Guangzhou to add, renovate public toilets

GUANGZHOU - Authorities in the southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou plan to build or renovate 1,213 public toilets as the country's toilet revolution gains further steam.

A total of 355 toilets will be built, while 858 will be renovated. A mobile application to help the public find toilets will also be revamped to "improve the level of happiness among the public," according to the urban management and law enforcement authorities of Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province.

The toilets will be built with new materials to create environmentally friendly toilets.

The authorities said they will encourage more toilets in public institutions, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and supermarkets to open to the public.

The authorities will also launch a campaign to select the city's 20 "most beautiful toilets."

In 2015, the Chinese government launched its "toilet revolution" to promote sanitation upgrading across the country, complementing national efforts to remarkably improve the rural living environment and demonstrating its commitments to the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 for clean water and sanitation.