Comment on a Report on the Proceedings of a Meeting
(April 18, 1960)

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

The report submitted to the Central Committee by the Standing Committee meeting of the Central-South Coordinating Region held in Zhengzhou (Document I) is hereby forwarded to you for your perusal. The Central Committee holds that the basic principles set forth in the report are correct and merit your study and reference.

The Central Committee
April 18, 1960

After reading by Liu, Deng, and Peng [2], to be dispatched by telegraph by Shangkun [3].

Mao

[1]
This report, submitted by the Committee of the Central-South Coordinating Region to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on April 9, 1960, states: On April 7 and 8, we convened a Standing Committee meeting and conducted a preliminary exchange of views on the following issues. (1) The issue of the plan for the next three years. The meeting held that it is possible for the nation to produce 38 million to 40 million tons of steel by 1962, with the Central-South region striving to reach 6.1 million to 6.4 million tons. (2) The issue of the "Four Modernizations." We shall exert even greater efforts to launch the movement for technological innovation and technological revolution, currently focusing on the three links of summarizing, popularizing, and elevating. (3) The issue of vigorously developing "small foreign-style groups" and "small indigenous groups." It is planned to utilize locally self-raised funds and materials from above-quota production shares to construct, in batches, a number of "small foreign-style" coal shafts. The focus for small blast furnaces is to raise the utilization coefficient. At the same time, a number of light rail lines and indigenous railways shall be built. People's communes with the requisite conditions shall also develop a batch of "small indigenous groups" for coal, iron, and indigenous railways. (4) The issue of the system. Some enterprises will continue to be transferred to lower levels, and, provided the overall situation is not adversely affected, assistance will be given to lower levels to undertake more of their own production and construction. (5) The issue of achieving ahead of schedule the Forty Articles of the Programme for Agricultural Development. The main tasks are to resolve the four issues of grain, afforestation, eliminating the four pests, and eradicating illiteracy. (6) The issue of agriculture. The main focus is on grain, while simultaneously grasping economic crops and diversified operations. On the one hand, mechanization and semi-mechanization must be vigorously promoted to raise agricultural labor productivity; on the other hand, the upsurge in pig-raising must continue to be spurred. In addition, indigenous chemical fertilizers must be vigorously developed. (7) The issue of livelihood arrangements. All provinces and regions should conduct a thorough inspection of communes and brigades suffering from grain shortages and promptly allocate supplies, with grain arrangements made down to the mess halls. The masses must be organized to grow vegetables. All laborers must be guided to pay attention to the balance between work and rest. (8) The issue of the "Three Antis." It is necessary to create momentum with great fanfare, so that all cadres understand the significance of the Three Antis. The Three Antis movement shall proceed in two steps: At the provincial and prefectural levels, the struggle against bureaucratic work style shall be carried out first, while simultaneously seizing the time to conduct the Three Antis at and below the county level; after the conclusion of the Three Antis at and below the county level, the Three Antis at the provincial and prefectural levels shall then be carried out. (9) The issue of cadre avoidance. The method of having all basic-level cadres avoid their native locales requires a period of experimentation and deliberation before it can be determined whether it is appropriate. However, a small number of bad elements and incompetent cadres must be resolutely replaced; a small number of good cadres for whom it is inconvenient to work in their native locales should also be transferred away. Among basic-level cadres, a proportion of approximately one-third of cadres from outside the locality should be gradually incorporated. Education for basic-level cadres must be strengthened, democracy must be promoted, the supervisory role of the masses must be brought into play, the role of the Party's supervisory organs must be exerted, and necessary systems, such as financial systems, must be established. (10) Work arrangements for the immediate period. Provinces and regions that have not yet convened the six-level cadres' meeting shall convene it in the near future. Responsible comrades of the Party committees of all provinces and regions are prepared to go down to the basic level from April to mid-May to understand the situation regarding agricultural production and other aspects.

[2]
Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi. Deng 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 refers to Peng Zhen, then Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Secretary of the Central Secretariat.

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