A participant displays his invention at China Central Television's popular science-and-education show, Inventors' Dream Workshop, in 2013. Photo provided to China Daily

In recent years, the number of applications for national patents has been increasing by 50 percent annually, among which 60 percent are from ordinary people rather than academicians and technicians.

On the other hand, however, investment institutions find it difficult to approach appropriate projects. The program therefore is intended as a bridge between inventors and investors to help turn these inventions into marketable commodities.

"This is what we call social responsibility. We try to push made-in-China to become created-in-China, by tapping the intelligence resources of all Chinese people," says Jin Yue, director of CCTV's science-and-education channel.

"When many programs today try to attract audiences with star power and large investments, what we have to offer is wisdom."

In recent years, CCTV has produced a series of programs that hold education and social responsibility as their core values, such as Dictation Assembly of Chinese Characters, similar to the US program Scripps National Spelling Bee, and Chinese Idiom Congress.

All these have been CCTV's original creations, while buying program formats from overseas has become a trend among provincial satellite channels. Jin says they are trying to fill a void in Chinese TV shows.

"Everybody today in the TV industry is talking about creating so-called phenomenal programs," says Jin. "I think in order to be phenomenally successful we first have to be original. More importantly, we should be able to influence the society."

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