The National People’s Congress approves the First Five-Year Plan

Mao articulated a line for gradual transition toward socialism, linking industrialization to the transformation of agriculture, handicrafts and private industry. This marked a shift from the Common...

A central resolution endorsed the development of agricultural production cooperatives, moving beyond temporary mutual-aid teams. Cooperative farming was promoted as a means to pool labor and tools,...

A State Council order established planned procurement and planned supply of grain. The policy helped feed cities, build reserves and supply expanding industry, but it also gave the state stronger...

The Constitution established the institutions of the new republic and recognized state, cooperative, individual and capitalist economic forms within a transition toward socialism. It gave legal form...

The currency reform replaced the early renminbi at a ratio of 10,000 old yuan to one new yuan. The change simplified accounting after the postwar inflationary period and supported national fiscal...

The Party called for a faster expansion of agricultural producer cooperatives. The move came as leaders sought to mobilize rural resources for industrial growth and to reduce the risks of individual...

Mao’s speech considered the balance between heavy and light industry, coastal and inland investment, central and local authority, and state, collective and individual initiative. It acknowledged the...

The Congress declared that socialist transformation of ownership was largely complete and made the development of productive forces a central task. It recognized the tension between an advanced...

By year’s end, private industry and commerce had largely been reorganized into state-private or collective forms. The rapid transition expanded state influence over investment, employment and...

Mao’s speech on contradictions among the people invited criticism and debate, partly in response to concerns about bureaucratism and the relationship between party and society. Intellectuals,...