In China, death has traditionally been a taboo subject. Yet a growing number of young Chinese are now openly planning their last wills and testaments, approaching life’s final questions with unprecedented rationality.
According to a 2024 white paper from the China Will Registration Center, the number of people registering wills under age 30 has increased 12-fold in seven years. The youngest person to register a will was only 17. Beyond traditional property, savings and vehicles, they are increasingly including digital assets, pet trusts and complex insurance arrangements. One Gen-Z woman even willed for her ashes to be turned into a 0.3-carat sapphire to be kept by her closest friend, according to a November 10 article in Ban Yue Tan, a magazine under the Xinhua News Agency.
Chen Kai, director of the China Will Registration Center, told Ban Yue Tan that will-making has become a form of “life-and-death education” for young people. By confronting death directly, he said, they gain a deeper understanding of the meaning and value of life.
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