The concept of seaward economy was put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping. It is an integral part of Xi Jinping’s economic thought. After reviewing the relevant literature, this paper holds that the current literature and measures cannot accurately reflect the original intention of Xi Jinping’s proposal of developing seaward economy due to the unclear understanding of the background of the proposal. Therefore, taking Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era as guidance, the author reviews the background of seaward economy, analyzes and defines the meaning and characteristics of seaward economy and its relationship with marine economy, open economy and export-oriented economy, based on the tenet of putting people first and managing the world benefiting the people from the perspective of Chinese economics.