Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to simulate and analyze accurately the multi-scale characteristics, variation periods and trends of the annual streamflow series in the Haihe River Basin (HRB) using the Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT). Design/methodology/approach -The Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) approach is adopted to decompose the original signal into intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) in multi-scales. The Hilbert spectrum is applied to each IMF component and the localized time-frequency-energy distribution. The monotonic residues obtained by EMD can be treated as the trend of the original sequence. Findings -The authors apply HHT to 14 hydrological stations in the HRB. The annual streamflow series are decomposed into four IMFs and a residual component, which exhibits the multi-scale characteristics. After the Hilbert transform, the instantaneous frequency, center frequency and mean period of the IMFs are obtained. Common multi-scale periods of the 14 series exist, e.g. 3.3a, 4B7a, 8B10a, 11-14a, 24B25a and 43B45a. The residues indicate that the annual streamflow series has exhibited a decreasing trend over the past 50 years.Research limitations/implications -The HHT method is still in its early stages of application in hydrology and needs to be further tested. Practical implications -It is helpful for the study of the complex features of streamflow. Social implications -This paper will contribute to the sustainable utilization of water resources. Originality/value -This study represents the first use of the HHT method to analyze the multi-scale characteristics of the streamflow series in the HRB. This paper provides an important theoretical support for water resources management.