Although power plants are subordinated to different enterprises and corporations, all T&D networks are owned and managed by power groups or provincial power corporations. Those corporations purchase power from other enterprises, possess and manage some plants. To guarantee safe and stable operation of power system, the State Council issued Dispatching Regulations on Power System in 1993, which requires power operation in accordance with unified dispatching and hierarchical management. Chinese power system dispatching is based on four levels, which are national level, inter-regional level, regional level and county level. At present there exist 6 inter-regional, 29 provincial, 270 regional and 2000 county level dispatching centers.

 Being the top dispatching unit in China, National Power Dispatching and Communication Center is directly under the jurisdiction of SP, responsible for nationwide grid dispatching and management in accordance with laws. Its main tasks are: to take charge of inter-regional connection above 500 kV and operational management of related large-scaled plants; to coordinate economic operation of various main branch grids; to analyze and control information of power system from nationwide; to manage dispatching automation and communication of nationwide power system.

 Regional dispatching centers are mainly to dispatch large-scaled power plants and stations, 500 (330) kV transmission lines and transformations and above, trans-province 220 kV connection lines and transformation stations, transmission lines for directly dispatched plants in local area. They also monitor power generation of provincial-level system, implementation of power utilization plans, etc. Provincial dispatching centers are in charge of local 220 kV transmission lines, transformation stations, and dispatching on local power plants and stations. They also monitor loads, exchange power with neighboring provinces, etc. Regional dispatching centers are responsible for 110 kV transmission lines and transformation stations and below, local T&D operation and management, dispatching on high-voltage customers and county-level power supply units, etc.