Labor leaders from the United States have reached agreements with their Chinese counterparts to forge formal cooperative ties in an ice-breaking visit to China, ending a decades-old boycott of China unions by labor groups.

Change to Win, second largest coalition of unions, and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) have decided to maintain cooperation to better safeguard workers' rights under the context of globalization, said Anna Burger, who heads the labor delegation in the first visit to China by a nation-wide coalition of unions.

This is the first and a very important step for broadening cooperation between the two countries' unions, Burger said Tuesday at a news briefing.

Despite the differences in political systems, history and culture, the two countries' unions "share the same mission of representing the working people", she said, adding the US labor leaders had "frank, open and exciting" discussions with their Chinese counterparts.

The universal goal of safeguarding labor rights prompted the visit in spite of the different trade union systems, and the visit increased mutual understanding, said the chairwoman of the unions coalition representing six million workers.

Burger noted the globalization of capital requires effective measures to improve ties between the two country's unions to better safeguard workers' rights and improve their lives.

The two sides also agreed to exchange information and strategies on issues of collective bargaining and organizing with multinationals in the future, she said.

Burger said her group will discuss with the American Chamber of Commerce the opposition of some companies to China's draft labor rights law.

She said the firms should not resist China's labor rights law as it aims to protect the interests and rights of Chinese workers.

She also applauded the roles of Chinese trade unions and said they, like their counterparts in other countries, are striving to safeguard labor rights.

The labor representatives on Monday held a seminar with the ACFTU on collective bargaining with global corporations in Beijing after a three-day visit in Shanghai, where they talked to port workers and employees of multinationals.

Before heading to China, James Hoffa, a member of the delegation and president of the Teamsters Union, told reporters he considered it important to develop a dialogue with the 100-million member ACFTU.

Analysts said the ice-breaking visit will help to narrow differences as some Americans accuse cheap Chinese exports for the loss of a large number of jobs in their country, while others say the less expensive products have improved the lives of average Americans.

"It is a good beginning as the visit brings an end to the disengagement by labor groups. All the trade unions worldwide should unite and improve their ties," said Guan Huai, a professor at the Beijing-based Renmin University.

China's top political advisor Jia Qinglin met with the trade union leaders on Tuesday, saying the government will support cooperation between Chinese and trade unions and their discussion on the role of trade unions in economic globalization.

Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

ACFTU President Wang Zhaoguo, who is also vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, also met with the union leaders.

(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2007)