Section 3 Post Made Progress in Overcoming Difficulties
A. Difficulties post faced
After the 3rd Session of 11th Plenary Meeting of CPC, with the policies of economic reform and activation being gradually put forward, all kinds of connections and exchanges in social production were greatly increased. The rapid progress of commercial economy caused exchanges and cooperation among different departments, industries, areas and even more and more various countries, forming giant person flow, material flow, and capital flow. Post departments which bore the important task of message delivery were the first to be stricken by the commercial tide. From 1983 to 1985, the average increasing rate per year of major post business all over the country was I l.2% for mails, 7.l% for remittance, 19.8% for newspapers, all of which were one or several times over the increasing rate of years before. Because basic facilities Of post were backward, large amount of social communication requirement couldn't be met, especially in some economically active coastal areas, post communication was seriously unfit for the requirements. In Wenzhou, southern Pat of Jiangsu and Liaodong Peninsula, rural enterprises and rural specialized households, and microeconomic households shouldered baskets, drove tractors to post offices to send Parcels. Its quantity was totally unexpected by post department, which caused large of overstocks. The difficulties post faced were more extruded: Firstly, communication ability was quite deficient. First-level main lines were all on tense. Mails were often overstocked. In 1985, the overstock in several major exchange post offices had reached over 100,000 post bags, which caused strong public responses. Secondly, post offices were scarce. Most of existing post offices were narrow and crowded, especially in metropolitan and cities open to the outside world. Customers would wait for a long time to purchase a piece of stamp. Thirdly, technical facilities of post were quite backward. Post was mainly operated manually. There was few mechanical equipments. Production efficiency was low. Fourthly, diathesis of the staff was unfit for enterprise's requirements. Technical level of post staff was low, and there were few sequela cadres and technical backbones, which greatly affected the development of post.
Facing the rapidly increasing social requirements, backward condition of post had seriously affected and restricted economic development and opening up to the outside world. Leaders of the State Council had actually pointed out that communication had become the weakest link among the weak links of national economy.
B. Super intendentance attached importance to post work
Facing the new situation, leaders of MPT attached importance to the problems emerging from the construction of post communication. Through summarizing experiences, correcting business guiding ideology, MPT placed post on the important agenda, enforced investigation and had clear aim and knowledge about post development and organization management.
In 1984, in the report of modification, MPT stressed that "it is necessary to emphatically check post work", and pointed out that "in communication construction, it is necessary for us to attach importance to modernized telecommunication constriction, and we will further enforce it. But because our territory is far-flung, population is large, economy is backward, post communication has its specially important position and functions. For a long time, we didn't recognized this point clearly, and didn't think much of it. The backward situation of post communication didn't change a lot. Currently, main problems of post work are: Production and operation conditions are simple and crude, transportation and Processing ability are weak, delivery forces are not enough, there are no enough sequela specialized cadres, service levels are low, and quality Problems are obvious. We didn't think much of post development programming, investment arrangement, training of specialized cadres, adopting new technology and new equipment. We didn't take forceful measures to effectively change the backward situation of post communication. The Party Committee of MPT decided to solve the existed problems in post work, make post development programming, arrange post investment proportion, enforce post staff training, carry on adoption and import of new technology and new equipment, continue to Promote Postal code, and accelerate communication construction through consolidating Party Organization".
In 1985, MPT held 3 symposiums of post cadres, hearing the opinions of all sides, and seeking for solving method, which deepened the knowledge of existed problems.
C. Enforce post propaganda, strive for the support of public opinion
With the increase of requirements for post communication from all sides of the society, post department recognized its occlusion and backwardness, so it enforced post propaganda work. Firstly, MAT leaders reported to the CPC (central party committee), the State Council and relative departments about the special difficulties in post work, and spoke through broadcasting and television to publicize the position and functions of post communication in social life as well as problems need to be solved in post developments. In addition, MAT invited deputies to the NPC (National People's Congress), committees of CPPCC (the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference), local governmental leaders to inspect post work.
Make full use of mass media to publicize post. In 1986, reporters of "Outlook" periodical made successive interviews of post and made a series of reports "The increase of newspaper, periodical, mails, parcels brought a series of problems to transportation and delivery. Post communication was in tensed from south to north, from east to west", which aroused strong responses in the society. Later, reporters and editors of all major newspapers and periodicals in Beijing visited the working site of Be1Jing Post Office, and specially reported through "Economical Reference", which deepened the attention and support from the Public toward the difficult development of post. To make whole society to concern about and support post communication, and further promote the development of post industry, "Economical Reference" cooperated with post department to carry out the special discussion of "improving post situation" in the newspaper. From Aug. 12 to Oct. 6, 1988. Over 20 discussing articles as well as commentators articles were published, which reflected many concrete situations, difficulties and "worries", vigorously appealed for the concern and support of post communication constructions from the whole society. Many readers wrote letters and Andes about problems of post services and difficulties in post work, and Put forward many constructive suggestions on getting rid of post dilemma, and accelerating post industry development.
In the discussion, vice chairman of NPC, former minister of MPT, Zhu Xuefan wrote an article and made a speech, pointing out that post industry development should be programmed. From the view of development strategy of national economy to enforce its abilities of self-accumulation, self-modification, self-development, post related to all families and people. The whole society should concern about post, support post and manage post cooperatively.
Under the active work of post intendance deportment and the promotion of public opinions, leaders of local government all attached importance to post communication construction. Leaders of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipals, and many districts, cities, counties directly heard the reports of local post work, discussed communication development construction plans, drew up Preferential policy, decided construction projects, assisted in obtaining capitals, where appeared the new situation of supporting and attaching importance to post communication development, which solved difficulties of post to some extent, and accelerated development of post industry.