Take Agriculture as the Foundation and Industry as the Dominant Factor of the National Economy

The guiding principle of the CPC on the development of the national economy of China.

In December 1949, when discussing the relationship between industry and agriculture, Zhou Enlai pointed out that "it is industry that leads agriculture”, "the growth of industry is impossible without the growth of agriculture, and it must be based on agriculture".

In April 1956, Mao Zedong, in his "On the Ten Major Relationships", proposed to promote the development of heavy industry by developing agriculture and light industry more, so as to lay a more solid foundation for the development of heavy industry.

In June 1957, in Mao Zedong's "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions among the People", he also put forward that the development of industry must go hand in hand with the development of agriculture, and that the correct handling of the development of the relationship between the growth of heavy industry, light industry and agriculture should be concerned in China’s path to industrialization.

In November 1962, Mao Zedong made it clear at the Tenth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee that agriculture is the foundation of national economy, which is a universal law.

Agriculture and industry are the basic productive sectors of the socialist national economy. The proportional relationship between agriculture and industry can basically reflect the proportional relationship between the two major sectors of the social production.

Taking agriculture as the basis is, on the one hand, to strengthen agriculture and speed up the development of agriculture, so as to make it adapt to the development of industry and the whole national economy; on the other hand, the development of industry and the whole national economy should be based on the reliable foundation of agricultural development, which should not be separated from agriculture and exceed the limit that agriculture can afford, that is to say, in the final analysis, it should be based on the situation of agricultural labor productivity. However, agriculture cannot be separated from industry.

Taking industry as the guide is to vigorously develop heavy industry and produce advanced technology and equipment to arm agriculture and other sectors of the national economy, so as to rapidly improve labor productivity, expand production scale and realize the technological transformation of agriculture and the national economy as a whole.

In November 1962, the Tenth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee officially defined Mao Zedong's thought of agriculture as the basis and industry as the leading principle for the development of the national economy. In order to realize this general policy of developing the national economy, we should arrange the development plan of the national economy in the order of agriculture, light industry and heavy industry.