Its name has undergone many changes: the Hydropower Engineering Bureau, the General Administration of Hydropower Construction, the General Administration of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Construction, and the General Corporation of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Construction. The company was successively affiliated to the Ministry of the Fuel Industry, the Ministry of Electric Power Industry, and the Ministry of Water Conservancy and Electric Power, who were responsible for the management of the survey and design of large and medium-sized water conservancy and hydropower projects across the country, as well as the management of the directly affiliated construction team.
The Water Conservancy and Hydropower Construction Bureau and the General Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Planning and Design of the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power were established.
The China Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering Corporation was established; on December 29, 2002, it was reorganized into the China Water Conservancy and Hydropower Construction Corporation.
The China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute was established; in March 1998, it was reorganized as China Hydropower and New Energy Power Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd., and later renamed China Hydropower Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd.; On December 29, 2002, the China Hydropower Engineering Consulting Group Corporation was established.
POWERCHINA was founded on the basis of 14 provincial (regional) surveys and design, and engineering and equipment manufacturing enterprises. These were formerly affiliated with the Sinohydro Construction Group Corporation, the China Hydropower Engineering Consulting Group Corporation, the State Grid Corporation of China and China Southern Power Grid Co., Ltd.
