A video decoding method includes: obtaining block information of a current picture block; determining, based on the block information, whether a split mode of a set of optional split modes is available; determining a split mode of the current picture block from a determined available split mode; obtaining at least one coding unit (CU) from the current picture block based on the split mode of the current picture block, and parsing a bitstream including the current picture block, to obtain decoding information of the at least one CU, and decoding the at least one CU based on the decoding information, to obtain a reconstructed block.