Victories of socialist revolution and construction in China from 1949 to 1976:
Response to the economic crisis: Revolution and socialist construction

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

China's foreign trade prospered on the basis of enhanced local industrial and agricultural production and the development of foreign relations. From being imperialist-controlled, a new system of foreign trade was begun by the Chinese people in 1949 based on equal relations and mutual benefit as well as on exchanging experiences and developing friendship with the other peoples of the world.

Trade relations between China and other socialist countries bloomed on the basis of internationalism and mutual cooperation. Trade with friendly countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America also prospered on the basis of mutual support for each other's economic development. Trade relations with capitalist countries likewise grew steadily.

With the economic development then prevailing, socialist China's exports grew in terms of volume and value. Within eight years up to 1973, the value of China's exports grew 2.5 times. Sixty-five percent of its exports consisted of manufactured goods. These included machine tools, construction equipment, scientific and measuring instruments, medical apparatuses, bicycles, sewing machines, cameras and other products. China also started to export oil after its production exceeded domestic requirements.

China strove to develop self-reliance. It geared its production towards ensuring the people and the economy's needs. It is also within this framework that China imported certain products such as steel, vehicles, ships, airplanes, machinery, rubber, fertilizer and insecticides, among others. Importation was carried out according to a plan to further develop production and ensure the supply of various kinds of consumer products.

Enhancing people's incomes

Under socialism, the Chinese people lived with a sense of security even as their standard of living was continuously raised. The people's government under the leadership of the Communist Party ensured that the interests of the people were given principal consideration.

Upon the revolution's triumph, the unemployment problem was immediately addressed by providing jobs in accordance with the requirements of national reconstruction. The rapid advance of socialist construction enabled China to resolve the problem of unemployment. By 1957-58, China had no unemployment.

The wage system that was then implemented stressed the need to narrow the gap between the highest and the lowest grades of pay. At the same time, the state carried out wage increases. By 1973, the workers' average wage was 150% higher than that in the first year of socialist revolution. However, more than just increasing wages, China ensured stability in the people's economic status by providing job security, stable prices and low rent for housing (only 4-5% of the monthly salary). There were likewise no income taxes and public services such as education and health were ensured.

The state provided insurance for childbearing, aging, injury or disability. Sick workers were given 40-100% of their wages, while the state assumed their medical expenses. Workers who sustained job-related injuries received 100% of their wages while recuperating. Women were given 56 days of paid maternity leave, and the state shouldered all hospital expenses. The state also shouldered the costs of medical services for sick relatives of workers in state enterprises. Retirees received 50-85% of their wages as pension. The state also allotted a social security fund for workers without having to deduct anything from their wages.

Under socialism, the income of peasants also grew steadily as production developed and the socialist transformation of agriculture was carried out. Production brigades and their families were able to accumulate grain reserves. Peasants' earnings were raised by increasing the price of grain and other agricultural products, while reducing the prices of industrial products and agricultural machinery.

The people's standard of living in the cities and countryside grew several times higher with the increase in wages and purchasing power. This resulted in the higher consumption of meat, eggs, vegetables and other household items. While farmgate prices of agricultural products were raised to increase incomes in the countryside, the state maintained stable market prices for these products to protect the economic status of city and town dwellers. The socialist state continually reduced the prices of medicine. The prices of certain imported medicines were reduced by 80% from 1950 to 1973.

To solve the housing problem, the state immediately constructed apartments and other residential facilities for workers, a great advance in the standard of living of millions of workers who previously lived in shanties.

The Chinese people achieved a stable and happy life under the banner of socialist revolution from 1949 to 1976. They showed that liberation from crisis, poverty and hunger can only be realized with the destruction of the rotten semicolonial and semifeudal system and the establishment of a state that is led by the proletariat and represents the interests of the broad masses of the people.

07 December 2004
English Edition

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