To the Party Committees of all Provinces, Municipalities, and Autonomous Regions, and to the Party Leadership Groups of All Central Departments and Commissions:

We are now forwarding to you the “Telephone Report by Comrade Zhou × Concerning the Issues of Rural Labor in Nanbu and Yilong Counties and the Situation of the ‘Three Antis’ Campaign,” submitted by the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, together with “Two Documents from the Nanchong Prefectural Party Committee and the Wenjiang Prefectural Party Committee on the Wasteful Use of Labor in Rural People’s Communes.” Please immediately circulate these documents to the county party committees, instructing them to study them carefully and conduct thorough investigations. Should similar phenomena be found locally, measures should be taken, as in Sichuan, to dispatch special task forces to the communes to carry out inspections and provide guidance, ensuring that resolute action is taken. It is imperative to promptly mobilize and reallocate any non-essential labor currently employed at the county, commune, and management district levels to the production teams, thereby reinforcing the front line of agricultural production and guaranteeing a satisfactory autumn harvest this year. Furthermore, efforts should be made to achieve a summer harvest next year that surpasses all previous years. This matter admits of no delay; hesitation must be avoided at all costs.

The materials from Sichuan clearly demonstrate that the wasteful use of labor at the county, commune, and management district levels is extremely serious. Even within the production teams themselves, considerable manpower intended for direct agricultural work is being diverted to other tasks. The Sichuan Provincial and Prefectural Party Committees identified this problem, conducted investigations, and carried out a cleanup. As a result, in Yilong County, with a population of 550,000, approximately 40,000 workers—more than 15 percent of the county’s total labor force—were reallocated to agricultural production. Similarly, in Jianxing Commune of Nanbu County, 21 percent of the commune’s workforce was redirected to the agricultural front. In You’ai Commune of E County, before adjustments were made, only 3,035 workers were assigned to the production teams; after the realignment, this number rose to 3,644, representing an increase of over 20 percent in frontline agricultural labor. These typical examples underscore the gravity of the issue: without its serious resolution, substantial increases in agricultural output will remain unattainable.

The Sichuan materials also reveal a “secret”: “A small number of grassroots cadres and members of the public believe that rural life is arduous and livelihoods are difficult, whereas urban employment is easier and offers cash wages, leading them to seek every possible means of escaping the countryside.” Moreover, “the vast majority of those transferred to urban areas are the parents, spouses, siblings, and other relatives—such as uncles, cousins, and friends—of grassroots cadres. Driven by personal gain and a desire to improve their families’ living standards, these cadres employ all available means, regardless of propriety, to move their relatives from rural areas into towns and cities, securing for them positions in government organs, factories, enterprises, and schools, thus exempting them from agricultural labor.” Consequently, “judging from this recent labor-force review, the situation is complex, and the struggle is acute.” It is emphasized that the principle of “agriculture as the foundation” must be firmly established among both cadres and the masses, and that full mobilization of the masses is essential. Only by relying on the strength of the people can we remove the obstacles posed by certain cadres who shield their relatives and friends from agricultural duties. These analyses are both vivid and accurate. The Central Committee further stresses that, in our country, we must constantly guard against the emergence of a privileged class. The practice of cadres favoring their relatives and securing advantageous positions for them is a concrete manifestation of this phenomenon and constitutes one of the most serious aspects of bureaucratic tendencies. Such tendencies must never be neglected; they should be continuously criticized and combated at their very outset, and allowed to fester under no circumstances.

The campaign in Sichuan to address the shortage of labor on the agricultural front was integrated with the rural “Three Antis” movement. Other provinces and regions may likewise integrate their efforts with the “Three Antis,” or they may first undertake a preliminary review of the issue of labor shortages on the agricultural front and then, subsequently, launch a more comprehensive solution in conjunction with the “Three Antis.” In any case, freeing up every possible unit of labor to strengthen agricultural production is an urgent priority at present. Immediate and vigorous action is required.

The Central Committee
August 20, 1960