China’s ageing population and growing wealth have resulted in an unintended fallout — the rise of a booming funeral industry. In Shanghai, China’s business capital, Fu Shou Yuan company is a well-established name in the funeral business. It offers comprehensive services based on pre-need funeral and burial contracts.
“The service provides elderly people with the opportunity to design every detail of the funeral and burial process themselves, such as the shape or material of urns or styles of clothing,” the China Daily quoted a company employee as saying. It is not surprising that the demand for first-rate post-life services is growing. According to UN estimates, China had over 100 million people above 65 in 2005. But that number is likely to zoom to around 330 million by the middle of the century, nearly twice the current population of Russia.
China’s ‘one-child policy’, pursued with vigour for 36 years following the baby-boom period of the Mao era, is mainly responsible for the country’s increasingly adverse demographics. But during the period when economic reforms took root, wealth also rocketed. Unsurprisingly, many find the fairly expensive funeral packages offered by Fu Shou Yuan affordable. The price ranges from $1,000 to $3,470, depending on the affluence of the client. The profit margins appear solid, as the company has opened branches in 16 locations within China.
Lucrative services
The lucrative pre-need services business is not novel to China. In 2014, a Texas-based funeral services company reportedly generated a revenue of $822 million. “More than 70% of Japanese people have accepted the (funeral) contracts, and the percentage in the U.S. is even higher, reaching 90%,” says Xing Weidong of Fu Shou Yuan.
In anticipation of the boom, market-savvy Chinese universities have been offering courses in funeral services. The Changsha Social Work College in the central province of Hunan has pioneered courses in this field since 1995. These include modules on writing obituaries, cemetery designing and embalming. Around 300 students graduate from the college every year. It is estimated that around 1,600 job-vacancies await fresh graduates passing out of the college. Yet, social attitudes, built on centuries of tradition, need to be fine-tuned for this profession to prosper.
Even students subscribing for the course need help to overcome psychological barriers. “Funeral services are not just about bodies. Through our jobs we can interpret the life of the deceased person and illustrate how unique they were. Only those with a loving heart can successfully serve the families of the deceased,” observes professor Xiong Ying at the college.
In ultra-commercial Shanghai, “cremation jewellery” is becoming popular. Reports in the Chinese media say the Shanghai Funeral Service Center offers to make a single crystal out of the deceased person’s ashes. The family can keep the crystal as a mark of remembrance for their loved ones at home, avoiding the convention of visiting graves.
Apparently, 10% of the deceased person’s ashes are used to make a single crystal, costing around $160. “The jewellery provides support whenever the customers need it to embrace the loved one’s memory, day by day, not just during the Qingming festival and Winter Solstice,” says Wei Chao, vice-director of the Shanghai Funeral Service Center. Mr. Wei was referring to annual tomb-sweeping festival when families remember and pay tribute to their ancestors.
Atul Aneja works for The Hindu and is based in Beijing
