"Hai (海)" means the sea in Chinese inscribed from the name of the host city, and "Bao (宝,寶)" means the treasure. Its figure is in the shape of the Chinese character "Ren (人)" (meaning human). Haibao was produced by Taiwanesedesigner Wu Yong-jian and adopted as the official mascot of the World Expo on December 18, 2007. He was selected out of 26,655 entries as part of an international competition.
Similarities to Gumby
It is sometimes pointed out that Haibao resembles Gumby, the green clayhumanoid figure shown on American television from the 1950s–'60s.[1][2] The expo's secretariat said that it is an original design and they had never heard of Gumby.[3][4]