Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on the Administration of Funeral and Interment

(Adopted at the 38th Session of the Standing Committee of the 10th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on August 20, 1997; amended for the first time in accordance with the Decision on Amending Some Local Rules of This Municipality adopted at the 21st Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on September 17, 2010; amended for the second time in accordance with the Decision on Amending Eight Local Rules Including the Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Environmental Protection adopted at the 21st Session of the Standing Committee of the 14th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on June 18, 2015; amended for the third time in accordance with the Decision on Amending the Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on the Administration of Funeral and Interment adopted the 15th Session of the Standing Committee of the 16th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on August 22, 2024)

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1

With a view to standardizing the administration of funeral and interment activities, deepening the reforms of funeral and interment and promoting the building of socialist spiritual civilization, these Regulations are formulated in accordance with the State Council's Regulations on the Administration of Funeral and Interment and other relevant laws and rules, and in the light of the actual circumstances of this Municipality.

Article 2

These Regulations apply to funeral and interment activities and their administration within the administrative area of this Municipality.

Where the relevant provisions of the State and this Municipality provide otherwise for the funeral and interment activities and their administration for revolutionary martyrs, ethnic minority people, inhabitants of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region, compatriots from Taiwan, overseas Chinese, and foreigners, such provisions shall apply.

Article 3

The principles for funeral and interment and their administration in this Municipality are: practicing cremation, economizing on land for funeral and interment, protecting the environment, benefiting the people in public interest, promoting the virtues of the Chinese nation, abolishing undesirable funeral and interment customs, safeguarding the dignity of the deceased, and advocating civilized and frugal funeral arrangements.

Article 4

The Municipal and District People's Governments shall incorporate the funeral business into national economic and social development planning, improving the funeral public service system.

The municipal and district civil affairs departments are the administrative authorities for funeral activities in this Municipality, and are responsible for the management of funeral and interment work in their administrative areas.

The departments of development and reform, public security, finance, market regulation health, planning and resources, greening and city appearance, housing management, ecological environment, cyberspace administration, agriculture and rural affairs, transportation, and other relevant departments shall, in accordance with their respective responsibilities, cooperate with the department of civil affairs to jointly manage funeral and interment activities effectively.

Article 5

The civil affairs department shall leverage the "Government Online-Offline Shanghai" government service platform to provide the public with services such as funeral service information inquiries, policy consultations, and online business processing.

Article 6

The departments of culture, press and publication, and radio, film, and television shall use various forms such as newspapers, radio, television, and the internet to cooperate with the civil affairs department in jointly conducting publicity and education on funeral reforms, changing customs, and life culture. They shall guide citizens to establish the concepts of providing ample care during life with simple and respectful funeral, practicing civilized and frugal funerals, and embracing ecological and environmental protection in funeral practices.

Government organs, institutions and enterprises, social organizations, resident (village) committees, and other organizations shall carry out relevant publicity and education work within their own units or regions.

Article 7

Funeral and interment service industry organizations shall strengthen industry self-discipline, establish and improve industry norms and reward and punishment mechanism, promote the construction of industry integrity system, and promote the healthy development of the industry.

Chapter II Funeral and Interment Service Units

Article 8

Funeral and interment service units shall be established in accordance with the planning of funeral services in this Municipality, and based on the principles of rationality, necessity, and convenience for the public. The Municipal and District People's Governments shall include the construction of funeral parlors (including crematoriums, hereinafter the same), public cemeteries, columbaria, funeral service stations, and other funeral facilities in the territorial spatial planning, and give priority to the construction of public welfare funeral facilities.

The approval procedures for the construction of funeral facilities shall be carried out in accordance with the relevant national and municipal provisions. No unit or individual may construct funeral facilities without approval.

Article 9

Funeral and interment service units set up with approval shall, in accordance with relevant provisions, go through relevant formalities of examination, approval and registration with other administrative departments. In case collectively owned land is to be used, the formalities for requisition of land shall be performed.

Article 10

After the construction of a funeral parlor, a cemetery, a cinerary hall or a funeral service station set up with approval, the competent civil affairs department shall, upon its completion, issue a funeral and interment service certificate thereto.

Article 11

The funeral and interment service certificates shall be examined once every year. Those whose funeral and interment service certificates are not examined or fail to pass the examination shall not continue funeral and interment service activities.

