Economic development

First Five Year Plan

In 1953, the People's Republic of China (PRC) established the First Five Year Plan (Zhongguo wu nian jìhua). It was a continuous project, except in 1963 when they had a hiatus until 1965 for economic adjustment.

Mao and Stalin

With the PRC's interest in the Soviet economic model, the latter assisted the country in constructing its plans upon the former's establishment. On 14 February 1950, Mao Tse-tung signed a treaty with Joseph Stalin entitled Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance.

The Soviet Union assisted the PRC financially, giving $300 million in appropriated loans and providing the country with 10,000 technical engineers. Furthermore, the First Five Year Plan was patterned after the Soviet Union's economic development model.

Though the Soviets supported China with its plans, the loans came with high interest. Moreover, in China's industrialisation, only 3% of the budget used was from the Soviets and only 45% of the planned projects were completed.

Chinese engineers receive instruction from a Soviet Russian adviser

The crafted plan was defined by its farm collectives, state ownership of small-scale to large-scale industries, and centralised decision-making as per the concept of centralism. The goal was to focus on heavy industry in order to have economic growth. Heavy industry comprised of iron manufacturing, mining, steel production and technological advancement such as innovation of machinery.

Targets of the plan:

• 90% investment in heavy industry by increasing coal, iron and steel production, and 10% in light industry.
• Greater output from electrical power stations, hence the establishment of the State Planning Commission (1952).
• Construction of 500 factories in China's interior.
• Development of a transportation network by developing canals, railways and roads.
• Women were encouraged to work in factories where they were treated equally to men, which included an equal wage.
• The innovation of 729 new essential products such as watches, bicycles and clothing.

The Yangzi River bridge in Wuhan, built during the First Five Year Plan

First Five Year Plan poster

Successes of the plan:

• Production of steel was modernised.
• One million bicycles were produced.
• By 1952, industrial production had increased by 19%, and this continued annually until 1957.
• Workers' salaries increased by 9% annually.
• In terms of demographics, the urban population grew by four million. Thus, towns and cities expanded and better housing was built.
• Development of public infrastructure such as the construction of new bridges, like the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge. Railway lines were also improved through the construction of 6,000km of new railway lines connecting inner cities to the coast.
• Abolition of private industry, which had become successful in 1956. Banks were nationalised and discriminatory tax and credit policies were used against private businessmen, pressuring them into selling their companies or engaging in joint partnerships with the state. Small-scale to medium-scale industries were merged into cooperatives.
• Investment in the modernisation of farming. Furthermore, the concept of collectivisation and cooperatives was introduced to farmers. Though it made the prices of agricultural goods low, a big increase in production was not achieved.

Failures of the plan:

• In terms of locomotive targets, only 80% were met. Regarding the shipping targets, only 30% were met.
• Production of oil was not achieved.
• Given the large investment in heavy industry, slow production was experienced in light industry.
• Workers in some parts of the country still received low wages.
• Standards of living in rural areas were low.

Railroad construction under the First Five Year Plan

A crowd of citizens push towards a government station selling rice very cheaply

The Great Leap Forward

In 1958, Mao Tse-tung called for the Great Leap Forward. The main goal of the programme was to rival western industries, specifically the UK and the US. Being an agricultural country, Mao wanted China to become a modernised nation within five years by focusing on heavy industries and usage of modern agricultural techniques.

With the success of agricultural cooperation and collectivisation, the population in the People's Republic of China (PRC) grew rapidly by 1958. Hence, Mao Tse-tung's administration saw radicalisation of agriculture as essential. In order to achieve this, the development of farm irrigation was needed and for its intensive success, communes were established.

Mao Tse-tung wanted to surpass the US and the UK in terms of economic growth. However, he saw that the momentum of communism and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had declined. Mao therefore argued that the CCP needed to follow the political will of the people and established the Great Leap Forward.

During the early onset of the Great Leap Forward, Mao saw that self-reliant communes would achieve his goals. He came up with the idea of posting propaganda posters that would help its establishment. China was forced to adopt several programmes that would make the plans possible. Aside from cooperatives and collectivisation, from 1958 until 1960, communal living was introduced.

