Skip to content

July 6, 1949

Report from the Head of the Delegation of the Chinese Communist Party CC to Stalin

This document was made possible with support from Blavatnik Family Foundation

Top Secret

Translation from Chinese

 

[to the] VKP(b) CC

to Cde. I. V. STALIN

 

1. In our report we have already raised a whole series of questions for the VKP(b) CC and Cde. Stalin with a request to give us your instructions. The instructions of Cde. Stalin on the question of the loan and the specialists to us have already been given.

 

When we left for the USSR Cde. Mao Zedong asked us to turn to Cde. Stalin for instructions on the questions of an assessment and an analysis of the international situation, the danger of a new war, and the relations between the USSR and the imperialist countries, the US and Britain, which the CCP will use as guidance for an assessment of the international situation.

 

2. We would like to use [our] brief stay in Moscow for familiarization in the Soviet Union and, based on these considerations, we would like to become familiar with the following questions:

 

a) the state structure of the Soviet union, including the following questions:

 

- The structure of government bodies of different levels.

-The different sectors of Government activity.

-The relations between the Central Government and local government bodies.

- The structure of low-level bodies of government administration.

- The relations between Party, government, and mass organizations.

- The organization of the armed forces, people's courts, security organs, and financial and economic institutions.

- The structure of cultural and educational organizations.

- The structure of the MFA and diplomatic battles

 

b) economic policy and management in the USSR, including the following questions:

 

- The combination of the development of industry, agriculture, and trade.

- The state budget, the local budget, the budget estimate of an individual factory, institution, school, state farm, and collective farm.

- The relations between state enterprises, local enterprises, the subsidiary facilities of individual factories, institutions, educational establishments, and cooperative enterprises.

- The organization and role of banks.

- The organization and role of cooperatives.

- The organization and role of a maritime customhouse and the Ministry of Foreign Trade

- The tax system and structure of tax bodies.

- The structure of transport.

 

c) Culture and education in the USSR, including:

 

- The organization and system of educational institutions of different levels.

- The ties between educational institutions and industrial sectors.

- The recruitment of students and the material support of students.

- The subject matter of courses of study in the schools.

- Other work in the area of culture and art.

- Scientific research institutions.

 

d) The organization of the Party and the structure of mass organizations, including the following questions:

 

-The forms of Party organizations.

-Fields of Party work.

-The organization of Party education.

-The system of Party committees.

-The management of Party cadre.

-The forms of organization of trade unions.

-The forms of organization of youth.

 

We ask that senior Soviet comrades hold conversations with us on these questions. We would like to ask that senior comrades from the following institutions be sent for the conversations with us:

 

-The Council of Ministers

- The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of State Security

- The Ministry of Education and higher cultural organizations

- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

- The State Planning Committee

- [The State] Bank

- [The system of] cooperatives [Kooperatsiya]

- The Ministry of Domestic Trade

- The Ministry of Foreign Trade

- The Ministry of Finance

- The Organization Department of the Party CC

- The VTsSPS [The All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions]

- The CC of the Komsomol

- one or two plant directors, a secretary of a Party cell, and a chairman of a local committee.

- The Moscow Oblast' Committee of the VKP(b)

- The Moscow City Committee of the VKP(b)

- The Moscow City Soviet.

 

In addition, we would like to visit one or two factories, one or two collective farms and a state farm, and one or two educational institutions.

 

3. We are thinking of asking the Soviet government to create a special educational institution approximately the same as the University of the Workers of China in the past, to train cadre for the new China who are needed to build and manage the state and enterprises. Initially up to 1,000 students might study in this educational institution. The following departments might be in this educational institution: industry, trade, banking, jurisprudence, education, etc. Study in this educational institution might be divided into study in brief one-year courses, ordinary study for two years, and normal study for three or four years. This would provide an opportunity to quickly train cadre, send officials for study who are at the present time in various positions in China, but since the lectures will be given through translators it will be possible to avoid difficulties in connection with a lack of knowledge of the language. Leave the training of Chinese students who are in various schools in the USSR at the present time unchanged.

