BETTING ON THE INEVITABLEChina recorded 11.31 million deaths in 2025, roughly 31,000 a day. That’s the country’s highest toll since 1960, and the fourth straight year deaths outnumbered births.With 23 per cent of the national population aged 60 and above, demographers expect the number to keep climbing for decades. A 2024 study by Fudan University projected that annual deaths would not peak until around 2061, at close to 19 million.The workforce meant to handle that growing demand is small.As of end-2024, China had 4,794 funeral service institutions – funeral parlours, columbaria and cemeteries – employing about 96,000 people, according to…