Walmart and "Made in China" are practically synonymous; Walmart imports some 70 percent of its merchandise from China. Walmart is now also rapidly becoming a major retail presence there, with close to two hundred Walmarts in more than a hundred Chinese cities. What happens when the world's biggest retailer and the world's biggest country do business with each other? In this book, a group of thirteen experts from several disciplines examine the symbiotic but strained relationship between these giants. The book shows how Walmart began cutting costs by bypassing its American suppliers and sourcing directly from Asia and how Walmart's sheer size has trumped all other multinationals in squeezing procurement prices and, as a by-product, driving down Chinese workers' wages.

Introduction: When the World's Largest Company Encounters the World's Biggest Countryby Anita ChanPart One: The Walmart Supply Chain1. Walmart's Long March to China: How a Mid-American Retailer Came to Stake Its Future on the Chinese Economyby Nelson Lichtenstein2. Outsourcing in China: Walmart and Chinese Manufacturersby Xue Hong3. Walmartization, Corporate Social Responsibility, and the Labor Standards of Toy Factories in South Chinaby Yu Xiaomin and Pun Ngai4. Made in China: Work and Wages in Walmart Supplier Factoriesby Anita Chan and Kaxton SiuPart Two: The Walmart Stores5. Corporate Cadres: Management and Corporate Culture at Walmart Chinaby David J. Davies6. A Store Manager's Success Storyby David J. Davies and Taylor Seeman7. Practicing Cheer: The Diary of a Low-Level Supervisor at a Walmart China Storeby Scott E. Myers and Anita ChanTranslation by Scott E. Myers8. Working in Walmart, Kunming: Technology, Outsourcing, and Retail Globalizationby Eileen M. OtisPart Three: Walmart Trade Unions9. Unionizing Chinese Walmart Storesby Anita Chan10. Did Unionization Make a Difference? Work Conditions and Trade Union Activities at Chinese Walmart Storesby Jonathan Unger, Diana Beaumont, and Anita Chan11. Workers and Communities versus Walmart: A Comparison of Organized Resistance in the United States and Chinaby Katie QuanNotesNotes on ContributorsIndex