The challenges and opportunities for the trade union movement in the transition era: two socialist market economies – China and Vietnam

Both China and Vietnam are undergoing a social experiment as they diverge from the path of their Soviet compatriots and attempt the transition to a ‘socialist market economy’. This article tackles the role of trade unions in China and Vietnam in the context of globalization and market-orientated economic reform by identifying both challenges and opportunities for the trade unions in the areas of policy formation at national level and participation in collective bargaining and dispute mediation at enterprise level. Trade unions in both countries will have a significant role on a wide range of social issues under their special political, social and economic systems in the transition era into the twenty-first century.