China 2 Econ

• Agrarian Land Reform


  Begun 1949, law 1950. Different situations in north & south. 1-2 million landlords executed after struggle meetings. 88% of households involved, 43% land redistributed to 60% of population, 1950-52 agricultural production up 15% pa
• Mutual Aid Teams (MATS)


  10 households. Peasants pooled tools, labour, ploughs & animals. Often family groups. Formalised existing arrangements. 1952 40% in MATS
• Agricultural Producers Co-operatives (APCs)

  30-50 households. Voluntary. Land managed as a single unit. Peasants compensated (points system) for land, labour & tools in money or grain. 14% joined and only 16.9million out of 110million in APCs by 1955. Production only 2% pa. Some resistance from richer peasants
• Higher APCs


  200-300 households. 96% in APCs by Dec 1956, 88% in higher-APCs. Compensation for labour, not land or equipment
• Communes


  Mass participation, c5000 households. 740,000 APCS → 26,000 communes (99% of population). Combined agricultural & industrial production (Walking on two legs). Mess halls, dormitories, creches, schools, 'happiness homes'. Work paid in points. Destroyed family life. 4 pests (sparrows, rats, flies, mosquitos) = plague of caterpillars. Lysenkoism official policy. Agricultural production fell. Cadres lied about meeting targets. FAMINE
• First 5 Year Plan 1952-56


  Focus heavy industry. Aim = self-sufficiency. Successes: 16% growth pa, industrial production up 15.5% pa, HI tripled, geological exploitation of minerals, working class grew from 6million to 10 million, standard of living for workers, end to private industry, CCP control. Failures; dependent on loans from USSR, agriculture only grew 2.1% pa, consumer goods, experience, health & education not prioritised
• Second 5 Year Plan 1958-62 - The Great Leap Forward


  Mass Participation & 'Walking on Two Legs'. Successes: irrigation schemes, Tiananmen Square, 3 Gorges Dam, Ideologically Socialist system. Failures: closure of factories, Backyard Furnaces (useless steel, loss of agricultural implements & household items). Industrial production fell 40%, loss of Soviet experts
• Famine - 1959-62-30 million died. Cannibalism, prostitution to survive, made worse by typhoons & droughts. Peng Dehuai raised concerns at Lushun Conference July 1959. Exiled. MISSED OPPORTUNITY
• Pragmatism 1962-65


  Mao resigned as President (NOT CHAIRMAN) 1958. Liu Shaoqi= Head of State. 1962 - Liu admitted famine = man-made
• Third 5 Year Plan

  Designed by Chen Yun. Promotion of experts, reduced role of low-level cadres. Communes scaled back, private plots & markets allowed, aid sent from cities (insecticides, fertilisers, small farm tools). 1965 production back to 1957 levels. Profitability emphasised in industry, production used to support agriculture. Light industry grew 27% pa. Heavy industry grew 17% pa. Consumer goods = double 1957 level
• Communes took off after newspapers quoted Mao saying "The People's Commune Is Great" - he may have read this from a sign in a field, but it was printed as his view. The first commune was named 'Sputnik' after the Russian satellite
• The 1st 5 Year Plan produced more than double the number of bicycles targeted