China Central Television (CCTV) has launched its annual campaign to identify rural China's outstanding doctors.

The project aims to uncover and pay tribute to doctors working in rural parts of China where transport and living conditions are tough and where good medical facilities are in short supply.

Reporters from CCTV will team up with local media to explore various rural areas of China, telling the experiences of doctors and patients and revealing the state of medical provision in the countryside.

The campaign was launched in 2012, with the intention that it be repeated for a certain period each year, starting in October.

Ten doctors from rural China were given awards for their work in 2012.

Many of their stories had an impact on members of the public, prompting them to offer donations to improve medical provision in the doctors' communities.

In 2012, there were a total of 653,000 clinics in rural China, making up 40 percent of the medical provision of the country.