January

The enlarged meeting of the CPC Central Military Commission adopted the Decisions on Cutting Military Forces and Improving Their Quality. From the founding of the PRC in 1949 to 1958, the PLA underwent reorganization and streamlining several times, cutting the total active force to 2.4 million.

February 27

  At the 11th (Enlarged) Meeting of the Supreme State Conference, Mao Zedong delivered a speech entitled “How to Handle the Contradictions among the People” (later renamed “On the Correct Handling of Contradictions among the People”), in which he put forward the idea of  distinguishing and correctly handling two different types of social contradictions and uniting the people of all nationalities to develop economy and culture and to serve the development of the cause of socialism.

April 20

The State Council issued the Directive on Eliminating Schistosomiasis. Prior to that, Mao Zedong had on many occasions raised the issue of wiping out the schistosomiasis.

April 25

The 1st Chinese Export Commodities Fair was held in Guangzhou. Following that, the Fair was held in the spring and fall seasons each year in Guangzhou, and its name since 2007 has been the China Import & Export Fair.

April 27

The CPC Central Committee issued the Directive on the Rectification Campaign. Focusing on the correct handling of contradictions among the people, a rectification campaign against bureaucratism, factionalism and subjectivism unfolded at full scale. In the course of the Campaign,  a handful of Rightists launched attacks on the Party and the newborn socialist system. In June, the theme of the movement switched from inner-Party consolidation to anti-Rightists. The rectification and anti-Rightist movement ended in the summer of 1958. It was correct and necessary to beat back the attack of the Rightists, but the struggle against the Rightists was drastically expanded, with a group of intellectuals, patriots and Party officials mistakenly designated as “Rightists,” leading to devastating consequences.

May 15–25

The New Democratic Youth League of China was renamed the Communist Youth League of China at its 3rd National Congress.

May 24

The 49th Plenary Session of  the State Council adopted the Provisional Outline for Soil and Water Conservation.

October 15

The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge was opened to traffific. It was China’s first double-deck road-rail bridge built on the Yangtze River.

November 2–21

Mao Zedong led the Chinese delegation to take part in the 40th anniversary of the victory of the October Revolution. He also attended the Moscow meetings of representatives of the communist and workers’ parties of socialist countries and other countries. The meetings adopted the Declarations of the Meetings of Representatives of the Communist and Workers’ Parties of  Socialist Countries (also known as the Moscow Declaration) and the Peace Declaration.

This Year

The targets set for the First Five-Year Plan were exceeded. The great achievements scored during the First Five-Year Plan period laid an initial foundation for China’s socialist industrialization and gained valuable experience for socialist construction.

From: Chronicle of the People's Republic of China (October 1949 — September 2019) ,edited by The Institute of Party History and Literature of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, PP38-41