Tomb leases more than 20 years old in public cemeteries can be renewed at lower prices and detailed regulations will be introduced after Qingming festival, the China Daily reported Monday.

Original renters will get priority to use the tomb land once the regulations come into effect, the newspaper quoted Jiang Xiaogang, secretary-general of the Beijing Funeral Association as saying.

Tomb land in public cemeteries in Beijing is not for permanent use. Instead, the longest term for renters is 20 years. After that period, renters must pay extra fees to renew the leases.

The price of tomb renewals will be much cheaper than the first-time rent after this price adjustment, Jiang said.

"The first-time rent includes the land fee, management fee and construction. For renewal, the renter just needs to pay the land fee and management fee," he said.

The term for renewals will not exceed 20 years, either, he added.

Besides the renewal fees, the location of public cemeteries will also be adjusted. According to the Chinese Funeral Development Report 2010 from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, public cemeteries in Beijing will be clustered around northwestern Beijing, while few will be built in eastern and southeastern Beijing.

The government will take cemeteries into consideration when doing city plans in the future, Jiang said.

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