Mao Zedong had many economic policies dealing with both agriculture and industry that allowed him to maintain power. Policies such as his land reform program of 1950, his first five-year plan which lasted from 1953 to 1957, collectivization and his great leap forward of 1958 both brought him major successes and failures allowing him to sustain himself in power. In 1950, Mao's land reform program enabled him to gain massive support from the peasants who then made up the majority of China's population. Mao, seeing the strength of the peasants, began to redistribute land from landlords to peasants. The aim of the program was to unleash the forces to increase productivity in agriculture, which would translate into increased support and power. This program presented a number of successes as well as weaknesses for Mao. Through the land reform program, the standard of living of peasants increased as they received land and were exempted from paying rent. The peasants had a say in the revolution and therefore strongly supported Mao. On the other hand, millions of landowners died and Mao became even more unpopular among them. Overall, this policy was a success for Mao because the peasants had a greater influence on his maintenance of power than the landowners, as they not only helped China increase the majority of its agricultural production, but also constituted the majority of the Chinese population. making their group more essential supporters. Additionally, Mao's First Five-Year Plan, from 1953 to 1957, aimed to achieve high growth rates in heavy industry. This was to be done by organizing farmers into collectives to increase productivity, abolishing private ownership of land and industry, and increasing employment to aid industry. The government began by implementing beneficial economic policies to persuade the people, allowing them to get the support they needed. However, once in power with adequate supporters, Mao made the decision he needed to develop a powerful country, no longer worrying about the human costs. We can therefore say that at the start of his mandate, he maintained power thanks to his economic policy. This remained to some extent, but the adverse factors were greater, damaging his status and causing him to lose support. Ultimately, like most other leaders when they lack supporters, the favor of eliminating opposition takes over, resulting in a regime that allows the leader to safely maintain power . Therefore, I agree that economic policies played a huge role in keeping him in power at first, but later took a less-than-beneficial turn, forcing Moa to take extreme measures to maintain power. power..