'Toilet revolution' in China: Focus on upgrading public toilets

Beijing : China should continue to upgrade public toilets as part of its "toilet revolution" aimed at developing domestic tourism, President Xi Jinping said.

"The construction of clean toilets is an important part of pushing urban and rural civilisation, and more efforts should be made in both cities and rural areas to upgrade public toilets to improve people's quality of life," Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying on Monday.

Along with the "toilet revolution", China should construct better public facilities and services to boost the tourism industry, the President added. 

The China National Tourism Administration launched an action plan last month to install or upgrade 64,000 toilets at tourist destinations across the country from 2018 to 2020.

The "toilet revolution" was launched in 2015 and China's tourism industry has upgraded 68,000 toilets since then.

Toilets at China's tourist sites have a bad reputation, with visitors often angered by insufficient toilets, unhygienic conditions and lack of sanitation workers.