Chinese shoe manufacturer Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings Ltd said it would make a preliminary provision of some $37 million to an employee benefit programme at its Gaobu factory, part of an agree ment that resolved a major strike there.

Thousands of shoe factory workers who staged one of China's biggest strikes returned to work in April after the maker of footwear for companies such as Nike Inc and Adidas agreed to meet some of their demands for better social benefits.

Yue Yuen said in a filing later on Tuesday that the final amount of money to go into the employee benefit programme would be determined by the number of applications received and approval by government authorities.

The provisions will be reflected in the company's consolidated financial statements for the six months ending June 30.