Agriculture and Industry - The First Five Year Plan

Question 1

Why did Mao launch the First Five Year Plan?

Answer 1

• Saw success of Soviet plans under Stalin in the 1930’s
• “Soviet Union is our best teacher and we must learn from it“
• Mao hoped to develop into a modern industrial superpower
• Soviet Union was China’s only key economic partner

Question 2

How did the Soviet Union support China’s first five year plan?

Answer 2

• Mutual Assistance treaty of 1950
• Construction of 156 major industrial enterprises
• 11,000 Soviet and European industrial experts helped design, train and construct
• 28,000 Chinese technicians to study in Russia
• $300 million loan over 5 years

Question 3

What were the targets of the first five year plan?

Answer 3

• High rate of growth in heavy industry
• Investment in technology
• Construction of modern industrial plants
• Self sufficiency
• High grain procurement
• Transformation into a Socialist society

Question 4

What were the successes of the first five year plan?

Answer 4

• Industrial output grew by 15.5% per year
• Heavy industry output tripled
• Industrial working class grew to 10 million
• By 1956, private sector industry abolished
• Standards of living of industrial workers improved as they had job security
• Greater urbanisation heightened CCP control

Question 5

What were the failures of the first five year plan?

Answer 5

• Dependent on loans from Soviet Union with high interest rates, farmers forced to sell crops at low prices
• Growth in agricultural output declined to 2.1% per year from an average of 14%
• Low supply of consumer goods
• Chinese management lacked organisation and experience, lack of co-operation between industries led to bottlenecks in production
• Little investment in healthcare and education kept peasants standard of living low

Question 6

Conclusion of First Five Year Plan

Answer 6

• Great success for the CCP as urbanisation increased their power over the people
• In cities, living standards improved but loss of personal freedoms
• Increased tension between China and the USSR due to the high costs from supposed ‘ally’
• Peasants suffered as food prices kept low and large amounts of grain requisitioning