Ali the red fox is a cartoon character created by Xu Han. [Photo provided to China Daily]

In 2009, Xu set up Beijing Dream Castle Culture Company with a partner and published the picture book Ali's Dream Castle. He later began to create emoticons for QQ, the popular Chinese instant messaging service, and then for Renren.com, a Facebook-like social website popular among college students.

It was not until Ali became the first emoji of cartoon images on WeChat last year that his popularity began to cover all age groups, Xu says.

During the Spring Festival in February, downloads of emoticons of the red fox celebrating the traditional festival topped the list of emojis sent by users to wish their friends or relatives a happy New Year.

"I guess that's because Ali is a red fox," Xu says. "Red is a lucky color that suggests everything will flourish the following year. Emojis have given great exposure to my little red fox. But it's more important to write stories that attract audiences."