South Africa can learn a great deal from China, not by copying its politics but by understanding how it builds relationships, trust and social harmony. That is the argument made by Dr Casper Lötter, a conflict criminologist at the North West University, who believes China’s way of thinking offers practical lessons for a deeply divided South Africa.
China is often described as a country full of contradictions. Dr Lötter points out that gambling is officially banned across most of China, yet it is also home to Macao, “arguably the most opulent and prolific gambling destination on the planet.” The country calls itself socialist, but has embraced consumer culture so enthusiastically that, as he notes, “Karl Marx himself might recoil in disbelief.” Deng Xiaoping, who led China’s economic reforms, simply called this “socialism with Chinese characteristics,” a phrase that captures China’s very practical approach to development.
Beneath these contradictions lies a different way of thinking about people and society. Western systems often start with the individual, focusing on individual rights, individual freedoms and individual success. Chinese traditions, by contrast, focus strongly on relationships and social harmony.
Dr Lötter draws on the work of British scholar Raymond Dawson, who argued that China’s “understanding of human relationships and social harmony is worthy of serious Western study and emulation.” For him, this is not about exotic culture but about ideas that can help other societies solve real problems.
One of the most important of these ideas is guanxi, the Chinese concept of relationships built on trust, mutual help and mutual respect. Guanxi refers to a network of long term ties in which people look out for one another. It is not about exchanging favours in a narrow sense, but about building enduring connections.
“Guanxi is not simply nepotism or favouritism,” Dr Lötter explains. “It is a sophisticated system of social capital that facilitates trust, cooperation and long term engagement.” In practice this means that people and institutions can work together with greater ease, conflicts can often be resolved earlier and cooperation does not rely entirely on strict legal rules.
South Africa’s public life is marked by mistrust between communities and the police, between citizens and the state, and between different social and political groups. Our justice system follows Western frameworks that, as Dr Lötter notes, “prioritise procedural fairness and individual rights” but often ignore “the relational dimensions of justice.” Rights on paper do not automatically create trust in practice.
Here is where China’s example becomes especially valuable. A guanxi centred approach would encourage the building of long term reciprocal relationships in policing, justice and public institutions. It aligns well with the South African idea of Ubuntu, the belief that a person is a person through other people, but applies it more consistently in daily life.
For example, community policing forums and restorative justice programmes could be strengthened by placing far more emphasis on relationships. Victims, offenders, families and communities could work together to repair harm, rather than relying exclusively on punishment. This does not mean being soft on crime. It means recognising that long term safety depends on social cohesion and trust, not only on arrests and sentences.
China also offers a lesson in public policy. Western thinking often seeks universal theories that should work everywhere. Chinese thinking is more context based. It asks what works here, for these people, in this situation. This practical mindset is something South Africa urgently needs. We often import policies from abroad that do not fit our own history, inequality or social tensions.
Dr Lötter highlights that Chinese thought pays serious attention to “the satisfaction of human needs and the problems of human relationships.” In a country where inequality drives anger and anger drives conflict, this focus is not only philosophical. It is essential to stability.
South Africa does not need to copy China’s political model. But it can learn from China’s emphasis on relationships, trust and practical solutions shaped by local realities. As Dr Lötter concludes, the wisdom of China “offers a valuable counterpoint to Western intellectual traditions.” In South Africa’s search for safety, stability and social peace, that counterpoint may be exactly what is missing.
