As the nation's top legislative and advisory bodies meet in Beijing, President Xi Jinping is using his experience of life in the provinces to provide a 'hands-on' approach to different issues.

President Xi Jinping leads a discussion with deputies from South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region during the third session of the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing on March 8. [Photo/Xinhua]

How many Siberian tigers live in the wild in China? What do they eat? Can the species survive? Do boars live in the Changbaishan Mountains?

These aren't questions from a wildlife quiz, but a sample of the queries put forward by President Xi Jinping when he joined deputies of the National People's Congress on Monday to discuss environmental protection in the northeastern province of Jilin.

For the delegates, it's a rare opportunity to meet Xi, general secretary of the Communist Party of China, during the annual meetings of the country's highest legislative and advisory bodies, the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

It's also a huge challenge, because everyone needs to be on their toes to deal with the president's machine gun flow of questions and suggestions.

Xi's presence gives delegates an opportunity to tell the man at the top about the progress of their work, to present proposals, or request more support from the central government. They also get the chance to listen to Xi's opinions on the challenges they are encountering.

It's a two-way street, though, and the delegates have to field a battery of questions, couched in precise detail by Xi, who is also a deputy to the National People's Congress, during the meetings, which often run on long after they are scheduled to end.

On Sunday, when Xi met NPC deputies from the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, the questions came thick and fast: How many counties were involved in the revolutionary base of the Zuojiang River and Youjiang River region? What's the difference between the walnuts you plant in South China and those grown by farmers in the north?

The two sessions began on March 3, and Xi participated in the first group meeting on March 4. By the end of Monday, Xi had joined in five separate meetings. In addition to the delegates from Guangxi and Jilin, he also met political advisers who specialize in issues related to Taiwan, and lawmakers from Shanghai and Jiangxi province in the east of the country.

"What proportion of days had good air quality last year?" Xi asked an official from Shanghai, China's economic hub. When the deputy replied "70 percent", another delegate added, "Sometimes the air quality was at the mercy of the elements," which triggered laughter from the room. "You can't always rely on the east wind (which disperses pollutants), and human effort is the decisive factor," Xi advised.

Rural experience

Xi's questions and suggestions are based on the decades he spent working in a number of provinces, and on the nation's specific plans for development, including high-quality growth, the eradication of poverty, environmental protection and the rule of law.

Take Guangxi for example. Xi understood deputy Luo Zhaoyang's comments about eradicating poverty in a village in Baise because he visited the village in 2010 when he was vice-president, and he began his career in a village in Shaanxi, a province where millions still live in rural poverty.

Xi's repeated inquiries about poverty levels, and a series of visits to impoverished areas since November 2012 underscore the urgency of the task ahead. There are only five years left for China to realize its goal of building a comprehensive and affluent society by 2020. However, more than 70 million people are still living in conditions of abject poverty, and the government has pledged to reduce the number by more than 10 million this year.

Delegates at the meetings Xi attended didn't shun discussion of thorny issues such as poverty, and the interaction between the nation's top leader and those charged with putting the government's plans into practice will help improve communications, which is expected to yield results. Xi, who took notes from time to time, said he had been inspired by the meetings, and asked officials from relevant ministries to carefully study the advice offered.

Laughter and applause

Xi's deep experience of life outside the major urban centers also lightened the mood at the meetings, triggering laughter and applause from the delegates.

"You must be a member of the She ethnic group," he told Lan Nianying, a deputy from Jiangxi, when he saw her colorful headdress.

"I am so pleased you can tell that I'm a member of the She ethnic group," said Lan, one of the many thousands of She people who live in the landlocked province.

Xi was unlikely to mistake Lan's identity, because he spent more than 17 years in Fujian province, one of the major centers for the She people, one of 56 ethnic groups in China, outside of Jiangxi.

On March 4, Xi, for the first time as the top leader, participated in a joint panel discussion with political advisers from the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League and the All China Confederation of Taiwan Compatriots. He delighted the delegates by using the shared dialects of southern Fujian province and nearby Taiwan to illustrate cross-Straits bonds.

What they said

To meet with President Xi on March 8 was the best gift for International Women's Day. I come from a poor rural area and brought a proposal for the eradication of poverty. Xi's commitment to developing the regions where the country's ethnic groups live is a real boost and helps draw' attention to the lives of people in poverty-stricken regions."

Wei Liping, an NPC deputy and artist from Nanning, the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region

Xi asked two detailed questions during my speech, which only lasted about 10 minutes. One concerned industrial projects in my city, and the other was about flood protection. He also offered advice about the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. He said he had never been to Jiujiang, so I extended an imitation to him to visit our city on the Yangtze River."

Yin Meigen, an NPC deputy and leading official in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province

Timeline

Group meetings that Xi has joined

March 4: Xi attends a joint meeting of political advisers from the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League, and the All China Confederation of Taiwan Compatriots

March 5: NPC deputies from Shanghai

March 6: NPC deputies from Jiangxi province

March 8: NPC deputies from the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region

March 9: NPC deputies from Jilin province

Previous meetings:

March 4, 2014: Political advisers from China's ethnic groups

March 5, 2014: NPC deputies from Shanghai

March 6, 2014: NPC deputies from Guangdong province

March 7, 2014: NPC deputies from Guizhou province

March 9, 2014: NPC deputies from Anhui province

March 11, 2014: NPC deputies from the People's Liberation Army

March 4, 2013: A joint panel meeting with political advisers from the China Association for Science and Technology, and other figures from the world of science and technology

March 5, 2013: NPC deputies from Shanghai

March 6, 2013: NPC deputies from Liaoning province

March 8, 2013: NPC deputies from Jiangsu province

March 9, 2013: NPC deputies from the Tibet autonomous region

March 11, 2013: NPC deputies from the PLA