<p>Enterprise trade unions in China exhibit distinct adaptive features in democratic practice, moving beyond traditional binary analytical frameworks such as capital dominance versus state control or resistance versus dependency. As economic growth slows and external uncertainties intensify, the party-state places a growing emphasis on social stability. Consequently, the reform of enterprise trade unions has been further advanced, rendering their integrative functions increasingly prominent while the space for collective mobilization has correspondingly narrowed. Amid these institutional environment changes, the diversity of democratic practices within enterprise trade unions has become increasingly evident. Based on the interaction between <i>democratic will</i> and <i>democratic capacity</i>, four types of action strategies emerge, namely, proactive accommodation, symbolic response, tentative advancement, and passive avoidance. Empirical evidence drawn from case studies of a large private enterprise, a state-owned enterprise, a foreign-invested enterprise, and a small private enterprise substantiates the abovementioned differentiated adaptation. These cases reveal that enterprise unions adopt distinctive strategies to creatively adapt to their institutional environments. Further analysis suggests that these strategies are shaped by the interplay of three factors: institutional boundaries and gray areas; enterprises’ rational calculations for survival; and ownership structures. By revealing the differentiated practices of enterprise trade unions within an integration-oriented institutional environment, this study challenges prevailing one-sided views of Chinese enterprise unions and makes a crucial contribution to labor politics research.</p>