HOME AWAY FROM HOME: Seniors at Nanshan Home for the Aged in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, celebrate their birthday together with volunteers, on May 6 (LI ZIHENG)

China, an ancient country that used to have a young population, is growing older. The sixth national population census conducted on November 1, 2010, found 13.26 percent of the country's population was at or above 60, 2.93 percentage points higher than a decade ago.

China is an ageing society by international standards. The UN defines an ageing society as one with at least 10 percent of its population 60 or older.

On May 4, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, kicked off inspections on the enforcement of the Law on Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly. Chairman Wu Bangguo said the inspections should be combined with efforts to amend the law.

"The law has outlived its adequacy and urgently needs amendment," said Zeng Qingmin, a researcher with the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the China National Committee on Ageing started to amend the law in 2007.

Flawed law

China's Law on Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly was enacted in 1996, before the country grew into an ageing society in 1999.

The law has 50 articles in six chapters, including General Provisions, Maintenance and Support by Families, Social Security, Participation in Social Development, Legal Responsibility and Supplementary Provisions.

"Many predicaments faced by the elderly have become increasingly prominent after the promulgation of the law," Zeng said. "With many defects, its stipulations are rarely invoked in court rulings on cases involving elderly people."

"The law is difficult to enforce because many stipulations are like slogans," Zeng said. "They are too general to be of practical value, and such terms as 'the government should encourage' are often used."

For instance, in rural areas, senior people are still left living in dilapidated houses even though their children have built new houses and moved in after becoming rich. "The current law has no provisions on this, so it is difficult to deal with the situation by imposing penalties," said Song Fei, Deputy Director of the Civil Affairs Bureau of Lu'an City, Anhui Province.

"Instead of using the Law on Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly, judicial organs prefer to invoke articles in the General Principles of the Civil Law, the Marriage Law and the Law on Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women and Children in their rulings on cases involving elderly people," said Xing Huanping, a project manager with Beijing-based Zhongyi Huoban Elderly Culture Development Center.

Zeng blamed the situation on the fact the importance of the Law on Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly doesn't get the attention it deserves.

"General laws based on the Constitution cover the common rights and interests of all citizens, the elderly included," Zeng said. "Yet, the elderly also have distinct rights, which need special legal protection. Only when the Law on Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly is taken seriously and put fully into practice, can it play its expected role."

He said senior citizens should be provided for, have access to necessary medical care, have opportunities for their own pursuits and studies, and be able to enjoy themselves. "A workable special law for the elderly should specify these rights in detail," Zeng said.

Social services

Zeng said the amendment should clarify the government's responsibility in providing for and looking after the elderly.

He said the law should stipulate the government shoulder major responsibility in providing the elderly with basic social services and meeting their special needs.

In the draft amendment to the Law on Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly, a chapter on social nursing care was added, said the Beijing-based Legal Evening News in January.

The proposed addition indicates a shift in China's traditional belief looking after the elderly is the duty of children.

Article 10 of the current Law on Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly says the elderly shall be provided for mainly by their families, and their family members should care for and look after them.

But, the traditional family structure in China has changed because of the family-planning policy limiting most urban couples to one child and rural couples to two, not to mention increased population mobility and rapid urbanization.

"Now, the size of Chinese households has become smaller. It is difficult for a young couple to provide for four aged parents. So the elderly increasingly need social assistance," said Wu Ming, an official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Many senior citizens have become empty nesters, living alone.

A recent survey conducted by the Civil Affairs Bureau of Zhixi County, Shiyan City in Hubei Province, showed 38.39 percent of the elderly residents in the county did not live with their children. A great number of young and middle-aged people in this less developed county have left home to work in other regions of the country.