Cost of Beijing burial plots out of control

(Ecns.cn) -- Dying is an expensive thing to do these days in Beijing – especially if you hope to be buried in the city. That's mostly because the prices of gravesites at many cemeteries in the capital have spiraled out of control in recent years, according to China Economic Weekly.

Currently there are a total of 104 legal cemeteries in Beijing, among which 33 are for-profit and approved by the Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau. The other 71 are run as charities.

The charitable cemeteries are only available for villagers in rural areas, however, forcing urban residents to pay very high fees to inter their deceased loved ones in city burial grounds. A tiny plot covering less than 1 square meter of land can cost as much as 200,000 yuan (US$31,740), for example, about 10 times the city's average housing price.

In an effort to stop unreasonable price hikes, new guidelines for funeral services were released ahead of traditional Tomb Sweeping Day, or Qingming, which fell on April 4 this year. However, many fear the policies may not be effective.

Unaffordable burial plots

Mr. Zhao, who lives in a neighborhood near Jiuxian Bridge in Chaoyang District, spent more than 36,000 yuan (US$5,713) last December on a tiny gravesite in Panlongtai Cemetery after his father passed away.

Zhao says he expected to pay only about 20,000 yuan (US$3,174) and was shocked by the inflated price, but had no other choice.

Since 2008, the least expensive gravesites in most of Beijing's cemeteries have increased by about 25 percent, while others have risen several times higher than they were just a few years ago.

In the 15 cemeteries under the jurisdiction of the municipal government, only Badaling People's Cemetery has not raised the prices of its burial plots in recent years.

The least expensive sites in Changqing Yuan Cemetery have increased from 7,130 yuan (US$1,131) per square meter in 2008 to 42,000 yuan (US$6,665) today, while the lowest price of a site in Babaoshan People's Cemetery soared from 19,000 yuan (US$3,015) in 2008 to the current 100,000 yuan (US$15,870), says China Economic Weekly.

Taofeng Cemetery, located in a Beijing suburb and widely believed to be one of the lowest-priced in the city for urns, costs 25,800 yuan for only a 0.7-square meter of land, according to China Daily.

The exorbitant prices at Beijing's cemeteries have forced many city residents to look for alternatives in neighboring Hebei Province. According to an employee at Hebei's Wolong Cemetery, Beijing residents account for more than 90 percent of the business there.

Profiteering by morticians

Lin, who once worked as a cemetery marketing agent, says the reason for the drastic price hikes is that Beijing no longer approves land use for cemeteries.

It was inevitable that cemeteries would raise the prices of gravesites again and again, reveals Lin, since they don't have to go through any regulatory procedures before making the decision.

Some cemeteries have taken the opportunity to engage in conspicuous levels of profiteering.

According to an employee at Siqinyuan Cemetery in Fengtai District, they have five "pavilion tombs" that cover an area of several square meters each, and all cost more than 1 million yuan (US$158,700).

In Tianshou Cemetery in Changping District, there are a number of luxury gravesites with granite tombstones and gazebos on plots of land covering tens of square meters. As early as in 2008, it was reported that the cemetery had built a gravesite for Hou Yaowen, the well-known Chinese crosstalk performer, at a price of 1.08 million yuan (US$171,400).

More surprisingly, the Wolong Cemetery in Hebei, a "charitable" cemetery, has also built pricey gravesites for illegal profits. Last year, one of its luxury sites was priced at 3.68 million yuan (US$584,020), which is even higher than many luxury plots in Beijing, says China Economic Weekly.

According to Mr.Huang, director of Beijing's funeral and interment administration, charitable cemeteries are not allowed to conduct profit-making business, and the commercial behavior by Wolong Cemetery clearly violates the regulations.

Stricter rules needed

Cemeteries can earn nearly 100 percent in profit on burial plot sales, making the work of agents who depend on commissions highly lucrative.

If the purchase price of a burial plot is 30,000 yuan (US$4,764), the profit from selling it will also be at least 15,000 yuan or higher, says Lin, adding that he got as much as 15 percent of the value of each transaction as a cemetery marketing agent.

To handle the issue, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top pricing regulator, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs released pricing guidelines on funeral services in late March.

Meanwhile, the government has recently been promoting eco-friendly burials, such as scattering ashes at sea or burying them under trees, in a bid to conserve land and protect the environment, according to Xinhua News Agency.

But because Chinese typically entomb their deceased loved ones as a way to show respect, eco-friendly burials have not become popular. As a result, governments should still try to allocate more space for cemeteries when mapping out local development plans, in order to meet public demand and cool down prices.