterprise management; “one reform” denotes reforming unreasonable rules and regulations within enterprises; and “three combinations” signifies implementing the principle of close collaboration among enterprise leaders, technicians, and workers in the course of technical renovation and technical revolution campaigns.

[3] Refers to the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine in the Soviet Union.

[4] Refers to the enlarged meeting of the CPC Central Political Bureau held at Mount Lu from July 2 to August 1, 1959.

[ ] Refers to the report dated July 25, 1959, submitted by the CPC Anshan Municipal Committee regarding Anshan Iron and Steel’s current production, mass movement activities, and work plans for August. On July 31 of that year, Mao Zedong had this report circulated among the comrades attending the enlarged meeting of the CPC Central Political Bureau at Mount Lu. See Volume 8, pages 93–3 of “Collected Works of Mao Zedong Since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China.”