Rigorous tests throughout the "cultural revolution" have proved that standing on the correct side in the struggle were the overwhelming majority of Members of the Eighth Central Committee of the Party and the Members it elected to its Political Bureau, Standing Committee and Secretariat.

  Most of the Party cadres, whether they were wrongly dismissed or remained at their posts, whether they were rehabilitated early or late, are loyal to the Party and people and steadfast in their belief in the cause of socialism and communism. 

Most of the intellectuals, model workers, patriotic democrats, patriotic overseas Chinese and cadres and masses of all strata and all nationalities who had been wronged and persecuted did not waver in their love for the motherland and in their support for the Party and socialism. 

Party and state leaders such as Comrades Liu Shaoqi, Peng Dehuai, He Long and Tao Zhu and all other Party and non-Party comrades who were persecuted to death in the "cultural revolution" will live for ever in the memories of the Chinese people. 

It was through the joint struggles waged by the entire Party and the masses of workers, peasants, PLA officers and men, intellectuals, educated youth and cadres that the havoc wrought by the "cultural revolution" was somewhat mitigated. 

Some progress was made in China's economy despite tremendous losses. 

Grain output increased relatively steadily.

Significant achievements were scored in industry, communications and capital construction and in science and technology.

 New railways were built and the Changjiang River Bridge at Nanjing was completed;a number of large enterprises using advanced technology went into operation;hydrogen bomb tests were successfully undertaken and man-made satellites successfully launched and retrieved;and new hybrid strains of long-grained rice were developed and popularized.

Despite the domestic turmoil, the People's Liberation Army bravely defended the security of the motherland. 

And new prospects were opened up in the sphere of foreign affairs. Needless to say, none of these successes can be attributed in any way to the "cultural revolution, " without which China would have scored far greater achievements for her cause. 

Although China suffered from sabotage by the counter-revolutionary Lin Biao and Jiang Qing cliques during the "cultural revolution", she won out over them in the end. 

The Party, the people's political power, the people's army and Chinese society on the whole remained unchanged in nature. Once again history has proved that Chinese people are a great people and that the Communist Party and socialist system have enormous vitality.

The victory won in overthrowing the counter-revolutionary Jiang Qing clique, or the Gang of Four, in October 1976 saved the Party and the nation. 

But the "Cultural Revolution" left the serious consequences of political, ideological, organizational and economic confusion. 

The second generation of the collective leadership with Deng Xiaoping at the core shaped after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in December 1978. (Mao Zedong was at the core of the CPC first generation of collective leadership, and Deng was an important member among that leadership. )