The foreign ministers of China and the Vatican have met in the first high-level encounter between the sides - a new sign of improving relations between two states with no diplomatic ties
The talks between China's Wang Yi and Archbishop Paul Gallagher in the German city of Munich yesterday come as relations steadily improve following a landmark agreement on the appointment of bishops in 2018.
Mr Wang, who met Archbishop Gallagher on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, called the 2018 agreement "groundbreaking", adding that it "has achieved positive results". China's roughly 12 million Catholics have for decades been split between a government-run association, whose clergy were chosen by the atheist Communist Party, and an unofficial underground church loyal to the Vatican.
The law in China requires priests and bishops to register and align with the country's official church. Mr Wang and Archbishop Gallagher also discussed China's efforts to contain the new coronavirus epidemic, which has killed more than 1,500 and infected at least 66,000 in the country.
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