A secondary cell activation method and apparatus relating to the communications field are described herein. The method may include sending, by an access network device, an activation command to a terminal device, where the activation command indicates activating a secondary cell. The method may also include sending, by the access network device, first configuration information of a first reference signal to the terminal device. Furthermore, the method may include sending, by the access network device, the first reference signal to the terminal device according to the first configuration information, where the first reference signal is used to obtain a channel measurement result of the secondary cell. According to secondary cell activation methods described herein, a flexible and efficient secondary cell activation mechanism can be provided, so as to improve secondary cell activation efficiency.