A paging message transmission method and apparatus are described. The method can include sending, by an access network device, a first paging message to a terminal device on a first paging occasion, where the first paging message comprises a first identifier and a preset time point for sending a second paging message, the first identifier indicates the first paging message is a short message, and the second paging message is a message for terminal paging. The method can also include sending, by the access network device to the terminal device at the preset time point, scheduling information corresponding to the second paging message, and sending the second paging message on a time-frequency resource corresponding to the scheduling information.