Photo: Catholic Church in China.

A new bishop was ordained in the diocese of Linfen, North China's Shanxi Province on Tuesday morning, marking the second appointed bishop after the renewal of a China-Vatican appointment agreement in late October.

Pietro Liu Genzhu, 54, was ordained at the Catholic church in Hongtong county, Shanxi through a ceremony, according to the report of Catholic Church in China.

According to the Asia News, both the Chinese government and the Holy See have recognized Liu's appointment.

"During the first two years of the agreement, only a few bishops were appointed in China. Now it is understandable that the process has sped up," an observer of Chinese Catholic Church told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Photo: Catholic Church in China.

A church insider told the Global Times that due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, some ordinations of Chinese bishops were delayed this year.

Bishop Mengningyou,  director of the Shanxi Catholic Patriotic Association and bishop of Taiyuan diocese of Shanxi, hosted the ceremony on Tuesday. It is also attended by 63 priests and 200 nuns, monks and believers.

China and the Vatican decided to extend a provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops by another two years, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on October 22, marking a big step toward what insiders said are greater and deeper future ties between the two sides.

On October 23, Thomas Chen Tianhao was consecrated in the cathedral of the Qingdao diocese in Shandong Province on Monday with more than 200 people attending, according to the report of Catholic Church in China, becoming the first bishop appointed after the renewal of the agreement.