Free funeral service available for poor people

To ease the financial burden of funeral services for economically disadvantaged people, the civil affairs department of Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, has exempted basic funeral service fees for some qualified residents of the city as of May 8. This new policy will save each family about 1,500 yuan ($245).

The free funeral service is provided for people with Nanning residence registration living with subsistence allowances in both urban and rural areas; people unable to work or without income and family support; and people found dead whose bodies are unclaimed and that local public security authorities have suggested be cremated.

The basic funeral service fees for delivering, storing and cremating bodies will be exempted. Families of the dead person can also get a free cinerary casket and store the casket with bone ashes for one year in the funeral parlor for free.

According to the policy, the qualified dead people's direct relatives or statutory guardians should pay the fees upfront and then apply for reimbursement from the civil affairs department of the place where the dead people’s residence is registered.

To guarantee the policy can be smoothly implemented, the city government has already included the funeral subsidy into the financial budgets of authorities of various levels since the start of 2013.