Education through service

Ding said the experience of working in different provinces and regions has enabled the leaders to tailor their measures to local conditions.

"Situations differ in Shanghai, Fujian and Zhejiang, the three places where Xi used to work. A policy that works in Fujian may not be suitable for Shanghai," he said. "Working at the national level is a much bigger challenge, but his experiences will help him to decide what is suitable for each occasion."

In 1988, Xi became Party chief of Ningde prefecture in Fujian, one of China's poorest regions at the time, and made a point of establishing and maintaining contact with local farmers. Xi traveled for days in the mountainous countryside to reach remote villages. According to Xinhua, Xi once walked along a rugged mountain road for nearly five hours to reach a township called Xiadang, where he received a warm welcome from the residents who said he was "the highest-ranking official to have visited the village".

Xi explained his policy to Xinhua: A county Party chief should visit all the villages in the county; a city Party chief, all the townships; and a provincial Party chief, all the counties and cities.

During his time in Ningde, Xi helped thousands of local farmers to renovate their thatched huts, and helped fishermen to move from their boats and live on the land.

When working in Fujian, Xi was the first provincial governor to launch a campaign to crack down on contaminated food, said Xinhua.

In 1999, Xi also advocated improvements in the IT infrastructure as a means of helping the public. According to a provincial government report, all hospitals and computerized medical records were linked and shared across the network by 2010. Moreover, 80 percent of Fujian's businesses will provide online services by 2015.

Fujian is also among the top provinces in terms of high environment and ecological quality, partly because of the adoption of policies to restore the ecological balance and protect the environment during Xi's tenure.

In 2004, when Xi was working as secretary of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, the province was a trailblazer in establishing the process whereby children undergo 15-years of compulsory education.

This 1983 photo shows Xi Jinping talking to local residents at a street meeting during his time as Party chief in Zhengding county, Hebei province. [Photo/Xinhua]