Break funeral industry monopoly

The excessive profits of the funeral and interment industries are always a hot topic at this time each year, because of Tomb sweeping Day. Breaking the monopoly is the fundamental way to make the industry's profits return to a normal level, says an article in Southern Metropolis Daily. Excerpts:

The price of the most expensive tomb in Beijing is 200,000 yuan ($31,750) per square meter, and some people joke they can't afford to die.

The profits of the funeral industry are more than the real estate industry.

It is tradition to organize a decent funeral for close relatives and the more money spent on a funeral, the more respectable the dead person's family is seen as. The civil affairs authorities have, for a long time, promoted more economical and environmentally friendly funerals, like sea burials and tree burials. But people haven't welcomed them because they conflict with tradition.

The civil affairs authority should provide basic and equal funeral and burial services for every citizen. But it should act as a supervisor, not a main player in the market. The market should be open to private companies to satisfy different customers' demands. The government should subsidize the basic public service with its revenue from the marketization of this field. At present, the public is still in the dark where and how this industry's profits are used.

In short, breaking the monopoly is the first step to ending the excessive profits in this industry.