XINING - The 11th Panchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu paid his third visit to Northwest China's Qinghai province from June 30 to July 9.

The Panchen Lama hosted a series of Buddhist rituals and gave blessing to thousands of local devotees during his visit to the province, which has a large number of ethnic Tibetan residents, said a statement issued after the visit on Wednesday.

During the tour, the Panchen Lama visited major Tibetan Buddhist temples in Qinghai and was heartily welcomed, the statement said.

The Panchen Lama said that he was glad to see the economic and social development of Qinghai, especially the rehabilitation progress in Yushu following its jolting by a serious earthquake in 2010.

He raised expectation that all Tibetan Buddhists cherish the hard-earned peaceful society and work hard to promote social stability and ethnic harmony, the statement added.