Shanghai Investigation and Rectification | Looking Back at Shanghai Research, Work Conference on "Improving Product Quality" and "Satisfying Industry" | Issues | Products

In 1961, Mao Zedong delivered several speeches at the Ninth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Work Conference held in preparation for this plenary session, calling on the entire party to "vigorously promote the trend of investigation and research", and calling for 1961 to become the year of seeking truth from facts and investigation and research.

On March 23, 1961, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a letter to various central bureaus, provincial, municipal, and district party committees regarding the serious investigation work, accompanied by Mao Zedong's article "On Investigation Work" written in 1930. The letter emphasizes that in-depth investigation and research is the primary task of leadership work.

From January 14 to 18, 1961, the CPC held the Ninth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee in Beijing. The picture shows Mao Zedong giving a speech at the meeting.

Leaders of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China conduct research in Shanghai

Mao Zedong and other leaders of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China acted by example, organizing investigation teams or personally conducting in-depth investigations and research. Zhu De and Chen Yun later went to Shanghai for investigation and research.

During his research in Shanghai in January 1961, Zhu De listened to Vice Mayor Cao Diqiu's report on his work and visited and inspected the Longhua Nursery and the exhibition of light industrial products. Through research, Zhu De proposed in his report to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Mao Zedong on January 30th that the biggest problem in Shanghai's industrial production currently is "insufficient food". Especially in the textile industry, the production task only accounts for 50% of the production capacity. More than 30% of the production capacity in other light industries cannot be utilized.

The report proposes that in order to ensure that Shanghai's industry is fully fed, relying solely on domestic supply of raw materials is not enough in the short term. It is necessary to simultaneously implement the policy of "feeding in and feeding out" - striving to import more raw materials, process them into finished or semi-finished products, and then export them. The report also points out that based on Shanghai's experience, any industrial sector that is unable to eat enough and has the conditions to manufacture export goods can follow Shanghai's approach. In short, we need to find ways to make the machine start and use it to the best of our abilities.

From June 27th to July 11th, Chen Yun conducted a 15 day investigation and research at Xiaozheng Commune in Qingpu County, Shanghai, mainly to understand whether it is good to raise sows for public or private use, how to arrange agricultural species and plants, whether private plots need to be expanded, whether compensation and compensation are thorough, as well as rural commercial, social and handicraft industries, grain contract production indicators and procurement tasks, as well as the work style of cadres and public supervision.

Before departure, Chen Yun invited economist Xue Muqiao, Dean of the Jiangsu Branch of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Gu Fusheng, leaders who have been engaged in trade union work for a long time, and representatives of farmers who have been in long-term contact with him to form an "advance team" to first investigate. A week later, Chen Yun led his team to conduct research. In order to obtain first-hand information, food and accommodation were all at the homes of farmers. At the same time, he listened to reports from community cadres, reviewed past information, and visited farmers' homes to inspect collective pig farms, public canteens, factories, supply and marketing cooperatives, warehouses, and held small symposiums to study each problem one by one.

Chen Yun has held 10 thematic symposiums successively. In the survey, it was proposed that increasing the proportion of private plots will never shake the economic foundation of socialism. In the current situation that farmers are short of rations, what farmers care most is not "socialism or capitalism", but "eating or eating Congee". Allowing more self owned land can provide farmers with more food, which is beneficial for consolidating the alliance between workers and peasants and the socialist system, and is a necessary supplement to the socialist economy.

Chen Yun took a photo with the cadres of Xiaozheng Commune in Qingpu County, Shanghai during a rural investigation

In the research, Chen Yun focused on comprehensive, comparative, and repeated research on three issues: private breeding of sows, crop planting arrangements, and self cultivation land. He wrote three survey reports: "Sows should also be delegated to farmers for private breeding", "Planting double cropping rice is not as good as planting fava beans and single cropping rice", and "Keeping sufficient self cultivation land according to central regulations".

In the survey report "Sows should also be delegated to farmers for private breeding", Chen Yun made a comprehensive comparison between public and private breeding of sows and concluded that public and private breeding of sows have completely different enthusiasm from farmers, and have a significant impact on the recovery and development of agricultural production. "To quickly recover and develop the pig farming industry, it is necessary to produce more seedlings; to produce more seedlings, it is necessary to delegate sows to members for private breeding. This is a key factor in whether the pig farming industry can quickly recover and develop in the future." Chen Yun's research has had a positive impact on implementing and adjusting rural policies, mobilizing farmers' enthusiasm, and solving agricultural difficulties.

During the investigation, Shanghai was an important industrial base in China at that time. More than ten national ministries and commissions, including the Central Organization Department, the Ministry of First Machinery Industry, the Ministry of Agricultural Machinery, the Ministry of Textile Industry, and the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry, conducted investigations in Shanghai by visiting Shanghai Machine Tool Factory, Shanghai Electric Motor Factory, Shanghai Steam Turbine Factory, Shanghai Diesel Engine Factory, and National Cotton First and Second Factories.

The picture shows the production of Happiness brand motorcycles in batches in Shanghai in 1961.

