POU CHEN, ONE OF THE WORLD BIGGEST FOOTWEAR PRODUCERS.Pou Chen Corp., a Taiwanese-owned major shoes’ producing corporation, has been monitored bymany labour groups because it produces for many leading brand name, especially Nike. The PouChen Corp mainly sources from factories in China, Vietnam and Indonesia where there are frequentreports of labour violations. “ Pou Chen Corp was founded in 1969. The company is principally engaged in theproduction of rubber shoes. It has developed into a diversified shoe maker in Taiwan. Thecompany has fourteen factories. It also produces shoe-related materials. Most of its productsare distributed to North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and domestic market as well7.In 1999, earnings before extraordinary items at Pou Chen Corp were 3.56 billion TaiwaneseDollars, or 26.7% of sales. This profit margin is an improvement over the level the companyachieved in 1998, when the profit margin was 24.2% of sales. Earnings before extraordinaryitems have grown for each of the past 5 years (and since 1995, earnings before extraordinaryitems have grown a total of 635%). Pou Chen Corp.htmTsai Chi Jen, the oldest of four brothers, began building the family shoe business more than30 years ago8.Tsai Chi Jen's drawings led to today's high-tech teams that design shoes in Taiwan under thename of Pou Chen. Manufacturing plants -- populated by armies of mostly female workers inChina, Indonesia and Vietnam -- then transform the designs into products under the name of Yue Yuen.” 9