Zhou Enlai restates the Four Modernizations as a national objective

Moscow notified Beijing that Soviet specialists would be recalled, disrupting projects, industrial schedules and technical cooperation. The split compounded an already severe economic crisis after the...

The Ninth Plenum of the Eighth Central Committee adopted a policy to rebalance the national economy after the Great Leap. It prioritized agriculture and essential consumer goods, cut excessive...

From 15 to 23 March, a central work conference discussed and adopted draft commune regulations, later known as the “Sixty Articles for Agriculture.” The revisions strengthened the production team as...

A set of nine measures sought to reduce the urban population and cut grain sales in cities. Millions of people were transferred or returned to rural areas as the state struggled to match food supply...

The large national conference assessed the economic catastrophe and called for practical correction. Liu Shaoqi’s frank acknowledgment of the crisis represented a rare moment of high-level openness....

Li Fuchun, Bo Yibo and Luo Ruiqing submitted proposals for strategic industrial construction in China’s interior, following Mao’s August 12 instruction to study how economic infrastructure could...

The 1966–1970 plan emphasized defense, self-reliance, agriculture and industry, with an important role for the Third Front. Its design reflected the deterioration of China’s relations with both...

The May 16 Circular launched a political campaign that targeted officials, intellectuals and institutions accused of revisionism. Political conflict soon disrupted schools, research, management and...

The Central Committee’s decision framed the Cultural Revolution as a mass movement to challenge alleged capitalist restoration within the Party. It empowered political mobilization but destabilized...

Radical activists declared a commune modeled on the Paris Commune after taking power from municipal authorities. The experiment raised questions about workers’ authority and political...