The path from the Great Hall of the People's north gate to the meeting place is only 100 meters long and can be traversed in under a minute, but this ministers' pathway is a channel filled with news.

During the annual sessions of China's top legislature and advisory body, a swarm of journalists line this red-carpeted path, awaiting the arrival of ministers and hoping to ask them questions on the day's hot topics face-to-face.

This year is no exception.

About 8 am on Saturday, almost an hour before the fourth session of the 12th National People's Congress got underway, I reached the path. But there was no room for me to set up a microphone, let alone occupy a good position to question high-ranking officials.

The path is home to a plethora of news gathering gizmos and bristles with high-tech cameras and advanced video recorders.

Instead, I climbed the steps behind the crowds, and when I reached the top, Zhang Mao, head of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, was being asked about the large number of fake products that are sold online.

"We're increasing our supervision of counterfeits on the Internet, which consumers have complained about a lot, and we will increase random checks to protect buyers' rights," he said.

"An example of these rights is that people can now return goods without reason within seven days of purchase."

Following Zhang was another big figure, Chen Zhenggao, minister of housing and urban-rural development.

He was spotted passing along the path and was promptly asked about rising house prices and Chinese real estate development.

"I'm confident in the housing market taking more effective measures in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Shenzhen to have real estate develop in a stable way, including strict property purchase limitations and measures to fight illegal behavior in housing transactions," he said.

The ministers' responses took less than five minutes, but their attitude and the information imparted proved invaluable.

Usually, getting such responses from heads of key governmental departments takes a day, at least. Otherwise, reporters like me are not informed until the ministries hold a news conference.

Thanks to this short path, journalists have an opportunity to seize the moment with questions for ministers and officials, whose responses may turn out to be the big news of the day－even if they are just one line long.

As governmental officials have seen the value of boosting public awareness by disclosing administrative affairs, more have been keen to respond to the media while passing along the path. Some even stop voluntarily to voice their thoughts on issues of public interest.

This year, the path has again become a vital source of information with its constant stream of political tycoons and surprising revelations.

Contact the writer at caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn