New designs for previously launched souvenirs will start to enter the market during this time. Most of them will be marketed as commemorative gifts, said Xin. However, Expo organizers and product supply chains will try to avoid the massive clearance sales that followed the Beijing Olympics. "The post-Expo sales scheme is still under discussion," said Xin.

Sham souvenirs?

The Haibaos standing proudly on store shelves in licensed franchise stores have some less-than-legal counterparts, however. Counterfeit Haibao dolls and other merchandise have been found in the hands of vendors and peddlers on the streets of Shanghai and other Chinese cities.

Expo authorities have reminded visitors that genuine Haibao merchandise and other items have security labels in their price tags to distinguish them from fakes; however, this hasn't stopped some would-be pirates from peddling their counterfeit wares.

Since the second half of 2009, Shanghai authorities have conducted a special campaign to guard Expo-related intellectual property rights, targeting areas such as Nanjing Road and the Oriental Pearl Tower, according to Lu Guoqiang, director of the Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration.

The campaign seems to be working. Three men who produced and sold fake Haibao plush toys worth 450,000 yuan (about $66,400) were sentenced by a Shanghai court in July to one to four years in jail. In August, authorities confiscated and destroyed about 100,000 yuan (about $14,760) worth of unlicensed Expo products; these included furry toys, mobile phone accessories and many other products.

Fortunately, the rash of piracy hasn't hampered sales of licensed products. Over 20 billion yuan (nearly $3 billion) worth of authorized Expo products have been sold to date, meeting sales targets and setting a new record in China for merchandise earnings from a large-scale international event.