Propaganda poster for the Great Leap Forward

Communal living

Communal Living

Mao also mobilised the peasants in the communes to work and invest in steel manufacturing through backyard steel furnaces. This was part of Mao's plan to make Chinese steel independent.

Though 90% of the peasants were able to produce steel, families were forced to meet quotas for production. Thus, some people melted their farm equipment, pans, pots and other cooking materials to produce steel. With no proper training, low-quality steel was produced.

Cooperatives and Collectives

In 1953, Mao Tse-tung produced the concept of cooperatives through the voluntary Agricultural Producers' Co-operatives (APC). It aimed to create more profit through the collaboration of poor and wealthy peasants by combining their land.

The APC was not compulsory and farmers could leave if they disliked the idea. Each APC was made up of 20-30 farmsteads and, in several cases, the whole village. In an APC, each farmer was paid by the government for the amount of work they did.

In 1954, the majority of the farmers embraced the idea of APCs due to poor harvests caused by bad weather. By 1956, there was an increase in harvest production. By 1957, 90% of the farmers were part of the initiative.

Farmlands during Mao's era

The government saw APCs as successful and became more secure in the idea of cooperatives and collectivisation. The results made Mao Tse-tung feel that the peasants were more supportive of the CCP and the government.

Communal living

A commune was an administrative division in the PRC, and was replaced by the township in 1983. Each commune was comprised of a number of farm collectives with an estimated 4,000-5,000 households. Households were organised into teams, and every team formed brigades, which, in turn, formed the commune.

Every commune had a political, military and economic unit. The main goal of every commune was to help China become a developing nation by being 'self-reliant' through cooperation.

The organisation of a commune:

• In the commune, everything was shared. Animals and tools that were privately owned were distributed to the commune for public use. Communal dining was also practised as opposed to private cooking and dining.
• Every commune also engaged in land-reclamation projects, hospitals, high schools, small factories and other industries such as steel production.
• Every member of the commune had specific tasks assigned by the commune leader.
• Military units were also established, which comprised of men aged 15 to 50.
• The teams organised farm labour. Moreover, small workshops, primary schools and childcare facilities were organised, which helped women focus on labour activities.

Commune members at commune canteens

Lysenkoism

Also part of the Great Leap Forward was the adoption of Lysenkoism, a movement developed by Trofim Lysenko, the director of the Soviet Union's Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences. It brought catastrophic results.

Propaganda poster for Chinese agriculture during Mao's time

Lysenkoism was a pseudo-scientific movement in which it was believed that farmers could cultivate 'super crops' that were 16 times more productive than normal ones by exposing seeds to damp and then planting them deep underground and close together. The results in China were disastrous. Farmers in communes planted 15 million seeds an acre rather than 1.5 million, which created seed wastage upwards of 90%.

Four Pests Campaign

The Four Pests Campaign was another action taken during the Great Leap Forward that was initiated by Mao towards the improvement of public hygiene.

The Four Pests Campaign listed four pests, namely rats, flies, mosquitoes and sparrows, that were to be exterminated for spreading diseases such as malaria, plague and typhoid. The sparrow was on the list for consuming rice and seeds from fields.

Four Pests Campaign posters

Four Pests

1. Mosquitoes

2. Flies

3. Sparrows

4. Rats

Peng Dehuai

Purge of Peng Dehuai

From July to August 1959, a conference was held at Mount Lu in Jiangxi Province. Known as the Lushan Conference, it was comprised of the top officials of the Chinese Communist Party. The main goal of the conference was to discuss the impact of the Great Leap Forward.

Purge of Peng Dehuai

Prior to the meeting, Marshal Peng Dehuai, China's defence minister, sent a letter to Mao Tse-tung criticising the Great Leap Forward. Seen as an affront, Mao attacked Peng at the conference, suggesting he was a right opportunist. Moreover, Peng was accused of forming a group to commit treachery against the government.

Consequently, on 30 July, Peng was fired as the defence minister and was replaced by Lin Biao. His supporters were also purged from the government.