CHARGING elderly clients just 1 yuan or about 15 U.S. cents a day, little-known Lanchuang Network Technology Corp. has embarked on one of the most ambitious undertakings in aged care by a private sector firm in China.

Provided with a setup box, a webcam paired with a TV set and “Xiaoyi,” a Siri-like voice assistant, customers gain access to telemedicine and an SOS system as well as for-pay services that include housekeeping and meal deliveries.

A small robot that can ring up a medical center in response to verbal calls for help costs an extra 2 yuan per day.

Launched just four months ago, Lanchuang’s smart care system has already signed up 220,000 elderly clients in 16 cities, half of which are in Shandong, a rapidly aging province in eastern China where the company is based.

It is targeting as many as 1.5 million users this year, 12 million next year and 30 million in 2021, when it hopes to list on China’s new tech board.

The aim, however, is not to make money from its clients, some of whom get by on pensions as low as a few hundred yuan a month, but to take a cut from providers of offline services.

“China’s market for elderly care is huge, but services in the industry are fragmented,” CEO Li Libo said at his company’s headquarters in Weifang City.

“Scattered on the ground are pearls,” Li, 47, said of the products and services available, adding it was his company’s aim to string them together.

Lanchuang, which is also working with China Mobile Ltd. on a smartphone for seniors, is an example of growing, albeit still nascent, attempts by entrepreneurs to provide comprehensive smart home care services for China’s vast number of elderly.

China has a quarter of a billion people aged 60 or over, and by 2050, that number is set to climb to almost half a billion, or 35 percent of the population, according to government estimates.

In April, China issued a detailed policy document outlining services to be developed for the elderly care sector, including smart technology, as well as financial support.

The Central Government provided almost 22 million yuan in subsidies for Lanchuang’s smart platform and the Shandong Provincial Government has given 3 million yuan.

U.S. entrepreneur Wang Jie, 59, in 2013 established Beijing eCare Smart Tech Co., which has sold several hundred sets of sensors in Beijing so far this year under three-year contracts with community organizations. Wang’s company also helps train grassroots emergency response crews as part of the deal. Households pay nothing.

(SD-Agencies)