Second five-year plan (China)

However, China in 1956 faced a severe rural-urban exodus, a lack of foreign investment and of a technological revolution.

[2] Mao wrote Ten Major Relationships in 1956, calling for a departure from Soviet-style production relations and the investment of more resources in light industry, which was in direct contradiction to the First Five-Year Plan and provoked heated debates.

[4] Several moderate goals were set during the 8th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, including:[5] An article by Ma Yinchu published in the People's Daily at the end of 1956, which was endorsed by The National Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China, supported a more balanced development, centering more on light industry than on heavy industry.

Mao accused the targets of being too low at a meeting the following January, yet this did not substantially influence policy making at the time.

[7] With the introduction of the Great Leap Forward slogan in January 1958 and the People's Communalization Movement in the summer, the second Five-Year Plan was virtually ignored, though not abandoned at an official level.