In 1958, Chairman Mao implemented the Great Leap Forward - a scheme that would advance China's economy so quickly that by 1988, it would be as large and powerful as that of the United States. The Great Leap Forward abolished private property, putting tools, food, buildings - everything that kept China running and fed - into the hands of collectives. Each collective was asked to produce everything it needed - not just its own food and clothing, but the means of production themselves. They had to smelt their own metals to create steel for tractors and building.