Embodiments of this application provide a downlink transmission method, a base station, and a terminal device. The method includes: dividing, by a base station, to-be-transmitted data into at least two sets, and configuring a transmit power for each of the at least two sets; and sending, by the base station, data in each set to a terminal device at the transmit power configured for each set. In the embodiments of this application, the to-be-transmitted data is divided into the at least two sets, a transmit power is configured individually for each set, and the data in each set is sent to the terminal device at the transmit power configured for each set.