T2 - Agriculture & industry (1949-65)

1950

Agrarian Reform Law

1951

Mutual Aid teams begin grouping families together

1952

Start of voluntary Agricultural Producers’ Co-operatives

1953

Start of First Five-Year Plan

Summer, 1955

• ‘Socialist High Tide’ launched

• Drive to set up ‘higher’ APC’s

December, 1955

Nationalism of all private businesses to be completed within the next 2 years

Jan, 1956

All private businesses have been nationalised

Autumn, 1956

‘Socialist High Tide’ ends - condemned as ‘rash advance’

Summer, 1957

Anti-rightist campaign launched in aftermath of Hundred Flowers Campaign

Autumn, 1957

Relaunch of ‘advance’ - new targets set & the Four Noes identified (the campaign to eradicate rats, flies, sparrows & mosquitoes)

Nov, 1957

Mao’s second visit to Moscow

Dec, 1957

Water conservancy campaign begins & new economic aims announced

Jan, 1958

Mao embarks on provincial fact-finding tour

April, 1958

First experiment in a People’s Commune launched in Henan province

May, 1958

Great Leap Forward announced at Eighth CCP Congress - Second Five-Year plan begins

August, 1958

Beidaihe meeting, Politburo approves People’s Communes

August → December, 1958

Communes established across China

Dec, 1958

Wuhan Central Committee meeting, Bumper harvest claimed

Spring, 1959

• Retreat from backyard furnaces & reduction of steel targets

• Reports reach gov. of food shortages & reality of 1958 harvest

July, 1959

• Lushan Conference called to iron out problems with communes, Peng Dehaui’s criticism of Mao & official denial of famine

• New anti-rightist campaign starts & Great Leap Forward pushes ahead

Autumn, 1959

Harvest the worst for years - 170 million tonnes of grain

Leads to a famine

July, 1960

• Soviet advisers pulled out

• Harvest even worse than 1959, 143 million tonnes

Nov, 1960

Emergency directive passed authorising dismantling of communes & return of private trade

1961

• Investigation teams reveal full scope of famine

• Retreat from commune system gathers pace

• Grain imports begin

1962

• Liu Shaoqi describes famine as ‘man-made’

• Liu & Feng begin restoring central control to economy in the Third Five-Year Plan

1964

China’s first successful atomic test carried out