Ninth Five-Year Plan (People's Republic Of China)

The Five-Year Plans () are a series of social and economic development initiatives issued by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1953 in the People's Republic of China. Since 1949, the CCP has shaped the Chinese economy through the plenums of its Central Committee and national congresses. The party plays a leading role in establishing the foundations and principles of Chinese communism, mapping strategies for economic development, setting growth targets, and launching reforms.

Planning is a key characteristic of the nominally socialist economies, and one plan established for the entire country normally contains detailed economic development guidelines for all its regions. In order to more accurately reflect China's transition from a Soviet-style command economy to a socialist market economy ( socialism with Chinese characteristics), the plans since the 11th Five-Year Plan for 2006 to 2010 have been referred to in Chinese as "guidelines" () instead of as "plans" ().

China's Five-Year Plans have been praised for their efficiency, capabilities and their importance to rapid economic growth, development, corporate finance and industrial policies.

First Plan (1953–1957)

Having restored a viable economic base, the leadership under Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai, and other revolutionary veterans were prepared to embark on an intensive program of industrial growth and socialization. For this purpose, the administration adopted the Soviet economic model, based on state ownership in the modern sector, large collective units in agriculture, and centralized economic planning. The Soviet approach to economic development was manifested in the First Five-Year Plan (1953–1957).

The key tasks highlighted in the Plan were:
*Concentrate efforts on the construction of 694 large and medium-sized industrial projects, including 156 with the aid of the Soviet Union
*Lay out the primary foundations for China's socialist industrialization
*Develop agricultural producers’ cooperatives to help in the socialist transformation of the agriculture and handicraft industries
*Put capitalist industry and commerce on the track of state capitalism
*Facilitate the socialist transformation of private industry and commerce.

Accumulated investment in capital construction was 55 billion yuan and fixed asset increments reached 46.05 billion yuan, 1.9 times higher than at the end of 1952. About 595 large and medium-sized projects were completed and put into production, laying the framework of China's industrialization. The gross value of industrial products in 1957 increased 128.6% from 1952.

*Steel production in 1953 was 1.35 million metric tons. In 1957, Soviet Union-assisted Chinese production of steel had risen to 5.35 million metric tons.
*Coal production in 1957 reached 131 million tons, increasing 98% from 1952.
*Gross output value from industry and agriculture rose from 30% in 1949 to 56.5% in 1957, while that of heavy industry increased from 26.4% to 48.4%. In 1957, grain production reached 195 billion kilograms and cotton output 32.8 million dan (1 dan = 50 kilograms), both surpassing the targets set in the Plan.

The two major problems that arose during this period were the following:
Agricultural production couldn't keep pace with industrial production. The Plan regarded gross industrial output value accounting for 70% of the gross output value of industry and agriculture and means of production accounting for 60% of the gross industrial output value as indicators of industrial modernization, which ignored the development agriculture in some sense.

In addition, investments in capital construction in 1956 totaled 14.735 billion yuan, increasing 70% over the previous year. Fiscal expenditure in the form of infrastructure loans rose to 48% from 30% from 1955, putting a strain on the national budget as a result.

As in the Soviet economy, the main objective was a high rate of economic growth, with primary emphasis on industrial development at the expense of agriculture and particular concentration on heavy industry and capital-intensive technology. Soviet planners helped their Chinese counterparts formulate the plan. Large numbers of Soviet engineers, technicians, and scientists assisted in developing and installing new heavy industrial facilities, including entire plants and pieces of equipment purchased from the Soviet Union.

Government control over industry was increased during this period by applying financial pressures and inducements to convince owners of private, modern firms to sell them to the state or convert them into joint public-private enterprises under state control. By 1956, approximately 67.5% of all modern industrial enterprises were state owned, and 32.5% were under joint public-private ownership, with no privately owned firms remaining. During the same period, the handicraft industries were organized into cooperatives, which accounted for 91.7% of all handicraft workers by 1956.

Agriculture also underwent extensive organizational changes. To facilitate the mobilization of agricultural resources, improve the efficiency of farming, and increase government access to agricultural products, the authorities encouraged farmers to organize cooperative farming, starting in 1953. Since traditional family farming practices were not sufficient to bankroll the country's ambitious industrialization projects, party officials encouraged families to pool their farms into small cooperatives in order to increase farm yields. Unlike the large scale collective farming policies which began in 1958, the cooperatives were successful and popular. Local parties representatives, such as Geng Xiufeng, largely met support from local farmers By the end of 1955 almost 2/3, about 60%, of all Chinese farmers were engaged in cooperative farming. Farming families, who previously engaged largely in subsistence farming, now began raising and selling livestock based on the increase in grain surpluses, which was directly responsible for the practices popularity and rapid rate of enrollment. Central committee planning dictated that from the loosely structured, tiny mutual aid teams, villages were to advance first to lower-stage, agricultural producers' cooperatives, in which families still received some income on the basis of the amount of land they contributed, and eventually to advanced cooperatives, or collectives beginning in 1958 with the second Five Year Plan. In the agricultural producers' cooperatives, income shares were designed to be based only on the amount of labor contributed. In reality, small farming markets that revolved around cooperative surpluses, sprang up across the nation. The land reforms from 1949 to 1951 increased private land ownership, with typical results increasing land ownership of farmers from just under one acre to approximately three acres. The cooperative process, began in 1953, accelerated quickly, slowly from 1955 to 1956. By 1957 about 93.5% of all farm households had joined producers' cooperatives.

