China should promote a “toilet revolution” for the sake of rural development and tourism - Xi Jinping

Almaty. November 29. Silkroadnews - China should promote a “toilet revolution” for the sake of rural development and tourism, Chinese President Xi Jinping said, “People’s Daily” newspaper reported.
“China should continue to upgrade the country’s toilets as part of its “toilet revolution” aimed at developing domestic tourism and improving people's life quality, Chinese President Xi Jinping said,” the report reads.
With this it is noted that the construction of clean toilets is an important part of the development of urban and rural civilization, thus, it is necessary to intensify the modernization of toilets across the cities and rural areas, Xi said in a recent instruction on the toilet revolution in the tourism sector.
He also added, with the toilet revolution, China should build better public facilities and provide better services for the tourism industry development.
Xi has long stressed the importance of the toilet revolution to improve the quality of services in the tourism industry. Officials were urged to make efforts and take measures to solve long-standing problems in tourism.
“Local authorities are now more aware of the important role toilets play, believing better toilets are not only beneficial for tourism, but can also improve the environment that people work and live in, and enhance the overall level of civilization of society,” the publication reads.
Reportedly, when visiting rural areas, Xi usually asked local residents about what their toilets were and many times stressed that clean toilets for rural residents are important for a “new countryside” building.  
In 2015, China launched a toilet revolution across the country to make these facilities cleaner and more affordable.
Toilets in rural areas and tourist sites have previously had a bad reputation. In the countryside, some toilets were nothing more than huts made of corn stalks or pits located near pigsties. At tourist sites, visitors were indignant at the insufficient number of toilets, unsanitary conditions and the lack of cleaners.
By the end of October this year, China installed and modernized 68,000 toilets in tourist destinations, which is 19.3% above the target.
The toilet revolution is gradually expanding and will cover not only tourist facilities, but the whole country, from cities to rural areas. The country planned to install and upgrade an additional 64,000 toilets on tourist destinations in 2018-2020, according to the action plan published by the China National Tourism Administration.