A multi-stage switch system includes a line card chassis (LCC) and a fabric card chassis (FCC). The LCC is configured with multiple line cards (LCs) and the FCC is configured with a stage-2 switch element (S2). The multi-stage switch system further includes a first switch combination and a second switch combination. The first switch combination and the second switch combination are configured on the LCC and the FCC respectively, and multiple LCs establish cross communication through the first switch combination, the second switch combination, and the S2. The first switch combination includes a stage-1 switch element (S1) and a first buffer area and the second switch combination includes a stage-3 switch element (S3) and a second buffer area. The multi-stage switch system can forward packets within the chassis by means of buffering the packets when guaranteeing the three-stage packet forwarding, and thus reducing the bandwidth occupancy of the FCC.