New law requires family members to visit their elderly relatives

A Chinese law requiring family members to visit their elderly relatives has come into effect to howls of ridicule, as the country's huge population ages rapidly. The regulation "forces" children to visit their parents, with concerns growing over increasing numbers of "empty nest" homes.

China's rapid development has challenged its traditional extended family unit, and reports of elderly people being neglected or mistreated by their children have shocked the country. Last year a farmer in the eastern province of Jiangsu faced a barrage of  criticism after domestic media revealed he had kept his 100-year-old mother in a pig sty.



More than 14 per cent of China's population, or 194 million people, are aged over 60, according to the most recent figures from the National Bureau of Statistics.The growing proportion of the elderly is the result of China's controversial one-child policy, which was launched in the late 1970s to control population growth.

Many aged live alone in "empty nest" homes, as a result of their children finding work in other areas of China. The new law gives parents the power to apply for mediation or bring a case to court, but experts are unclear about how the measures will be enforced, or how often visits are required.