Page 22 - SELECTED WORKS OF ZHOU ENLAI Volume II

20 ZHOU ENLAI

most of our energy to rehabilitating and developing industry, which
in turn will promote the recovery and development of agriculture.
But at the same time, there is another deviation to be avoided. Com-
rades working in the cities should not overlook agriculture and the
countryside just because it is industry that leads agriculture and
cities that lead the countryside. In China, peasants make up more
than 80 per cent of the total population, and as I have said, agriculture
and handicrafts represent almost 90 per cent of the national economy.
So in planning industrial production we have to take into account the
needs of the countryside. For instance, when a new railway is to be
built, primary consideration should be given to its potential role in
communication between the cities and the countryside and in the ex-
change of industrial and agricultural products. Anyone who neglects
the interests of the peasants and agriculture will make mistakes.
We must develop industry on the basis of expanded agriculture
and raise the level of agricultural production under the leadership of
industry. Without agriculture as the foundation, industry cannot
advance; without the leadership of industry, agriculture cannot ex-
pand. This correct dialecical principle is the outcome of applying
Mao Zedong Thought to the relations between industry and agriculture
and between the cities and the countryside.
2. The relation between self-reliance and foreign aid
In building our country, which should we chiefly depend on:
domestic capabilities or foreign aid? Our answer is domestic capabili-
ties — in other words, we must chiefly rely on ourselves. Small coun-
tries have to do that, and it is even more necessary for China, a big
country with 450 million people. There is no question that we need
to be self-reliant economically and independent politically. The
blockade imposed on us by U.S. imperialism has caused great hard-
ships, but we should never yield to it for that reason. We have to
withstand these hardships. Moreover, the blockade and bombing in
themselves have forced us to devise more methods of building up
our country. In 109 years of struggle, countless people with lofty
ideals have sacrificed their lives, and the Chinese people have suffered
many a setback and failure before the final victory. We are quite
capable of dealing with the present situation. We shall grapple with
the difficulties, for as the saying goes, much distress can regenerate
a nation.
There is nothing to fear if the imperialists refuse to do business
with us. Their past invasions turned China into a colonial and semi-