An elderly care center named Yishe Gangwan will open in Ruzhou. The foundation-laying ceremony was held on Nov 22.

The people on hand at the ceremony included Deng Yinxiu, deputy director of the standing committee of the Ruzhou municipal people's congress; Fan Xiangli, vice-mayor of Ruzhou; Han Zijing, vice-chairman of the Ruzhou municipal committee of the CPPCC, and Li Hailong, chairman of the board of Wuhan Jiede Industrial Equipment Co.

Financed with 180 million yuan ($29.5 million), the modern and multi-functional apartment-style elderly care center covers 6.67 hectares with a building area of 35,510 square meters.

Based on living habits of the elderly, the garden-style construction conforms to Code for Design of Building for Elderly Persons- a state standard for construction of senior citizen buildings.

The center seeks to be a high-end elderly care organization offering elderly care and health care. It can provide service for nearly 1,000 elderly persons and offer 200 jobs after its establishment.

Ruzhou plans to operate the center using centralized management mode and separating the center’s housing construction from the operation management. The center will become a base for the elderly care industry at the provincial level or higher.

The population of residents over 60 totals 166,000 in Ruzhou, accounting for 13.3 percent of the total population. This makes elderly care a pressing issue, according to Fan's lecture at the ceremony.

Fan stressed safety during construction. He hopes Yeshe Gangwan, the first large elderly care center in Ruzhou, will be an ideal home for the elderly.

Edited by Michael Thai