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Communist China or the People’s Republic of China, as it is formally known, came into being in 1949. There is only one party, i.e., the Communist Party of China that holds the power there. All the sectors of economy including various enterprises and all land owned by individuals was brought under governmental control. A programme called ‘The Great Leap Forward’ was launched in 1958. Its aim was to industrialise the country on a large scale and in as short a time as possible. For this, people were eyeji encouraged to set up industries in their backyards. In villages, village Communes or cooperatives were set up. Communes means collective cultivation of land. Around 26000 communes covered almost all the farm population in 1958.
The Great Leap Forward programme faced many problems. These were:
- In the earlier phase, a severe drought occurred in China and it killed some 3 crore people.
- Soviet Russia was a comrade to communist China, but they had border dispute. As a result, Russia withdrew its professionals who had been helping China in its industrialisation bid.