Wal-Mart employees in the southeastern Chinese city of Quanzhou established the union at a meeting where they also elected union officials, said a senior official at the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, a government-sanctioned group that approved the meeting. The union's launch followed heavy pressure from the federation, known as ACFTU, to allow it to organize Wal-Mart employees.

"This is just the first Wal-Mart branch. There will be more soon," ACFTU spokeswoman Wang Ying said. Wal-Mart China spokesman Jonathan Dong said the company was aware of the meeting but hadn't been formally notified of the establishment of the union.

The ACFTU doesn't resemble Western-style trade unions, which focus on workers' rights and collective bargaining. Instead, say ACFTU officials, it focuses on promoting good relations between employers and employees. Some analysts consider the ACFTU a tool that helps China's authorities control workers and prevent the spread of independent unions. Still, analysts said that Wal-Mart's apparent decision to allow the ACFTU-backed union in its Quanzhou operation reflects the country's importance for the company's continued growth overseas.

Chief Executive Lee Scott has said China is the only country where Wal-Mart, of Bentonville, Arkansas, can feasibly duplicate the size and success it has had in the U.S.

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