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Chinese authorities have implemented a ban on burying cremated remains in inexpensive apartments—a practice that had gained popularity as mourners sought to avoid rising funeral costs by taking advantage of a sluggish housing market.
Known as “bone-ash apartments,” these units are typically located in sparsely populated residential complexes and are used by some families as temporary resting places for loved ones’ ashes. They are often more affordable than traditional cemetery plots and offer families greater control over the memorial site.
Carsten Herrmann-Pillath from Erfurt University in Germany explained to AFP that purchasing such an apartment “kills two birds with one stone,” referring to it as both an investment and a way to simplify the ritual process.
Starting Monday, regulations explicitly prohibit “the use of residential dwellings specifically for the interment of ashes.” Chinese media report that these bone-ash apartments can usually be identified by sealed windows or drawn curtains. A resident quoted by the government-backed Legal Daily described peeking into an estate apartment, where he saw two candlesticks near a black box and a black-and-white portrait—an arrangement common in Chinese memorial practices.
The new ban comes just days before Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional occasion when families visit ancestors’ graves to clean them and make offerings.
Officially, human remains are only permitted to be buried in designated locations such as public cemeteries, per China’s State Council. As the country faces an aging population and death rates surpass birth rates, demand for cemetery plots continues to grow. In 2020, funeral expenses equaled nearly half the average annual salary, according to a survey conducted by Britain’s SunLife.
Additionally, China’s market regulator announced new measures on Tuesday aimed at combating funeral fraud and increasing transparency in pricing, intending to lessen the financial burden on families. Meanwhile, prices for cemetery plots have declined amid persistent low consumer confidence and ongoing issues within the property sector.
Since 2020, the housing market has been strained by debt defaults and stalled construction projects, largely due to restrictive policies on borrowing and speculation that significantly limited access to credit for major developers.
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