Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and an apparatus for performing channel measurement for a cell. The method includes: sending information about a location of a to-be-measured reference signal to a user equipment, where the location of the to-be-measured reference signal is a part of a location occupied by a reference signal of the cell; and receiving a channel measurement report of the cell. The channel measurement report is sent by the user equipment and is obtained after the user equipment performs channel measurement for the cell according to the information about the location of the to-be-measured reference signal.