Shanghai residents who don't regularly visit their parents may face lawsuits¹ or have their credit score affected³ under a new local regulation, media reported last Thursday.

据相关媒体上周四报道，上海市新出台的一项地方监管法案指出，如果上海本地居民不经常去探望自己的父母的话，那么他们就很有可能面对法律诉讼，或者使自己的个人信用评分受到影响。

Adults should fulfill⁴ their duty to give economic and spiritual support to their parents and "come back home often," according to the new regulation on protecting elderly people's rights and interests. Family members should also pay regular visits to their parents who live in nursing institutions, according to the regulation.

这份新地方监管法案旨在保障老年人的权益。法案指出，年轻人应该尽到自己的责任，要“常回家看看”，在经济上和精神上给父母以支持。该法案还指出，对于住在敬老院等护理机构的老人，子女也要经常去探望以尽孝道。

The regulation will be implemented⁵ from May 1 onwards.

新法案将从今年5月1日开始正式执行。

Luo Peixin, a deputy director of the Shanghai government legislative⁶ affairs office, was quoted by news portal thepaper.cn as saying that aside from influencing people through moral education, the authorities can use legal means to force people to fulfill their duties.

新闻门户网站澎湃网引述了上海市政府法制办公室副主任罗培新的发言称，除了用教育的方法来提升民众的道德责任感以外，有关部门还可以用法律手段强制要求人们履行自己的责任。

Luo said that elderly people will be able to file a lawsuit² to make their children visit them and people who fail to carry out the court-ordered visits will see their credit rating take a hit. The authorities have not confirmed how much the rating will be affected.

罗培新主任还指出，老人们可以对那些不尽孝道的子女提起法律诉讼，强制要求他们来看望自己。而过后依然没有遵守法院裁决、没有履行尽孝义务的人，他们的信用评级将会受到影响。不过有关部门尚未透露信用评级具体将受多大影响。

Luo said that Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces as well as Beijing already have similar regulations, asking children to "come back home often."

罗培新还表示，江苏、广东和北京已经出台了类似的法案，呼吁子女们“常回家看看”。