Shenzhen is one of the major cities in the Guangdong Province in southern China. It is situated some 35 kilometres north of Hong Kong. It is a purpose built city in one of the 3 Special Economic Zones in China with the intention of promoting foreign trade and international association in China. It was the first city to carry out the opening-up policy. The city covers an area of 2,020 square kilometres and has a population of over 4 million people. For several consecutive years, the city has been elected as the "Garden City of State" and the "Model City in Environment Protection". In Nov 2000, it won the honour of "International Garden City" at the "Green Oscar" contest in Washington.