Chapter 27 Treat private industry and commerce differently and treat them equally[1]

(May 25, 1950) Today's capitalist industry and commerce are necessary and beneficial to society.There is a reason why private industry and commerce should all take the wings of the government, because they have adapted to the needs of the people and improved the lives of workers.Of course, it is necessary for capitalists to take part of the profits.Private industry and commerce will exist for a long time, and we cannot implement socialism soon.When will it be necessary to attack in an all-round way and eliminate the part of the capitalists? According to the example of the Soviet Union, the time will be very long.They started collectivization in 1929 to eliminate the kulak economy, and then they made it fast, so in 1930 Stalin wrote an article "Dizzy with Victory"[2].So be careful.Now we have a vast number of state-owned industries and businesses, and we need to run these enterprises well.Be different and treat everyone equally.What is different is that the state-owned enterprises occupy the leading position and are progressive. It is impossible to reverse the position, because private industry and commerce are relatively backward. This must be publicly stated. I have said this to several capitalists.Others generally should be treated equally, and some can only be done gradually, such as acquisition, purchase, export and market.The wage issue will also have to be resolved in the future.In private factories, too, there can be model workers and labor heroes, and there should be competition in production.Generally speaking, this policy is beneficial to the country and the people, and this benefit exceeds the interests of capitalists.The issue of layoffs and unemployment benefits should be the same, and should be treated equally, or as Comrade Chen Yun[3] said, "regardless of thickness".This spirit already exists in Article 26[4] of the "Common Program", that is, overall consideration.

Published based on the transcript of the speech kept by the Central Archives. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] This is Mao Zedong's speech at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. [2] See "Stalin Selected Works" Volume II (People's Publishing House, 1979 edition), pp. 238-244. [3] Chen Yun (1905-1995), a native of Qingpu, Jiangsu (now part of Shanghai).At that time, he served as the vice premier of the State Council and director of the Finance and Economic Committee.

[4] Article 26 of the "Common Program of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference" adopted by the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on September 29, 1949 states: "The fundamentals of the economic construction of the People's Republic of China The policy is to achieve the goal of developing production and prospering the economy by taking into account both public and private interests, benefiting both labor and capital, mutual assistance between urban and rural areas, and internal and external exchanges."