Although difficult issues may be on the table — including the status of the Catholic community in Hong Kong and the Vatican's relations with Taiwan — both sides seem to want to continue the pact for now, experts say.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has reiterated the Communist Party's commitment to make religion more culturally Chinese, underscoring what many see are problems with the Vatican's agreement with China.
The Catholic Church's process of reconciliation in China is not a "competition or who is right, but of brothers and sisters in the faith," said Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
As part of its ongoing efforts to reconcile China's Catholic communities, the Vatican recognized two previously excommunicated Chinese bishops as heads of dioceses.
The Catholic Church is one throughout the world, and Pope Francis' agreement with the communist government of China is a sign of that, Bishop John Baptist Yang Xiaoting of Yan'an told members of a Rome parish.
Debate continues about whether the Vatican's provisional agreement with China will improve relations between the Chinese state and members of religious groups, which have had a long history of conflict.
Finally, the Vatican has done a deal with China, or rather with the ruling Chinese Communist Party that has been conducting an escalating program of repression against religion.
