Third Five Year Plan 1962-65

Key thinker for the plan

Mao had stepped away from central planning after the absolute disaster of the GLF leaving Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping in charge. With the help of economic planner Chen Yun this plan was designed to end the famine and restore China.

A retreat from Mao’s policies

The production figures were brought back under central control being reviewed annually and made more realistic. The persecution of ‘rightist’ intellectuals was ended and financial incentives returned. Mao’s directive that peasants could overthrow commune leaders and dismantle their communes was taken full advantage of with most communes splitting into groups of 10 households.

Reforms in rural areas

Private farming and a free market returned in rural areas: produce could be sold at market; peasants could claim and cultivate unused land; emergency aid in the form of insecticides, fertilisers, and tools were sent; rural cadres had their power downgraded and many Maoist cadres were replaced by urban cadres; Laogais were tasked with making cooking utensils to replace the ones melted down; millions were sent from urban to rural areas to stabilise the country and fill gaps in manpower

Changes in industry

Profitability was now emphasised over input and output figures, industry began to focus on supporting agriculture by producing more farm machinery and tools, managers were given more personal control of factories and financial incentives were brought back.

The completion of 59/6

After years of reassembling destroyed Soviet plans all sped up by the new freedoms given to intellectuals with end of the anti-Rightist campaign the first atom bomb detonation was completed in China. Mao made a propaganda film to announce the achievement and the made a speech ‘thanking’ Krushchev for allowing China to develop the bomb ‘independently’

The congress of 7000 cadres

In an attempt to resit the change and shift the blame Mao called 7000 cadres to Beijing hoping Liu would back down. While Liu did suggest the plan was overall a good idea he implied the problems were caused by Mao and that the famine was a manmade disaster. Mao withdrew from public life for the next few months.

Mao’s return

In the summer of 1962 Mao returned demanding to know if China would taken the capitalist or socialist road and criticising Liu and Deng for their ideological divergence. While both men accepted these criticisms the plans continued as planned without intervention from Mao being allowed.

Successes of the third five year plan

Famine was ended by grain importation, restoration of private farming by 1965 boosted growth rates massively, Urban to rural migration stabilised the countryside, industrial output restored to 1957 levels, realistic targets introduced, technocrats given freedoms after anti-rightist campaign ended, inefficient projects were closed

Failures of third five year plan

Issues continued in some areas with Tibet purposefully not being addressed, issues of manpower as so many people died or moved to urban areas, grain levels remained fragile and imports continued until 1970s, the reforms failed to address levels of manufactured goods