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risen somewhat, but the price of essential foodstuffs was only about 6% higher than before.
gone up.
So living standards had
6. As for intellectuals, they had suffered discrimination under previous Leftist policies. They had been reviled and their work had not been highly regarded. Even now their pay and working conditions were not good enough. But they were politically and mentally emancipated, and enjoyed greater ease of mind than any time since the 1950s.
7.
Since current policies were popular among peasants, workers and intellectuals, there was no reason for them to
be discontinued. Of course among 1 billion people there were bound to be some who opposed the policies, and also some bad elements. Current policies would inevitably conflict with the interests of a very few. There had been great changes in policy: those with a traditionalist outlook would need time to adapt to change, and may have doubts. But the number of such people was very small, and had been decreasing over the past two years. The Chinese government had relied on patient education and practical demonstration to bring them to change their view.
8.
Turning to the content and significance of economic readjustment, Zhao said that in 1981 further readjustment would be pursued. The main objective was to scale down capital construction to match available resources. In the past it had been carried out on too large a scale, and if. it had not been cut back it would have led to deficits, inflation and hence economic instability.
9. In a deeper sense economic readjustment meant a change in the quality of the economic structure. This needed to be
reformed to correct irrationalities and promote higher efficiency. Such a change would take several years.
particular:
In
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(i)
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