"It's great to gain the medal," he said. "I hope one day my invention can develop into a product and serve more people."

After winning the prize, Zhong has a new goal - going to university in the US. His teacher Yue said US colleges and universities highly value such an invention gold medal. "Many of them showed interest during the competition," he said.

Zhong said he "was less motivated in studying at school before, but now have a clear goal to work hard for".

"I believe my efforts will pay off," he said.

Yue said that "when it comes to invention or innovation, many people tend to think of it as a complicated issue - yet everyone will be able to become an inventor if he attentively observes life, think more and master a number of rules and methods".

Wujiashan High School initiated an innovation program in 2004 and made "life and invention" a compulsory course.

To date, its students have developed more than 4,700 patents. Nearly 500 have won invention awards in China.

He Jianming, the school head, said, "Innovation education helps students foster self-motivation, activeness and cooperation as study habits."

"It improves innovative thinking and capacity, and at the same time inspires confidence in school education."