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Bone-Ash Apartment Ban
China has banned the use of residential apartments to store cremated remains.
“The Chinese government is set to ban people from storing the cremated remains of their loved ones in empty apartments”
The new law prohibits the use of residential properties specifically for the placement of ashes.
Bone-ash apartments are empty units transformed into ancestral shrines.
Funeral Costs Drive Shift
Cemetery spaces remain scarce and expensive, often with only a temporary lease.
Property prices in China have fallen 40% in 2025 from 2021.
Funeral costs ranked as the second highest in the world after Japan.
Population Aging Pressure
China recorded 11.3 million deaths in 2025, surpassing births.
“China recorded 11.3 million deaths in 2025, up from 9.8 million in 2015”
Residential properties carry 70-year usage rights.
Cemetery plots require renewal every 20 years.
Government Regulation and Reaction
The ban came just days before the Qingming Festival.
Authorities are introducing new rules to tackle fraud.
Critics questioned how to monitor private apartments.