Published: 12:00pm, 3 Oct, 2018 Updated: 10:03pm, 3 Oct, 2018
Funeral costs in China have risen around 40% 2020, to more than CNY100,000 ($14,556), vastly outpacing housing prices, which increased 23% in the same period. As land used for cemeteries looks set to be exhausted by between 2015 and 2018, Beijing authorities are taking steps to ensure prices don't spiral further. They include limiting the size of a niche where burial urns are placed, and actively promoting burials at sea, as well as the construction of multi-storey columbariums, which house the niches. In addition, the government is also cracking down on unscrupulous companies illegally selling spaces in columbariums.