A method where a data analytics network element may determine a background traffic transmission data analysis result of a first terminal device based on target background traffic transfer policies of another terminal device (that is, a second terminal device), and where the data analytics network element may further enable a first policy control network element to determine a background traffic transfer policy of the first terminal device. Therefore, the background traffic transfer policy of the first terminal device is determined by the first policy control network element with reference to the other terminal devices.