CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand - Five Chinese legal medical experts arrived in Christchurch Thursday, to assist local police to identify bodies found in the quake-hit city in southern New Zealand.

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The Chinese team, including experts in forensic science, DNA identification and other relevant fields, arriving in the afternoon, would help New Zealand police to accomplish the DNA identification work for over 100 victims in the 6.3-magnitude earthquake hitting the city on Feb 22.

"We will go to the damaged places first, and discuss with our New Zealand counterparts before making our action plan," said Min Jianxiong, the leader of the five-member team.

"We have a lot of victims, and we do need a lot of assistance, so we really appreciate Chinese group coming over to give us a hand," said super sergeant Matt Prendergast, who welcomed the expert team in the airport.

Earlier in the day, the official death toll in the earthquake rose to 161, while the fatalities were expected to be over 200 in total.  

According to the Civil Defense, the focus of efforts will be shifted from rescue mission to recovery work.