An embodiment power control method includes obtaining, by a base station, a bit error rate (BER) of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) of a UE at a subframe i, and sending a transmit power control command δ′PUCCH(i−km) having a value related to a transmit power control command obtained by the base station at a subframe i−km and that is determined according to the relationship of the BER to a bit error rate reference value. An embodiment base station includes a second obtaining unit configured to obtain a BER of a PUCCH of a UE at a subframe i and a second sending unit configured to send a transmit power control command δ′PUCCH(i−km) having a value related to a transmit power control command obtained by the base station at a subframe i−km and that is determined according to the relationship of the BER to a bit error rate reference value.