A fifth volume, which included the works of Chairman Mao from 1949 to 1957, was released during the leadership of Hua Guofeng, but subsequently withdrawn from circulation for its perceived ideological errors.

[5] In May 1950, the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party formally decided to establish the Mao Zedong Anthology Editorial Committee, with Liu Shaoqi as its director.

[5] The specific editing work was led by Chen Boda, assisted by Hu Qiaomu and Tian Jiaying, and all compiled manuscripts were revised and authorized for publication by Mao himself.

[1] The second volume of the Selected Works included a total of 40 articles by Mao Zedong in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japan.

[1] The third volume of the Selected Works included 31 articles by Mao Zedong in the late period of the War of Resistance Against Japan.

[1] The fourth volume of the Selected Works included a total of 70 articles by Mao Zedong after the Second Sino-Japanese War and before the founding of the People's Republic of China.

A fifth book was planned as early as 1960, to include selected writings from the PRC period, but Mao resisted its production as he felt his essays and speeches on Socialist Construction (1949–1957) were still evolving compared to the views contained in the earlier volumes.