Premier Li Keqiang's latest call for the government and society to strengthen protection and care for "left-behind" children in rural areas underlines the severity and urgency of the issue.

The call, made at a State Council executive meeting on Wednesday, follows repeated media reports of tragedies involving the country's some 60 million children left behind by their parents working as migrant workers in cities.

Often left without proper parental and societal care, many of such children fall victims to anxieties, anger, accidents and even sexual assaults. Some are involved in anti-social behavior or commit crimes.