Int'l aid

China has accepted offers from Russia, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Singapore to send rescue teams to Sichuan as the first foreign rescuers from Japan entered the province early on Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said early Friday morning that the Chinese government accepted offers from the three countries by taking into consideration of their contiguity to China, which may ensure promptness of the aid.

A 31-member Japanese rescue team arrived in the Chengdu airport early on Friday to assist local disaster relief efforts, and they soon left for the hard-hit Guanzhuang Town of Qingchuan County about 400 km away.

"We were told that the situation there is serious and we have no idea about the structure of buildings there. But we are confident about fulfilling our task," said Takashi Koizumi, head of the team.

A second group of 29 Japanese rescuers are expected to arrive in Sichuan Friday afternoon.

The Japanese rescue team, made up of fire fighters, police, Japan Coast Guard personnel and members of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, were the first foreign aid personnel to China following the devastating quake.

"It is also the first time in history for foreign professional rescuers to join in China's disaster relief work," said Li Wenliang, a counselor of the Foreign Ministry.

Japan's offer of sending a professional emergency relief team to the quake-hit areas showed the Japanese government and people's care, "especially when China is in a difficult time," Qin Gang said Thursday at a regular news conference.

As of 2 PM on Thursday, 151 countries and 14 regional or international organizations had offered support in various forms.

China is deeply grateful for the messages of support and the earthquake relief aid coming from the international community, Qin said.