The trial has been held in northeast China of two men charged with attempting to overthrow the state during large-scale workers' protests last year

Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang, who were arrested last March, are accused of helping to co-ordinate mass demonstrations in the north-eastern city of Liaoyang.

A verdict is not expected for a few more days.

The charge of subversion can carry the death penalty, though analysts believe the men are more likely to receive prison sentences, given China's concern about its international image.

The trial is being closely watched by foreign human rights and labour groups.

The protests the men were accused of orchestrating were among the biggest of their kind seen in China.

Crowds of up to 30,000 people gathered to denounce corrupt local politicians and to demand more help for workers laid off from their jobs.

Rights concerns

The head of the New York-based China Labour Watch, Li Qiang, said the trial had ended after a few hours. He said he had spoken to a relative of one of the defendants, who had attended the trial.

China could face increased unrest

"The prosecutors accused the men of participating in the China Democracy Party," said Mr Li, referring to a party banned by China, which has seen many of its members jailed.

The rights group Amnesty International said there were "serious concerns" over whether Yao Fuxin, 57, and Xiao Yunliang, would receive a fair trial.

"If they are convicted of subversion after doing nothing more than peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association or assembly, we would consider them to be prisoners of conscience," it said in a statement.

Large-scale demonstrations are still unusual in China, but correspondents say the country's crumbling state-owned enterprises and spiralling unemployment could spark increased unrest.

Most of those who took part in last year's protests in Liaoyang worked for the city's Ferro-Alloy Factory, a bankrupt, state-owned enterprise.

When the factory closed, employees were promised pensions and back wages. But they never materialised and many of the unemployed workers suspected the factory's managers of embezzlement.