With its geographic coordinates between 30 degrees 21 minutes 47 seconds---30 degrees 38 minutes 29 seconds north latitude and 120 degrees 43 minutes 21 seconds---121degrees 2 minutes 55 seconds east longitude, Haiyan is located in the rich Hang-Jia-Hu Plain of the north part of Zhejiang Province. To the east of it is Hangzhou Bay; northeast, Haining City; south, Jiaxing City and Pinghu City. It is 100 kilometers away from Haiyan to Shanghai, and 98 kilometers to Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang. It covers an area of 1072.63 square kilometers, including 534.7 square kilometers of land and 537.9 square kilometers of water.

　　Haiyan is one of the birthplaces of Majiabang Culture, Songze Culture, and Liangzhu Culture. Ancient residents were engaged in farming, animal husbandry and fishery over 5,000 years ago. In 222 B.C., it became a county in administration and was named Haiyan (meaning sea salt) for its abundant salt fields near the sea. Now in Haiyan there are 5 towns (Shendang, Baibu, Yucheng, Ganpu and Tongyuan), 4 sub-districts (Wuyuan, Qinshan, Yuantong and Xitangqiao). Wuyuan Sub-district is the county’s center of politics, economy and culture. It now has 105 administrative villages and 27 residential committees, with a population of 375,000.

　　Haiyan is well located with only one hour’s drive from any one of Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Ningbo. It enjoys an advantage in achieving combined river-sea transportation and river-road transportation for in Haiyan there is famous Hangzhou Bay Bridge, advanced expressways (Hangzhou-Pudong, Zhapu-Jiaxing-Suzhou, Jiaxing-Shaoxing) and 53 kilometers of coastal lines dotted with 10,000-ton ports.

　　Haiyan is rich in attractive scenery and cultural landscapes such as the South-north Lake (4-A Grade)----a unique and charming scenic spot integrating hills, lakes and seas, Qiyuan Garden, one of the ten classic private gardens in China, Baita Mountain Island, Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant, Tianning Temple, as well as memorials such as the refuge for김구(the former leader of South Korea), Zhang Yuanji Library, Zhang Leping Memorial, Huangyuan Library and the Art Museum of Chen Congzhou.

　　Since China’s reform and opening up, Haiyan has been developing rapidly in economy and society and increasing in comprehensive strength, which makes it rank among the top 100 counties in China. In 2011its GDP reached 27.24 billion yuan and total fiscal revenue 3.205 billion yuan. Four traditional advantageous industries have come into being（fastener industry, textile﹠garments, paper making﹠printing, food﹠drug production）and five emerging key industries (harbor industry, industry associated with nuclear power, equipment manufacturing, energy-saving and  environmental protection industry, electrical and electronic industry). As to agriculture, there are three traditional industries----cereals and oil industry, livestock and poultry industry, silkworm industry and three emerging industries in terms of aquaculture, fruits and vegetables. Social undertakings have also made great progress, therefore Haiyan has ever won the honorable titles of the National Advanced County in Culture, Science and Sports, the Leading County and the Civilized County in Education in Zhejiang.