A wireless relay communication system and method are provided. The system includes a BS, at least one RS and subscriber terminals. The method includes: configuring a downlink relay zone and an uplink relay zone in downlink sub-frame and uplink sub-frame of physical layer frame structure of a BS, respectively, configuring a downlink relay zone and an uplink relay zone in uplink sub-frame and downlink sub-frame of physical layer frame structure of an RS, respectively, to define one or more combinations of OFDMA symbols and relay subchannels or relay timeslots for communication between the RS and BS; performing relay communication between the BS, the RS and a subscriber station. In the invention, an advanced relay mode is supported, i.e. an MSS/SS may access BS via the relay of RS, thereby broadening the effective coverage of BS, and improving the throughput of MSS/SS.