As the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up policy approaches, many foreigners may still wonder how this tremendous change happened in the country. A cross-border TV coproduction presented in English that debuted on Saturday sets out to answer that question.

The first part of the three episode documentary, How China Made It, aired domestically through popular online video-streaming platform Youku.com and was broadcast globally on the Discovery Channel.

The program, filmed in 4K ultrahigh definition, is jointly presented by the State-owned media group, China Intercontinental Communication Center, Discovery Channel, Youku and Meridian Line Films, an independent production company based in Yorkshire, England.

Chinese people from all walks of life share their personal experiences of the past four decades, reflecting the development of Chinese society.

The first episode takes a deep dive into people's livelihoods in rural areas and looks at how the reform and opening-up changed the lives of farming families through personal testimony, spanning the establishment of a household responsibility system in 1978 to today's poverty-alleviation efforts.

Business startups and entrepreneurs' pursuit of the Chinese Dream in a burgeoning economy is the focus of the second episode, following their ups and downs throughout their careers.

The third episode covers a wider range of topics to record how people's daily lives－education, travel, fashion and healthcare－have transformed.

The documentary also includes interviews with world-renowned scholars.

Zhao Qi, deputy secretary-general of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, says the coproduction itself is an example of reform and opening-up.

"Media from different countries are able to cooperate on similar projects even more and in very diverse forms," he says. "Such cooperation will enhance friendship between China and other countries and promote people-to-people connectivity."