China 2.3 The First Five-Year Plan

When was the Sino-Soviet Treat signed? What were its terms?

1950

10,000 Soviet advisors

>>China had to pay their high salaries and house them in guarded compounds

$300 million loan, guaranteed by much of China's bullion stocks, to be repaid with interest

28,000 Chinese technicians invited to study in Russia

How was the First Five-Year Plan financed?

Patriotic savings schemes, food requisitioning from APCs, higher taxation in cities, loans from the USSR

What happened to the population of cities during the First Five-Year Plan? What was a consequence of this?

Grew from 57 million in 1949 to 100 million by 1957

Greater urbanisation gave the CCP more control - everybody was a member of a Danwei

What was the annual growth rate during the First Five-Year Plan?

9%

What happened to industry during the First Five-Year Plan?

Industrial output grew by 15.5% each year - greater than the target of 14.7%

Heavy industry developed the most e.g. steel production quadrupled

There was a lack of consumer goods, but this meant people were more likely to invest in patriotic saving schemes

What happened to agriculture during the First Five-Year Plan?

Food production only increased by 3.8% per annum

The value of agricultural output only grew by 2.1% each year

How did urban living standards improve?

Guaranteed wages; job security

But - no freedom to travel or change job

Why did peasants suffer?

Lack of food for peasants

Food was exported to Russia to pay for advisors, and sold to cities to feed urban workers

Standards of living stayed low - little investment in improving healthcare or education

What problems did the First Five-Year Plan face?

1951-52 antis campaigns had gotten rid of experienced administrators - poor communication between industries led to bottlenecks in production

Low levels of literacy and basic skills

Competition for resources between private and state-owned enterprises?