Chinese trade union chief Wang Zhaoguo said Monday that unswerving efforts must be made to ensurethe country's trade unions develop on the socialist path with Chinese characteristics.

Wang Zhaoguo, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and president of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), made the remarks at a meeting commemorating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the ACFTU.

Wang, also vice chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, China's top legislative body, spoke highly of the contributions made by the federation over the past eight decades in uniting and leading the entire working class in the Chinese revolution and construction and the reform and opening up drive.

Noting that it is a major achievement scored after years of hard efforts and the scientific summing-up of the fundamental experience that the Chinese trade unions must answer for the needs of the era and conform to the actual situation of the country and give play to the law of the trade union work.

Urging the trade unions at all levels to carry forward their glorious traditions and constantly blaze new trails, Wang stressed that all trade unions must be put under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and serve the overall situation of the Party and the country while seriously representing and safeguarding the legitimate rights of all employees and the broad masses.

The ACFTU is a mass organization of the working class formed voluntarily by the Chinese workers and staff members. Founded on May 1, 1925, it now has a membership of 134 million in more than 1.713 million primary trade union organizations.