The present invention discloses a method for indicating a modulation mode in HSDPA, comprising the following steps: a NodeB receiving capability information reported by a terminal, if determining that the terminal supports 64QAM modulation mode, determining a transmission block size, a modulation mode and code channel resource to be indicated based on an capability constraint condition and the capability information, and if the determined modulation mode is the same as a basic modulation mode satisfying requirement of the transmission block size, setting modulation mode information of a HS-SCCH as 0, otherwise setting the modulation mode information of the HS-SCCH as 1, and then sending the HS-SCCH to the terminal. Application of the present invention is compatible with a UE device which supports or does not support 64QAM high order modulation, without changing the current frame structure of the HS-SCCH, thereby achieving functional support of the 64QAM modulation mode.