Haidian District (Chinese: 海淀区; pinyin: Hǎidiàn Qū) is an urban district of the city of Beijing. It is mostly situated in northwestern Beijing, but also to a lesser extent in the west, where it has borders with Xicheng and Fengtai.

It is 431 square km in area, making it the second-largest district in urban Beijing area (after Chaoyang), and is home to 3,133,469 inhabitants as of November 2020.^[2]

The administrative division of the district was reported as follows:

• 22 subdistricts of the city proper of Beijing
• 7 towns of which carry the "area" (地区) label:^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Haidian was originally a village outside of Beijing's Inner City.^[4] It was first built in the Yuan dynasty and became one of the eight major business areas of the capital during the Qing dynasty and was the seat of such old shops as Lotus White, Quanjude and Hongbin House.^[5] The famed Old Summer Palace and Summer Palace, two grand imperial gardens are also among its reputed features. It became a university district after the building of the Tsinghua University and Yenching University campus in the early twentieth century. It is mentioned in Lao She's novel Camel Xiangzi as an academic village for students. After the foundation of the People's Republic, it was deliberately developed as a university area, with many of the Yan'an institutions moving there. It officially became an administrative district in June 1954.^[6] Since the reform and opening up, it has become the centre of China's IT industry. In the words of Time magazine:

Like Paris' Champs Elysées or New York's Broadway, Haidian is a celebration of a national myth: China's ability to change itself and become, once again, great among nations.^[7]

During the later half of the 1990s, out of the Beijing districts, Haidian had the highest per capita GDP. During that period the GDP of Haidian (1) District grew by double digits each year.^[8]

The northwestern stretches of the 3rd Ring Road, 4th Ring Road, 5th Ring Road and 6th Ring Road all run through the area.

The China National Space Administration has its headquarters in the district.^[9] The Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center which serves as the central command center for the Chinese space program is also located in the district.

The State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) has its headquarters in Zhongguancun.^[10]

The People's Liberation Army Military Music Hall is located in the district.^[11]

The Ministry of State Security has a number of major facilities in the district.

In 2017, the regional GDP was 592.48 billion yuan,^[12] with a GDP per capita at 170.8 thousand yuan (25293 US dollars).

A central part of Haidian's economy, the Zhongguancun electronics district, hosts the Beijing offices of many software and computer-technology companies.

• Baidu has its headquarters in the Baidu Campus.^[13]
• Sohu has its headquarters in the Sohu.com Internet Plaza.^[14][15]
• Sinosteel's headquarters are in the Sinosteel Plaza (中钢国际广场) in Haidian District.^[16]
• Youku has its headquarters on the fifth floor of Sinosteel Plaza.^[17][18]
• Wumart has its headquarters in the Wumart Commercial Building (物美商业大厦; Wù Měi Shāngyè Dàshà) in Haidian District.^[19]
• aigo's head office is in the Ideal Plaza (理想国际大厦) in the Haidian District.^[20]
• China Postal Airlines has its headquarters on the 11th through 14th floors of the Ziyu Office Building (紫玉写字楼) in Haidian District.^[21]
• Sinovac Biotech^[22]
• The Beijing Civil Aircraft Technology Research Center of COMAC (北京民用飞机技术研究中心) has its offices on the 8th floor of the Beijing Olympic Building (北京奥运大厦) in Haidian District.^[23]
• Xiaomi has its headquarters in the Office Building of Huarun Wucai City (华润五彩城写字楼).^[24]
• Nuctech.^[25]
• New Oriental^[26]
• Google has its Beijing office in Tsinghua Science Park Bldg 6^[27]
• Everbright International has its Beijing office in the Beijing International Building (北京国际大厦) in Zhongguancun.^[28]
• ByteDance (developer of Douyin / TikTok) has its global headquarters on Zhichun Road (知春路), Haidian District.
• Lenovo has its global headquarters in Lenovo Campus, Haidian District.
• Grab has its Beijing office in Raycom Infotech Park.

• Zhongguancun
• Wudaokou
• Madian
• Xinjiangcun (demolished)

The Chinese Ice Hockey Association, which governs ice hockey and bandy in China, has its offices at 56, Zhongguacun South Street in Haidian District.^[32]

Haidian has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dwa). The average annual temperature in Haidian is 12.8 °C (55.0 °F). The average annual rainfall is 557.3 mm (21.94 in) with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 26.5 °C (79.7 °F), and lowest in January, at around −3.2 °C (26.2 °F).

Since 1992, Haidian District has signed official papers and established Sister City relationship with 14 cities and districts from 10 countries of 4 continents. Some sister cities are shown below:^[35]

South America

• Santa Fe, Argentina (May 2010)
• La Falda, Cordoba, Argentina (10 September 2009)

North America

• Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (8 February 2008)
• Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States (15 April 1998)

Europe

• Savonlinna, Finland (9 March 2016)
• Olympia, Peloponnesus, Greece (28 February 2008)
• Groningen, Netherlands (19 October 2004)
• Bures-sur-Yvette, Massy, Palaiseau, in Paris Region, France (4 October 1994)

East Asia

• Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, South Korea (27 September 1995)
• Nerima, Tokyo, Japan (13 October 1992)