A rate matching method for a polar code, comprising: encoding, based on an N ∗ N encoding matrix of a polar code, a sequence comprising N first bits, to generate a mother code comprising N second bits, wherein the N first bits are in a one-to-one correspondence with N rows in the encoding matrix in sequence, and the N second bits are in a one-to-one correspondence with N columns in the encoding matrix in sequence; determining, N-M to-be-punctured second bits from the N second bits, wherein at least one first bit in N-M first bits participating in encoding of the N-M second bits belongs to the first M first bits in the N first bits, and the N-M first bits are fixed bits; and puncturing, the N-M second bits, to obtain a target polar code comprising M second bits, wherein the N-M second bits are sequentially determined based on N-M rounds of operations, wherein the first round of operation in the N-M rounds of operations comprises: determining a second bit corresponding to an N th column in the N columns as a to-be-punctured second bit; and the (j+1) th round of operation in the N-M rounds of operations comprises: determining an (N-j) ∗ (N-j) auxiliary encoding matrix, wherein the auxiliary encoding matrix is a matrix obtained after rows and columns corresponding to to-be-punctured second bits determined in the first j rounds are deleted from the encoding matrix, and 1 ≤j ≤N-M-1; determining candidate columns from N-j columns in the auxiliary encoding matrix, wherein each of the candidate column comprises only one element whose value is 1; determining a target column from the candidate columns; and determining a second bit corresponding to the target column as the to-be-punctured second bit, characterized in that the determining a target column from the candidate columns comprises: determining a weight of a row corresponding to each of the candidate columns, wherein the row corresponding to each candidate column is a row in which an element whose value is 1 in each candidate column is located; and determining a candidate column corresponding to a row whose weight is the smallest in the candidate columns as the target column; wherein the weight is a code weight or a polarization weight. encoding, based on an N ∗ N encoding matrix of a polar code, a sequence comprising N first bits, to generate a mother code comprising N second bits, wherein the N first bits are in a one-to-one correspondence with N rows in the encoding matrix in sequence, and the N second bits are in a one-to-one correspondence with N columns in the encoding matrix in sequence; determining, N-M to-be-punctured second bits from the N second bits, wherein at least one first bit in N-M first bits participating in encoding of the N-M second bits belongs to the first M first bits in the N first bits, and the N-M first bits are fixed bits; and puncturing, the N-M second bits, to obtain a target polar code comprising M second bits, wherein the N-M second bits are sequentially determined based on N-M rounds of operations, wherein the first round of operation in the N-M rounds of operations comprises: determining a second bit corresponding to an N th column in the N columns as a to-be-punctured second bit; and the (j+1) th round of operation in the N-M rounds of operations comprises: determining an (N-j) ∗ (N-j) auxiliary encoding matrix, wherein the auxiliary encoding matrix is a matrix obtained after rows and columns corresponding to to-be-punctured second bits determined in the first j rounds are deleted from the encoding matrix, and 1 ≤j ≤N-M-1; determining candidate columns from N-j columns in the auxiliary encoding matrix, wherein each of the candidate column comprises only one element whose value is 1; determining a target column from the candidate columns; and determining a second bit corresponding to the target column as the to-be-punctured second bit, characterized in that the determining a target column from the candidate columns comprises: determining a weight of a row corresponding to each of the candidate columns, wherein the row corresponding to each candidate column is a row in which an element whose value is 1 in each candidate column is located; and determining a candidate column corresponding to a row whose weight is the smallest in the candidate columns as the target column; wherein the weight is a code weight or a polarization weight. determining an (N-j) ∗ (N-j) auxiliary encoding matrix, wherein the auxiliary encoding matrix is a matrix obtained after rows and columns corresponding to to-be-punctured second bits determined in the first j rounds are deleted from the encoding matrix, and 1 ≤j ≤N-M-1; determining candidate columns from N-j columns in the auxiliary encoding matrix, wherein each of the candidate column comprises only one element whose value is 1; determining a target column from the candidate columns; and determining a second bit corresponding to the target column as the to-be-punctured second bit, characterized in that the determining a target column from the candidate columns comprises: determining a weight of a row corresponding to each of the candidate columns, wherein the row corresponding to each candidate column is a row in which an element whose value is 1 in each candidate column is located; and determining a candidate column corresponding to a row whose weight is the smallest in the candidate columns as the target column; wherein the weight is a code weight or a polarization weight.