Vice President Xi Jinping has called on Communist Party of China (CPC) members to take the lead in relieving the after-effects of the earthquake that has claimed more than 34,000 lives.

Xi, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, made the remark when he presided over a meeting for Party building on Monday.

He said relief work was at a crucial stage one week after the quake that hit southwest China's Sichuan Province, stressing that all Party members should get on the front lines.

All members of China's top decision-making body, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau, except Li Keqiang who was in the quake-hit area, paid a three-minute silent tribute to quake victims in the central government compound of Zhongnanhai in Beijing on Monday afternoon.

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2008)