We haven't really talked about this, but under the Soviet system, Russia was able to accomplish massive industrialization, not to mention tens of millions of deaths from starvation, through centralized planning and collectivization of agriculture, following what were known as Five Year Plans. The Chinese adopted the model of the Five Year Plans beginning in 1953, and the first one worked, at least as far as industrialization was concerned. In fact, the plan worked even better than expected, with industry increasing 121% more than projected. In order for this to work, though, the peasants had to grow lots of grain and sell it at extremely low prices. This kept inflation in check, and saving was encouraged by the fact that the Five Year Plan didn't have many consumer goods, so there was nothing to buy. For urban workers, living standards improved, and China's population grew to 646 million. So far, Mao's plan seemed to be working.