A method for transmitting machine type communication (MTC) downlink data. The method includes acquiring, by a user equipment (UE), downlink transmission parameters, where the downlink transmission parameters include a quantity of resource blocks in downlink transmission bandwidth that is configured by a base station for the UE, an antenna port used by the base station for sending the MTC downlink data, and at least one of the following a cell-specific frequency shift value or a cyclic prefix (CP) type, setting, by the UE, a local oscillator frequency of a receiver according to the downlink transmission parameters; and receiving, by the UE, the MTC downlink data sent by the base station, where a subcarrier located in a subcarrier reservation location does not carry any data signal or reference signal, and the subcarrier reservation location is determined in the downlink transmission bandwidth by the base station according to the downlink transmission parameters.