Widely known as something that can bring good luck, cheery, attractive and lovely mascots are always a fascinating highlight at big events such as World Expos and the Olympics. The World Expo mascots have not only become the representatives of Expo images, but also, as the symbol featuring the hosting country, embody the history, development, culture, concept and social background of the country and therefore play an important role in the communication in political, economical and cultural fields.

The staff of the mascot selection office of World Expo 2010 Shanghai China, a special team of 50 people, traveled to more than 50 cities in China and across the world. They talked with 1,500-plus designing companies, 800-plus advertising companies, 1,000-plus animation companies, 200-plus colleges, and over 80,000 people in order to get their support for the mascot solicitation. Their efforts resulted in 26,655 entries in the worldwide design competition that ran through May 31, 2007. Among the 26,655 entries, the youngest person to submit an entry was only three years old, and the oldest was 83. About seven percent of the entries are designed by children less than 10 years old. The designers are of all kinds of professions, including students, retired people, sportsmen, nurses, designers, clerks, painters, writers, teachers and actors.

The name of the mascot of World Expo 2010 Shanghai China is Hai Bao, which means the treasure of the sea which is the source of life. Haibao meets the principle of "good looking, easy to understand, easy to remember and easy to use."  The blue color stated Chinese brand-new gesture to embrace the world. The name of Hai Bao is easy to remember, echoes with the color of its body and is a typical lucky name in Chinese tradition. The blue color mascot represents the elements including earth, dream, sea, future, technology and manifests the theme of World Expo "Better City, Better Life." Hai Bao is the good well ambassador of Shanghai Expo. He is embracing friends from all over the world with his arms and confident smile. The image of the mascot is simple, easy to remember and to communicate. Human being, creator of good life, is the core to push the city development as well as the most creative part in the urbanization; hence, the designing of the mascot chose the Chinese character of people to be the main image. Though it is a single mascot, with the different motions and costumes, it could also have various appearances. Hai Bao embodies ideal of the coexistence of different cultures in cities; embodies the appreciation of economic development and environmental sustainable development; embodies the wish to remodel the city communities, embodies the anticipation of the well-off both urban cities and countrysides. Hai Bao is the whish to colorful life and the warm invitation to friends from all over the world to Shanghai.

Haibao well expresses the theme of Shanghai Expo "Better City, Better Life" by using innovative ideas, impressive appearance and motions to state its concept and characters.  Created from the Chinese character "," which means people, the mascot embodies the character of Chinese culture and echoes with the designing concept of the emblem of World Expo Shanghai. Using the Chinese character as the mascot of an international event is an innovation. The structure of Chinese character , in which two strokes support each other, manifests the concept that a good life should be created by all the people. The world should be supported by "people," and people should have harmonious relationships with nature and society, so that the life in cities would be better. The mascot will surly become the lucky symbol and cultural remark of Shanghai Expo.