The Outline on the Basic Principles of Economic Structure and Economic Development in Northeast China

Document drafted by Zhang Wentian for the Northeast Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on September 15, 1948, referred to as “Northeast Outline”.

“Northeast Outline” was highly valued by Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi. Mao Zedong affirmed the outline and said that the question was well raised and the content was correct, and proposed amendments. Liu Shaoqi made careful revisions to the outline, and Mao Zedong wrote the instructions after reading the entire manuscript and making revisions. Later, the outline was issued to the Northeast Bureau, the North China Bureau and some leading comrades for comments. On November 6, 1948, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China informed the Northeast Bureau and affirmed that the outline was "very good" and was ready to be forwarded to the whole Party for education and "as a guideline for economic construction in all Liberated Areas". It is included in Volume 4 of the Collected Works of Zhang Wentian published by the Party History Press of the Communist Party of China in 1994.

In his “Northeast Outline”, Zhang Wentian made a comprehensive analysis of the economic composition of Northeast China after the founding of New China, thus forming the theory of five economic components. It is pointed out that after the complete elimination of feudalism, bureaucratic capitalism and the abolition of the economic privileges of imperialism in Northeast China, the Northeast economy was basically composed of five economic components: state-run economy, cooperative economy, state capitalist economy, private capitalist economy and small commodity economy. Although the state-run economy had not occupied an absolute large proportion in the national economy, it had already occupied a large proportion and grasped the lifeblood of social economy, and also occupying a leading position in the national economy. The cooperative economy was mainly a labor mutual aid organization in agricultural production. It was "an economy with socialist nature in varying degrees and the most reliable and powerful assistant of the state-run economy". It was "the main tool for the new democratic state under the leadership of the proletariat to help, lead and gradually transform the vast number of small producers". As for the state capitalist economy, it was one of the most favorable forms for the development of the new democratic economy in the private capitalist economy. The state capitalist economy was "very close to the socialist economy". "The development direction of the state capitalist economy is beneficial to the development of the new democratic economy." And the private capitalist economy was based on the capitalist ownership of means of production and the pursuit of profits. What the people's government must have done was "to guide the private capitalist economy, which is bound to develop, in a direction conducive to the national economy and the people's livelihood, and to limit it to a scope conducive to the national economy and the people's livelihood". The laissez-faire attitude towards private capitalism was fundamentally dangerous and wrong. Finally, the small commodity economy was mainly peasant's small commodity economy. It was not a capitalist economy, but an economy standing at the crossroads between capitalism and socialism. It could be developed not only to capitalism but also to socialism. In order to make China's small commodity economy move towards socialism, it was necessary to go through a long period of education and struggle.

Zhang Wentian finally pointed out that the basic policy of economic construction in Northeast China should be: "to develop the state-run economy as the main body, to develop and closely rely on the masses' cooperative economy, to help and transform the small commodity economy, and to allow and encourage the private capitalist economy, especially the national capitalist economy, which is beneficial to the national economy and people's livelihood, to prevent and oppose the speculative and destructive nature inherent in the capitalist economy of commodities, to prohibit and combat all speculative manipulations harmful to the national economy and people's livelihood.”

Zhang Wentian proposed and elaborated important theoretical views in the “Northeast Outline”, which constituted the economic form of new democracy and provided the theoretical basis and policy guidance for the economic construction of new democracy at that time.