New Zealand Ethnic Affairs Minister Chris Carter on Tuesday expressed condolences to all those affected by Monday's catastrophic earthquake in China' s Sichuan province.

"There will be many New Zealand Chinese families who have family and friends in the area affected by Monday's disaster," he said in a statement.

"The New Zealand government is monitoring the situation and I want to express my deepest condolences to all those affected by this devastating earthquake," Carter said.

The latest reports of the earthquake that centered in Sichuan province of southwestern China puts the death toll at nearly 10,000.

Over 150,000 New Zealanders are of Chinese origin, many of them new migrants. Events in the earthquake zone will have impacted on a number of New Zealand families, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2008)