The 7,000-People Conference
From January 11 to February 7, 1962, an enlarged work conference of the CPC Central Committee was held in Beijing. It was attended by top leaders from the Central Committee and Party committees from various provinces, prefectures and counties, as well as from major factories, mines and army units – altogether 7,118 attendees. This was called the 7,000-people Conference.
This large conference was held when China had undergone a year's readjustment and was beginning to emerge from the economic difficulties caused by the three years of the Great Leap Forward. The purpose of the conference was to sum up previous experience, reach a consensus on some issues, enhance unity, and mobilize the Party to continue the readjustment and overcome the difficulties.
Liu Shaoqi delivered a written report on behalf of the Central Committee, which summarized the Party's work since 1949, particularly the experience and lessons gained during the Great Leap Forward, and analyzed the mistakes and shortcomings and the reasons behind them.
Mao Zedong talked mainly about democratic centralism and the importance of democracy both inside and outside the Party. He urged the people to study the laws governing the socialist economy and gain a deeper understanding of them through practice.
The conference produced an initial summary of the experience in the Party's economic work since the Great Leap Forward; strengthened intra-Party democracy by introducing criticism and self-criticism, reiterated the great tradition of seeking truth from facts and adhering to the Party's mass line, and mobilized Party members to carry out the policy to "readjust, consolidate, strengthen and upgrade" the economy.
The conference was successful in unifying thinking among Party members, correcting some of the "leftist" mistakes that had damaged the economy, and overcoming some of the country's existing difficulties. But it failed to gain a full understanding of all the "leftist" mistakes, and did not rectify erroneous views on the importance of extending class struggle, and those that were out of tune with economic reality.
七千人大会
1962年1月11日至2月7日，中共中央在北京召开了扩大的工作会议。参加会议的有中央和省、地、县委四级主要负责人以及重要厂矿和军队的负责干部，共7118人，史称七千人大会。
这次空前规模的大会，是在三年“大跃进”造成严重经济困难，经过一年国民经济调整，形势开始有所好转的情况下召开的。会议目的是进一步总结经验，统一认识，增强团结，动员全党更坚决地执行调整方针，为战胜困难而奋斗。刘少奇代表中央作书面报告，对中华人民共和国成立以来12年的工作，特别是“大跃进”以来的工作经验和教训进行了总结，着重指出了工作中的缺点和错误，并对产生缺点和错误的原因作了分析。毛泽东在大会上作重要讲话，强调并阐述了实行民主集中制和在党内、党外发扬民主的问题。他还指出，要下功夫研究社会主义经济规律，在实践中逐步加深对它的认识。
大会主要解决了三方面的问题：初步总结了“大跃进”以来党在经济工作中的经验教训；发扬了党内民主，开展了批评和自我批评，强调了要恢复实事求是、群众路线的优良作风；动员全党贯彻“调整、巩固、充实、提高”的八字方针，切实抓好国民经济的调整工作。
这次大会是中共八大之后召开的一次重要会议，它对统一全党认识，纠正经济工作中的“左”倾错误，克服经济困难起了积极的作用。但是这次大会没有从根本上认识“左”的指导思想的错误，对阶级斗争扩大化和违背经济规律的一些错误观点也没有认真清理。