In terms of economic growth, the First Five-Year Plan was quite successful, especially in those areas emphasized by the Soviet-style development strategy. A solid foundation was created in heavy industry. Key industries, including iron and steel manufacturing, coal mining, cement production, electricity generation, and machine building were greatly expanded and were put on a firm, modern technological footing. Thousands of industrial and mining enterprises were constructed, including 156 major facilities. Industrial production increased at an average annual rate of 19% between 1952 and 1957, and national income grew at a rate of 9% a year.

Despite the lack of state investment in agriculture, agricultural output increased substantially, averaging increases of about 4% a year. This growth resulted primarily from gains in efficiency brought about by the reorganization and cooperation achieved through cooperative farming. As the First Five-Year Plan wore on, however, Chinese leaders became increasingly concerned over the relatively sluggish performance of agriculture and the inability of state trading companies to increase significantly the amount of grain procured from rural units for urban consumption, and for funding the many large urban industrialization projects.

Second Plan (1958–1962)

This plan was created to accomplish several tasks, including:
*Expanding heavy industry in China.
*Furthering the cause of socialism by transferring more property to collective ownership.
*Encouraging the economic growth of China through industry, agriculture, handicrafts, transportation and commerce.
*Cultivating cultural and scientific development of the Chinese people.
*Strengthening national defense and improving living standards in China.

The Political Bureau of the CPC had determined that gross value of agricultural products should increase 270%; in fact, the gain was a considerably more modest 35%. The country saw increases in capital construction over those observed during the first Five-Year Plan and also saw significant increases in industry (doubling output value) and income (workers and farmers, increase by as much as 30%).

However, the Great Leap Forward, which diverted millions of agricultural workers into industry, and the great sparrow campaign, which led to an infestation of locusts, as well as unprecedented natural and weather based issues, caused a huge decrease in food production. Simultaneously, rural officials, under huge pressure to meet their quotas, vastly overstated how much grain was available. Thus, a massive nationwide famine ensued.

In 1960–61, attempts were made to redirect twenty million workers into agricultural production and to reallocate investment into those industrial sectors that could further support agriculture. This shift was in sharp contrast to the rapid industrialization seen in the first five-year plan.

Third Plan (1966–1970)

The Third Plan was originally due early in 1963, but at that time China's economy was too dislocated, as a result of the failure of the Great Leap Forward and four poor harvests to permit any planned operations. Research and study into the elements of this Plan started in early 1964. The Plan contained two comparatively detailed schemes: one was the Preliminary Tentative Plan of the 3rd Five-year Plan (1966–1970) proposed by the State Planning Commission and agreed by the Central Government Work Meeting in May 1964; the other was the Report Syllabus about the Arrangement of the 3rd Five-year Plan drawn out by the State Planning Commission and agreed by the central government in September 1965.

The Tentative Plan set out the following basic tasks:
#To spare no efforts to develop agriculture, solve widespread problems concerning people's food, clothing and other basic needs;
#To strengthen national defense, and endeavor to make breakthroughs in technology;
#In order to support agriculture and strengthen national defense, to enhance infrastructure, continue to improve production quality, increase production variety and quantity, to build an economy of self-reliance, and to develop transportation, commerce, culture, education and scientific research.

The Plan also called for the prioritization of national defense in the light of a possible big war, actively preparing for conflicts and speeding up construction in three key areas; national defense, science and technology, and industry and transport infrastructure.

The outputs of other newly added major products were 68.06 million tons of coal; 8.60 million kilowatts of electricity; 27.77 million tons of petroleum; 6.53 million tons of steels; 35.90 million tons of iron ore; 2.44 million tons of synthesized ammonia; 2.04 million tons of fertilizers; 15.33 million tons of cement; 187,000 tons of plastics; 3.22 million tons of cotton spindles; 12,300 tons of chemical fibers; 3,894 kilometers of newly constructed railways and 31,223 kilometers of newly constructed highways were put into operation; and handling capacity of the coastal harbors were over 11.91 million tons.

This plan was more successful than anticipated, with the industrial and agricultural goals exceed by 14.1% and industrial gross output value goals by 21.1%. Agricultural gains also exceeded goals, but more moderately, with a 2.2% rise above expectations. According to the Official Portal of the Chinese Government, however, the focus on accumulation and rapid development in this and preceding plans were impediments to long-term economic development.environmental protection