ABSTRACT
By 1958, eight years had passed since Mao declared the People’sRepublic. Mao himself was now 63. He had reason to be pleased withChina’s progress since the victory in 1949. China’s agricultural production had returned to pre-Second World War levels, and the average life expectancy in China had reached 57 years of age. Modest improvements in health care and education augured well for the future. Technical assistance from the USSR had boosted China’s industrial production as the ‘Lean to One Side’ policy bore fruit, although the Chinese relationship with the new Soviet leader, Khrushchev, was already severely strained. The international community saw China confront the United States and UN troops in Korea, and its stature among other developing states had increased as a result.
