Beijing will rebuild 1,000 public toilets in its suburbs in 2007 to bring them up to modern standards.

The renovation marks the final stage of a three-year campaign to "modernize" Beijing's public toilets. Residents and tourists have often complained about their unsanitary conditions, according to a report by China News Service.

Beijing will also make more efforts to clean, disinfect and deodorize all its public toilets, Lu Haijun, director of the City Planning Committee, was quoted as saying.

All the toilets should be clean, water-conserving and installed with efficient ventilation equipment, Lu said, without saying that how much the renovations will cost.

Beijing launched the renovation project in early March of 2005 to replace its notorious back street public toilets with clean, well-maintained flush ones. The move is part of the city's efforts to prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games.

The plan also includes building new public toilets in areas that lack them.

By the end of 2006, more than 5,580 public toilets in Beijing have reached the "modern standard". However the city's goal of ensuring a public toilet is available within a five-minute walk anywhere in the city has not been reached.

To solve the problem, the Beijing municipal government has asked some 3,000 commercial buildings to open their toilets to the public.

(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2007)