And 42 members in a Shenzhen store, Guangdong Province, founded a second trade union on August 4 , just a day before the Nanjing committee.

Wal-Mart China has so far not given any response to the formation of three trade unions within its enterprise.

And a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart China said she did not know anything about the unions or similar moves at other Wal-Mart branches when she was interviewed by China Daily last Friday.

However, the move was reported by Xinhua News Agency as being a result of more than two years' efforts by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) to push the retail giant to set up labour unions in its 59 outlets around the country.

According to China's trade union law, enterprises or institutions with 25 employees and above should establish trade unions, all employees have the right to join the ACFTU, and anyone who applies to set up a union should be allowed to do so by the company.

Xu Deming, vice-president of the ACFTU, said that trade unions, organized on employees' own volition, can safeguard the economic, political and cultural rights of workers and also help "lubricate" the relationship between employees and employers.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc, which set up shop in China in 1996 and employs more than 30,000 people at stores across the country, has long resisted pressure in many countries to unionize its workers, an action frequently criticized by local trade unions and governments.

But Wal-Mart China released a statement last November, saying "should associates request the formation of a union, Wal-Mart China would respect their wishes and honour its obligation under China's trade union law."

ACFTU statistics show that by last September, only about 26 per cent of the more than 150,000 foreign-funded enterprises in China had set up trade unions.

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