Article 12

In case the name, the legal representative, business locality, business scope of funeral parlors, cemeteries, cinerary halls, or funeral service stations, need to be changed, or the business of which need to be terminated, the relevant party shall submit application to the competent civil affairs departments, and, upon approval, go to the relevant administrative departments to complete the formalities of alteration or cancellation.

Article 13

In case the land use area of funeral parlors, cemeteries, cinerary halls or funeral service stations need to be expanded, the relevant party shall apply to the relevant administrative departments for approval in accordance with the examination and approval procedures for the construction of such businesses.

Article 14

Funeral and interment service units shall strengthen the administration of service equipment and facilities, keep their service localities, equipment and facilities tidy and intact, and prevent the environment from being polluted.

Funeral and interment service units shall strengthen the professional ethics education and vocational skills training for practitioners, and improve their professional ethics and business capabilities.

Funeral and interment service unit practitioners shall abide by operating regulations and professional ethics, and provide civilized services.

Funeral and interment units and their personnel shall dissuade or stop people from disturbing public order in funeral and interment service localities or using feudal superstitious articles for funeral and interment.

Article 15

Funeral services should reflect the public welfare.

Charges for funeral services shall be managed in a categorized manner. The basic funeral service charges shall be subject to government pricing management, and the extended funeral services closely related to basic funeral services shall be subject to government guidance price management, with specific items and charge standards jointly formulated by the departments of development and reform and the civil affairs. Other funeral service charges shall be subject to market-adjusted price management.

This Municipality shall regulate cemetery charging behavior in accordance with the law and maintain normal cemetery price order. For commercial cemetery charges, the civil affairs department, the development and reform department and other departments shall strengthen the guidance and regulation of the pricing behavior of operators, and intervene and manage in accordance with the law when necessary to curb inflated pricing behavior.

Chapter III Funeral and Interment Activities

Article 16

The business entities that provide funeral services or funeral agency services, or engage in the sale of funeral supplies shall operate in accordance with the law, be honest and trustworthy, implement the clear price in accordance with the provisions, and, shall not engage in unfair pricing behaviors such as price fraud and unfair competition behaviors such as false advertising.

The civil affairs department shall, in conjunction with the development and reform, public security, market regulation, health, planning and resources department, and other relevant departments, establish a joint regulatory mechanism to strengthen collaborative work and information sharing so as to regulate funeral services, funeral agency services, and the sale of funeral supplies in accordance with the law.

Article 17

The immediate relatives of the deceased or other relatives who are willing to undertake the funeral arrangements are the funeral undertakers; if the deceased has no relatives, his/her former unit or the neighborhood (village) committee of the place where he/she lived before death shall be the undertaker in charge of funeral arrangements. If the deceased agreed on the undertaker of the funeral during his/her lifetime, the agreement shall prevail.

Article 18

The remains of those who die in this Municipality shall be cremated in this same Municipality.

Transportation of the remains of the dead out of this Municipality in exceptional cases shall be done with approval from the municipal civil affairs department.

Article 19

The undertaker in charge of funeral arrangements shall go, within 24 hours upon learning of the death of the deceased, to obtain a death certificate and notify the funeral parlor to transport the remains of the dead. In case of death involving malpractice in medical treatment, relevant provisions shall be followed.

In the case of criminal cases and road traffic accidents, the public security department or the judicial department shall notify the funeral parlor to pick up the remains.

Donated remains shall be disposed of in accordance with relevant provisions of the State and this Municipality.

In the case of laws, rules and national regulations have specific provisions regarding the issuance of death certificates, body transportation, and body disposal in cases of unnatural death, such provisions shall prevail.

Article 20

In the case of an unidentified and unclaimed remains of a person who died in a medical institution (including those who were already dead when they arrived at the hospital), the medical institution shall notify the public security authorities to assist in finding information on the identity of the deceased and information on his/her relatives. If no information can be found, the medical institution shall make an announcement to the public. If no one claims it after the expiration of the announcement period, the medical institution shall report the relevant situation to the local district health department, and the district health department shall issue an opinion on whether to continue to keep the remains. For the remains that do not need to be kept, the medical institution shall notify the funeral parlor to transport them.

