Based on the complex system theory and the concept of self organized criticality (SOC) theory, the mechanism of China power grid blackouts is studied by analyzing the blackout data in the China power system from 1981 to 2002. The probability distribution functions of various measures of blackout size have a power tail. The analysis of scaled window variance and rescaled range statistics of the time series show moderate long time correlations. The blackout data seem consistent with SOC; the results obtained show that SOC dynamics may play an important role in the dynamics of power systems blackouts. It would be possible to propose novel approaches for understanding and controlling power systems blackouts. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.