During the Spring and Autumn Period, it belonged to the territory of Chu Wu Zhong. In the Warring States period, it belonged to Qianzhong Commandery of Chu. After the unification of China by the Qin Dynasty, Qianzhong Commandery was established here, marking the beginning of the country's administrative governance. During the Republic of China, it belonged to the ninth and tenth administrative regions. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Huaihua was divided into two special districts, Huitong and Yuanling. In 1998, the Huaihua region was abolished and replaced by a prefecture level Huaihua city. Huaihua City has been known as the "gateway to Guizhou and Yunnan" and the "throat of all Chu" since ancient times. It is the place where the Central Red Army switched troops, where the victory of the Anti Japanese War was surrendered, and the birthplace of hybrid rice in the world.
Huaihua is a national comprehensive transportation hub, an important node city for jointly building a new land and sea channel in the west, an international land and sea channel facing the Indian Ocean, and the "the Belt and Road". It has been approved as a national logistics hub for business services and a national composite circulation fulcrum city. Relying on Huaihua International Land Port, Huaihua has opened up four international major channels including China Laos, China Vietnam, and China Myanmar, opened up four major sea ports, and opened 98 international and domestic transportation routes. The Gaomiao Cultural Site in Huaihua City traces the history of Chinese civilization back to 7800 years ago and is one of the important birthplaces of agricultural civilization in southern China.