Comments on the Report of the General Logistics Department on Further Improving Agricultural and Sideline Production in the Armed Forces
(May 7 and 14, 1966)

Comrade Lin Biao:

I have received the report from the General Logistics Department, which you sent on May 6. I believe this plan is very good. Can this report be distributed to all military regions, requesting them to convene cadres at the army and division levels to discuss it together? Their opinions should then be reported to the Military Commission, after which the Central Committee should be informed to obtain its approval before issuing appropriate directives to the entire armed forces. Please consider this at your discretion. As long as there is no world war, the army should function as a great school. Even under the conditions of a third world war...

Lin Biao was then Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, Vice Premier of the State Council, and Minister of National Defense.

[2]
This refers to the report submitted by the General Logistics Department of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China on May 2, 1966, regarding further improving agricultural and sideline production in the armed forces. The report stated that, based on the situation over the past few years, the army’s engagement in production is indeed a great undertaking with significant political and economic significance:
(1) It restores the fine traditions of our army;
(2) It can help reclaim farmland for the country;
(3) It can provide a certain amount of grain for the country;
(4) Troops engaged in full-time production can still receive some political education and military training;
(5) Production by border troops can be integrated with the development of border economies and national defense, which holds special significance. Our overall idea is this: If the army increases production efforts during the period of war preparedness and provides four to five billion jin of grain for the country within three to five years, this would be equivalent to preparing a year’s worth of military rations for approximately seven to eight million people. This is one of the material conditions for war preparedness.