During the meeting, Zhu congratulated the 11th Panchen Lama on the success of his just-concluded tour of Tibet and on the progress he had made in his Buddhist studies.

During his tour, the Panchen Lama attended a series of Buddhist activities marking his 13th birthday.

Thanks to the concerns of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee and the State Council and the support from local governments, the birthday celebrations were successful, said the Panchen Lama.

"All religious believers and temples in Tibet are satisfied with this, so am I," he told Zhu.

Zhu said that the Party's Central Committee and the State Council had always shown great concern for and paid much attention to the growth and development of the young Panchen Lama.

"Today, I'm very glad to see that you are both physically strong and well-versed in Buddhism and other knowledge, gaining more and more love and respect from the Tibetan people," Zhu said.

Stating that Tibet was an inalienable part of China, Zhu said currently the autonomous region enjoyed economic development and social stability, with its people leading a happy life.

History and reality had shown that the Communist Party of China had adopted correct ethnic and religious policies and had also succeeded in handling ethnic and religious issues, he added.

The premier expressed the hope that the 11th Panchen Lama would carry on the patriotic spirit of successive Panchen Lamas, study hard to become an accomplished Buddhist religious leader, and make contributions to maintaining national unity and promoting development and stability in Tibet.

The Panchen Lama replied that he would definitely learn from the 10th Panchen Lama's glorious past and, as President Jiang Zemin had hoped, "love both the country and the religion" and "protect the country and benefit the people." He also pledged to work harder to safeguard China's national and ethnic unity.

The 11th Panchen Lama was confirmed as the reincarnation of the late 10th Panchen Lama on November 29, 1995 by means of lot-drawing from a gold bottle. On December 8 of the same year, with formal approval from the State Council, he was inaugurated at Zhaxi Lhunbo Temple in Xigaze city, Tibet, the traditional seat for the Panchen Lamas.

(People?s Daily August 1, 2002)