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"The industrial reconstruction of China will be based on an overall plan drawn up by the Government. ... It is necessary to institute a state-owned enterprise system, but private enterprise will also be encouraged.
"State industry will be confined largely to heavy industries such as iron and steel, coal, copper, lead, zinc, electrical, chemical and cement . . . power and communications . . . and industries directly concerned with livelihood such as textiles, flour, leather. . . . Private and state enterprise of the same category will be given equal treatment ... no discrimination against private industry. . . .
"The underlying idea is to develop an industrial base in order to realize the dual objective of national defense and people's livelihood. . . ."
Plan for Progress. The overall plan stemmed from Sun Yat-sen's famed Outline for Industrial Development. In the dark days at Chungking, when victory seemed so remote, planning had been the food of hope. Blueprints had been polished and refined. In 1941, the Generalissimo had distilled what will become China's first long-range plan to transform herself into a modern industrial power.
There will be dams and power plants to stimulate great mining enterprises, steel and other metallurgical industries, increased food production and foreign trade; there will be 20,000 miles of new highways, 100.000 autos, 10,000,000 tons of shipping. The realization of all plans depends on unknown factors:
How soon will China have internal stability? What industry will be left intact? (Can the steel mills and railway shops of Manchuria be operated immediately? How long will it take to harness the textile factories of coastal China, with their 5,000,000 spindles compared to the 300,000 in the hinterland?) How much aid—in technical advice, credits and materials—will come from the U.S.?
Whatever the factors of uncertainty might be, the Generalissimo was determined to push national reconstruction. It was an indissoluble part of Chiang's plan.