Elderly must be visited, China law says

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BEIJING, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Adult children in China are now required to visit their elderly parents, a new law says, warning neglect could result in court action.

The law does not specify how frequently visits must occur, but reports suggest a growing number of elderly Chinese have been abandoned or neglected by children who often leave rural homes to work in major industrial centers, the BBC reported Friday.

Newspapers in China regularly publish stories of old people dying unnoticed in their homes, or of children attempting to seize their elderly parents' assets, the BBC said.

State media reported earlier this month a woman in her 90s had been forced by her son to live in a pigsty for two years.

An eighth of China's population, or 167 million, is at least 60 years of age and 1 million are more than 80.