US retail giant Wal-Mart is investing US$1 million to establish
China's first retail research center at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University. Lee
Scott, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., attended the
ceremony held?on the campus on Tuesday.
The event came just a few days after the All-China Federation of
Trade Unions (ACFTU) threatened to
blacklist or sue Wal-Mart for refusing to allow employees to
unionize.
Some commentators see the move as the company's attempt to
bolster its image as a good corporate citizen.
At the Tsinghua event, Scott declined to answer repeated
questions from reporters concerning the trade union issue,
according to the Beijing News.
Last week, ACFTU
officials named several foreign companies that are reluctant to
allow employees to establish trade unions at their China
facilities. Wal-Mart, Dell, Kodak, Samsung and some KFC and
McDonald's outlets were among those listed.
Wal-Mart employs about 19,000 people in China.
People's Daily reported on October 27 that when the
head of the ACFTU visited Wal-Mart's corporate headquarters in
Shenzhen to discuss the issue of unionization, he was told that
Wal-Mart discouraged the establishment of trade unions in all of
its global operations.
Shanghai Municipality refused to grant Wal-Mart permission to
operate when the company refused to allow unionization, according
to People's Daily.
Wal-Mart is continuing to expand its China operations, however.
On Monday it opened its 40th outlet in the country, and
Bloomberg News reports that it plans to open as many as 15
new stores in 2005, focusing on smaller provincial cities.
China will lift major restrictions on foreign retailers from
December 11 this year, opening the doors for expansion.
In addition to retail outlets, more than 80 percent of
Wal-Mart's products sold in the US are manufactured by contractors
or subcontractors in China. The company estimates it spent US$15
billion on Chinese-made products last year, accounting for nearly
one-eighth of all Chinese exports to the US.
The company has frequently come under fire overseas for sourcing
its products from factories where workers are paid less than
minimum wage, required to work excessively long hours, and which
may employ underage workers or fail to meet basic safety
standards.
(China.org.cn, Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2004)