Selama tiga tahun kesulitan ekonomi di awal tahun 1960-an, Ladang Minyak Daqing di Cekungan Songliao di timur laut, diwakili oleh Wang Jinxi, meneruskan semangat revolusioner "tidak takut akan kesulitan dan pengorbanan", mengatasi blokade asing, dan membangun sebuah Ladang minyak besar domestik kelas satu dan terkemuka di dunia dalam waktu kurang dari tiga tahun, telah melepaskan diri dari topi “negara miskin minyak” yang diterapkan oleh negara-negara Barat terhadap Tiongkok, dan memberikan kontribusi yang signifikan terhadap perkembangan konstruksi sosialis.

Pada tahun 1964, Komite Sentral Partai Komunis Tiongkok menyerukan front industri nasional untuk "belajar dari Daqing dalam industri". Gerakan belajar dari Daqing di industri terutama untuk belajar dari semangat kemandirian dan kerja keras Daqing, untuk mendorong pengembangan perusahaan industri dan pertambangan serta konstruksi sosialis di seluruh negeri.

Poster propaganda pembelajaran dari Daqing di industri pada tahun 1960-an

Setelah beberapa tahun bekerja keras, Pabrik Tenis Meja Chenggong saat ini memiliki pijakan yang kokoh dan produksi pun berkembang. Pada tahun 1963 saja, pabrik kecil yang hanya beranggotakan 100 orang ini telah membayar lebih dari 130.000 yuan keuntungan kepada negara.

Pada tahun 1964, atasan mengalokasikan 240.000 yuan untuk investasi pembangunan modal dan memutuskan untuk memindahkan pabrik dari pinggiran timur Kuil Boluo ke pinggiran selatan Paolougang①. Suasana hati para pekerja pun berubah dari semula naik turun menjadi penuh ekspektasi dan kebanggaan. Mereka akan pindah ke gedung pabrik baru yang terletak di pusat industri kota, Industrial Avenue.

① Nanjiao Paolougang berada di dekat Jalan Yanzigang No. 28, Distrik Haizhu. Lahan tempat pindahnya Pabrik Tenis Meja Chenggong pada awalnya merupakan pabrik keramik yang telah memiliki fasilitas dasar pabrik sehingga memberikan kemudahan untuk perluasan produksi.

Saat ini, seseorang menyarankan untuk memanfaatkan kesempatan ini untuk meningkatkan penampilan pabrik secara signifikan. "Ini kesempatan bagus. Anda bisa meminta lebih banyak dan membuat pabrik terlihat bagus. Jika Anda melewatkan kesempatan ini, Anda tidak akan pernah menemukannya lagi." Beberapa orang di pabrik sangat ingin mendengar hal ini dan berkata, "Kami telah bekerja keras selama beberapa tahun dan akhirnya berhasil. Kali ini kami harus pindah ke pabrik baru dan tampil bagus!" Saat itu, cabang partai menyadari bahwa pembahasannya bias. Apa itu "terlihat bagus"? Apakah dengan berpegang teguh pada prinsip kemandirian dan kerja keras serta membuat pabrik terlihat seperti perusahaan sosialis, atau mengambil kesempatan “meraup untung” dari negara dan menjadikan pabrik terlihat lebih asing dan lebih besar?

Late at night, Li Chao, then the party branch secretary, repeatedly thought: Is our rapid development contrary to Chairman Mao's teaching of "always remain modest, cautious, not arrogant, not impatient, and continue to maintain the style of hard work"? He began to worry that if this development continued, would it lead everyone astray and forget the hard-core spirit of the successful table tennis factory - "self-reliance and hard work", the tenacity that can persist even in the most difficult times.

Secretary Li Chao and the leadership of Chenggong Factory clearly realized that even after the material conditions were significantly improved, maintaining and promoting the spirit of hard work was still the key to the stable development of the enterprise. Guided by this spirit, Chenggong Factory, together with workers from all over the city, launched the "Learn from Daqing" activity, taking this as an opportunity to stimulate the enthusiasm for work and the motivation for self-improvement of all factory staff.

One night, six or seven people including veteran workers Yang Bing, Li Tian, party branch secretary Li Chao, and deputy factory director Huang Cheng sat under the peach tree transplanted from Polo Temple to learn from Chairman Mao's great call to the whole country to "learn from Daqing in industry." Everyone was talking about how hardship and contribution they had with the Daqing workers:

"In terms of hardship, the Daqing workers had the sky above their heads, the grasslands under their feet, and the ice and snow. It was much harder than when we were in the early days of building the factory in Boluo Temple and were 'making a revolution with three tools'."

"In terms of contribution, the Daqing workers drilled one oil well after another for the country, which helped our country get rid of the crutch of relying on kerosene to survive, and blazed a path of independence, self-reliance, and self-reliance to develop our country's oil industry. Their contribution was much greater than ours."

"However, the Daqing workers were not proud of their achievements and always maintained the revolutionary tradition of self-reliance and hard work. When we moved from Boluo Temple to the current place, the country gave us some investment to develop production. Some people said, 'After years of hard work, we finally made it. Now that we have moved the factory, we don't have to be pioneers anymore?...

