China has detained an underground bishop, the US-based Cardinal Kung Foundation reports.

Bishop Jia Zhiguo, 73, who heads a diocese in the northern province of Hebei, was taken away following a number of days of Chinese police surveillance.

The bishop previously spent about 20 years in prison for maintaining his loyalty to the Pope rather than China's state-controlled Catholic Church.

The arrest of the Catholic bishop puts another wedge in already tense relations between Beijing and the Vatican.

Cardinal Kung Foundation stated: "We do not know the reason of the bishop's arrest, nor do we know his current location. (A) few days ago, the Religious Bureau forcibly put a sign 'The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association' vertically at the side gate of Bishop Jia's church."

China only allows "above-ground" churches approved by the ruling Communist Party, and has deemed illegal the "underground" churches that reject government ties and commit their loyalty to the Pope in Rome.

China and the Vatican have had no formal diplomatic ties since shortly after the Communists took power in 1949, although there have been recent signs of a possible rapprochement.

In June, Pope Benedict issued a letter urging reconciliation, but said the Vatican must have the power to appoint bishops, which China rejects as interference in its "domestic affairs".