"In my father's time, even the tuition fee only took 5 yuan, so how were there extra expenses on pets?" he said, adding that one order in his mid-range pet funeral homes takes about 1,000 to 2,500 yuan.

After graduation, He bought a hamster, hearing the sound of it playing on the running wheel when returning home, and after marriage, he got two dogs from his friends for companionship.

Zhang Haiqiang, secretary-general of the China Small Animal Protection Association, said that there has been a significant increase in the number of pets in China in recent years, and the decade-long experience of raising pets has fostered exceptional emotional bonds between owners and their pets.

Zhang also pointed out that the growing population of aging pets has created a development opportunity for the pet's post-mortem industry.

A white paper on China's pet industry released by Paiduchongwu, a data platform, showed that last year, China had 51.75 million pet dogs, a 1.1 percent year-on-year increase, and 69.80 million pet cats, a 6.8 percent year-on-year increase. The urban market size for pet dogs and cats reached 279.3 billion yuan, a 3.2 percent year-on-year increase.