Conduct investigations, learn, research, and improve at the same time

At the same time, Shanghai actively responded to the call of the central government and conducted extensive investigations and research throughout the city. The party and government officials of the city adopt a centralized approach of carrying out key research at the grassroots level by covering their backs for a period of time. Chen Pixian, the second secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, led a working group to work at Zhujiajiao Commune in Qingpu County in early June. During the investigation, Chen Pixian found that the "10000 head pig farm" in Zhujiajiao Commune was not well managed and should be transferred to private breeding. He assisted the community team in planning their own plots of land, leaving enough feed fields to prepare for the implementation of "private farming as the main focus".

All systems and districts in the city have also organized working groups led by major leaders to conduct research in factories and rural areas. On the industrial production line, the Industrial Work Department of the Municipal Party Committee organized four investigation teams to conduct in-depth investigations at the Nanyang Electric Motor Factory, Shanghai Chemical Factory, First Automobile Accessories Factory, and Chengfu Iron Factory; Four bureaus, including Machinery, Electric Machinery, Electric Power, and Chemical Industry, selected 87 cadres and formed 20 investigation teams to conduct research in 20 factories, covering more than 10 topics such as planning management, material supply, product quality, technological revolution, and cooperation; A total of 145 cadres were selected from 12 districts to form 18 investigation teams, led by the First Secretary and the Industrial Secretary, to conduct research in 18 factories; On the education and health line, the Ministry of Education and Health Work and its affiliated bureaus have established 7 survey and research groups, including higher education, general education, rural education, integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine, rural health, sports work, and party work. A total of 111 participants participated in the survey, and conducted research in 15 units including universities, teacher training colleges, primary and secondary schools, district red vocational colleges, street office private schools, and communes.

The important characteristics of this survey and research are conducting investigations, learning, researching, and rectifying at the same time. This is reflected in the following aspects: firstly, the research topics in various industries were major problems that needed to be urgently solved in the work at that time. Through in-depth understanding of the situation and starting from reality, production was arranged to solve key problems; The second is to study the Party's policies and guidelines seriously, and the research team will allocate one to two and a half days a week to study the policies and guidelines; Thirdly, during the research, organize discussions among the masses and continuously improve work style and methods.

For example, on how to meet the needs of all parties to change their business style, the metallurgical industry conducts surveys and research with users. Through a series of efforts, Shanghai's steel and steel varieties gradually increased. By the end of 1961, Shanghai had produced 426 types of steel and 3184 types of steel. Many steel varieties have shifted from relying mainly on imports to relying mostly on Shanghai's own production. According to statistics from the Shanghai Mechanical and Electrical Bureau, the proportion of steel required for production supplied by Shanghai has increased from 30% before 1958 to 70% in 1961.

In 1961, a member of the Red Flag Production Brigade of the Changzheng Commune in Jiading County added a three or five brand clock to their home.

Conduct product quality investigation and research

In the investigation and research conducted in 1961, the research group of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee summarized some new situations and problems, mainly including insufficient combination of high-speed and proportional development, insufficient combination of speed and good province, and insufficient combination of mobilizing the masses and enterprise management. In addition, Shanghai has made a key deployment to address issues such as focusing on output value, increasing production volume, and insufficient attention to variety, quality, and cost.

Taking the bicycle industry as an example. At that time, bicycles were branded products in Shanghai, and the production of "permanent" and "phoenix" accounted for more than half of the national bicycle production. According to the requirements of the Light Industry Bureau of "quality first, export first", the bicycle industry conducts product quality investigation and research, focusing on four issues: electroplating, painting, heat treatment, and packaging, which are commonly known quality issues and have concentrated opinions from commercial departments and the people. Quality investigation teams at all levels are established. Each factory has held over 800 symposiums, with approximately 50000 attendees, over 500 visits to users, over 130 visits to units, and more than 20 quality exhibitions. Shanghai Bicycle Factory fully relies on the masses and mobilizes all employees to propose more than 1300 rationalization suggestions within half a month.

In order to improve the quality of permanent bicycles, employees of Shanghai Bicycle Factory went deep into the storefront to listen to public opinions.

After this survey, compared to 1958, about half of the 48 products in the bicycle industry in Shanghai improved in quality and nearly one-third remained stable in the third quarter of 1961. In 1962, the "Phoenix" brand bicycle ranked second in the national bicycle industry quality evaluation.

By conducting research while making improvements, the quality of products in other industries has also significantly improved. For example, in 1960, the secondary product of converter steel produced in Shanghai was 40%, which decreased to 0.01% in November 1961, basically eliminating the secondary product; The production of high-quality steel and alloy steel increased by 64.49% and 180.18% respectively compared to the same period last year. For example, in the light bulb industry, the average service life of 15, 20, 40, 100, and 150 light bulbs has exceeded national standards. The products of Yaming Light Bulb Factory, Shanghai Electronic Tube Factory, and United Light Bulb Factory respectively ranked first, second, and third in the national competition. Some industries have restored and established quality management and inspection systems, and the awareness of quality first is gradually becoming popular.

The in-depth investigation and research work in 1961 effectively promoted Shanghai to adjust policies and improve work in accordance with the spirit of the Ninth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, promote economic recovery, and further solve prominent contradictions and improve the quality of development, laying a good foundation for Shanghai.

The picture shows Shanghai Camera Factory producing cameras in batches in 1961.