The Vatican would not say whether the 28 priests were from the Communist Party-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association or the underground church loyal to Rome. But the Catholic news agency AsiaNews, which has close ties to the Vatican and has proved reliable on Vatican-China developments, said they were members of Beijing's official church.

It was believed to be the first time a pope had publicly welcomed members of China's state-controlled church at the Vatican, which for more than 50 years has supported the underground Catholic church whose priests have been routinely arrested and harassed by Chinese authorities.

''I greet with particular affection the group of priests from China,'' Benedict said in English, also listing other groups from Hong Kong, Ireland, the Philippines and the United States who attended the Vatican audience.

The Chinese priests, sitting in the front row and dressed in black with white collars, then stood up, sang a hymn, clapped and waved to the pope.

China forced its Roman Catholics to cut ties with the Vatican in 1951, shortly after the officially atheist Communist Party took power. Worship is allowed only in government-controlled churches, which recognize the pope as a spiritual leader but appoint their own priests and bishops.

Millions of Chinese, however, belong to unofficial congregations loyal to Rome. Many unofficial congregations hold services openly, but in some regions they are routinely harassed and their priests and bishops arrested.

Benedict has been reaching out to Beijing, asking countries that do not have ties with the Holy See to establish them soon. Last month, a new auxiliary bishop of Shanghai was consecrated with the tacit approval of the Vatican.

China has said it is willing to improve relations with Rome but says it wants the Vatican to sever ties with Taiwan, which it considers a renegade province since they split during a civil war in 1949.

The Vatican has not hid its desire for improved relations, but it is treading carefully. It has refused to publicly confirm its position on issues such as the consecration of the Shanghai bishop or provide details on the priests at Wednesday's audience.