China Bans Bone-Ash Apartments, Clears Way for Solemn Funeral Costs

China has banned the use of residential apartments to store cremated remains.

“Since March 31, China has banned so-called “ash apartments” — special high-rise buildings that provide storage space for cremated remains”

@theBabelUA

The new law prohibits the use of residential properties specifically for the placement of ashes.

@theBabelUA

Bone-ash apartments are empty units transformed into ancestral shrines.

Cemetery spaces remain scarce and expensive, often with only a temporary lease.

Property prices in China have fallen 40% in 2025 from 2021.

Balkanweb

Funeral costs ranked as the second highest in the world after Japan.

China recorded 11.3 million deaths in 2025, surpassing births.

“- Published The Chinese government is set to ban people from storing the cremated remains of their loved ones in empty apartments instead of paying for expensive cemetery plots”

BBC

Residential properties carry 70-year usage rights.

Cemetery plots require renewal every 20 years.

The ban came just days before the Qingming Festival.

Authorities are introducing new rules to tackle fraud.

CP24

Critics questioned how to monitor private apartments.