China's West-East Power Transmission is aimed at optimizing resources allocation, and promoting the common economy development of both east and west regions. However, some problems emerged in cross-province electricity trade in recent years. It is in great need of trading mechanism improvements for government and power grid enterprises to further improve parties' enthusiasm involved in West-East Power Transmission. This paper takes south route as the research object, and in-depth analysis of benefits distribution of current southern route is made as well as problems in tariff mechanism, and the impact of national policy and industry development on West-East Power Transmission is elaborated. Finally, all the factors related to the smooth progress of West-East Power Transmission are consolidated to offer some constructive ideas. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.