A candidate control channel resource determining method for a terminal, comprising: • determining a first aggregation level, wherein the first aggregation level is less than a second aggregation level, the first aggregation level corresponds to first candidate control channel sets, control channel resource elements comprised in a second candidate control channel set corresponding to the second aggregation level comprise a first quantity of first candidate control channel sets, and the control channel resource elements occupied by the first quantity of first candidate control channel sets are a subset of the second candidate control channel set (step 301); • determining one of the first quantity of first candidate control channel sets as a target set based on a terminal identifier of the terminal (step 302); • detecting a candidate control channel in the target set (step 303), wherein the method further comprises: • determining, based on a first number and a second quantity, a control channel resource element occupied by each candidate control channel in the target set, wherein the first number is a number of a first control channel resource element that is of a first candidate control channel in the target set determined based on the terminal identifier and that is in the first quantity of candidate control channel sets corresponding to the first aggregation level, the second quantity is a quantity of candidate control channels serving as an interval between two adjacent candidate control channels corresponding to the first aggregation level, and the second quantity is greater than or equal to a difference between the second aggregation level and the first aggregation level, wherein the second quantity meets the following formula: I 1 = ⌊ B 2 × L 2 / L 1 × B 1 ⌋ or I 1 = k × ⌊ B 2 × L 2 / k × L 1 × B 1 ⌋, wherein I 1 is the second quantity, B 1 is the quantity of candidate control channels comprised in the target set, B 2 is the quantity of candidate control channels corresponding to the second aggregation level that are comprised in the second candidate control channel set, k is a preset value, k is a positive integer and is an even number, L 1 is the first aggregation level, L 2 is the second aggregation level, and └ ┘ is a rounding down operation. • determining a first aggregation level, wherein the first aggregation level is less than a second aggregation level, the first aggregation level corresponds to first candidate control channel sets, control channel resource elements comprised in a second candidate control channel set corresponding to the second aggregation level comprise a first quantity of first candidate control channel sets, and the control channel resource elements occupied by the first quantity of first candidate control channel sets are a subset of the second candidate control channel set (step 301); • determining one of the first quantity of first candidate control channel sets as a target set based on a terminal identifier of the terminal (step 302); • detecting a candidate control channel in the target set (step 303), • determining, based on a first number and a second quantity, a control channel resource element occupied by each candidate control channel in the target set, wherein the first number is a number of a first control channel resource element that is of a first candidate control channel in the target set determined based on the terminal identifier and that is in the first quantity of candidate control channel sets corresponding to the first aggregation level, the second quantity is a quantity of candidate control channels serving as an interval between two adjacent candidate control channels corresponding to the first aggregation level, and the second quantity is greater than or equal to a difference between the second aggregation level and the first aggregation level, wherein the second quantity meets the following formula: I 1 = ⌊ B 2 × L 2 / L 1 × B 1 ⌋ or I 1 = k × ⌊ B 2 × L 2 / k × L 1 × B 1 ⌋, wherein I 1 is the second quantity, B 1 is the quantity of candidate control channels comprised in the target set, B 2 is the quantity of candidate control channels corresponding to the second aggregation level that are comprised in the second candidate control channel set, k is a preset value, k is a positive integer and is an even number, L 1 is the first aggregation level, L 2 is the second aggregation level, and └ ┘ is a rounding down operation.