Haiyan County is located in the northeast of Qinghai Province. It is the birthplace of Huangshui River, an important tributary of the Yellow River, and the source of Huangshui River, connecting Qilian County and Menyuan County in the north, Datong County and Huangzhong District in the east, Huangyuan County and Gongzhong County in the south, and Gangcha County in the west. The total area of the county is 4,853 square kilometers. As of August 2016, Haiyan County has jurisdiction over 29 administrative villages and 7 communities in 4 townships, 2 towns. In 2019, the registered population of Haiyan County was 35,531.
In December 2016, it was listed in the third batch of national comprehensive pilot areas for new urbanization. On September 25, 2018, it was awarded the honorary title of "2018 E-commerce into Rural Comprehensive Demonstration County" by the Ministry of Commerce. On May 15, 2019, the Qinghai provincial government announced that 12 counties (cities), including Haiyan County, were removed from the list of poverty-stricken counties. On July 29, 2020, it was selected into the national Health township (county) naming list for the 2017-2019 cycle.

In 2019, the gross regional product of Haiyan County reached 2.062 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 5.6%; The county fixed assets investment reached 996 million yuan, up 14.8%; Local government budget revenue reached 59.32 million yuan. Total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 6.1% year on year. The per capita disposable income of all residents rose by 9.1%, that of urban and rural residents by 7.5% and 9.4% respectively.