The more we compared, the brighter our hearts became. The old workers said, "The longer we stretch our hands, the shorter our ambitions become. We must use the energy of 'making a revolution with three tools' to move the factory. "Some old workers said earnestly: "If we lose the fine tradition of hard work and self-reliance, we will go astray!" ②

② This paragraph was originally published in the Guangzhou Daily on April 23, 1975.

The Party Branch of Chenggong Table Tennis Factory carried out the Daqing Learning Activity

The vigorous fighting spirit of the old workers inspired the employees in the factory and educated those who wanted to "make a fortune". Everyone took out the fighting spirit of the year when they started their business, while insisting on production, relocating and building the factory. During the relocation process, Chenggong Factory did not stop production for a day.

Chenggong Table Tennis Factory relocated to Yanzigang, Haizhu District

Paolougang next to Industrial Avenue used to have only a shabby small ceramic factory here, with a deserted environment and weeds all around. However, through the joint efforts of Chenggong Factory people, this scene has completely changed. Employees not only repaired roads and leveled land after work, but also built A new factory building of more than 2,000 square meters was built. Significant transportation costs were saved, and the relocation was completed during the Spring Festival holiday to ensure that production was not affected.

At that time, the production of table tennis balls required a lot of water resources. Faced with the high cost of tap water and unstable supply, the factory leaders and employees found an idea that was both cost-saving and environmentally friendly. Yang Bing and several other experienced old workers proposed to build a 400-square-meter return water pool and water tower in a low-lying area of the factory, so that the used water could be reused through cooling and filtration. The initial estimate was that it would cost 13,000 yuan, but the successful factory people who insisted on "self-reliance and hard work" believed that this cost could be lowered.

One day, old worker Yang Bing asked the factory leader: "Has the return water pool been contracted to the infrastructure unit?"

"Not yet. The construction team has been estimated to cost more than 10,000 yuan."

"We volunteered to do it ourselves! "

This proposal made Secretary Li Chao think for a long time. He thought, "Under difficult conditions, it is not easy to adhere to the principle of self-reliance and hard work, and to start a business relying on the "three treasures"; now that the family business is big and the conditions are good, it is key to continue to maintain that entrepreneurial spirit. So the next day at the staff meeting, Li Chao actively supported the initiative put forward by the old workers: carry forward the tradition of hard work of "three tools to make revolution" and build the return water pool by ourselves!

Di musim dingin, para kader dan pekerja Pabrik Chenggong, termasuk Sekretaris Cabang Partai Li Chao, Wakil Direktur Pabrik Huang Cheng dan para pekerja, bersama-sama berpartisipasi dalam tugas berat ini. Mereka berdiri tanpa alas kaki di air berlumpur, tidak takut dingin yang parah, dan bersikeras bekerja selama satu jam setiap hari sepulang kerja. Menggali tanah, menumbuk beton dan membangun dinding kolam. Setelah lebih dari tiga bulan bekerja keras, mereka tidak hanya berhasil membangun kolam air balik dan menara air, namun juga menghemat lebih dari 4.800 yuan investasi infrastruktur bagi negara. Dengan cara ini, setelah tiga bulan kerja sukarela sepulang kerja, kolam kembali dengan panjang 20 meter, lebar 2 meter, dan dalam 2 meter, seperti kolam renang kecil, dibangun dengan biaya hanya lebih dari 6.000 yuan.

Kolam kembali pabrik tenis meja Chenggong

Segera setelah relokasi, untuk memperluas produksi bola tenis meja guna memenuhi permintaan pasar yang terus meningkat, negara memutuskan untuk berinvestasi di Pabrik Chenggong dan menambah mesin dan bangunan pabrik yang diperlukan. Namun, dalam menghadapi investasi asing ini, para karyawan dan pimpinan Pabrik Chenggong menunjukkan sikap hati-hati yang luar biasa. Dalam pertemuan cabang partai, mereka membahas bagaimana menggunakan investasi negara secara wajar. Dalam diskusi tersebut, para kader dan pekerja Pabrik Chenggong menunjukkan disiplin diri yang luar biasa. Mereka dengan cermat meninjau rencana investasi negara satu per satu, berupaya mengefisienkan setiap pengeluaran dan dengan tegas menghilangkan proyek-proyek yang dapat diselesaikan oleh pabrik itu sendiri. Pada akhirnya, kecuali kapal uap, sisa 16 dari 17 peralatan khusus yang semula direncanakan akan diperbarui diproduksi sendiri. Jumlah pendanaan negara yang diminta oleh Pabrik Chenggong dikurangi dari semula 240.000 yuan menjadi 167.500 yuan. Melalui perhitungan yang cermat, hal ini menghemat investasi negara sebesar 80.000 yuan.

Serangkaian peristiwa besar selama proses relokasi menunjukkan tekad Pabrik Chenggong untuk berpegang teguh dan mengedepankan semangat ketekunan dan penghematan. Seperti yang dikatakan beberapa pekerja, "Semangat 'kemandirian dan kerja keras' di Kuil Polo telah berkembang dan membuahkan hasil di Paolougang."