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[Display omitted] • Crustal electrical structures reveal the deformation in the SE Tibetan Plateau. • High conductor C3 results in the geothermal activities in the Lugu Lake region. • Ninglang fault has a high potential for large earthquakes. • Ductile flow has been moving from SW to NE at the Lijiang-Xiaojinhe fault. We used data from 62 broadband magnetotelluric (MT) stations along two NNW - SSE profiles cross sections around the Lijiang - Xiaojinhe fault (LXF) using 3-D inversion. This is a crucial area where the long-wavelength topography can be used to identify motions of the ductile flow beneath the eastern Tibetan Plateau to the Yangtze platform. The results indicate that there are two high conductors (1–10 Ωm) beneath the LXF zone. One of the conductors is at a depth of approximately 15–35 km with a length of 40 km in the southwest profile, whereas the other is at a depth of approximately 10–20 km with a length of 20 km in the northeast profile. These results indicate that the conductors along the LXF zone become shallower and smaller from the SW to NE. Based on the framework of the material escape to the east of the Tibetan Plateau and the strike-slip polarity of the active faults, we propose a new geodynamic model for the study area. The high conductors probably originated northwest of the Lijiang area. After crossing the LXF, part of the mid-crustal ductile material moved to the NE between the LXF and Ninglang fault. Therefore, the LXF presents significant left-lateral strike-slip deformation, and the Ninglang fault presents right-lateral strike-slip deformation. In addition, with the thermal springs exposed in the subsurface of the Lugu Lake region, we suggest that a potential geothermal field could be developed underneath the LXF and NW sides of the Lugu Lake region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]