BEIJING, CHINA - CHINA said on Thursday it will allow emergency rescue teams from Japan to aid earthquake relief efforts, the first country from which it has accepted such help.

The announcement by the foreign ministry comes four days after the deadly quake struck and follows foreign rescue teams saying they had been turned away even as time ran out for many victims.

'China's government has agreed with Japan on the sending of special rescue personnel to the Sichuan earthquake disaster zone to aid relief efforts,' foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement posted on the ministry's website.

'We have just been informed of the agreement and started preparing for the emergency rescue,' the official said. He said that the team could arrive in China within the day.

Taiwan team allowed in China has also accepted volunteers and relief goods from Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of China, but they are from a non-governmental Buddhist group.

Some 30 Taiwanese volunteers, including doctors, flew to southwest China on Thursday. Two charter cargo planes provided by Air Macau and Taiwan's China Airlines were also scheduled to leave for worst-hit Sichuan province.

Australia and South Korea have said that China has declined offers of help after Monday's earthquake, which left more than 40,000 people dead or buried under rubble.

China had initially said that it could not accept the rescuers due to poor transport conditions, the official said. - AFP