Committee’s draft directive forwarding the Central Financial and Economic Leading Group’s report, wrote a letter requesting Li Fuchun to review it and then immediately forward it to Mao Zedong for approval. The letter stated that the first part of the Financial and Economic Leading Group’s report had already been reviewed by the Chairman while he was in Beijing, and that at the May Day meeting of the Political Bureau Standing Committee, the Chairman had expressed his agreement with its policy orientation. This expanded meeting of the Political Bureau Standing Committee was convened precisely in line with that policy. If the Chairman had time, he hoped to arrange for Comrade Li Fuchun (who was then in Shanghai) to travel to Hangzhou to report to him in person. Should the Chairman approve the document, he requested that Tian Jiaying or Lin Ke inform Yang Shangkun by telephone so that arrangements could be made.

--- Notes

Comments on the Draft Directive of the CPC Central Committee Forwarding the Report of the Central Financial and Economic Leading Group Concerning Discussion of the 1962 Adjustment Plan [1] (May 24, 1962) Return to the Premier; proceed accordingly [3]. Mao Zedong, May 24. Printed from the manuscript. Notes [1] The Central Financial and Economic Leading Group’s report of April 30, 1962, on the discussion of the 1962 adjustment plan stated that the plan adjustment proposal submitted by the State Planning Commission focused on the following four points: (1) To squeeze out as much material as possible to increase the production of means of production needed for agriculture. (2) To allocate as many raw materials, materials, and fuels as possible to expand the output of consumer goods. (3) In accordance with the principle of giving priority to agriculture, light industry, and heavy industry, and based on actual possibilities, to lower the targets for the vast majority of heavy industrial products by between 5 percent and 20 percent compared with the original plan. (4) To further reduce the scale of capital construction, bringing the workload down from the originally planned 6.07 billion yuan to 4.6 billion yuan. As a result of these adjustments, the total output value of industry and agriculture in 1962 was reduced from the originally planned 14 billion yuan to 13 billion yuan; the total industrial output value fell from 95 billion yuan to 80 billion yuan, of which the total output value of means of production decreased from 55 billion yuan to 47 billion yuan, while that of consumer goods rose from 40 billion yuan to 41 billion yuan; and the total agricultural output value dropped from 45 billion yuan


to 42 billion yuan. The agricultural output value was basically estimated on the basis of the major targets set by the Central Committee on February 16, namely 255 million piculs of grain and 20.63 million dan of cotton. However, the latest figures reported from various localities for grain and cotton are all lower than those targets. Whether this year’s agricultural output value can actually reach 42 billion yuan will depend on the progress of spring plowing, the summer harvest, and inter-tillage operations, only then can a more accurate estimate be made. [2] The CPC Central Committee’s directive of May 1962 forwarding the Central Financial and Economic Leading Group’s report stated that the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau had convened a central working conference from May 7 to 11 to discuss the report submitted by the Central Financial and Economic Leading Group on the 1962 adjustment plan. The Central Committee fully endorsed the report and decided: the spirit and policies of this meeting should be communicated orally among first secretaries of county Party committees and cadres at or above that level; first secretaries of prefectural Party committees and cadres at or above that level were to go to provincial Party committees and relevant central ministries and commissions to read the Central Financial and Economic Leading Group’s written report. The scope of dissemination and reading within the armed forces was to be determined by the General Political Department in accordance with these provisions. The Central Committee considered that the report of the Central Financial and Economic Leading Group provided a relatively comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the current important situation of the national economy. We have, in general terms, gained a clear understanding of the severity of our financial and economic difficulties and of the pace at which they can be overcome. However, certain specific difficulties remain unclear, and there may still be unforeseen challenges ahead. In order to restore agricultural production as quickly as possible and gradually overcome these difficulties, the two main tasks before the entire Party at present are: first, resolutely shorten the front of industrial production and construction and drastically reduce the number of workers and the urban population; and second, strengthen the leadership of production teams in rural people’s communes, intensify support from all sectors—especially industry—for agricultural production, and consolidate the collective economy in the countryside. From the central level down to the local levels, the main leadership forces should be divided into two groups under unified leadership, with one group responsible for streamlining work and the other for rural affairs. The Central Committee’s directive and the Central Financial and Economic Leading Group’s report on the 1962 adjustment plan were issued by the CPC Central Committee on May 26, 1962, in Document Zhongfa [62] No. 254, addressed to the Party leadership groups of all ministries and commissions and to the provincial, municipal, and regional Party committees. [3] On May 19, 1962, Premier Zhou Enlai, when submitting the CPC Central