Published: 12:00pm, 3 Oct, 2018 Updated: 10:03pm, 3 Oct, 2018
Funeral costs in China have risen around 40% between 2015 and 2018, to more than CNY100,000 ($14,556), vastly outpacing housing prices, which increased 23% in the same period. The government has been trying to address this issue by encouraging people who want a traditional funeral service to pay for it themselves. 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.