An eco-friendly toilet made from a used cargo container is seen in East China's Jiangsu Province on October 22, 2021. Photo: Courtesy of the United Nations Global Compact

If you are a woman, you probably have suffered from the frustration of standing in a super long and slow-moving line in front of the women's restroom, all the while watching men quickly going in and out of their own restroom.

This problem has been a thorn in the side for most women around the world for a long time. However, there is some good news for women in China as the central government has recently released a draft revision of the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests stipulating that local governments at all levels should ensure that public venues have more women's toilets than men's as well as a reasonable number of public facilities such as maternity and infant rooms.

According to a CCTV report, the draft was submitted for deliberation by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Wednesday. The hashtag "Ensure more female toilets than male toilets" quickly began trending on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, earning more than 260 million views.

The proposal has won the full support of both male and female netizens. 

"We need bathroom facilities far more than men do! Women pee more when they're pregnant. Mothers escort their young children to the toilets. Women have periods. And sometimes we need a space for checking and adjusting our clothing and appearance in the mirror," a female netizen commented on Sina Weibo.

According to the nonprofit World Toilet Organization, people use the toilet six to eight times per day on average, which means that they might spend around three years of their lives in the bathroom. 

Ryo Takeuchi, a documentary director currently living in China, expressed his agreement with the draft on Sina Weibo, saying he often sees women waiting in long lines for women's restrooms in Japan. 

"I heard that it will be equal if the number of women's restrooms is three times that of men's."

Tang Jiarui, an interior designer for a chain brand store, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the stores he designs always have about two more women's cubicles than men's toilets.

"I always see long lines near the women's restrooms when wandering around shopping malls. Also, women may take more time than men, especially during their periods," he said.

Studies show that women use the restroom for 249 seconds on average, far more than the 170 seconds spent by men. Yet the square footage of men's and women's public restrooms is the same, leading to an average of 10 cubicles for women and 10 urinals plus two cubicles for men, the Beijing News reported on Wednesday.

Peng Xiaohui, a professor at Central China Normal University, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the recommendation takes into consideration the biological needs of women who are menstruating, pregnant or lactating.

"It is very necessary to add more female cubicles as in some large-scale gathering places such as parks and theaters, the ratio of men and women going to the restroom is about 1 to 4," he said.