The Beijing Forestry University released its evaluation results on Dec 26 in a bid to identify a raft of cities nationally to receive the title "China's Green City" in 2021 – and Quzhou, in East China's Zhejiang province, made the cut.

It is understood to have made the list in recognition of its outstanding achievements in building an ecological civilization, ranking top in comprehensive evaluation and winning the appellation.

Twenty cities in 10 provinces were awarded the honorary title. They are considered as ecological cities with harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

Based on an index system, researchers collected basic data from 265 prefecture-level cities in Chinese mainland and selected 98 prefecture-level cities with forest coverage of more than 50 percent, as well as 49 prefecture-level cities with per capita GDP higher than the median.

Quzhou has already been dubbed as a key city in the project to turn Zhejiang province into what officials call a "big garden". It is also a demonstration city for the Two Mountains theory – which states that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets – as well as being a green scenic city model in Zhejiang. As such, Quzhou hopes to become a pathfinder metropolis in eastern Zhejiang.