A total of 30 elder daycare service centers are to be built in Tianjin this year.

According to the Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, more than 50 sites for elder daycare service centers have been selected, including three in the Binhai New Area, one in Heping district, two in Hebei district, two in Hedong district, one in Hongqiao district, one in Dongli district, one in Xiqing district, two in Beichen district, 10 in Wuqing district, 14 in Baodi district, seven in Ninghe district and 12 in Jizhou district.

The building area of each center built this year will not be less than 300 square meters divided into at least five standard rooms: a rest room, a dining room, an activity room, a fitness room and a classroom.

In addition to the physical benefits, the centers will provide the four basic service functions of daily care, catering, healthcare and spiritual consolation. Every senior will be equipped with no fewer than two full-time elder care workers and one to two doctors. There will even be a meals-on-wheels service depending on the needs and health conditions of the residents.

The fact that 97 percent of the 2.46 million elderly people in Tianjin are home-based pensioners makes plans to build 30 elder daycare service centers a clincher to solve the imperative retirement question, according to officials of the Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau.