Appointment of bishops could still be stumbling block
Beijing has quietly been conducting exchanges with the Vatican to pave the way for diplomatic ties to be re-established, according to church sources and academics.
In a sign of gathering momentum, Beijing is planning a working group on religious affairs to improve co-ordination on the issue.
Membership will include the State Administration of Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security and the United Front Department of the Communist Party.
Beijing ordered Catholics to break ties with the Vatican in 1951 and appoints its own bishops.
Contact between the two sides was halted in 2000 when the Vatican canonised 120 martyrs who died in China, including some considered to be traitors by Beijing.
The impetus for the bilateral exchanges came last September when a delegation from the State Council's Development Research Centre visited Milan for a conference organised by the Community of Sant'Egidio.
