Chinese experts are calling for a national law on mental hygiene to ensure a long-term approach to address the country's mental health problems.

Over the past months, the government has taken a series of measures to tackle the once largely ignored problem of mental illness, following a spate of fatal attacks, including several kindergarten killings, by those suspected of suffering mental health problems.

The measures include a plan to renovate or expand 550 psychiatric hospitals and departments across the country over the next two years, and create a registration system and free mental health counseling hotlines for patients.