Shenzhen is a sub-provincial city of Guangdong province in southern People´s Republic of China, situated north of Hong Kong. Shenzhen is a center of foreign investment and since the late 1970s has been one of the fastest growing cities in the world. It is also the busiest port in the PRC after Shanghai.The one-time fishing village of Shenzhen, singled out by late Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, to be the first of the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in China. It was originally established in 1979 due to its proximity to Hong Kong, then a prosperous British colony. The SEZ was created to be an experimental ground of capitalism in "socialism with Chinese characteristics".The Special Economic Zone comprises Luohu, Futian, Nanshan, and Yantian but not Bao´an and Longgang.