Central Government’s Comments on the Northwest Bureau’s Report on Investigative Research Matters
(April 15, 1961)
To all Central Bureaus, and to the Party Committees of provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions:
We are hereby forwarding the Northwest Bureau’s report dated April 11 concerning investigative research matters.[!]


The report submitted by the Northwest Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to the central leadership states that following the Guangzhou Central Work Conference, the Bureau’s Secretariat convened a meeting to discuss the spirit of the conference’s directives and Mao Zedong’s article “On Investigative Work,” written in the spring of 1930. The meeting unanimously concluded that Mao Zedong’s speech at the Guangzhou Conference was deeply heartfelt and profoundly educational. Guided by the spirit of criticism and self-criticism, participants reviewed their work over the past few years and keenly recognized their previous neglect of investigative research, which had been carried out poorly. Strengthening this work is no longer merely a matter of theoretical discussion; it has become a practical imperative requiring concrete action. The meeting resolved that all levels of Party committees within the Northwest Bureau should prioritize investigative research as their primary task, with leading officials—especially first secretaries—taking personal charge. Cadres of the Bureau’s organs were to be dispatched in successive groups, with most members of the Secretariat and heads of various departments personally leading teams into the field. For the time being, the focus of investigative efforts will be on rural areas, while a portion of resources will also be directed toward urban investigations. The content and scale of these investigations are to be centrally coordinated according to a comprehensive plan, with specific emphases tailored to each region. Prior to deployment, cadres are to undergo rigorous training, stressing the importance of adopting a correct stance and attitude in investigative work and humbly learning from lower-level cadres and the general public. Such activities are to be closely integrated with local priorities; in rural areas, this primarily involves implementing the Central Committee’s twelve directives on current policy issues related to people’s communes and the draft regulations governing the operations of rural people’s communes. Through investigative research, the aim is to address egalitarian tendencies and other persistent problems in rural work, correctly implement Party policies, fully mobilize the enthusiasm of farmers, and secure a bountiful agricultural harvest this year.