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SPEECH AT THE THIRD PLENARY SESSION OF THE
TWELFTH CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE CPC 286

October 20, 1984

Now I should like to speak on three points.
First, the recovery of Hong Kong is a mission bestowed on us by history.
Following the Opium War, the British imperialists forced the Qing
government to sign an unequal treaty, according to which Hong Kong was
ceded to Britain. Later, through negotiation, the Chinese and British gov-
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ernments stated that China would recover Hong Kong in 1997. This will
be a historic event. Of course, it will still be 13 years until we can resume
sovereignty over that region. As for its social system, we have stated that it
will not be changed for at least 50 years. In this way, Hong Kong can
continue to play a role in our four modernizations drive. Facts have shown
that the Central Government’s policies and measures towards the settlement
of the Hong Kong question are entirely correct. The People’s Republic of
China has accomplished the task entrusted to us by history. We are worthy
of the respect of future generations.
Second, reforming the economic structure in a systematic way is an issue
of primary importance in China’s economic work.
Since the Third Plenary Session of the Party’s Eleventh Central
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Committee, we have achieved great success in rural reform. After a few
years’ preparation, experiment and practice, we have had marked successes
and gained experience in the reform of industry, commerce, finance and
planning. I said in 1981 that such a reform was as important as the
transformation of capitalist industry and commerce in the 1950s. Why?
Because the purpose of the transformation of industry and commerce was to
eliminate exploitation, while the purpose of the on-going structural reform
is to discard the system whereby “everybody eats from the same big pot.”
The essence of such an equalitarian system is that those who do not work
receive the same benefits as those who work. Dismantling this system will
help motivate workers, peasants, intellectuals and cadres to become more

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