We are very pleased to hear that you have excellent suggestions as to how to develop the economy. Today I should like to talk on this topic.

Now that we are developing the economy on a large scale, we have come to understand that we do not have adequate knowledge or funds. At the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, the Party decided to shift the focus of its work onto socialist modernization. As we have wasted a lot of time, we now have to develop rapidly. But how can we do this without repeating the mistakes we made in 1958? This is a problem we must solve. At present, it is necessary to develop the economy in many ways. For example, we can utilize foreign funds and technology, and overseas Chinese and foreign citizens of Chinese origin should be allowed to establish factories in China. In order to absorb foreign capital, we may either use compensatory trade or establish Sino-foreign joint ventures, beginning with enterprises where the turnover of capital is quick. Of course, we must not use more foreign capital than we can repay.

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Today is New Year's Day 1979, an extraordinary day. It is extraordinary because it is different from other New Year's Days in three ways. First, the focus of the work in the whole country has been shifted onto the four modernizations. Second, relations between China and the United States have been normalized. Third, we have put on the agenda the return of Taiwan to the motherland for the reunification of China. Therefore, on this New Year's Day we are very happy. These three things show that since the smashing of the Gang of Four, we have scored substantial achievements in both domestic work and international affairs.

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Comrades,

This conference has lasted over a month and will soon end. The Central Committee has put forward the fundamental guiding principle of shifting the focus of all Party work to the four modernizations and has solved a host of important problems inherited from the past. This will surely strengthen the determination, confidence and unity of the Party, the army and the people of all of China's nationalities. Now we can be certain that under the correct leadership of the Central Committee, the Party, army and people will achieve victory after victory in our new Long March.

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Comrades,

This Ninth National Congress of Chinese Trade Unions will play an important part in advancing the workers' movement in China and in speeding up the four modernizations. On behalf of the Central Committee of the Party and the State Council, I extend warm congratulations to the congress and cordially greet all the delegates and all the comrades working in various fields.

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China made contributions to the world down through the ages, but for a long time conditions have been at a standstill in China and development has been slow. Now it is time for us to learn from the advanced countries.

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A question which now confronts you is how the Anshan Iron and Steel Company should be updated. Whenever foreign technology is introduced, we should first master it and then upgrade or renovate it. You have many tasks ahead of you at this point, such as the training of workers and cadres. If you fail to do so, then they will not be capable of acquiring advanced foreign technology. We had a serious lesson along these lines. It is important for us to seize the hour, because our country is going to introduce about 1,000 projects from other countries. All our technologies and equipment as well as supporting facilities should be modern and up to the highest standards of the 1970s. The world is advancing. If we do not develop our technology, we cannot catch up with the developed countries, let alone surpass them, and we shall be trailing behind at a snail's pace. We should take the world's advanced scientific and technological achievements as starting points for our country's development. Such a lofty aspiration should be ours.

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How should we hold high the banner of Mao Zedong Thought? This is a really big question. Many people, both inside and outside the Party, and both at home and abroad, want the banner to be held high. What does that mean? How are we to do so? As you all know, there is a doctrine known as the ``two whatevers''. Hasn't it become famous? According to this doctrine, whatever documents Comrade Mao Zedong read and endorsed and whatever he did and said must always determine our actions, without the slightest deviation. Can this be called holding high the banner of Mao Zedong Thought? Certainly not! If this goes on, it will debase Mao Zedong Thought. The fundamental point of Mao Zedong Thought is seeking truth from facts and integrating the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete practice of the Chinese revolution. Comrade Mao Zedong wrote a four-word motto for the Central Party School in Yan'an: ``Seek truth from facts.'' These four words are the quintessence of Mao Zedong Thought. In the final analysis, Comrade Mao's greatness and his success in guiding the Chinese revolution to victory rest on just this approach. Marx and Lenin never mentioned the encirclement of the cities from the countryside -- a strategic principle that had not been formulated anywhere in the world in their lifetime. Nonetheless, Comrade Mao Zedong pointed it out as the specific road for the revolution in China's concrete conditions. At a time when the country was split up into separatist warlord domains, he led the people in the fight to establish revolutionary bases in areas where the enemy's control was weak, to encircle the cities from the countryside and ultimately to seize political power. Just as the Bolshevik Party led by Lenin made its revolution at a weak link in the chain of the imperialist world, we made our revolution in areas where the enemy was weak. In principle, the two courses were the same. But instead of trying to take the cities first, we began with the rural areas, then gradually encircled the cities. If we had not applied the fundamental principle of seeking truth from facts, how could we have raised and solved this problem of strategy? How could the Chinese revolution have been victorious?

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Comrades,

This All-Army Conference on Political Work is another historic meeting, like the preceding meeting of the Military Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

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May 7, 1978

The entire Chinese nation rejoiced over the downfall of the Gang of Four. Things are better now and the mood of the people has improved. We are soberly aware that it is an arduous task to achieve the four modernizations, but we can manage. First of all, the entire Party is united, as are the people of the whole nation. Our people are hard-working and have a tradition of hard struggle. Second, we have laid a solid material foundation. Third, we have clearly defined principles whereby we shall make use of all the advanced technologies and achievements from around the world. The Gang of Four did not allow us to do so, calling this a slavish comprador philosophy. Science and technology have no class nature; capitalists make them serve capitalism, and socialist countries make them serve socialism. Ancient China had four great inventions (paper, printing, gunpowder and the compass -- Tr.), which later found their way to countries around the world. Why then should we be hesitant about making use of advanced technologies and achievements from around the world? We should make advanced technologies and achievements the starting point for our development. Finally, we have abundant natural resources. To sum up, the tremendous enthusiasm of our people, a substantial material foundation and our enormous resources, in addition to the introduction of state-of-the-art technology from around the world will make it possible for us to achieve the four modernizations. Naturally, the task will be far from easy. The world's advanced technologies continue to develop rapidly, with the rate of development no longer calculated in terms of years, but in terms of months, and even in terms of days, a trend which we call ``changes coming with each passing day''. Even when we have realized the four modernizations, our output of industrial and agricultural products and our national income will remain relatively low when calculated on a per capita basis. Our current principles and policies are clearly defined, and our motto is ``less talk, more action''.

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April 22, 1978

Comrades,

There have been many new developments on the educational front since the smashing of the Gang of Four and particularly since the college enrolment system was reformed and the ``two appraisals'' were criticized. These achievements should be fully recognized. Still, both in educational circles and in society at large, people are hoping for even faster progress in this sphere. There are many problems to be solved and many things to be done in this connection. Today, I would like to offer some opinions on the subject.

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