Standards to ensure cemeteries remain affordable

China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs has released a draft standard for public cemetery construction in urban areas, which is open to comments and suggestions until Nov 30.

The plan is expected to meet residents’ demand for cemetery spaces over the next 20 years. Every county or city with a population above 500,000 should be equipped with a non-profit public cemetery and a for-profit cemetery.

Limited land resources and unregulated construction of oversized graves have pushed up the prices of burial spaces in China in past years.

Under the plan, the ministry intends to impose strict limitations on the size of graveyards. A separate tomb should cover no more than 0.5 square meter, and a multi-burial grave is designated less than 0.8 square meter. Graves for entire families or clans are not allowed.

To reduce land use, the ministry promotes storing ashes in a vault as well as ecological burials such as flower and tree burials. According to the plan, the storage capacity of vaults will double the number of urns put in graves.

Public cemeteries should have a 75-percent greenery coverage and be located at least 500 meters from residential areas, major highways and railways, according to the draft.

As of 2010, China had 1,266 cemeteries, mostly for-profit services, with 9.28 million graves. Prominent problems with existing cemeteries include a waste of land resources due to the construction of extravagant tombs, and only a tiny proportion of non-profit cemeteries that offer residents few affordable choices, Beijing News reported.