Shenzhen wants to be clean, just like Singapore

Shenzhen is in the midst of a self-improvement binge. On the orders of provincial party secretary Wang Yang, the ragged boom town has set the target of catching up with premier Asian cities such as Hong Kong and Seoul within 10 years, and becoming a 'world-class international metropolis' within 20.

Quite what this means has never been explained - but that has not stopped the city trying.

In the past year cadres have been sent all over the world to study topics including innovation, urban management, legal systems, environment and social welfare. Consultants have been brought in from overseas to offer advice on some of the thorniest issues.

One of the areas where Shenzhen falls short of the Asian cities it aspires to is public sanitation. A 2005 report found that it ranked last among 31 mainland cities for the number of public toilets, with just 637 for its estimated 10 million population.

The number has since increased to more than 1,500, but it still pales in comparison to cities such as Singapore, which has 10 times as many public toilets for a population half the size.

Shenzhen has chosen Singapore to be its guiding light in public-sanitation improvement. A Singaporean consultancy was hired and spent two years working with the municipal environment and sanitation bureau compiling a report on the challenges facing the city and how they should be approached.