China bans use of apartments as makeshift cemeteries

Falling property prices and increasing demand for plots in cemeteries have led many Chinese to start storing their relatives’ ashes in apartments Unsplash Disclosure With tombs in cemeteries becoming increasingly expensive and disputed in China — even more so as it is the most populous country in the world — several Chinese have been buying stranded properties to store their relatives’ funeral urns. Now, the government wants to end the practice. 📱Download the g1 app to see news in real time and for free Most of the “ash apartments” are located in residential complexes – tall buildings with many units. They usually have their windows sealed or curtains drawn and are used as ritual rooms, with candles, red lights and urns lined up by generation. These locations can be cheaper than a plot in a public cemetery, and give families more control over funeral processes, according to Chinese media. See the videos that are trending on g1 The ban will come into force this week and prohibits the use of “residential properties specifically for the purpose of storing cremated remains” and the burial of corpses or the construction of tombs in areas that are not designated for this purpose, such as public cemeteries. The legislation comes into effect a few days before the Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb Cleaning Day, when families traditionally visit relatives’ tombs to tidy them up and make offerings. Fuzzy limits With the aging of the population and the mortality rate exceeding the birth rate in China, inflation in these services has intensified. Rapid urbanization in the country also puts pressure on the costs of limited cemetery plots in cities. In 2020, funerals cost almost half the country’s average annual salary, according to data from British insurer SunLife released by the AFP news agency. After Japan, China’s funeral expenses are the highest in the world. READ MORE: China says it wants to strengthen economic and trade cooperation with the US On the other hand, property prices fell by around 40% between 2021 and 2025, according to a report by The Guardian. A long-running crisis in the real estate sector and a campaign by Xi Jinping to curb excessive speculation have contributed to this scenario. Another factor that has boosted “ash apartments” is that leases for cemetery plots in China are for 20 years, while residential properties have 70-year usage rights guaranteed by the government. Cemetery in China. Country faces lack of space for new burials Zhao Qirui/Costfoto/picture alliance The practice is “problematic” for Chinese authorities, Xinyi Wu, a doctoral candidate in anthropology at the University of California, told AFP, as it “blurs the border between spaces for the living and spaces for the dead, which is sensitive from an administrative and cultural point of view.” In addition to banning “ash apartments”, the Chinese market regulator announced this Tuesday (31) new rules to combat fraud and the lack of transparency in funeral prices. In November 2025, in another example of the growing difficulties with crowded cemeteries, regional authorities in southwestern China imposed an order for mandatory cremation of the dead. The measure sparked protests from the Miao population, one of the main ethnic minorities in Guizhou province, whose members interpret cremation as a gesture of disrespect for the deceased person, since the destruction of the body would represent their disconnection from family and ancestry.

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