Chinese President Hu Jintao bowed Wednesday in a silent tribute to victims of a devastating earthquake last week, in a familiar show of respect for individual lives.

In dark suits and ties, nine top leaders stood together and bowed in silence for one minute before their meeting in the central government compound of Zhongnanhai in Beijing.

Two of them had been in the quake zone of Yushu in southern Qinghai Province last week.

President Hu shortened his tour of Latin America and arrived in Yushu Sunday and Premier Wen Jiabao flew from Beijing the day after the earthquake hit the region April 14.

Both stressed the priority of saving lives at the quake site.

Mo Jihong, a research fellow with the Law Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said, "Mourning the quake victims is a symbolic move reflecting the leadership's new concept of governance, which is to place great importance on common people."

The national flag was flying at half-mast in Tiananmen Square as were flags nationwide. Cinemas were closed and website home pages were in black and white.

It was reminiscent of the scene two years ago after the devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province.

"It reminds me of the Wenchuan quake in 2008," said Beijing resident Wang Dan. "Again the Chinese nation is united to overcome all hardships."

China used to lower the flags for the deaths of senior state leaders and sometimes martyrs.

May 2008 was the first time the national flag had been kept at half mast to mourn for ordinary people. The practice might become protocol to mark large losses of life.

As of Tuesday, 2,064 people were confirmed dead and 12,135 were injured in the Qinghai earthquake.

Despite fewer casualties than the 2008 quake, the rescue mission faces greater difficulties.

Thousands of troops and medical workers were hindered by altitude sickness, an inability to speak with local ethnic Tibetans and a less developed infrastructure.

But the nation's will to help remained as strong as in Sichuan. Relief materials were shipped to the highland by road and air round the clock while donations from non-governmental organizations, common people and different religious groups soared in the past week.

"Although China has a cultural and political tradition of emphasizing individual devotion and responsibility to society, we have found an increasing tendency of highlighting the value of every individual life through these government responses to severe disasters," Mo said.

"More importantly, this idea should be blended into policy making. A single citizen's interests and needs should be taken account by decision makers."

Professor Li Junpeng, an public management expert with the Chinese Academy of Governance, agreed on the leadership's focus on common people's interests and needs.

"They have realized that the country's development should be based on every single citizen's welfare," Li said.

To truly take care of common people's interests in the quake zone, the country should improve rehabilitation, learning from the experience and lessons of the 2008 earthquake, he said.

For people living in tents in Yushu, their need for food, warm clothes and medicines is the top priority of the relief mission and their longing for new homes would be soon on the agenda of senior leaders in Beijing.

"Mourning is just the first step," Li said.

In Gyegu Town, the worst-hit area in Yushu, light sunlight filtered through grey clouds as thousands of survivors offered white paper flowers and monks chanted the prayers for a peaceful journey of the dead to the heaven.