More than 2,000 restaurants around Shanghai have installed see-through kitchens in a bid to improve food safety. In these restaurants, a piece of glass separates the kitchen from the dining area so that both diners and regulators have a clear idea of what's going on behind the scenes.

Currently, the number of see-through kitchens in the Pudong district of Shanghai, where the idea was first implemented last September, has grown from 200 to 730. More than 70 percent of those kitchens are also under real-time monitoring through a closed-circuit TV system, which is played on screens mounted for anyone to see. The profile pictures, names and telephone numbers of the restaurants' managers and food safety administrators are posted on the screens.

Wu Haiqin, an employee of the Pudong District Market Supervision Administration (PDMSA), explained that see-through kitchens are only suitable for restaurants that don't require complicated processing. In order to better guarantee food safety, the closed-circuit TV systems have been gradually installed as an alternative, Wu added.

Food safety has become a hot topic once again during the ongoing 5th meeting of the 12th National People's Congress. As a result, more stringent food security regulations will be implemented in Shanghai starting from March 20. In the next several years, all restaurants exceeding a certain size in Shanghai will made to install see-through kitchens. In addition, closed-circuit TV systems will be gradually adopted by the cafeterias of schools and other institutions around the city.