To what extent was the Chinese economy modernised by the First Five Year Plan and the Great Leap Forward? 1952-1962 (30)
The Chinese economy in the years 1952-1962 aimed to modernise according to communist ideals. During this period the economy modernised to a significant extent, however consequences followed which hindered the social welfare of China. Modernisation was devised through adopting Western policies in order to improve the use of machinery and materials to enhance the position of agriculture, which would provide the growing work force with sufficient supplies. Mao desired an independent China which was self-sustainable without International support e.g. from the USSR and to minimise foreign economic interactions. Once the economy was established in 1952, Mao initiated his expansion of heavy industry through the First Five Year Plan and the Great Leap Forward.
The First Five Year Plan (1952-57) was launched and resulted in 9% economic growth between 1953 and 1957, which was comparable with the Soviet Union’s performance in the 1930s. Agriculture and mass collectivization of peasants, who dominated 80% of the Chinese population in 1949, were targeted in order to form a socialist society. The Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance signed with Russia in 1949 supplied China with the money and technical assistance to modernise her industry. Though the money received from Russia was minimal ($300 million over five years), Russia did provide 10,000 engineers to boost China’s industry and therefore her economy. This aid was used to improve productivity in agriculture to feed China’s expanding population, which had doubled between 1949-1957. Once the CCP had established power in 1953, Mao began enforcing his Marxist theory to alter agriculture and begin transitioning China over a period of 15 years prior to becoming a socialist state. Mao implemented collectivisation in to agriculture and state controlled farming, which was a radical change from the former agrarian methods. 2,500 Communes were formed each with an estimated 5,000 families, organised into ‘brigades’ of about 200 families. This meant land, labour and income was shared which resulted in more land for production enabling new machinery to be purchased in anticipation for economic growth. However the amount of land owned represented the amount of profit the peasants received, thus wealthier peasants received higher income enabling them to maintain their wealth which hindered economic growth. Although Mao showed incentive to follow a Five Year Plan his role as a leader limited economic growth as his directions were disordered and his aspirations for China exceeded its capabilities. Despite cadres being assigned, meaning officials sent to the communes to survey the co-operation, many co-operatives were poorly organised which led to debt, the opposite of economic growth. In 1955 APCs were radicalised and a new tactic of profits being dependant on ‘labour share’ instead of ‘land share’. As a result wealthier peasants lost profits, however they were forced to comply due to the minority of 14% of peasants voluntarily joining communes by 1955. By 1956 63% of the peasant population were now members of an APC. Thus Modernisation occurred to a great extent due to agricultural changes within the FYP as socialist collectivisation was achieved, which was viewed as modernisation by Mao.
Heavy Industry was a main priority of the FYP as an increase in the means of production meant agriculture, light industry, as well as heavy industry obtain new technology and equipment. As a result of new technology and equipment the national defence could be strengthened and the development of the entire national economy be expedited, thus modernised. Alongside the aid from Russia, Mao limited the supply of consumer goods, meaning peasants and workers spent less money, in order to extend the money available to be spent on industry. Additionally ‘Government quotas’ took proportions of food and sold it to the urban population at supposedly low prices in order to decrease ‘labour share’ meaning worker’s wages could remain low, once again giving access to more money to spend on industry. During 1952-1957 most industrial goals had been met or exceeded for example the gross industrial output in 1952 was 58,560 which has increased to 65,020 in 1957. However these figures are unreliable as they were often inflated to avoid punishment from government officials and Mao. Despite this the industrial growth meant economic growth therefore the FYP was successful in expanding the economic growth of China.
The Great Leap Forwards 1958 was focused on decentralising control to party cadres of peasants to extend modernisation in agriculture. This was aimed to wholly convert China from a communist state to a socialist one. Mao’s belief in Lysenkoism in reference to the cientis Trofim Lysenko, a Soviet agricultural expert who in 1958 drafted an eight-point agricultural ‘constitution’ for China, which every farmer had to follow, was adopted into the communes. These modern practices contradicted the previous methods used by the peasants meaning they were left to their own devices. Consequently production yield decreased for example from 1958-60, grain production fell from 200-143m tonnes, meat production from 4-1m tonnes, yet officials still reported increases in production contributing to the un-reliability in the figures to calculate the economic growth. ‘Three Bitter Years’ followed this decline in production as widespread famine occurred killing an estimated 30million Chinese citizens. This is an example of the poor co-ordination ordered by Mao causing the GLP to hinder the economic growth.
Furthermore the peasants were working on enthusiasm as opposed to experience. ‘Backyard furnaces’ were used to melt iron and steel with the attitude of quantity over quality. During this time the USSR withdrew their aid in 1960 as suspicion arose surrounding China’s growing independence. Considering China was using the USSR as a model to follow, they now lacked materials, technology and expertise required to strive in their goal toward economic growth. Moreover no changes were made as 14% of steel during 1958 was produced in backyard furnaces conveying this as a success. However the amount of ‘quality’ steel acceptable was I a minority to the amount sent to scrap heaps meaning the target 0f 60 million tonnes in 962 were not met. By evaluating these issues the GLF can be considered a fail towards economic growth. It was a corrupt system that wasted materials, time and labour which could have potentially been successful if Mao had not been too ambitious. Steel production was a dominant indication of the modernisation of the economy meaning the inability to produce surplus amounts portrayed the small- scale modernisation of the economy during the GLF.
To conclude China’s economy had modernised to a great extent. This was mainly due to the first FYP (1952-957) which brought significant industrial progress. Consequently the GLF’s lack of success caused detrimental effects for the lives of Chinese citizens as famine occurred. Therefore although the economy modernised substantially other social issues occurred due to the unrealistic aims declared by Mao.