The state of China's industry, agriculture and national infrastructure

Immediate SOCIAL
How was the food supply impacted by the war? (2)

-During the war Henan had suffered a famine that took between 2 to 3 million lives
-Wartime food requisitioning became necessary and continued after 1949 to deal with the size of the PLA and growth of urban populations, 20% of the population lived in cities that depended on surpluses from the countryside but the countryside could not feed itself

Immediate ECONOMIC
How was China's Finances impacted by the war?

-Sources of revenue were reduced so the GMD paid for the war by borrowing and printing money which caused inflation by 1945
-In 1949 the inflation rate stood at 1,000% which was made worse by Chiang taking China's foreign currency reserves with him when he fled to Taiwan

Long-term ECONOMIC/SOCIAL
How was China's agriculture affected in the long term?

-Farming techniques were not industrialised
-Farmers had been hit by the steep drop in food prices during the Great Depression because the government normally exported food to earn foreign currency and world trade slumped for several years after 1931
-Only 15% of the land in China was cultivatable so it was difficult to expand agricultural output

Immediate ECONOMIC
How was China's industrial output impacted by the war?

-The Japanese seized the most productive areas as they advanced southwards
-Japanese bombing raids caused serious damage to Chinese Industries
-Productive capacity fell due to scorched-earth tactics of the retreating Nationalist forces
-By the time the Japanese were defeated in 1945, China's Industrial output stood at only 25% of its pre-war level
-The Russians has declared war on Japan shortly before the Japanese surrendered and they seized many of Manchuria's industrial assets before they left

Immediate SOCIAL
How was the food supply impacted by the war? (1)

-Critical in 1949
-Disruption in agriculture due to the conscription of peasants to fight in the rival armies and displacement of thousands of people fleeing inland to escape the Japanese in the east
-Food production in 1945 was estimated to be 30% lower than it had been at the start of the war in 1937

Long-term SOCIAL
How was China's population impacted after the war?

-By 1949 more people were moving to the cities so the demand for food increased
-The total population was growing annually
>531 million in 1949
>563 million in 1951
>587 million by 1953

Long-term ECONOMIC
What had revolution had China not experienced and why?

-China had not yet experienced an industrial revolution in the same way as Europe in the 19th century
-Low labour costs in China made it less urgent to invent labour-saving machinery and poor communications infrastructure and technical knowledge
-The most advanced industrial areas lay in Manchuria, in the Yangtze delta and long the eastern seaboard, but Manchuria had been in Japan's hands since 1931

Long-term ECONOMIC
What did Chiang Kai-shek do to improve industry?

-The loss of Manchuria prompted Chiang Kai-shek to set up the National resources committee (NRC) in 1932 in order to channel investment into industries elsewhere
-By 1945 some 70% of the industry was state-owned and the NRC had a staff of 30,000 technical experts. They supervised a workforce of 250,000 and remained nationalised after 1949
-Despite this Industrial development was still hampered by long-term under investment and under skilled work force

Long-term COMMUNICATION
How was China's communication during 1949 and after?

-In 1949, only Manchuria and the population centres of the east coast and lower Yangtze had transport and communications systems in place
-Mao installed a state radio station in Beijing and got it broadcasting in 1949 but the communications infrastructure still needed more economic modernisation