International | China
In August 1996, Wal-Mart Stores opened its first Supercenter and Sam’s Club
in Shenzhen, China. The entrance signaled Wal-Mart’s interest in China
as not only a producer market, but also an emerging consumer market. As of April 2008, Wal-Mart had opened 100
supercenters and 3 Sam’s Clubs, and held a 35% share of the Taiwanese
Trust-Mart brand.
With the approval of Wal-Mart’s 100th store, its growth as an international retailer in China is quite evident. Yet the success of Wal-Mart has been tempered by a series of setbacks as reports have revealed that Wal-Mart procures goods, such as toys and apparel, from sweatshops that use toxic materials and unpaid labor.
Wal-Mart China was unionized on July 29, 2006 becoming the first Wal-Mart division to unionize in the history of the corporation. The company also has a branch of the Community Party operating out of its China headquarters.
OPERATIONS IN CHINA
President and CEO of Wal-Mart China: Ed Chan
Number of Associates: 48,589
Number of stores: 206
- Supercenters: 100
- Sam's Club: 3
- Neighborhood Markets: 2
- Trust Marts: 101
PUBLICATIONS
| | ||
 |  | Labor Rights in China |
 | Made in China: The Sweatshop Behind the Bratz | |
 | Secrets, Lies, and Sweatshops | |
 | The Great Wal-Mart of China | |
 | Wal-Mart in China: Rolling Back Labor Rights | |
 | Organizing Wal-Mart: The Chinese Trade Union at a Crossroads | |
 | Wal-Mart Sweatshop Toys Made in China | |
 | Blood and Exhaustion: Behind Bargain Toys Made in China for Wal-Mart and Dollar General | |
 | Wal-Mart Imports from China, Exports Ohio Jobs | |
 | Wal-Mart Nation | |
| | |
- There is no national minimum wage in China.
- Factories can easily falsify their records. A Ningbo based factory employed the helped of a management and consulting firm to help pass an audit by Wal-Mart inspectors.
- According to Country Reports on Human Rights Practices there are no regulations concerning working hours, paid weekly rest, rest breaks, or compulsory overtime. However, some reports suggest a legal limit of 36 voluntary overtime hours a month
- At a Guangdong toy factory which produced battery-operated radio controlled toy cars and trucks for Wal-Mart, workers often worked 13 hour shifts, six to seven days a week and were forced to work overtime. Pregnant women were denied their legal right to three months maternity leave.
- Chinese law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 16, yet there is no comprehensive policy to combat child labor.
- One report has revealed a factory in Shanxi where child laborers were forced to work 12 hours shifts in harsh conditions without pay for six months. China Labor Bulletin’s research report on child labor suggests the practice is common.
- Chinese law provides for freedom of association and the government generally respects this right.
- The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), which is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, is the sole legal workers' organization.
- The law provides for the right to organize; however, it does not guarantee the right to collective bargaining.
- When workers at a Shenzhen factory petitioned to the Wal-Mart corporate responsibility department to set up a worker-run union, they did not receive any reply.
Source: U.S. Department of State, "China: Country Report on Human Rights Practices," 6 March, 2007.
Visit our china blog, or browse the latest entries below
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