China installs or upgrades over 50,000 toilets in its 'toilet revolution'

China had installed or upgraded 52,485 toilets from 2015 to the end of April this year, carrying out its nationwide "toilet revolution."

The figures were released by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) in a report titled "Progress of the toilet revolution" Friday.

The number accounted for 92.7 percent of the official target the government announced for the three years through to 2017.

China launched a toilet revolution across the country in 2015 with an aim to make the notorious facilities cleaner and more regulated.

Toilets in the countryside and at tourist sites used to have a bad reputation.

In rural areas, some toilets were little more than ramshackle shelters surrounded by bunches of cornstalk, and others open pits next to pigsties. At tourist sites, visitors were angered by insufficient toilets, unhygienic conditions and lack of sanitation workers.

China wants to add 33,000 restrooms and renovate 24,000 between 2015 and2017. The CNTA said, when the campaign started in 2015, that it would make tourists restrooms reach three-star standards.

By the end of 2017, China would have added or upgraded a total of 71,000 toilets, well exceeding the target, said the CNTA report.

A recent survey showed that people had felt the impact of the campaign with over 80 percent of tourists finding toilets satisfactory, compared to 70 percent in 2015.

The CNTA mainly attributed the improvement to innovations in mechanisms and the application of technology.