Four-year-old Goinbo Dungzhi has been enthroned as the seventh Kungtangcang living Buddha and the reincarnation of the sixth who died in 2000, said officials in a Tibetan community of northwest China's Gansu Province on Thursday.

A grand enthronement was held at the Labrang Lamasery in Xiahe county of the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on Monday in line with the rituals of Tibetan Buddhism.

The seventh living Buddha, renamed Gungtangcang Losanggeleg Dainpekanqian, was escorted to the lamasery by a parade of adherents and villagers from his former residence in the Kecai Monastery 90 kilometers away.

The boy born in 2002 moved from his parents' home in Hezuo city of Gannan to the Kecai Monastery in Xiahe county after he was chosen in August 2005 from a shortlist of 1,200 candidates to be the reincarnation of the sixth Kungtangcang living Buddha.

Living at the monastery was a ritual to prepare him for the post.

Following his enthronement, the living Buddha blessed followers on Tuesday and Wednesday. The disciples expressed their support for him and prayed he would enjoy health and longevity.

Officials from the Gansu provincial bureau of religious affairs and the local Buddhism Association attended the ceremony, and hoped the seventh Gungtangcang living Buddha would contribute to regional economic development, social harmony and ethnic unity.

The sixth Kungtangcang Danbawangqu living Buddha, who died aged 75, was enthroned in 1931 when he was six years old. He was a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, and vice president of the Buddhist Association of China.

(Xinhua News Agency November 16, 2006)