Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Chinese unions grow in numbers and strength
ROBERT GRIFFITHS reports from a recent meeting in Beijing between the Chinese trade union movement and Western communist parties
An Jianhua (centre), head of the international department of the All China Federation of Trades Unions (ACFTU)

An Jianhua, head of the international department of the All China Federation of Trades Unions (ACFTU), is open and relaxed as he talks to Communist Party leaders from six Western countries.

At very short notice, he had come along to outline the work of the ACFTU and answer a series of searching questions.

The ACFTU was established on May Day 1925, on the initiative of the Communist Party of China (CPC), after four years of preparation in the most unfavourable and repressive conditions.

Strikes are not an effective way of solving the problems of the working class in China

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Members of trade unions shout slogans during a nationwide strike to protest an interim trade deal with the United States, saying the agreement undermines the interests of farmers, small businesses and workers in New Delhi, India, February 12, 2026
Workers' Rights / 25 February 2026
25 February 2026

The biggest strike in global history is a template for our future. The silence tells you all you need to know, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE

DEFEATING JAPAN IS A PRIORITY: Eighth Route Army fighting on Futuyu Great Wall in Laiyuan, Hebei, China, 1938 / Pic: Sha Fei/CC
History / 13 February 2026
13 February 2026

In Part 4 of her look at the Chinese revolution JENNY CLEGG addresses the relationship between the Peasant Movement and the National Movement

Monument to the heroes of the Long March
Features / 3 November 2025
3 November 2025

STEPHEN BELL reports from a delegation that traced the steps of China’s socialist revolution from its first modest meetings to the Red Army’s epic 9,000km battle to create the modern nation that today defies every capitalist assumption

NHS resident doctors protest outside Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, as resident doctors in England, formerly referred to as junior doctors, begin a five-day strike after talks with the Government collapsed over pay. Picture date: Friday July 25, 2025
TUC Congress 2025 / 8 September 2025
8 September 2025

Labour’s watered-down legislation won’t protect us from unfair dismissal or ban some zero-hours contracts until 2027  — leaving millions of young people vulnerable to the populist right’s appeal, warns TUC young workers chair FRASER MCGUIRE