MIANYANG, CHINA - China made a sharp departure from past diplomatic practice on Thursday, seeking disaster relief experts and heavy equipment needed for rescue operations from neighbors it has long shunned as rivals or renegades.

With the death toll from this week's earthquake rising rapidly, officials asked a longtime rival, Japan, to send 60 earthquake rescue experts, the first such team it has taken from a foreign country during the crisis and one of the few relief missions China has ever accepted from abroad. They also accepted help from two private rescue teams from Taiwan, the self-governing island with which China has long had tense relations.

The decision to seek outside help reflects the fact that the search for survivors of Monday's massive earthquake and the struggle to accommodate tens of thousands of displaced people from the mountainous region around the epicenter of the quake are too much for China to handle alone, even after it mobilized 130,000 soldiers and medics for relief work.

But the selective invitations to Japan and Taiwan -- some foreign nations that have offered aid have so far been told that their services are not needed -- may also show that China sees disaster relief as a tactical tool to improve ties with neighbors and soften its international image ahead of the Olympic Games in August.

China is still struggling to provide humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of homeless people even as it tries to ramp up search-and-rescue efforts for 40,000 buried or missing people scattered across remote villages in the serpentine valleys of Sichuan Province.

Officials estimated Thursday that the death toll, at nearly 20,000, could rise to 50,000. Doctors say those who are alive but still buried cannot survive much longer, yet many of the troops involved in rescue efforts appear to have little training in disaster relief and lack proper tools and equipment.

On Thursday, in the devastated county seat of Beichuan, thousands of People's Liberation Army soldiers stood around with little to do. Some languidly picked at the rubble with their hands, unequipped with power tools to drill or saw through debris.

Amazing survival stories did emerge, The Associated Press reported, and were seized on by Chinese media whose blanket coverage has been dominated by images of carnage.

In Dujiangyan, a 22-year-old woman was pulled to safety after more than three days trapped under debris. Covered in dust and peering out through a small opening, she waved and was interviewed by state television as hard-hatted rescuers worked to free her.

"I was confident that you were coming to rescue me. I'm alive. I'm so happy," the unnamed woman said on CCTV.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, who is being portrayed in the Chinese media as exercising minute-to-minute supervision of the relief effort, sent 100 more helicopters to ferry supplies and rescue workers into areas inaccessible by road.

Wen also issued a detailed request for heavy equipment needed to clear mountain roads.

A foreign ministry spokesman said Thursday that China so far had received pledges of $100 million in international disaster aid and $10 million in relief materials.

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