SERVICES DIVISION COMMITTEE ON CHINA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP61S00527A000200160012-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 9, 1998
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: August 5, 1958
• Content Type: MIN

Sanitized - Appragod For Release : CIA-RDP61SOf 7A000200160012-6
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Committee Minutes - 175th Meeting - 5 August 1958
D,/S Representatives,
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1, The Chinese Comrunists have just announced that in June they signed
an agreement with the Schneider group in France for the purchase of 25
electric locomotives. The locomotives are to be delivered in groups before
October 1960 and the total cost is 3.76 million pounds sterling. Chinese
payment is to be in the form of barter,
CO:':} ENT: Actual delivery of the locomotives in not expected before
sometime in 1959. The first section of line to lie electrified is being
prey aged now with cox pletion scheduled by the and of 1959, Ori ;ix llyr 580
km of lines were to be electrified during the Second Five Tear Plan (1958-62).
This goal has been r eportod raised to as much as 1#200 km. This first order
for locomotives trill be ap roximately enough to meet the requirements of the
90-km section of line to be electrified first. Availability of other imported
electric locomotives will probably ultimately determine how much electrifi-
cation will be done and the speed at which it will be carried out, for China
does not currently have a known capability for building road freight electric
locomotives,
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2. The Chinese Cw,uaists now claim a winter wheat harvest of 34.45
million tons (64% increase over :'_ast year). The spring wheat harvest is
expected to yield a further 7 million tons aru? a preliminary estimate of the
early rice crop is 40 million tons, or double last year,
COi! ENT, If these estiriates are reliable, the Chinese grain
production is about 26 million tons up on the figure at the same stage last
year. These claims are certainly etvrtling and hard to accept, but they
cannot be rejected out of hand as thpossible, particularly as the claimed
average yields are not remarkable by world standards and in view of the
effort at into agriculture this season. Even allowin for overstatement,
these results indicate that, given just an average fall harvest, the grain
supply should not be a brake on general economic pro.,freos for at ].e: st a
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year. It nay even Trove possible to accumulate :stock.ilna sufficient to
provide firn bases for economic expansion for the next two years.
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3. On 3 August 1958 Cormwnist China rod ortec' that the first half
of its "leap foz rf:rdn pzo rrari for 195C. had hrou'ht "unprecedentodly rapid,
a11-rourxl economic develo :runt." It was re .,orted that the value of inc'u.,trial
output h L.0 increased 1.,y .;, percent com;,ared with the first half of 1957" This
rate of increase surpassed that of any previous yecr in the history cf China,
according to the Connunists. Individual sectors of the economy accounted
for the following percentage inerec_sess electric pocrcr, 30 -,percent; coal,
16 ixrcont; crude oil, 32 percent; pig irony 33 percent; steel,, 26 pc-r rent;
and machine tools, nearly 100 percent. It was also noted that the increase
in the production of surau:er food crops, early rice, and spring wheat had
amounted to 42 million tons. The volute of freight (tons originated) hancUled
by mo~.;.orn means of transport: tion during t.is prric., incro"ot by 2u -:rcent,
while frei -1t mile:. re (ton--L-41o etars) increase;: b;; 13 7^reent, co. _rcred with
tl..o ssz:;c pccri o.. of 1957.
CO1gEITs An :uu:x :;~:.~:.to received concerning the period prior to
June 195C indicate that the p-rformance of railroad transportation, on a
t onthiy basis at ]east, was generally deeping pa-co with the incree.ese in
industrial production. It thus sce-no likely that the State Plan. for a 13
ucreent increase in railroad tons originated during 1951 will be surpassed
and the "'leap forward" goal of a 20 jr rcent incrc,>se probably achieved.
E~r~Iu~,tion of progress in other sectors is quite difficult since it has not
been indicated whether ministry or national totals are involvrxl. In sour
cases,,1however,, the progress seems to be in keeping with the original goals
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4. There is continued interest in the decentralization rro'=ram in
China. A/F would like to b e notified of any inforr-ation analysts turn up
that A/F night not have seen.
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A ondaa The next meeting will be on 19 August at 1400 in Room 1121 M.
Current items will be the topic of discussion.
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0f 1t&/T nb/2370 (12Aug58)
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Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP61S00527A000200160012-6