Provided are a method for implementing counting control of a counter in a network chip, and a network chip. The method includes: periodically generating a counting value scanning message; reading a counting value of a corresponding counter item according to the generated counting value scanning message; analyzing and judging whether the read counting value is less than a preset overflow threshold; and informing the processor to handle counting abnormality of the counter when the read counting value is not less than the preset overflow threshold. The system can realize the periodic diagnosis on the counting state of the counter in the network chip by using a packet generator and a message processing engine, so as to prevent the processor from constantly sampling the counter to check the state of the counter, and ensure the calculation performance of the processor.