Chinese President Xi Jinping says advancing the nation's "toilet revolution" will improve the quality of life of people across China. One commentator believes the introduction of market forces could better advance this revolution.
Toilets in China fall behind the country’s economic development, both in hardware and services, writes commentator Zhang Huan for The Paper. Most rural toilets are latrine pits, while urban public toilets can be hard to find, ugly, smelly and not user-friendly, he said.
The government could introduce market mechanisms to the field to get enterprises involved, Zhang says. To maintain around 140,000 public toilets across China costs more than one billion yuan（US$151.3 million) a year, and an overhaul could take 100 billion yuan, a significant burden for the government. So why not let the market step in and allocate the resources?
Zhang said from the perspectives of urban space and the commercial environment, toilets are a high-quality state-owned property with significant value-added space. He proposed asset-backed securitization be used to draw private funds, increasing investment. Further, the country should employ professionals to develop sustainable designs, professional installation methods, and innovative techniques. The management and service level of toilets could be improved in the long term, he said.
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