The protests were the biggest in years

Two leading labour activists have been jailed in China for helping organise some of the biggest protests in the country in the past 50 years, a workers' group has said.

Yao Fuxin was sentenced to seven years, while Xiao Yunliang was ordered to serve four years, according to the New York-based China Labor Watch.

The two men were found guilty of subversion.

Mr Yao and Mr Xiao led mass demonstrations in March and April, 2002, in protest against unemployment and corruption.

In north-eastern Liaoyang city, Liaoning province, up to 30,000 people joined the peaceful protests.

The demonstrations were largely successful in helping remove corruption and getting labour issues addressed.

'Hostile contacts'

The two men were arrested last year and tried in January, 2003.

The court accused Mr Yao and Mr Xiao of having contact with "hostile elements and foreign media", China Labor Watch said.

The group's executive director Li Qiang said the sentences were excessive.

"It is not acceptable," he said. "This shows that the Chinese Government is suppressing Chinese workers' peaceful struggle."

Mr Yao and Mr Xiao will appeal against their sentences, Mr Li said.

Large-scale demonstrations are still unusual in China but correspondents say dissent is growing, as workers who used to be guaranteed wages, housing and health care are suddenly being left with little or nothing.