A method for coordinating inter-cell interference in a heterogeneous network, HetNet, comprising: a step A of forming M base stations serving user equipment, M is greater than 1, and low-power nodes serving user equipment in a subset of the coverage area of the respective base stations in the heterogeneous network into a coordinated group; a step B of combining mute states without transmission and non-mute states with transmission of the M base stations to obtain a plurality of states of the coordinated group including combinations of mute and non-mute states, where the low-power nodes perform communication during mute states of the base stations; a step C of a user of each of the base stations in the coordinated group, feeding at least one first channel quality indicator, CQI, corresponding to the states of the coordinated group back to the base station, wherein the first CQI includes a wideband CQI and/or a subband CQI; a step D of a user of each of the low-power nodes covered by the base stations in the coordinated group, feeding one or more second CQIs corresponding to the states of the coordinated group back to the low-power node; a step E of using the at least one first CQI and the one or more second CQIs as a basis to make capacity estimation of the coordinated group for each respective state of the coordinated group and obtaining a plurality of system capacities for the respective states of the coordinated group; and a step F of setting the mute/non-mute states of the M base stations in accordance with a state of the coordinated group corresponding to an optimal system capacity from the plurality of system capacities so as to perform data transmission. a step A of forming M base stations serving user equipment, M is greater than 1, and low-power nodes serving user equipment in a subset of the coverage area of the respective base stations in the heterogeneous network into a coordinated group; a step B of combining mute states without transmission and non-mute states with transmission of the M base stations to obtain a plurality of states of the coordinated group including combinations of mute and non-mute states, where the low-power nodes perform communication during mute states of the base stations; a step C of a user of each of the base stations in the coordinated group, feeding at least one first channel quality indicator, CQI, corresponding to the states of the coordinated group back to the base station, wherein the first CQI includes a wideband CQI and/or a subband CQI; a step D of a user of each of the low-power nodes covered by the base stations in the coordinated group, feeding one or more second CQIs corresponding to the states of the coordinated group back to the low-power node; a step E of using the at least one first CQI and the one or more second CQIs as a basis to make capacity estimation of the coordinated group for each respective state of the coordinated group and obtaining a plurality of system capacities for the respective states of the coordinated group; and a step F of setting the mute/non-mute states of the M base stations in accordance with a state of the coordinated group corresponding to an optimal system capacity from the plurality of system capacities so as to perform data transmission.