Legislative steps being taken to protect elderly

Editor's Note: In the leading up to the two sessions — the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's biggest annual political event, China Daily is publishing a series of stories on how national legislators and political advisers perform their duties. Some of the stories will also look at major issues expected to be discussed at the forthcoming sessions.

China's legislature has accelerated the creation of legislation aimed at the elderly over the past few years in a bid to bolster protection and respond to a rapidly aging population.

The latest National Bureau of Statistics data showed that by the end of last year, China's population aged 60 and above exceeded 280 million, making up 19.8 percent of the national total.