Tokyo  - Japan might pull out its rescue team from China's earthquake-hit Sichuan province and send medical experts instead, media reports said Monday.

The 60-member rescue team that arrived in China Friday might return home because chances of finding survivors are limited now that a week has passed since the May 12 magnitude-8 earthquake.

Chief Cabinet Secretary said Japan decided to send in 20 medical professionals as early as Tuesday after the quake killed an estimated more than 50,000 people and displaced nearly 5 million. About 14,000 people were believed to be buried under collapsed buildings.

"A week has passed since the earthquake, and I think it is about time to consider the future operation [of the relief team]," the top government spokesman said at a press conference.

Japanese rescue workers - including firefighters, police, Coast Guard staff and Foreign Ministry officials - arrived in south-western China Friday, becoming the first foreign relief workers to arrive there since the quake.

They have conducted rescue work using rescue dogs, scopes and drilling machines. (dpa)