The present invention provides a method for maintaining a large number of connections. The method comprises: when there is no data transmission between a User Equipment (UE) and a network, a network device deletes a radio bearer and reserves UE context information related to link restoration and a default bearer; when data needs to be transmitted between the UE and the network, the network device establishes a bearer connection with the UE according to the reserved UE context information related to link restoration. At the same time, the present invention provides a UE and system for maintaining a large number of connections. By using the method, the UE and the system of the present invention, a large number of UE connections can be maintained effectively, the network load can be reduced and the connection recovery process can be accelerated.