BEIJING - JAPANESE rescue experts arrived on Friday in China's earthquake-hit Sichuan province, state media reported, the first foreign team allowed into the devastated region to search for victims.

A team of 31 rescuers arrived early on Friday in the Sichuan capital of Chengdu while another 29-strong team, bringing sniffer dogs, was to reach the area in the afternoon, Xinhua news agency reported.

A foreign ministry official was quoted earlier as saying it marked the first time ever that China's government had accepted foreign professionals for a domestic disaster rescue and relief operation.

Its mission would be to help find victims buried under the rubble of collapsed schools, factories and other buildings.

The report quoted Chinese officials accompanying the team to Guanzhuang as saying that more than 700 people in the 260-family town were buried as of Thursday afternoon.

About 1,500 people had already been confirmed dead there and another 10,000 injured, it said.

Beijing has also subsequently accepted offers from Russia, South Korea and Singapore to send teams to areas hit by the quake, which has likely killed more than 50,000 people, according to official estimates.

China has confirmed more than 19,509 deaths.

The decision to accept the rescuers signals an apparent shift by Beijing, which initially had politely rebuffed such offers despite clearly struggling to reach many devastated communities cut off by quake-damaged roads.

'Since the earthquake happened there's been a significant amount of time and the situation is extremely critical,' Japanese team leader Takashi Koizumi told reporters earlier at Tokyo's main international airport ahead of departure.

'First and foremost we want to save human lives. That's our main focus.' -- AFP