Beijing (PTI): As the China Philharmonic orchestra played soothing music for the Pope at Vatican city to build bridges, Beijing today said it was ready for further dialogue with the Holy See in normalising decades-old strained ties.

The China Philharmonic joined by the Shanghai Opera House Chorus gave a landmark concert at the Vatican yesterday and, in his first comments on the Olympics, Pope Benedict XVI described it as "an event of great importance for the entire human family".

"We believe this activity will strengthen our mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters here.

He said China was ready to improve its relations with the Vatican and had made "efforts in this regard". "We are ready to conduct further dialogue on the basis of fundamental principles and make progress in normalisation of bilateral relations".

In his remarks at the performance held in his honour, the pontiff, a classical music lover, expressed "a special thought for those of your fellow (Chinese) citizens who share faith in Jesus and are united through a particular spiritual bond with the Successor of Peter".

China, an officially proclaimed atheist nation, snapped ties with the Vatican in 1951, with formal ties not yet restored. China appoints its own bishops for the state-sanctioned Catholic church and calls an interference in its internal affairs the Vatican's tradition of the Pope naming his bishops.