In the case of an unidentified and unclaimed remains of a person who died outside a medical institution, the public security organ shall notify the funeral parlor to take the transportation, and try to find the identity of the deceased and the information on relatives. If the information cannot be found, a public announcement shall be made. After the announcement period has expired and no one has claimed the body, the public security organ shall issue an opinion on whether to continue to keep the remains based on the relevant investigation findings.

Article 21

Funeral parlors shall transport the remains within 12 hours upon receiving the notice. They shall give necessary technical treatment to the remains so as to ensure hygiene and prevent environmental pollution.

Funeral parlors shall be responsible for the transportation of the remains, and the units and individuals concerned shall provide the necessary convenience in transporting the remains.

Article 22

Units or individuals other than funeral parlors or funeral service stations shall not engage in funeral and interment services such as transportation, preservation, beautification of the dead.

Medical institutions shall maintain medical order and strengthen the management of medical institution morgues. Profit-making funeral services in medical institution morgues are prohibited.

No unit or individual shall violate relevant national provisions and disclose the personal information of the deceased and their relatives.

Article 23

Undertakers in charge of funeral arrangements shall make arrangements with funeral parlors for the cremation of the remains by producing the death certificate. Funeral parlors shall cremate the remains on the evidence of the death certificate.

Upon cremation of the remains, funeral parlors shall issue to the undertaker in charge of funeral arrangements a certificate of cremation.

In the case of unnamed and unclaimed remains, funeral parlors shall cremate the remains in accordance with relevant service specifications on the basis of the death certificate and the opinion issued by the relevant departments that the remains should not be kept further, and archive the relevant information.

Article 24

The remains carried to funeral parlors shall be cremated within 15 days. In special cases where the undertaker in charge of funeral arrangements proposes a delay in the cremation of the remains and explains the reason therefor, such delay may be allowed. In case the undertaker in charge of funeral arrangements does not arrange for the cremation within 15 days upon the arrival of the remains nor makes any justifiable explanations, the funeral parlor shall notify the undertaker in writing form to make arrangements within a time limit and pay the relevant fees. If the undertaker fails to do so after the deadline, the funeral parlor may bring a civil action for payment of the relevant fees in accordance with the law.

Unable to contact the undertaker of the funeral, the funeral parlor shall notify the public security organ to assist in finding. When the undertaker can't be found, the funeral parlor shall be announced to the public. If no one handles it after the announcement period expires, the funeral parlor shall report the relevant situation to the competent civil affairs department, which shall issue an opinion on whether to continue to keep the remains. In case of no need to keep the remains, the funeral parlor shall cremate the remains in accordance with the relevant service specifications with the death certificate and the opinion of not continuing to keep the remains issued by the civil affairs department, and shall archive the relevant information.

In case of the remains of persons who died of infectious diseases, the funeral parlor shall take precautions against the infection. Funeral parlors shall make sure badly rotten remains be cremated immediately.

Article 25

While having funeral activities, the undertaker shall not disturb public order and endanger public health, nor shall endanger public security or infringe the legitimate rights and interests of others.

Chapter IV Disposal of Ashes of the Dead

Article 26

The construction of cemeteries should adhere to the principle of land conservation by building space-saving columbarium-type graves for ashes, and the construction of over-standard luxury graves should be strictly prohibited. The area covered by graves, the supporting area and the green coverage rate of cemeteries should be in line with the relevant national and municipal provisions.

Disposal of ashes of the dead without keeping ashes by any of such ecological modes as scattering, deep burial, tree-planting burial and sea burial shall be advocated and encouraged. No individually memorial markers shall be erected at the locality of interment if any of such modes as scattering, deep burial and tree-planting burial is adopted for disposal of ashes of the dead.

Relevant departments and units shall support the adoption of ecological resettlement without retaining ashes by providing rewards and subsidies, as well as by establishing public memorial facilities and online memorial platforms

Concrete measures for implementing the disposal of the ashes of the dead by scattering, deep burial and tree-planting burial shall be formulated by the Municipal People's Government.

In the case of unclaimed ashes that have remained unclaimed for more than two years, the funeral parlor shall make an announcement to the public. If the announcement period expires and the ashes are still unclaimed, the funeral parlor shall report the case to the competent civil affairs department and then bury the ashes in accordance with the ecological resettlement method, and shall file the relevant information.

