The confirmed earthquake death toll in China has risen to 28,881, a central government official said Saturday.

Another 198,347 people have been injured as of 2:00 pm (0600 GMT), Guo Weimin, a spokesman for China's State Council told a news conference.

Government officials have previously estimated that the death toll from Monday's 7.9-magnitude earthquake is above 50,000.

The upgrade in the toll came as officials in one major city near the epicentre, Deyang, sharply raised their estimate on how many residents died there to 20,000.