A nationwide diesel shortage has affected not only factory operations and trucks, but also stopped people moving on to the next world.
A Chongqing funeral parlour had to suspend cremation services last weekend because it had been unable to acquire diesel for its three cremation furnaces.
Staff at Longxing Funeral Parlour said operations had now returned to normal, after media reported about their situation. Parlour-manager Fang Ai was quoted by the Chongqing Evening News as saying that it had managed to get diesel from the Chongqing branch of state-owned oil giant Sinopec.
The report cited an anonymous Sinopec staff member as saying that Sinopec's top management had seen the news and had asked the Chongqing branch to help.
Wednesday's State Council meeting ordered that diesel supplies be increased.
The mainland's two main diesel producers are Sinopec and PetroChina.