Municipality may offer 2 local icons a job

A Shanghai legislator has proposed adopting two locally made cartoon images - the hero of Black Cat Detective animations and the White Rabbit creamy candy logo - as symbols of the city.

"The black cat stands for justice and rules. As a megapolis that attracts migrants from many places in China and abroad, Shanghai attaches great importance to rules. The white rabbit is a symbol of intelligence and flexibility. These qualities are inseparably interconnected in the core philosophy of the city," Li Qi, a deputy to the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress, the city's legislative body, said during a meeting in the ongoing annual legislative session on Tuesday.

"It's like Hello Kitty and Doraemon representing Japan, and bears speak for Berlin. We should also have something typical of our culture and spirit," said Li, who is also deputy director of the Shanghai municipal Party committee's publicity department.