China bans storing cremated remains in empty 'bone ash apartments'
BBC • • general
Key Points:
- The Chinese government will ban the storage of cremated remains in empty apartments, ending the practice of "bone ash apartments" used as affordable alternatives to expensive cemetery plots.
- The new law prohibits using residential properties specifically for placing ashes and bans burials outside designated cemeteries or approved ecological burial areas.
- Bone ash apartments have become popular due to low property prices and scarce, costly cemetery spaces, with burial plots in Beijing reaching up to 300,000 yuan (£32,841).
- Funeral costs in China are high, sometimes amounting to nearly half the average annual salary, prompting public concern about the affordability of traditional burial options.
- The ban coincides with new regulations on the funeral industry and comes just before the Qingming Festival, a traditional day for honoring deceased relatives.
