The labor movement had grown enormously, particularly in the three industrial and commercial centers of Canton, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, but it also had some organizational success in other cities such as Wuhan.

[6] The ACFTU was restricted in 1927 by the newly established rule of the Nationalist regime under Chiang Kai-shek,[2] who had ordered the execution of thousands of CCP cadres and their sympathizers as part of a crackdown on Communism.

[7] By the rise of Mao Zedong in 1949, the ACFTU was established as China's sole national labor union center, but was again dissolved in 1966 in the wake of the Cultural Revolution in favor of revolutionary committees.

[10] In 2018, the 17th National Congress of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

[12] In 2018, the ACFTU identified platform economy food delivery drivers among its eight priority groups of workers for protection.

[5]: 130  It also seeks to address occupational health and safety issues and carries on industrial policy oversight.

The ICFTU, noting that the ACFTU is not an independent trade union organization and, therefore, cannot be regarded as an authentic voice of Chinese workers, reaffirms its request to all affiliates and Global Union Federations having contacts with the Chinese authorities, including the ACFTU, to engage in critical dialog.

[13]: 162 The failure of the ACFTU to advocate for workers has led to an increase in wildcat strikes and other unauthorized labor action.