Mao’s First Major Economic Balance | Generated by AI

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Question: In Mao Zedong’s “On the Ten Major Relationships,” what is the first major relationship discussed?

A. The relationship between China and foreign countries
B. The relationship between coastal industry and inland industry
C. The relationship between the central government and local governments
D. The relationship between heavy industry, light industry, and agriculture

Your answer: A
Correct answer: D

Answer:

The correct answer is D. 重工业和轻工业、农业的关系 (the relationship between heavy industry, light industry, and agriculture).

Explanation:

In Mao Zedong’s famous speech 《论十大关系》 (“On the Ten Major Relationships”), delivered in April 1956, the very first relationship he discussed is explicitly stated as:

“重工业和轻工业、农业的关系”
(the relationship between heavy industry, light industry, and agriculture).

This was considered the most fundamental issue in China’s industrialization path at that time. Mao emphasized that China could not mechanically copy the Soviet model (which overemphasized heavy industry at the expense of light industry and agriculture). Instead, he advocated giving more attention to light industry and agriculture to improve people’s living standards while still developing heavy industry as the long-term foundation.

The order of the ten major relationships as presented by Mao is:

  1. The relationship between heavy industry on the one hand and light industry and agriculture on the other
  2. The relationship between industry in the coastal regions and industry in the interior
  3. The relationship between the central authorities and the local authorities
  4. The relationship between the state, the units of production, and the individual producers
  5. The relationship between the Party and the non-Party personages
  6. The relationship between revolution and construction (later versions sometimes listed differently)
    …and so on.

Therefore, the first major relationship Mao discussed is clearly heavy industry, light industry, and agriculture — option D.

Your choice (A: 中国与外国的关系) is actually the tenth and last relationship in the speech.

References:

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