China 2022 Q4 Social Services Cremation Data Missing

Family members follow an urn containing the ashes of a loved one at a crematorium in Beijing on December 22, 2022. - Hospitals are struggling, pharmacy shelves have been stripped bare and many crematoriums are overwhelmed in the wake of the Chinese government's sudden decision to lift years of lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing. Photo by AFP

China recently released its statistics on social welfare for Q4 2022. However, the belated quarterly report came with missing data on the number of cremations.

Critics believe the massive death toll from last October to December embarrassed the regime, due to lockdowns and zero-COVID policies that clearly failed to contain the virus, and that is the reason for the missing data.