The 24th Shanghai TV Festival kicked off Monday with a forum that featured the opinion-leading power of mainstream media. From making quality TV dramas, merging with new media, to showing real-life people in documentaries, directors from both national and provincial Chinese TV stations gave keynote speeches with industry insights. Shen Li reports.

SHEN LI CROWNE PLAZA SHANGHAI "TV Station Directors' Summit officially kicked off the 24th Shanghai TV festival. The forum is themed 'Leading Power of Mainstream Media' and will see director from major TV stations giving a keynote speeches, sharing their experience, focusing on ways public media stations can enhance their educational content and services for new, diverse generations."

Peng Jianming, deputy Chief-editor of state broadcaster CCTV or China Central Television said China is the biggest producer and broadcaster of TV dramas and among all CCTV programs TV drama boasts the most air time and viewing rate. And making quality productions is the top priority.

PENG JIANMING, DEPUTY CHIEF-EDITOR CHINA CENTRAL TELEVISION "TV dramas plays an important role in shaping the public's values. This year marks the 60 anniversary of Chinese TV dramas and that also coincides with the 60 anniversary of CCTV. We should continue quality productions inheriting the spirit of the craftsman."

While Lyu Huanbin, director the Hunan Broadcasting System, which has a reputation for producing massive rating hits, believes that merging with new media is key in surviving in the hyper-competitive market.

LYU HUANBIN, DIRECTOR HUNAN BROADCASTING SYSTEM "Merging with new media is the trend. For us, Mango TV is the core market entity of the Hunan Broadcasting System. And it strives to develop the online video industry and create original content. So the online part and the TV broadcaster can complement each other for wider distributions."

Gao Yunfei, director of Shanghai Media Group added that documentary programs are the perfect medium for showing real-life stories that connect with people.

GAO YUNFEI, DIRECTOR SHANGHAI MEDIA GROUP "Documentaries have become the fourth biggest genres in our group aside from general news, variety shows and TV dramas. We want to focus on real-life people and their stories. One of our recent documentary series 'This is Life' is a great example. It focuses on pregnant women and the difficult situation they're faced during labor. Because it's so real it really strike a chord with the audience."

The 24th Shanghai TV Festival which runs till 15th, will offer a variety of programs, including an international TV showcase, the Magnolia Awards for international television productions, the Magnolia TV Forum, an international TV market and NAB Show Shanghai. SL, CGTN, SH.