By dividing the global area into several control areas， a multi-area based automatic generation control（AGC） multi-objective coordinated control method is presented. The main control area objective is to control the area control error（ACE） of the global area， while the sub-areas are responsible for maintaining the power flow of tie-lines among areas at scheduled interchange and cooperating with the main area in emergency. The method proposed can realize multi-objective coordinated control conveniently and is beneficial for the safe and high quality operation of the power grid. Actual application in the power grid of Henan Province demonstrates the practicability and validity of the method.