Chinese government will work hand-in-hand with local police to put a stop to the increasing popularity of funeral strippers, a statement from the Ministry of Culture said on Thursday.

Chinese culture dictates that the more mourners that come to the funeral, the more successful the dead's afterlife will be. Erotic dances are being performed to gather such mourners, even in front of children, despite the country's obscenity laws which bans public nudity.

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This trend, which is especially popular in rural areas in mainland China, has been going on for a few years now. In 2006, Jiaodigan Fangtan, a leading investigative television program, reported scantily clad women dancing in Donghai, Eastern China's Jiangsu province.

"Such illegal operations have disrupted local entertainment markets and corrupted social morals," the ministry said.

Hiring strippers also shows the family's wealth, with the service expense typically going up to as much as $320 (2,000 yuan). People doing such vulgar acts will be investigated and punished.

Authorities said that strip performances make up for the of lack cultural events in those areas. A report by Tencent Holdings, a popular Chinese news portal, also blamed the illegal acts on local officials' lax policy control.

The Ministry of Culture reported two cases of pornographic performances. The first one happened on February 15 in the northern province of Hebei, where photos of the "Red Rose Dance Troupe" went viral, showing six performers in the midst of a strip tease. Investigators were immediately sent and the person responsible for the event was detained for 15 days and were fined $11,300 (70,000 yuan).

Twelve days after the incident, on February 27, in a funeral for an old man, performers were caught doing obscene acts and other forms of pornographic performances. All performers were indicted by crime prosecutors.

The government's next step is to focus on the commercial market, those that are openly selling the banned erotic service.

Tagsfuneral strip tease, funeral strippers