 

In addition, we would like to send various senior officials to the USSR for familiarization, for example, for three or four months. On the one hand, they could become familiar with the facilities of interest to them, and on the other, listen to lectures and conversations. Such a measure would be one of the kinds of work to increase the knowledge of our cadre in the area of managing the state and the economy.

 

Then, we hope that the USSR will send instructions in various disciplines to work in China, which would help us train the cadre in China needed to manage different spheres of state activity.

 

4. The question of communications between China and the USSR. We would like to specifically discuss and specifically decide the questions of establishing postal and telegraph communications between the USSR and China, sea links between the USSR and China, aeronautical communication, the creation of air routes from the USSR through Harbin and Mukden [Shenyang] to Dalian, from Mukden to Beijing, from Beijing to the USSR via Ulan Bator, the organization a Soviet-Chinese aviation company, aid to China in the construction of an aviation repair plant, and the training of military aviation personnel. [Translator's note: This and subsequent points were highlighted in the left margin with vertical lines and "x"'s].

 

5. We would like to nail down the question of aid to us from the USSR in the training of naval personnel, help to us with trawlers and ships to raise sunken ships, and the creation of a naval coastal defense.

 

6. Aid to us from the Soviet Union in the liberation of Xinjiang. Chairman Mao Zedong has sent a telegram in which he agreed to occupy Xinjiang more quickly and suggested that we nail down the question of help from Soviet aircraft and the airlift of troops. We would like to get materials about the situation in Xinjiang and specifically to solve the question of help with aircraft.

 

7. Some questions relating to Manchuria.

 

1) The question of trade. This winter Manchuria can ship from 800,000 to one million tones of food to the USSR in exchange for machinery.

 

2) The establishment of a common currency in Dalian and Manchuria in order to facilitate economic relations between Dalian and Manchuria, lessen our hard-currency burden, and still better restore industry in Dalian.

 

3) Opening of the port in Dalian for the export of coal, salt, etc. to Hong Kong and Japan.

 

If Shanghai and Tianjin are blockaded, then can Dalian be used for the exporting and importing of goods from and to China? In this event can American and British cargo ships be permitted to enter and depart Dalian?

 

4) The question of the use of electricity by the hydroelectric power stations on the Yalu River. Manchuria is asking that the above power station give half of its electricity to Manchuria. China invested 75 million Japanese yen in the construction of this power station and Korea, 50 million Japanese yen. Manchuria is asking the USSR to help solve this question.

 

8. Cultural ties between China and the USSR. Cultural ties between China and the USSR are important work for close relations between our two peoples. We would like to talk with senior Soviet comrades about the operation of telegraph agencies, film, the Soviet-Chinese Cultural Society, and the reciprocal sending of delegations of workers, peasants, and scientists for familiarization, the training in China of personnel who know Russian and the training in the USSR of personnel who know Chinese, the translation of political and scientific literature and fiction, the creation of Russian-language libraries in China, the opening of bookstores, and the distribution of newspapers, magazines, and books published in the USSR and the countries of new democracy.

 

We request you give us instructions on all these questions or assign special people to discuss these questions.

 

With Bolshevik greetings!

 

 

 

Head of the delegation of

the Chinese Communist
Party CC

 

 

[Chinese signature] Liu Shaoqi

 

 

6 July 1949

Translated from Chinese [by] (S. P. Andreyev) [signature]

7 July 1949

 

Liu Shaoqi sends list of questions to be discussed with Stalin, and reports that the Chinese plan to study the government and civic structure of the Soviet Union.

Author(s):


Associated People & Organizations

Associated Places

Document Information

Source

RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 328, ll. 51-55. Translated by Gary Goldberg.

Rights

The History and Public Policy Program welcomes reuse of Digital Archive materials for research and educational purposes. Some documents may be subject to copyright, which is retained by the rights holders in accordance with US and international copyright laws. When possible, rights holders have been contacted for permission to reproduce their materials.

To enquire about this document's rights status or request permission for commercial use, please contact the History and Public Policy Program at [email protected].

Original Uploaded Date

2016-06-14

Type

Report

Language

Record ID

134157

Original Classification

Top Secret

Donors

Blavatnik Family Foundation