According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) The Educational Broadcasting System, South Korea's only educational TV station, said on Monday that it has sealed a deal worth 6.8 billion won (US$5.9 million) to co-produce television documentaries with a Chinese channel.

Under the terms of the contract, EBS will jointly produce three documentary series -- "Big Bang China," "Xian Xi" and "The Origin" -- with China's Golden Eagle Documentary Channel on a 50-50 funding basis. GEDC is the documentary leg of Hunan TV, the second-most-watched television channel in China.

The agreement was inked last week, about three months after the two parties signed a memorandum of understanding on the joint production of an international documentary series in January.

"Big Bang China" is a 10-episode science documentary about China's young talent engaged in futuristic technologies such as drones, virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

"Xian Xi" is a culture documentary that explores the nature-friendly lifestyle and cultural heritage of Xian Xi, the western territory of Hunan Province in central China, in six episodes.

"The Origin" is a documentary of Asia's ancient science history. The series focuses on the scientific aspects of how Asian ancestors understood and controlled fire, water, wood, metal and earth -- the five basic elements of the ancient Asian world view.

The joint documentary project has elevated the level of Korea-China technological exchange, according to EBS.

For "Xian Xi," EBS will dispatch its producer to China for at least one year to work on the documentary with local Chinese staffs and pass on EBS's documentary production know-how.

"The two parties have forged a close partnership since the very beginning stages of the proposal and data search," an EBS official said.

jwc@yna.co.kr

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