Telegram on the Forty-Third Anniversary [1]
(November 6, 1960)
To Comrade Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR,
and to Comrade Leonid Brezhnev, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR:

On the occasion of the forty-third anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, on behalf of the Chinese people, the Communist Party of China, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China, we extend to you—and through you to the great Soviet people, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and the Government of the USSR—our warmest fraternal congratulations.

The October Socialist Revolution was one of the greatest and most thorough revolutions in human history. It ushered in a new epoch in which humanity began its transition from capitalism to socialism and communism. Over the past forty-three years, the world situation has undergone profound changes. Socialism has triumphed in regions that account for more than one-third of the world’s population and one-quarter of its land area. Today, the socialist camp led by the Soviet Union is stronger than ever before; national liberation movements are surging in colonial and semi-colonial countries; and the struggle of peoples everywhere for peace, democracy, and socialism is flourishing. Meanwhile, the imperialist forces of aggression headed by the United States find themselves more isolated than at any time in history, and the prospects for world peace and human progress have never been brighter than they are today. History has already demonstrated, and will continue to demonstrate, that the path of the October Revolution is the common road for the proletariat and working people of the world toward complete liberation and ultimate victory over capitalism—toward socialism and communism. The broad unity of all peace-loving forces worldwide, centered on the socialist camp, together with their unwavering struggle, constitutes a powerful guarantee for defeating the forces of imperialist aggression and securing lasting peace throughout the globe.

Under the leadership of the glorious Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the great Soviet people have achieved tremendous successes: they have successfully implemented the Seven-Year Plan for the comprehensive development of communist construction, and they have made outstanding contributions to promoting peaceful coexistence among states with different social systems and to safeguarding world peace. The Chinese people are genuinely delighted by these momentous achievements of our fraternal Soviet comrades. We shall continue to advance hand in hand with the Soviet people in our common cause of building socialism and communism, opposing imperialist aggression, and defending world peace.

Guided by the general line of the Communist Party of China for socialist construction, the Chinese people are transforming the face of their country. Throughout this process, we have received fraternal assistance from the Soviet people and the Soviet government. For this invaluable support, we express our heartfelt gratitude.

The great friendship and solidarity between the peoples of China and the Soviet Union, founded upon Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism, serve the highest interests of both nations and of all peace-loving peoples around the world. This rock-solid friendship and unity cannot be undermined by any force. All past attempts by imperialism and its lackeys to disrupt this bond have failed, and they will continue to fail now and in the future. The Chinese people will, as always, devote all their strength to further strengthening the unity of the two peoples and to consolidating the solidarity of the socialist camp under the leadership of the Soviet Union.

We wish the great Soviet people ever greater successes in their struggle to build communism and to defend world peace.

Long live the Great October Socialist Revolution!
Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
Liu Shaoqi, President of the People’s Republic of China
Zhu De, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China
Zhou Enlai, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China
Beijing, November 6, 1960

On November 8, 1960, Mao Zedong met with foreign journalists in Beijing.

Archival photo: November 1960—Mao Zedong with a Brazilian journalist visiting China.