Central Committee Transmits
The Article "All Trades and Professions Undertaking Machinery Manufacture Is a Good Method for Developing the Machine-Building Industry at High Speed"
With a Comment
(April 18, 1960)

To the Shanghai Bureau, the Party committees of all provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, and all ministries, commissions, and Party leadership groups at the central level:

This is a good document [1]. It is issued to you for compliance and implementation. It may be published in Party periodicals.

Central Committee
April 18, 1960

After being read by Xiaoping, Peng Zhen, and Fuchun [2], to be issued by Shangkun [3].

[1]
This article, published in Issue No. 15 of the *Briefing on Planning Work* compiled and printed by the State Planning Commission, states that taking the specialized machine-building industrial ministries as the mainstay while simultaneously mobilizing all trades and professions to undertake machinery manufacture is a good method for ensuring the Great Leap Forward of the national economy and guaranteeing the supply of equipment needed for construction, as well as a good method for the continued Great Leap Forward of the machine-building industry.

In 1960, nationwide, in addition to the two specialized ministries—the First Ministry of Machine-Building and the Ministry of Agricultural Machinery—there were also two "semi-machine-building ministries," namely the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Textile Industry, as well as 17 "small machine-building ministries," including the Ministry of Coal Industry and the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power. This constitutes a powerful contingent in the machine-building industry, which undertakes, in whole or in part, the manufacture of the main specialized equipment for its own departments and has played a significant role in the manufacture of machinery and equipment nationwide. Among the products in the state plan, approximately half are produced, in whole or in part, by these departments. With the development of the national economy, it is in fact difficult for the increasingly heavy tasks of the machine-building industry to be borne solely by the specialized machine-building ministries.

The way out lies in adopting the method of unified planning and comprehensive operation, bringing into play the initiative of all quarters in undertaking machinery manufacture, and having all trades and professions, from the central to the local levels, everyone undertake machinery manufacture. Having the departments that need equipment manufacture their own specialized equipment can better integrate with the actual needs of their own departments, most rapidly adopt and absorb the technical innovations, creations, and inventions that constantly emerge in their own departments and regions, and also facilitate bringing into play the initiative of everyone in running machine-building industrial enterprises. At the same time, because manufacturing and repair are closely integrated, it is also more conducive to rapidly training and strengthening the technical force of the machine-building industry. In this way, the specialized machine-building departments can better concentrate their efforts on developing high-efficiency, large-scale, precision, and cutting-edge equipment and new products, and better supply the general-purpose equipment and standard equipment needed by all trades and professions.

Therefore, from the central to the local levels, taking the specialized machine-building departments as the mainstay and combining them with all trades and professions undertaking machinery manufacture is the correct path for developing China's machine-building industry at high speed, and also the best form for rapidly establishing a complete machine-building industrial system. Under the circumstances where all trades and professions, everyone undertakes machinery manufacture, attention must be paid to two issues: first, there must be a rational division of labor; second, unified leadership must be strengthened.

[2]
Xiaoping refers to Deng Xiaoping, then General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Vice Premier of the State Council. Peng Zhen, then Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee. Fuchun refers to Li Fuchun, then Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and Vice Premier of the State Council.

[3]
Shangkun refers to Yang Shangkun, then Alternate Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee.