Funeral industry chaos persists for many years

“Gasoline prices have risen, prices for onions have risen, prices for pork have risen, and instant noodles have risen in price... We are confident that we will live with strength because the cemetery has also increased in price.”

As the Qing Ming approached, while reciting ancestors, many netizens shouted "Can't afford to die." With the coming of the festival, the sales of graveyards and funeral supplies began to boom, and the prices of sky-high tombs were frequently exposed by netizens and media.

The worry of netizens is not redundant. Compared with the government’s increasing emphasis on price controls, there has been no strong measure to curb soaring cemetery prices. A survey by the Nanfang Daily reporter found that the average price of the cemetery in Guangzhou has increased five-fold in 10 years. Percentages of graves of 50,000 yuan per hole in the suburbs abound, and the behavior of privately gracing the cemetery is also quite active. During the two sessions of the National People's Political Consultative Conference, members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) bluntly stated that nearly 70 million square meters of land are still turned into cemetery each year, and the phenomenon of the death of the dead and the living people is serious. At the same time, the green way of saving funerals, which can save more than half of the land and funds, has been met with cold shocks. As the chaos in the funeral industry continues for many years, it is urgent to further strengthen market guidance and establish legal norms.

The average price of Guangzhou cemetery rose 5 times in 10 years

Recently, the post “The sky-price tomb leads the rise of the cemetery price surge cannot be heard” was posted online: “1. Xiamen Anle Permanent Cemetery 8 million. 2. Taihu Lake West Dongtingshan Island luxury tomb 3 million. 3. Shenzhen Public Cemetery Garden Xili retreats to 200,000 square meters, 4. Chongqing Huaxia Mausoleum cemetery 1.88 million 5. Jiangsu Taihu Lake mausoleum 3 million.6. Cemetery tree tomb area 60,000 square meters. 8. Guangzhou Yinhe Cemetery 47,000/square meter."

The price quoted by the post is not groundless. Contrary to the price adjustment, the price of the cemetery is still like the dislocated Mustang. According to local media reports, the price of the cemetery in Wuhan is 7 times the price of the cemetery in Shanghai, and the price of the cemetery in Shanghai has risen by 167% in three years. The price of the cemetery in Beijing has “increased by two to three percent per month.” In a cemetery in Shiling Town, Huadu District, a 1.39 square metre cemetery is located. The asking price is 160,000 yuan, and the unit price per square meter is more than 15 times the price of the local high-end residential housing...

A survey by the Nanfang Daily reporter found that apart from the extremely high individual prices disclosed above, even ordinary graveyards in Guangzhou are not new to housing prices. Ten years ago, when the housing price in Guangzhou was still a few thousand yuan per square meter, some large cemeteries in Panyu and Tianhe, near Guangzhou, had sold for more than 10,000 yuan per hole. Today, this number is about five times higher.

Yesterday Nanfang Daily reporter learned from a large cemetery on Xinhua Street in Huadu District that the cemetery here starts at 29,800 yuan per hole, and the expensive 780,000 yuan covers an area of ​​3.6 square meters. The average price of 22,000 yuan per square meter is comparable to that in the downtown area, which is almost three times the housing price in the vicinity of the tomb. Sales staff said that the price is also related to the location of the cemetery, and many people purchased a model of 50,000 yuan per hole. In a relatively remote cemetery in Fogang County, the cemetery here also costs 25,000 yuan to 40,000 yuan each, or it belongs to “special goods”. In Panyu Nancun and Tianhe Yinhe Cemetery, some well-placed cemeteries will cost more than 100,000 yuan.

Contrary to the high price of cemetery, the wind of speculation in cemetery has been banned. On some second-hand commodity trading websites, posts for reselling graveyards abound, some sellers also provide a number of graveyards to provide choices, such as an area of ​​1.3 square meters in Yudetang, Nansha District, Guangzhou, and the transfer price is as high as 38,000. yuan.

Nearly half of the burials of the remains are in a low degree of recognition of green burials.

Behind the soaring prices of graveyards, it is difficult for the public to bury the traditional way of burial. During the two sessions of this year, the proposal submitted by Liu Xinwen, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, showed that, according to statistics, at present, there are still nearly 70 million square meters of land converted into cemetery each year, and the phenomenon of the dead and the living is still very serious. Although China has used cremation as its main burial method for several decades, according to statistics from relevant departments, China’s annual death rate has averaged 8.5 million people in recent years, and about 425 million burials have been carried out each year, and the burial rate still accounts for about 50%. .

Liu Xinwen pointed out that bad habits of burial and thick funerals have also shown signs of renewed growth. According to the statistics of China Association of Consumers Association, the annual paper used for sacrifices during the Ching Ming Festival is over 10,000 tons. On the day of Ching Ming Festival, the cost of traditional rituals such as burning paper money is as high as more than 10 billion yuan. Traditional methods such as candlelighting and burning paper money are not only wasteful, but also pollute the environment and may even cause fires.

Guangzhou, with a small number of residents, has advocated ecological burial methods such as tree burial, lawn burial and sea burial in recent years. However, the actual results have not been satisfactory. According to relevant departments, Guangzhou has added 32,000 pieces of bone ash per year. In terms of treatment methods, more than 80% of the people chose urns and buildings, about 11% of the ashes were buried in the cemetery, and less than 3% of the ashes were used for returning to the forest. Sea and so on. The city's crematorium is a place where more than 150,000 pieces of ashes are deposited, nearly saturated. Calculated on the basis of current consumption, the cemeteries in Guangzhou tend to be saturated within 10 years.

The Interpretation of the State Council on the Implementation of Several Specific Issues in the Regulations on Funeral Administration issued in 1998 clearly stipulated that the area of ​​the single and double burial tombs buried with ashes should not exceed 1 square meter and the burial body should be single. The area of ​​the tomb shall not exceed 4 square meters, and the double-burial tomb of the burial body shall not exceed 6 square meters. The actual situation is that most graveyard cemeteries have more than 1 square meter.

According to Liu Xinwen, the traditional graveyard covers an area of ​​1 square, while the average tree burial and grass burial covers an area of ​​approximately 0.4 square meters to 0.5 square meters, which is at least half of the traditional tombs. The wall-buried area is only half of the lawn burial, only 1/4 of the traditional tombs. The river burial does not require land occupation, so it is necessary to promote green ecological funerary funerals.

However, even in Guangzhou, where ideology is relatively open, the number of people receiving methods such as tree burial, turf burial, and sea burial is increasing. The overall proportion is still relatively small.

According to the random visit of the Nanfang Daily reporter, most citizens have not yet accepted the green funeral - "The Qing Ming grave has become a traditional ritual for many years. It does not seem that there is enough respect for the ancestors in the graveyard." In addition, although the cemetery is currently generally higher than housing prices, frequently tens of thousands of yuan, but because the area of ​​the cemetery is relatively small, from the unit price, some citizens "clenched their teeth" or persist. As for the emerging green funeral model, some citizens have expressed that online worship services can be used as a supplement and simplify the traditional sacrificial methods such as burning paper money, but it is still difficult to accept the changes in the form of traditional grave.

It is not enough to regulate the funeral industry by local

“Currently, the basic reason for the environmental protection funeral method is that the people’s traditional concepts have not changed, and the understanding of the green way of funerals and funerals is not enough.” Liu Xinwen, member of the committee, said that in the process of implementing the funeral policy, many local government departments pay attention to the remains. The cremation rate is basically in a state of indifference when it comes to burial of ashes.

Prof. Fan Ying, president of the Guangdong Society for Sociology, said that considering that some citizens could not completely accept the funeral way without tombs, they could refer to the protection of housing and implement a certain percentage of economically applicable tombs.

In addition, the government should give certain material compensation to the people who actively choose the green way of funerals and funerals, which has a strong practical significance for guiding the people to support the national green environmental protection funeral policy. For wreaths, graveyards and other optional funeral services, it should be standardized through government guidance prices and market adjustment prices.

At present, these incentives have been tried first in some places. For example, to encourage citizens to hold burial or sea burial ceremonies for their ancestors, the Guangzhou Municipal Government has given subsidies or free of charge to both activities. The ashes of the sea have begun in 2009 and government subsidies have been implemented to eliminate the ash handling fee of 280 yuan. Since the beginning of Chingming this year, there have been new initiatives in Shaoguan City's green funeral and burial activities have been organized in the Dongtian Mausoleum Cemetery. Participants are exempted from tree-planting fees and cemetery fees, and “retrospective walls” are provided for the public to cherish ancestors.

The windy graveyard of astronomical graves also attracted the attention of policy makers. Last week, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Civil Affairs issued the Guiding Opinions on Further Strengthening Issues Concerning Management of Funeral Services Charges. In regulating the prices of various types of cemeteries, the Opinions require all localities to strengthen their guidance on the pricing behavior of commercial cemeteries: Obviously high, if necessary, to intervene and manage in accordance with the law. Strict government pricing management is adopted for public welfare cemetery charging standards, and low-charge policies are implemented to meet the basic needs of the people.

In order to standardize management of service fees for management of public cemetery, the “Notice on Regulating the Issues Related to the Management of Service Charges for Cemeteries in Operational Cemeteries in the City (Draft for Soliciting Opinions)” drafted by the Price Bureau of Guangzhou Municipality is also publicly soliciting opinions from the public. It was proposed that the profit of the burial rent shall be calculated in accordance with no more than 20% of the sum of the various costs and taxes. The length shall not exceed 20 years, and the management fee for graves shall not exceed 200 yuan/year per square meter.

However, experts believe that after the rules are formulated, it is even more critical to ensure that implementation guarantees can be implemented. For example, Mr. Lin, a public citizen in Nansha, Guangzhou, who was investing in cemetery speculation six years ago, failed to secure 30% profit at the end of the year, and the funeral company with which he signed a sales contract went to court. Recently, the court held that there is no corresponding high-order law prohibiting the speculation of cemetery. The previous ban clause was only issued by local regulations and administrative regulations. The judgment contract was valid and the plaintiff could obtain speculative profits. As soon as the verdict was issued, four questions were queried.

In response, Liu Xinwen stated that at present, the laws governing the funeral industry only include the “Regulations on Funeral Management” promulgated by local governments, and so far there is not yet a national unified Funeral Law. He suggested that relevant state departments strengthen environmental protection and funerals, standardize the investigation of the funeral services legislation, introduce the Funeral Law as soon as possible, and formulate relevant implementation rules to further standardize green environmental protection and funeral activities and curb extravagance and waste.

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