BEIJING, Jan. 9 — China has released a revised set of regulations on funeral and interment services, highlighting the importance of making related services more affordable and eco-friendly.
The document, which takes effect starting March 30, underscores the public welfare nature of funeral and interment services and upholds the principles of public benefit, frugality, civility and ecological conservation.
It emphasizes improved services, reform in funeral practices, and the promotion of land-saving and eco-friendly burials. Experts say the revision will strongly support the protection of public interests, regulate funeral activities, and promote more sound and orderly development in the sector.
STRENGTHEN AFFORDABILITY To increase the affordability of funeral services, the document puts the public welfare nature at the top priority, stipulating that eligible services will be gradually included in the national basic public service system with dynamic adjustments.
It also establishes a funding mechanism aligned with public demand for basic funeral services.
The original regulation did not clearly define the public welfare nature of funeral and interment services in their legislative objectives, resulting in inadequate reinforcement and binding constraints from the legal perspective, said Xie Zhiyong, president of the College of Comparative Law, China University of Political Science and Law.
So far, there are more than 6,000 urban public-interest cemeteries across the country, and 23,200 fees previously charged for funeral services have been eliminated.
Despite this progress, challenges related to policy guidance and industry supervision still persist.
To curb excessive charges, the revised regulations introduce a service price list system, prohibiting fees outside the approved list, and require regulators to strengthen price monitoring and supervision while detailing price-related violations.
Deng Zhihua, director of the editorial department of a Shanghai-based institute of funeral culture, said the new policies will make the charge more transparent and optimize the supply of funeral services, thereby easing people’s financial burden.
The document also stipulates that no new for-profit funeral service institutions may be established, meaning that all newcomers to the sector will be non-profit organizations.
TOWARDS ECO-FRIENDLY For a long time, burying the deceased underground was a common practice — seen as a way to return life to nature — particularly in certain rural areas.
However, this has led to significant land use and wastage. In recent years, China has made consistent efforts to promote more eco-friendly burials such as scattering ashes into the sea.
The revised regulations move forward further, calling for adhering to the principles of frugality and eco-friendliness throughout the burial process.
For instance, the regulations explicitly state measures such as “promoting the use of environmentally friendly burial products and reducing the petrification and hardening of grave sites.” They encourage new burial methods such as sea burial, tree burial, flower burial, and lawn burial.
Notably, they call for appropriate subsidies to be delivered for eco-friendly burials. Such measures can help to reduce soil hardening and mitigate the environmental impact of burials, noted Guo Lin, a professor at the School of Sociology at Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
These measures will make it easier for the public to accept eco-friendly burials in the long run, Guo added. Tomb-sweeping ceremonies, traditionally involving activities like burning paper money, are also improving.
Official data showed that during the Qingming (Tomb Sweeping) Festival holiday last year, approximately 66 percent of the tomb sweepers opted for low-carbon and eco-friendly ways, while about 927,500 residents chose to mourn for their loved deceased at online platforms.
The regulations also further enhance full-chain oversight across services from issuing death certificates, funerals, burial and memorial activities, and calls for coordinated law enforcement. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
