Comprehensiveness and Balance Are a Basic Problem in National Economy

The national economy is a complex social system. Between the production of the means of production and the production of the means of consumption, between the production departments and economic departments such as industry, agriculture, transportation, commerce and finance, between the various components within the production departments and economic departments (such as agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, sideline and fishery within agriculture), between the accumulation and consumption, production and demand, and between the means of production, labor, capital, and the allocation of resources among departments must be balanced, that is, a proper balance. In this way, social reproduction can proceed normally and national economy can develop healthily and continuously.

On June 29, 1959, Mao Zedong pointed out that comprehensiveness and balance are a basic problem in national economy, when he talked with some leaders in Lushan.

One of the major lessons from the “Great Leap Forward” is the lack of comprehensiveness and balance. Comprehensiveness and balance include the following aspects:

(1) Arranging the main proportional relations of the national economy, including the relations between agriculture, light industry and heavy industry, the relations between accumulation and consumption, the relations between economic and cultural construction, national defense construction, etc.

(2) The balance of human, material and financial resources in the whole society is mainly the balance in the four aspects of finance, credit, material and foreign exchange.

(3) In order to achieve the best economic results, we should balance the regional advantages and avoid the disadvantages under the unified national planning.

(4) Annual and long-term plans should be arranged to coordinate these relations so as to ensure sustained growth of the national economy.

From December 1959 to February 1960, Mao Zedong pointed out during his reading of the Political Economics Textbook of the Soviet Union that the contradiction between balanced and unbalanced development of socialist economy and between proportionality and disproportionality is frequent and permanent, which requires us to balance proportionally and comprehensively.

He also said that in a capitalist country equilibrium of the national economy is achieved through economic crises. In a socialist society there is the possibility of making equilibrium a reality through planning, but the knowledge of the required proportions must come through a process.

China is a big country with a large population, weak economic foundation, complex situation and unbalanced development. In order to build a strong socialist country, it is necessary to have the strong leadership of the Central Committee so as to implement the "one game of chess for the whole country" and truly achieve the "overall consideration and appropriate arrangement" for all regions and departments; only in this way can we give full play to the advantages formed by the unification of the national financial and economic work and concentrate on building the most urgent and important departments and projects of key significance for the national development; only in this way can we timely adjust the contradiction between social production and social needs, which will exist for a long time, and achieve a balance between them; and only in this way can we guide the development of economy, culture and society step by step; etc. But "our knowledge of the laws is not perfect all at once.”

In the course of the development of a socialist economy the regular appearance of imbalances requires us to balance things by holding to proportionality and comprehensiveness. “It is after the appearance of imbalances and disproportion that people further understand the objective laws.”

Mao Zedong's thought on comprehensiveness and balance is an important guiding principle for China's economic construction.