A charging method, a charging network element, a charging system, and a communication system are disclosed. Network elements are categorized into a master network element and a slave network element; charging control is triggered by the master network element, and the slave network element is responsible for reporting the charging data without credit control. In the charging process, credit control is performed for the master network element in view of the charging data of the slave network element, and centralized charging is performed at the master network element. Compared with the prior art, the disclosure simplifies the charging process, reduces the load of processing and interaction between the charging system and the charging network element, and saves the system resources.