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Over 600 Buddhists flocked into the Famen Temple Buddhist cultural area in Baoji, Shaanxi province for the 27th General Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB), which opened on Oct. 16, Thursday, China Daily reported.
The Buddhist Association of China and Chinese people have participated in the WFB since its inception in 1950 at a meeting in present-day Sri Lanka, with the aim to promote Buddhism for the happiness of humankind and world peace.
With 181 regional centers in 50 countries and regions worldwide, the current WFB was attended by Buddhists from 30 countries, which include Japan, Korea, India, Nepal and Mongolia as well as mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
According to the deputy mayor of Baoji, Zhang Jingyuan, the conference on Buddhist culture development and dissemination will have more than 14 activities and 30 themed meetings.
Zhang also serves as the deputy director of the five-day conference's organization committee.
Chinese Buddhist Association president master Chuan Yin told China Central Television that the conference is a "milestone in the exchanges and friendships between Buddhists in China and the world," which will help the Chinese Buddhist community "play a bigger role internationally."
WFB secretary-general Phallop Thaiarry said that the General Conference must be held once in every two years based on the WFB Constitution to create uniform policies for all the regional centers and exchange views and experiences among each other.
It is the first time the WFB General Conference was hosted by the People's Republic of China.
As Thaiarry explained, Baoji was selected as venue for the conference because of its Buddhism propagation history and its status as the learning center and primary route of Buddhism for a long time.
"I think it's the good opportunity to have the conference here and it's going to be a big success, as it's the first time we have the Buddhist conference in China," Thaiarry said.
