Annotations on a Letter Regarding Different Purchase Prices
(May 25, 1975)
This document[1] is to be printed and distributed for study by all comrades of the Central Committee.
This matter is very complicated to carry out and should be piloted in several communes. Rich teams may be unhappy. There are poor households in rich teams, and rich households in poor teams. Let’s see how the results turn out before deciding further.
Comrade Xiannian[2] is requested to take charge of handling this.
Mao Zedong
1975.5.25
[1] Refers to a letter dated May 22, 1975, from Bai Yuntao, a staff officer of the Political Department of the 38th Army of the People’s Liberation Army, to Mao Zedong. The letter stated that at present, when the state purchases the same types of grain from collective ownership units, it does not fully take into account differing conditions such as natural circumstances and labor productivity, but uniformly purchases at the same price. This constitutes a bourgeois right that is formally equal but actually unequal. It is a major cause of the unbalanced development of agriculture in our country. I propose that the current uniform purchase price implemented by the state be changed, that is, to adopt different purchase prices based on good or poor natural conditions and the level of labor productivity—appropriately lower prices for those with good conditions and appropriately higher prices for those with poor conditions. After adjusting prices, on the one hand, it can promote the all-round development of agricultural production; on the other hand, it is also conducive to narrowing the disparities between rural communes and brigades, as well as the differences between workers and peasants, and between urban and rural areas, thereby accelerating the pace of transition from collective ownership to ownership by the whole people. At the same time, it can also economically restrict the emergence and development of small producers. This letter and Mao Zedong’s annotation were distributed as documents for the Rural Work Symposium convened by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China from September 23 to October 21, 1975.

Complete Works of Mao Zedong
Volume 52
[2] Xiannian refers to Li Xiannian, who was then a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Vice Premier of the State Council. In accordance with the spirit of Mao Zedong’s instruction, he organized an investigation team from the State Council to conduct surveys in Shanxi, Hebei, and other places. In September, he also heard reports from the investigation team and convened several symposiums for discussion and study. Finally, the investigation team submitted a written report to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The report stated that Comrade Bai Yuntao’s suggestion to differentiate between poor teams and rich teams by implementing two kinds of purchase prices was actually not feasible. Because rich teams would produce vigorously but receive low prices, while poor teams with poor production would receive high prices, this would dampen the peasants’ enthusiasm for production and politically create antagonism among the peasants. Moreover, the reasons for the formation of poor teams and rich teams are not entirely due to different natural conditions; subjective human effort also plays a significant role. Production conditions can be changed. If two kinds of prices were implemented for agricultural products produced by different production teams, it would in effect be “whipping the fast ox,” and it would also be difficult to operate in specific work, because commodities can flow between teams, making it hard for state purchasing stations to differentiate treatment.


In June 1975, Mao Zedong met with Philippine President Marcos and his wife.
In June 1975, Marcos and his wife came to China to pay a visit to Mao Zedong.