We know very little about how bystander behaviour is portrayed in the media outside the West. Here, we analyse 379 articles in Chinese media (identified through a systematic search of Chinese databases Baidu, Weibo, CNKI and Zhihu between 2011 and 2021) on the case of ‘Little Yue Yue’—a Chinese toddler killed in a hit-and-run accident. We coded for the presence of concepts from Western bystander theories (Five-Step model, Arousal: Cost-Reward model, Social Identity), laws, government, trust and technology-use. A multiple correspondence analysis showed how these different bystander concepts clustered together in three overarching factors. Our paper reveals the way Western social psychological concepts can structure the popular understanding of an iconic bystander event in the Chinese context. Please refer to the Supporting Information section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.