Zheng Fengtian

Monopolies at root of the problem

It may sound ironic, but it is true that many people in China now complain that they cannot afford to die, because their families cannot afford to pay for heir funeral services. For instance, a cemetery in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, recently raised the price of a tomb to 90,000 yuan ($13,700) per square meter, which is much higher than the rate for a house in the city's posh area.

Similar reports have emerged from other cities, too. Funeral service costs have increased incredibly in China and are still rising. Since 2003, funeral services have been one of the 10 most profit-making businesses. This means greater financial loss for families that have already lost a dear one. Needless to say, the worst sufferers are low-income families.

The problem lies with the monopoly that the funeral industry has come to enjoy in China. The problem has been deepened by related authorities that introduce and support funeral parlors and cemeteries. Local authorities are authorized to scrutinize applications for running funeral parlors. But in many cities, they approve of parlors that are run by local government departments only.

This helps funeral parlors take advantage of people's needs, and raise funeral service charges to unbearably high levels. No wonder, running funeral services has become such a lucrative business in China. The situation, in fact, has worsened over the past few years.

Under public pressure, some cities have indeed allowed private capital to enter the funeral industry. But it's a pity that instead of giving competition to the monopolies, the new entrants to the industry have formed alliances with them to raise prices further.

Such actions constitute a grave offence against the people. Providing a final resting place for the dead is a way of paying respect to the departed souls. But now people are finding it difficult to even to do that, which in the long run will harm social harmony. Local governments should pay heed to this basic need of the people, change their ways and stop abusing their power.

Funeral services should be affordable for all. It is not a luxury reserved for the rich few. If the local governments insist on running funeral services, they should provide them at the lowest possible price if not free of charge. Playing with the emotions of aggrieved families is not what civilized officials should be doing.

If the local governments cannot offer affordable funeral services, they should retreat from the funeral industry and declare it open. If not, they can at best set price limits for some services, introduce supervision and withdraw all unreasonable charges. They should know that it is their duty to serve the people and, hence, they should put people's interests first.

The author is a professor of rural development at the Renmin University of China.