More than 1,000 Buddhists, academics and social elites from nearly 50 countries and regions listened to a speech by the 11th Panchen Lama on Saturday at the second World Buddhist Forum in Wuxi, Jiangsu province.

It is the second time that the Panchen Lama has attended the World Buddhist Forum, after he appeared in 2006 at the first, held in Hangzhou and Zhoushan of Zhejiang Province.

"This forum is convened in my country - China - which has a Buddhist cultural tradition going back 2,000 years," he said in English.