Proceeding from the background of energy use and power system construction in China， the development purposes of the microgrid are expounded in view of six aspects， namely， the distributed power access， regenerative energy utilization， rural electrification， user demands for power quality， power system disaster fighting capability as well as the relationship with the smart grid. This paper holds that the compatibility， flexibility， customization， economy， and autonomy should be taken as the development orientations of the microgrid and points out that in the strategic frame of building a strong smart grid， the microgrid has broad prospects for technological development and application in China.