SHANGHAI Media Group's Yunji Media will cooperate with overseas and domestic production studios to co-produce a series of high-quality documentary series, officials said today at the ongoing 23rd Shanghai TV Festival.

FOX and National Geographic announced to jointly produce the world's first reality documentary series about the exploration of the universe with Yunji Media. The series titled "Mars 2033" will take its lens at six Chinese celebrities who will receive special all-around astronaut training sessions at NASA, Morocco and the Arctic Pole.

Discovery Channel will collaborate with Yunji Media on the second season of the documentary-style reality series "Absolute Wild." It is a program about outdoor adventures featuring famous British adventurer Bear Grylls and Chinese stars. Along with Grylls, the Chinese stars will embark on days of adventure in the remote wild areas and face unprecedented challenges in the wildness.

Yunji Media will also produce a series about traditional Chinese culture "The 24 Solar Terms" with Huafeng Meteorological Media Group. In a poetic way, the series will explore the secrets of the 24 solar terms, which were created by farmers in ancient China to guide the agricultural affairs and farming activities.

Famous composer and conductor Tan Dun, renowned choreographer and dancer Yang Liping, and contemporary artist Cai Guoqiang will share their own opinions about Chinese culture and art in a documentary series on Chinese aesthetics.

Yunji media will also present real-life stories on hospice care, health and the lives of ordinary Chinese people.

Last year around 3.42 billion yuan were invested in the production of Chinese documentaries. The total output value of domestic documentary industry exceeded 5.2 billion yuan in 2016, a 10-percent increase over the previous year. Chinese documentary industry is expected to have a bright prospect in the following years.

Later this year a series of high-quality Chinese documentary series including "The Tale of Chinese Medicine" and "The Legend of Fruit" will air on the country's major satellite TV channels and video-sharing websites such as Youku and Bilibili.

According to He Jibing, an official with Youku.com, Youku is also a co-producer and investor of the dynamic series "The Legend of Fruit," which caters for the taste of young audiences. More fashionable and crossover documentary productions are expected to be made and air on the Internet platform.