Zhangjiakou was an important grain collecting and distributing center before liberation. Both grain industry and flour industry played a significant role in Zhangjiakou’s industry and commerce. Private wholesale grain store and flour mills began to ...
Zhangjiakou was an important grain collecting and distributing center before liberation. Both grain industry and flour industry played a significant role in Zhangjiakou’s industry and commerce. Private wholesale grain store and flour mills began to resume production after the second liberation in December 1948. Simultaneously new flour grinding machine had been introduced with the encouragement of the government. Under these conditions, some private wholesale grain store made a transition to flour mills, which led to a rapid development of the flour industry. However, while the new regime encouraged private wholesale grain store to operate flour mills, it also strictly separated the grain industry from the flour industry and prohibited private flour mills from concurrently involve in the grain industry. At the same time, the new regime controlled the grain market through measures such as formulating list price, and state-run grain companies (hereinafter called grain companies) quickly took a leading place. Consequently, the transaction volume of private wholesale grain store decreased, and the purchase and sale of grain were more concentrated in grain companies.
Under such circumstances, the flour industry relies on grain companies to provide raw materials, more and more private flour mills became a processer of grain companies. Once the grain supply is tight, private flour mills would be out of business because grain companies could not provide enough raw materials. After the State Monopoly Policy for Grain Purchase and Marketing implemented in 1953, private grain industry completely withdrew from the market, only a few private flour mills maintained production as processing plants, and finally they became the object of socialist transformation.