Multinational companies on the Fortune 500 list have seen the majority of their corporate operations on the Chinese mainland establish trade unions, with union members exceeding 2.01 million.

Sun Chunlan, the All China Federation of Trade Unions deputy head, said on Tuesday of 483 Fortune 500 companies operating on the mainland there were more than 4,100 corporate entities. Of those, 3,370, or 82 percent, had established trade unions.

The federation is preparing to hold its 15th national congress from Oct. 17 to 21 in Beijing. In total, 1,800 deputies and 289 special deputies from 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, as well as 29 guests from Hong Kong and Macao, will participate.

Of the deputies, women accounted for 31.6 percent; minority ethnic groups made up 13.2 percent. About 83.5 percent were under 55 years.

The deputies also included 47 migrant workers, representing a population of at least 140 million such workers nationwide.

(Xinhua News Agency October 7, 2008)