Photo: CFP

 
The Shanghai municipal government announced on Sunday that the city's funeral system insisted on upholding the dignity of the deceased and the rights and interests of families, debunking rumors circulating online which claimed funeral parlors in the city were cremating two or more corpses in one incinerator.

The operation of cremation equipment in Shanghai's funeral parlors is in line with national standards, which requires cremating one corpse in one incinerator, the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau told local media Jiefang Daily Sunday. 

"The city's funeral system insists on safeguarding the dignity of the deceased and the rights and interests of the families. The situation circulating on the internet has never happened and will not happen in any of the city's funeral parlors," the bureau said. 

Recently, as the number of COVID-19 infections has been increasing across China, the number of deaths due to the infections has also attracted wide attention. 

The Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau and other departments have increased their efforts to regulate and deal with the violations involving the funeral industry, such as rumors and overpriced brokers. 

Since late December, 23 fake funeral websites have been shut down, and fake funeral service units and service personnel posting false information online have been dealt with by the departments severely. 

The city's cyberspace regulator has also dealt strictly with various illegal information involving the funeral industry online.

Shanghai police also said on Friday that they have set up a task force to strictly crack down on illegal epidemic-related activities, including those involving the funeral industry. For example, Shanghai police cracked a case of allegedly overcharging funeral fees on Thursday, with three suspects posting funeral intermediary information online to provide funeral services for illegal profit at an increased service fee of more than 50 percent per order. The offenders have been administratively punished according to the law.

Global Times