Comment on the Report on the Spirit of the Beidaihe Conference [1]
(September 15, 1960)

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

The report from Anhui [2] is very well written and is hereby issued for your study.

The Central Committee
September 15, 1960

After reading by Liu, Deng, and Zhou [3], issue immediately.

Mao
Chuan

[1] Refers to the Central Committee Work Conference held at Beidaihe from July 5 to August 10, 1960.

[2] Refers to the report submitted by the Anhui Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China to the Central Committee and Mao Zedong on September 7, 1960, concerning the transmission of the spirit of the Beidaihe Conference. The report states: In view of the current intense agricultural production, our province has decided to hold meetings in three batches to convey the spirit of the Beidaihe Conference. The first batch has already conveyed the spirit to cadres at the county and regiment level and above. Through discussion, the participating cadres reached a common understanding regarding the divergences and struggle between our Party and Khrushchev. (1) On the nature of the struggle. Everyone unanimously holds that the struggle between our Party and Khrushchev is a struggle between the correct line of Marxism-Leninism and the erroneous line of opportunism; the struggle against revisionism is, in essence, also a struggle between two roads. This struggle concerns the questions of whether Marxism-Leninism is necessary, whether socialism and communism are necessary, and whether the victory of the colonial liberation struggles is necessary; therefore, it must be fought through to the end. (2) On the future prospects of the struggle. The meeting discussed the protracted, arduous, and complex nature of this struggle, and held that any impetuous sentiment is harmful. However, everyone firmly believes that truth is on our side. Although we are currently in the minority in form, with the passage of time, we will inevitably unite the majority and achieve final victory. The parties of all countries will also inevitably be tempered and elevated in this struggle. (3) On the principles and methods of the struggle. Everyone unanimously supports the Central Committee and Mao Zedong’s approach of handling the struggle against Khrushchev as a contradiction among the people, proceeding from unity and achieving the goal of unity through appropriate criticism. Everyone holds that in the struggle, attention must be paid to tactics, ensuring it is justified, advantageous, and restrained; only in this way can the masses be educated, the majority won over, and revisionism isolated. (4) On our responsibilities. Everyone unanimously holds that domestic work must be done in a down-to-earth manner, as the resolution of international issues depends on doing domestic work well. To defeat revisionism, reliance must be placed on both politics and economics; therefore, our responsibility is to rouse ourselves for vigorous efforts, rely on our own strength, and accelerate our country’s socialist construction. On the basis of heightened understanding, the meeting studied and arranged current work. It held that at present, it is necessary to further launch a campaign to increase production and practice economy centered on grain and steel, ensuring the fulfillment and overfulfillment of this year’s production targets for grain, oil, cotton, coal, iron, and steel. To this end, all cadres and labor power that can be spared must be drawn upon to strengthen the front line of production, and work methods must be further improved. Government organs should have 2/4 of their cadres working at fixed points in production teams and workshops; 1/4 of their cadres sent to the countryside for itinerant inspection; and 1/4 of their cadres persisting in office work.

[3] Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi. Deng refers to Deng Xiaoping, then General Secretary of the Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council. Zhou refers to Zhou Enlai.