From 1917 to 1945, the Soviet Union pursued a course of self-reliance, building socialism within one country—this was the Leninist path, and we too must follow it.

Over the past decade, the Soviet people have provided us with assistance in our construction efforts; we must never forget this fact.

We must make a firm resolve to develop cutting-edge technologies. Khrushchev has refused to supply us with such technologies. Very well! If he had, the debt would have been extremely difficult to repay.

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The three-tiered system of ownership in the countryside, with production teams as the basic accounting units, shall remain unchanged for at least five years; this must be rigidly stipulated. Let us adopt a “mechanistic” approach and stop talking about transitioning from team-level ownership to commune-level ownership within three or five years. Otherwise, neither the grassroots cadres nor the broad masses of peasants will be satisfied; the only ones who will be satisfied are the commune-level cadres. On the premise that collective ownership remains dominant, there must also be a certain degree of individual ownership. Each commune member must be allowed a small plot of private land—however small—to grow vegetables and raise pigs, chickens, and ducks. This issue is essentially a struggle against the production-team cadres, and we must steel ourselves to resolve it once and for all. It will not do to have only large collectives without any small measure of personal freedom. If people harbor dissenting views but simply go along outwardly while harboring reservations inwardly, that will not serve our purpose. With regard to the question of private plots, the Central Committee’s circular transmitting the directive on the Guizhou communal dining halls contains serious flaws and must be corrected.