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BEIJING: Amid grave concerns over expiring burial plot leases, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs has announced that the lease periods range from 50 to 70 years and not 20 years as widely reported earlier.
The ministry had clarified on Apr 4 that the 20-year period referred to the maximum length of time covered under total upkeep fees chargeable by cemetery administrators, which was instituted as a means of preventing them from charging exorbitant advance payments, reported China Daily.
These payments are not related to the lease periods, which can be renewed and extended after they have expired, said the ministry in a statement.
The uncertainty surrounding the burial plot leases lies against a backdrop of the rising cost of cemetery land, drummed up by speculative practices.
As burial plot prices rise, maintenance fees of urns have risen as well.
Due to scarcity of land, only ashes and not bodies are buried in China. However, to maximise space, tombs are now partitioned to allow for more urns.
Grave owners and agents are now cashing into this lucrative market, given the growing scarcity of burial land in larger cities, increasing economic prosperity and resilience of age-old funerary practices, said Property Report citing Straits Times Indonesia.
In fact, some residential property agents have also gotten into the act, brokering burial plot deals at night, reported Guangzhou Daily.
The best plots – located in graveyards with good feng shui and are near towns – can cost up to 20,000 yuan, three times higher than prices 10 years ago. This has led to hoarding of cemetery lands.
In some cities such as Beijing and Guangzhou, burial land costs more than houses per square metre.
This spike in cemetery land prices have prompted a common refrain in China - “Nowadays, you can’t afford to live, and you can’t afford to die.”
