A Chinese law requiring family members to visit their elderly relatives has come into effect to howls of online ridicule, as the country's huge population ages rapidly.

The regulation "forces" children to visit their parents, the state-run Global Times newspaper said, with concerns growing over increasing numbers of "empty nest" homes.

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. Credit:AFP

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 online criticism after domestic media revealed he had kept his 100-year-old mother in a pig sty.