China announces subsidies to promote affordable, eco-friendly funeral services

China will offer subsidies for environmentally friendly burial methods, such as tree burials and deep interments without headstones, as part of a national reform of funeral service pricing aimed at cutting costs and promoting green practices.

In a joint circular released on Tuesday, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the Ministry of Finance outlined a new two-tier pricing system to "strengthen the public welfare nature" of the industry and "effectively reduce the funeral burden on the people".

Under the new framework, funeral services are categorized as "basic" and "nonbasic". Basic services, including body transportation, storage, cremation, and ash deposit, will be subject to government-guided pricing set by provincial authorities. Fees for nonbasic services must fall within government-recommended ranges.

The policy encourages local governments to provide "appropriate awards and subsidies" for ecological interments where no ashes are retained, such as tree burials, as well as for deep burials without grave mounds in regions where traditional in-ground burial is permitted.

The notice explicitly forbids funeral institutions from charging any fees beyond stipulated items like plot usage and maintenance. It also demands full price transparency, requiring institutions to publicly display all service charges and sale prices of funeral supplies.

The pricing directive is a key measure to implement the revised national funeral management regulations unveiled by the State Council earlier this month and set to take effect on March 30. Those regulations represent the first major update since 2012 and explicitly prohibit new for-profit funeral service entities, reinforcing the sector's public service nature.