China’s newly revised elder-care law has come as good news for a handful of entrepreneurs who specialize in outsourcing those now-mandated visits to grandma and grandpa.
对中国的一批创业者来说，新修订的老年人权益保障法是个好消息。新法强制要求子女经常看望老人，而他们就专门提供代看望老人的服务。
The new law, which requires adults to offer their parents mental and financial support, has spurred at least 17 online vendors on Taobao, the eBay-like site owned by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., to offer services such as running errands and standing in line for the elderly in Beijing, Shanghai, Hunan, and Zhejiang.
新法要求子女不仅为老人提供财务支持，还要关心他们的精神需求。这一规定随即推动淘宝网至少17个卖家在北京、上海、湖南和浙江推出代老人跑腿和排队的服务。
“We offer services such as chatting, celebrating birthdays and even performances, ” one online storekeeper told the state-run Shanghai Daily, saying services were selling for 100 yuan (about $16) an hour, plus extras and transportation.
一位淘宝卖家对《上海日报》说，他们的店铺提供聊天、庆祝生日、甚至表演等服务，服务价格为每小时人民币100元，再加上额外产生的费用和交通费。
Because nothing raises the spirits of the elderly like a stranger hired by their child to talk to keep them company.
对老年人来说，没有什么服务能像雇一个陌生人陪他们聊聊天、给予他们陪伴一样改善他们的精神状态了。
Last week, just hours after the elderly care law was implemented, the first related case came to trial as a couple in Jiangsu province were ordered to visit the wife’s 77-year-old mother at least once every other month and during at least two public holidays annually.
上周新法实施仅几小时后就出现了相关庭审案例，江苏一对夫妇被判至少每两个月看望一次女方现年77岁的母亲，每年至少安排两个节日期间内予以看望。
The law comes at a time when government estimates show the population of senior citizens in China growing by 3% every year.
新法出台的背景是，政府的数据显示，中国老年人口正在以每年3%的速度增长。
Elderly care has been a hot topic in China, where the one-child policy has left fewer children to care for their aging parents. Urbanization has left an increasing number of rural Chinese elderly desperate for care.
养老问题在中国是一个热点话题，计划生育政策已导致赡养人的数量下降。城市化也导致中国农村急需照料的空巢老人越来越多。
“I think the government is going to use the threat and fear of prosecution to force Chinese citizens to provide more care for the elderly, ” says Dean Polizzotto, a Chinese law expert at the University of Hong Kong.
香港大学(University of Hong Kong)中国法律专家波利佐托(Dean Polizzotto)说，他认为政府将利用起诉威胁和担心来迫使中国人向老年人提供更多的照料。
According to a government white paper on care for the elderly, citizens above the age of 18 are obliged to support their parents. The new law, Mr. Polizzotto says, seems like “an attempt to address the needs of an insufficient public welfare and pension system, which has been developed over the last decade.”
政府发布的一个有关赡养老年人的白皮书称，年满18岁的中国公民有义务赡养父母。波利佐托说，新法看起来像是一个配合公共福利和养老系统需要的尝试，这个系统在过去10年已经得到一些发展，但仍有不足。
A joint study by Chinese international academics found elderly Chinese are disproportionately poor and depressed, with roughly 42.4 million living on less than 3, 200 yuan ($520) a year.
中外学者联合发布的一份报告显示，中国老年人存在不同程度的贫穷和抑郁情况，有大概4,240万老年人每年的生活费不到人民币3,200元。
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