A grouping method based on machine type communication (MTC), used in a communications system, including: broadcasting, by a base station, grouping requests to a plurality of user equipments (UEs) in an area; determining, by the base station, whether there is at least one group leader among the UEs; and receiving, by the base station, a grouping report from the group leader when determining that there is a group leader among the UEs, wherein the grouping report records UE identifiers of the UEs in a group corresponding to the group leader.