The invention discloses a bi-directional prediction method for video coding/decoding. When bi-directional prediction coding at the coding end, firstly the given forward candidate motion vector of the current image block is obtained for every image block of the current B-frame; the backward candidate motion vector is obtained through calculation, and the candidate bi-directional prediction reference block is obtained through bi-directional prediction method; the match is computed within the given searching scope and/or the given matching threshold; finally the optimal matching block is selected to determine the final forward motion vector, and the backward motion vector and the block residual. The present invention achieves the object of bi-directional prediction by coding a single motion vector, furthermore, it will not enhance the complexity of searching for a matching block at the coding end, and may save amount of coding the motion vector and represent the motion of the objects in video more actually. The present invention realizes a new prediction coding type by combining the forward prediction coding with the backward.