Research On The Movement Of Increasing Production And Practicing Economy In Shanghai During The Early Days Of New China (1950—1952)

"Increasing production" and "Practicing economy" were two important ways of overcoming various difficulties before the Communist Party of China (CPC) seized state power. CPC had long been the underdog since Kuomintang turned themselves against CPC in1927to the establishment of a new regime by CPC in1949. In order to survive and seek the development, CPC, consciously or otherwise, launched the Movement of Increasing Production and Practicing Economy for several times and finally won state power by defeating Kuomintang.Emancipated in May,1949, Shanghai, the biggest city in China faced a stern situation to gain stability, for although Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan, with its own superiority in military force, they were still able to seal off Shanghai and launched several air strikes. What’s more, with frequent natural disasters, Shanghai had to save herself on her own to gain economic recovery. In June,1950, civil war broke out in North Korea and in Oct., CPC decided to dispatch troops to North Korea. Under such historical circumstance, Shanghai launched the Movement of Increasing Production and Practicing Economy, which can be divided into three stages based on the centre task in different periods.The author seeks to do a paper carding on the Movement of Increasing Production and Practicing Economy in Shanghai during1950-1952, including its historical background, preparations for its organization and public voice, specific measures, its achievement and limitations. There are together four parts, in which part two and part three are the main body of this paper. To carry out this movement, Shanghai municipal Party committee and municipal government made full organizational preparations, establishing temporary organizations including Committee for Increasing Production and Practicing Economy, production committees of all levels, Branch for Resisting U.S. Aggression and Aiding Korea, and long-term organizations like Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions, which laid the organizational foundation for the success of the movement. On the other hand, to prepare public opinion, activities were carried out, such as holding mobilization meetings inside and outside the Party, enhancing public opinion propaganda, holding exhibitions, appraising merits and models, and setting up reporter system, all of which paves the opinion foundation for the success.Specific measures of launching the movement included retrenching and economizing steps adopted by governments at all levels, production increase and economy steps taken by companies and factories, and production increase and economy taken by the common people. Part Four deals with the achievements and limitations of this movement, in which achievements such as its facilitation function in recovering and developing economy of Shanghai, positive effects on the construction of ranks of cadres, and the supportive function for resisting US aggression and aiding Korea are discussed, as long as its limitations manifested in the existing phenomenon of formalism and magnifying, resulting in some negative aftermath.The movement of Increasing Production and Practicing Economy carried out in the early days of new China in Shanghai is still instructive to us today. Exploring deeper into this movement, we are sure to draw some lessons from it to instruct us in the development today.