The present disclosure relates to data processing methods and apparatus. One example method includes obtaining a first data block, where the first data block is a data block obtained by dividing first optical path data, adding clock simplified padding data and the first data block into a target information bit in a first data frame to form target data, where the target information bit is an information bit that is preset in the first data frame and that is used to pad optical path data, encoding the target data by using a first error correction encoding scheme to obtain a first code block that has a mapping relationship with the first data frame, where the first error correction encoding scheme matches a frame structure of the first data frame, and sending the first code block.