Article 27

Cemeteries shall sell pits for burial on the strength of the certificate of cremation. They shall not sell burial pits for living persons, with the exception of joint burial pits for the living spouses of the dead or pits for burial bought by childless old people or other people in exceptional circumstances.

Purchasers of pits for burial and shelf spaces for cinerary caskets shall not transfer them to others.

Pyramid sale of pits for burial and shelf space for cinerary caskets is prohibited.

Article 28

When selling pits for burial or shelf spaces for cinerary caskets, cemeteries or cinerary halls shall make a contract with the purchaser. The name of the user of the pit for burial or the shelf space for cinerary casket shall not be changed.

Purchasers of pits for burial or shelf spaces for cinerary caskets shall pay maintenance fees, which shall be used solely for the day-to-day repair and maintenance of the pits for burial or shelf spaces for cinerary caskets, and shall not be diverted to other purposes.

Article 29

The bones or remains of the dead shall not be buried in the pits for burial. No tombs or tomb stones shall be erected in places other than cemeteries.

Chapter V Administration of Mortuary Equipment and Special Articles

Article 30

Mortuary equipment including cremators, hearses and corpse refrigerators must meet the technical standards set by the State. Manufacture or sale of mortuary equipment that does not meet the technical standards set by the State is prohibited.

Article 31

Manufacture or sale of feudal superstitious articles for funeral and interment is prohibited.

Chapter VI Legal Liability

Article 32

Units and individuals who violate these Regulations shall be penalized in accordance with the following provisions:

1. Those who establish service units for funeral and interment without approval, funeral parlors, cemeteries, cinerary halls or funeral service stations who take up more land areas for use than approved, or those who engage in the manufacture or sale of feudal superstitious articles for funeral and interment shall be penalized in accordance with the State Council’s Regulations on the Administration of Funeral and Interment;

2. Those who engage in funeral and interment service activities without obtaining a service certificate or whose service certificate has not been examined or failed to pass the examination shall be ordered by the civil affairs department to stop production or operation and their unlawful gains shall be confiscated. In addition, a fine of not less than 2,000 yuan but not more than 10,000 yuan may be imposed in light cases, and a fine of not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 50,000 yuan may be imposed in serious cases;

3. Those who transport the remains of the dead out of this Municipality without approval shall be subjected to a fine of not less than 2000 yuan but not more than 1,0000 yuan by the municipal civil affairs department;

4. Those who sell pits for burial or shelf spaces for cinerary caskets in violation of the provisions shall be ordered to stop their illegal activities by the district civil affairs departments and their unlawful gains shall be confiscated. In addition, a fine of not less than one but not more than three times the amount of their unlawful gains may be imposed;

5. In the case of any unfair price behavior such as failure to clearly mark prices in accordance with provisions, price fraud, or unfair competition such as false advertising, the market regulation department shall investigate and deal with it in accordance with the law;

6. In the case of any violation of personal rights, such as the disclosure of personal information of the deceased and their relatives, or any violation of public order or public safety during funeral activities, the public security department shall impose public security management penalties in accordance with the law; if any crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.

Article 33

In the case of actions that violate the provisions of these Regulations, in addition to pursuing corresponding legal responsibilities according to the law, the relevant departments shall also collect the relevant information on untrustworthiness to the municipal public credit information service platform as prescribed, and implement credit punishment measures in accordance with the law.

Article 34

The municipal and district civil affairs departments shall exercise administration in accordance with the law and enforce the law impartially. They shall pay damages to the party concerned if it suffers direct economic losses due to their illegitimate exercise of administrative powers.

Personnel of the municipal and district civil affairs departments who neglect their duty, abuse their power, commit fraudulent acts for personal ends, or extort or accept bribes shall be given sanction by the unit they belong to or by their superior competent departments. In case their acts constitute a crime, they shall be prosecuted for criminal liability according to law.

Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions

Article 35

Specific procedures and requirements for the disposal of unnamed and unclaimed remains, the remains of funeral undertakers who cannot be contacted, and unclaimed ashes, as provided for in Articles 20, 23 (3), 24 (2), and 26 (5) of these Regulations, shall be formulated by the municipal departments of civil affairs, health, and public security.

Article 36

These Regulations shall be effective as of January 1, 1998.